All eyes turned to Megan when we walked into Pinewood Prep. She stuck out like a sore thumb with her jacked-up plaid skirt and the addition of a really cute hot pink tie to replace the boring navy blue. In a sea of boring grays and navy, her tiny pops of color were welcomed by my eyes.
I remember when she came to school with her new nose piercing. I thought it was adorable and I envied her freedom, but everyone practically hissed at her as we walked down the hallway. Megan couldn’t care less. She walked that hallway like she owned it, with her head held high and a secretive grin on her face. She loved the attention, while I was perfectly fine with blending in. The only place I didn’t blend in was on the soccer field. It was my kingdom. Even though I was usually the tiniest girl on the field, I dominated.
I spent the rest of the week tutoring after school and then I followed that up with soccer practice. On the days I didn’t practice, I’d hit the gym and work out until I thought my body would collapse. I’d stumble into the house around nine at night, shower, and stay in the bathroom until eleven, and then when I thought the coast was clear, I’d go to my room.
On Friday, I went straight to Megan’s after school and told my parents I was staying the night there. I was sure to pack an overnight bag complete with something to wear to The Pit. I somehow thought that wearing my school uniform wouldn’t fly. Although, some sick people get off on the schoolgirl look… I would know.
“Damn, Pay, check you out with your cute little body. Girl, what you been doin’?” Megan said as we got dressed to go out.
“Just soccer and the gym.” I shrugged.
“Who knew you had all that hiding under that God-awful uniform?” She motioned at my half-naked body. “If I were you, I’d go naked all day.” She laughed.
“You’d go naked all day if you weren’t me.” I snickered.
Megan’s low-cut jeans showed her deep, pelvic bones and her top was well above her belly button. Her cute belly button piercing housed a cherry charm that dangled low. Her cropped hairstyle was spiked and picked at wildly and she went the extra step of putting black eyeliner on top of her eyelids. She looked hot and I felt under dressed.
I settled on a pair of semi-tight khaki pants and a white button-up shirt. I left two of the buttons undone so I could at least pretend to not be a tight ass. Megan tried to talk me into some of her wild clothes, but the thought of showing more skin than I already was made me feel nauseated. Men looking at me in general made me nauseated. I was a sick girl mentally and no one knew it.
While Megan had her hair and makeup done, I let my pale hair hang and ran a quick brush through it. I used some lip gloss and that was the extent of my makeup.
“You don’t need makeup anyway,” Megan said as I slid the gloss on.
We said a quick good-bye to her mom, who was quite possibly the coolest parent alive, and then we made our way to the other side of town. Soon, the large, white houses were behind us and we were surrounded by broken-down buildings and trailer parks. I reached up and locked my door, which earned me an eye roll from Megan.
We pulled into a full parking lot that had no buildings around it.
“We’re here,” she said as she pulled up her emergency brake.
Looking around in confusion, I lifted a brow at her.
“Um, there’s nothing here, just a bunch of abandoned cars.”
She laughed loudly. “Follow me, silly girl.”
I stayed close to her as I followed her to the edge of the parking lot. A set of concrete stairs went down into the darkness. The Pit was giving a whole new meaning to the words underground club.
As we went down the stairs, we slowly became surrounded by a concrete tunnel. The tunnel led us to a large opening where a man with his arms crossed sat on stool in front of the main entrance. The music coming from the other side of the bright-red metal door vibrated the filthy floor beneath my feet and put waves in the bottle of soda sitting next to him.
“Hey, Gerald.” Megan gave him a toothy smile. “I assumed there’d be no problems getting me and my girl in?” She motioned to me.
She had him by the balls and he knew it. Either he could let us in or she’d squeal about his sleeping with a minor years before. Megan didn’t say those words, but he knew what she meant. He looked me over and then shook his head and sighed. He didn’t even bother checking our IDs as he waved us in.
“I should’ve never touched her,” he muttered. “Damn complicated women.”
Megan shot him a shit-eating grin as we passed him and went through the door.
The world on the other side of that blood-red door was unlike anything I’d ever seen in person. I’d seen crazy mosh pits and wild concerts on TV before, but up close it was a bit overwhelming. Megan pushed her way through the crowd and I followed close behind. Every now and again I’d get bumped into. It took all the strength I had to stay upright.