Taken (Dark Desires 1)

“I think that top looks better on me, but whatever,” she said, rolling her eyes. “She looks awesome though. Can't even tell she's a bookworm.”

“Now for the hair...” Allie said, pulling my messy bun loose. My auburn waves fell over my shoulders and Allie looked impressed. “Nice. I'll just clean those waves up and that should work.”

Lauren pulled me over and applied makeup, but wouldn't let me look in the mirror until I was done. Allie stood over her shoulder, watching and commenting as she worked. I'd never had someone apply my makeup before, so it felt weird – as weird as wearing fake eyelashes and eyeliner, both a first for me. My eyelashes felt heavy, the makeup felt thick on my face. I almost felt like a clown, like these girls were playing a joke on me, but when Lauren turned me around – I didn't recognize the girl looking back at me in the mirror.

“What do you think?”

“It's – or rather, I'm – beautiful,” I said softly, touching my cheek. It was powdery soft.

My eyes were larger – almost too large for my face. The green in my hazel eyes shone brighter than before, thanks to the eyeshadow Lauren used. My lips were supple and red, but there was no sticky lip gloss in sight.

“You like?”

“I love it,” I said, a note of awe in my voice.

The two girls smiled proudly behind me. “See? There's hope for her yet.”

I wasn't sure what Allie was talking about, but it didn't matter. They rounded up the other girls, all of whom were surprised by my transformation, and we headed downtown to the Neon Dragon.

Even though it had been months since I'd last seen Reese – and I doubt he'd remember me anyway – I had to wonder what he'd think of me now. The new me. The prettier, less nerdy me.

I couldn't wait to run into him and see what he thought – see if he regretted missing out on this new me. As we rode in the Uber, all of us crammed together in the car, I couldn't help but wonder if that was my motivation for doing this. After everything my brother had said, all the mocking and teasing about my crush on his friend and him telling me that Reese just thought I was weird, I was going to show them once and for all.

I was sure this wasn't what my mom had in mind when she told me to be social, but hell, I was doing exactly what she wanted me to do.

And I'd show them all.

ooo000ooo

The first thing I noticed upon entering the club was that no one – and I mean no one – was sober. Most of the people around me looked stoned or high, staring off into space and dancing like they were off in their own little world – which, they probably were. Electronic music blasted through the speakers, drowning out any potential conversation you might want to have, and the place reeked like booze and vomit.

Very glamorous indeed.

We pushed our way through the crowds, headed to the bar. I had a wristband that was given to me at the door saying I was, indeed, twenty-one. Even though I wasn't.

“What'll you have, beautiful?” The bartender asked. He was a good-looking guy, so to hear him call me beautiful made me blush.

And I continued to blush as I tried to think of what to order. There weren't any menus like at restaurants and I'd never ordered a drink before, so I was at a loss. I stared, wide-eyed at the bartender and then turned to my friends who laughed at my naiveté.

“Let's do shots!” Allie shouted. “Together, as sisters, come on!”

She ordered the shots and the bartender – his name was Chad – poured and passed them out to us. I had no idea what I was holding, but it smelled like death. It was clear, and once Allie gave the word, I followed the lead of my sisters and drank it down. It burned my throat and for a second, I feared I might throw it all back up.

“What the hell was that?” I asked Allie.

“Vodka.”

“Straight?” I said.

“Yeah,” she smiled. “Good stuff, huh?”

Not really – it tasted like ass, I thought to myself. I decided to take it easy from there on out, and told Chad to surprise me with something yummy. He smiled as he put together some mysterious concoction and then passed me a brightly colored drink with an umbrella poking out the top.

“Sex on the Beach. It's a good beginner's drink,” he said with a wink. “Think of it like the training wheels of the drinking world.”

“What do you –”

“I can tell it's your first time,” he said with a smirk. “I can always tell when it's a girl's first time.”