Into the Pit

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Veda leads the way to Par's, navigating her way through different tunnels and rooms like she's done it a million times. We enter a larger room, where there's a giant neon sign that reads Par's Nightclub and Bar over an archway. A thuggy security guard stands in front of the entrance.

"Nightclub and bar?" I say. "This is Par's?"

"The one and only!" Veda replies. "Oh look there's the boys!" She points behind us.

Calix, his friends, and my friends (including Velotz) walk up to us, all dressed in suits and similar attire. I guess we weren't the only ones who got dressed up for the occasion.

"Sup guys?" Ludo says. "Lookin' good...." His eyes run up and down Veda.

"Eyes up here doofus," Veda says, pointing to her face. "Well, whoever has brown eyes take these contacts. Don't ask, just do." She tosses a few packs to the now embarrassed Ludo, who clearly did not get the reaction he was hoping for.

"The only one with brown eyes is Misty," he says, tossing all but one back at her.

"It's Misto," Misto grunts, grabbing the contacts case out of Ludo's hands. He sticks them in his eyes quickly, and they go from brown to an eggshell white, giving the illusion that his eyes glow.

"No one cares," Calix says. "Shall we go in?"

"They don't have IDs smart one," Skytus says. His sand colored eyes bug a bit when Calix fumbles through his pocket. "No, don't tell me you made fake ones..."

"Too late. I made one for each of them. Ajax helped. He's an awesome artist," he says. He passes them out to each of us. It's a black plastic card with a very realistic drawing of me on it. It includes my birthdate, age, gender, but the spot for eye color is blank. "Just write the color of your new eyes down. It's dark down here, the guard shouldn't be able to tell what the print looks like," Calix says.

He hands me a white paint-pen and I write 'gold/black' as neatly as I can. I pass the pen to Dylis and Misto after.

"Okay, now he's going to take your ID and see if your eye color matches. So open your eyes a bit wider, but not too wide, or he might notice the contacts," he whispers. He goes first. The guard does exactly what he said he would do, then motions his arm for Calix to walk into the club. We organize ourselves into a line and proceed as he did.

Inside Par's is gigantic, it'd even be considered that back on the surface. Lights flash, music blasts from enormous speakers, and there are a bunch of sweaty teenagers and young adults jumping around on the dance floor. Some sit at the bar with colorful drinks, and others are making out in booths.

"Whoa..." Ajax says.

"Whoa is correct!" Veda shouts over the music, pounding in our ears. "Come on!" She grabs Misto by the collar of his dress shirt onto the dance floor. They disappear in the crowd. Dylis and Melina go in together, then Skytus and Ludo. I'm still in awe by this place. I've never been in a place like this before, this is probably one of the "destructive and dysfunctional" things on Hassen Boarding School's list.

Calix grabs onto my arm. "Ready?" I smile and run onto the dance floor with him. There's not a lot of space to move, people are so clumped together it's hard to jump around. In order to even move you kind of have to have your hands up because it makes you skinnier. But there's at least a hundred people here. Bodies touch without meaning to, and some do. I'm not sure which Calix is doing with me. But whatever he's doing, I kind of like it...

All of a sudden the music stops and the dj begins talking. "What's up HELIIIIIIXXXX?!!!" The crowd screams with excitement back at him. "Alright, alright. We got a request for something a bit more slooowwwwww, so here goes it!" A new track starts playing. I don't recognize the song, but everyone else does and cheers a bit again before snuggling up to somebody.

Calix offers me his hand. "May I?" he says. "Sure," I giggle. I put my hands around his neck and he puts his on my waist. Luckily he's not that much taller than me so I don't have to reach that high. I look around. Dylis has her fingers intertwined with Skytus' and Melina and Ajax laugh away at the bar (they haven't ordered anything). Then I see Misto dancing with Veda, who has her head against his chest. But I can see Misto's glowing eyes staring at me.

I look back at Calix, his eyes now locked with mine. "Those eyes look really good on you," he says. "Thanks. I guess I have to wear them all the time if I'm going to stay down here," I reply. All of a sudden the slow song ends and a new upbeat song resumes. "Follow me," he says, taking my hand.

He leads me to another room. This one is a small circle, still the same dirt walls. "What's in here?" I ask. "This," he replies. He closes his eyes slowly, and the dirt transforms into a starry night sky, a bright full moon shines on the ceiling. I gasp. "It's beautiful..." I say. He opens his eyes back up. "So are you," he says. He leans in, and presses his lips against mine.

At first I'm a bit surprised, this being my first kiss. Calix moves his hands down my shoulders and to my waist then pulls me in closer. The second time I kiss back. His lips are soft and smooth. I run my fingers through his dark, wavy hair. I pull back to breathe and I open my eyes, only to see a pair of white glowing ones glaring at me through the archway.