Clementine had become a wild child. Born in America but raised abroad, she now had little regard for the expectations of high society. But her reckless ways eventually catch up with her when she is kicked out of college in New York City and forced t...
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11
Then they were all on the move. It didn't take long to gather everyone, except it kind of did, with people lingering around the plaza to smoke one last cigarette or say one more hello. Eventually though, they were moving through the streets like a little caravan of gypsies.
"How are we getting there?" Clementine asked Zico, next to whom she was walking beside. Their arms casually brushing up against each other every once in a while.
It was starting to get dark, and though she didn't want to seem uptight, she wanted to have at least some sort of semblance of plan in her head for the night, no matter how 'flexible' or 'easy going' she was in New York. Plus, he didn't know any of that about her, her in the past in an alternate universe. At least not yet, and she kind of like that.
"We'll take taxis," he said, "we just need to meet some people first."
Clementine nodded and the continued to walk along, side by side, surrounded by the laughter, and chitter chatter, and pitter patter of platform heels on cobble stones.
It felt good to be surrounded by people again, after her personal sojourn at home.
It didn't take long for them to get to the next plaza, where there was a group of guys, just hanging around.
"Wait here, chiquita," Zico said, and just as soon he nodded to some of the other guys that were with them from the start.
Clementine watched as Zico led a small group of them toward this new group of people, and it felt a little bit like watching a battalion get led into war.
Though she didn't fully know. The circumstance of this meeting, she had a feeling that it wasn't going to get revealed to her anytime soon.
She was left with mostly the girls in the group. Some looked her up and down almost knowingly, smiling to their own selves, withholding their own comments. Some seemed more friendlier, willing to make conversation with her and speak in their broken English.
This was a clear reminder of how much more, sexist? Is that the word? Different countries were. This came as a double edged sword. Women were traditionally more left out of affairs, but Clementine felt that this also helped to make courting seem more traditional and was actually more respectable towards women. On the right dates and with the right kind of men, of course. But maybe that was the case everywhere.
"So, how do you know Zico?" A girl wearing her hair up and in 80s styled bright, neon clothes asked Clementine directly, chewing and popping bubble gum.
"Oh, we met at a party," Clementine responded not wanting to reveal too much, and also keeping half her attention on the exchange happening between the guys on the other side of .
"Yeah, that sounds like Zico." The girl said, though she didn't mean it to sound mean.
Clementine was brought back to her by the sound of her popping her gum, which almost made her jump a little.
It turned out the conversation between Zico and his own, was brief enough, because suddenly they were walking back. Nothing looked all that different, except for the fact that they seemed to be stuffing some thing into their pockets.
Zico and Clementine locked eyes for a moment, from a distance, but Zico quickly averted his back to the floor. Almost feeling some sort of guilt until quickly looking back up and wiping any expression he had on his face blank.
"Ok," he said now getting close to their own group, playfully rubbing Clementine's shoulders, "let's go." He said to everyone.
She din't feel like asking, so she didn't, a little afraid of ruining the mood, she decided to take the cue from Zico and relax.
Suddenly, everyone was on their phones and yelling over each other about who's going with who in what taxi.
Clementine just stood close to Zico, expecting that it was an unsaid obvious fact that they were going together, considering she really didn't know anyone else there. Though that's bot to say that she knew Zico perfectly well either.
But her hopes were confirmed when he leaned in to her ear and said: "You're going with me."
Smiling to her own self, it wasn't too long until all the taxis pulled up and people started getting in. Splitting their large group into smaller pieces.
When it was their turn, Clementine half expected that they would both get into the back seat, but instead, he went into the front passenger seat which left everyone to pile up into the back. By everyone, it was Clementine, the bubble gum girl, and one of the other guys that went with Zico to talk to the strangers.
This taxi cab was a lot livelier then the one she started her night in, and even the driver seemed to be into the music station playing a fast paced song, turning it up slightly higher and higher as their night drove on.
People were smoking and singing, and it reminded her so much of New York City but it also felt different. More ... freer?
Zico turned back to look at them, smiling, he said "are you ready to have some fun?" Aiming the question more at Clementine than anyone else.
Clementine nodded, and took the cigarette from Zico's hand that he was offering to her.
"Heyo Zico?" The bubble gum girl began to say, casually but also slightly yelling over the loud speaker.
"Hm?" Zico uttered in response, not taking his eyes off from the front of the road, until Clementine tapped his shoulder to hand back the cigarette. Careful not to spill any ash on him.
"Clementne says you two met at a party," she said mischievously.
"Something like that," he said, taking his own drag, and Clementine could hear a smirk in his voice.
"Well, who let you near her? She's like, too good for you." Bubble gum girl said bluntly.
Clementine wasn't sure what she meant. Then, Zico's friend mumbled something in Portuguese, which sounded like something along the lines of telling bubble girl gum to settle down.
She mumbled something back in response with there hands up, as if she was resigned. But Clementine made a note to be careful around her.
"Not today, Marcia, okay?" Zico shot back at her but dismissively and slightly annoyed.
All of a sudden, the car was turning past the beach and the hotel that she and Zico spent a night in, and she could feel it instinctively, that they noticed at the same time and if she wasn't wrong, Zico straightened up a little.
It felt wild, to already have some sort of little secret between them, having really only just met.
"We're here," Zico muttered, only a few blocks later.
