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++++ ANA ++++
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**What I didn't expect was to get bored so quickly.**
While waiting for Laura to keep her promise, Ana sat on the living room couch, trying to pass the time with her phone. Ana checked her social media. She surfed the web for a short time and played a game absently, all done while thirty college students danced, drank, and laughed loudly around her.
Although her gaze did not leave the tiny screen, her mind was still nagging her about the blind date.
**And could it even be considered a blind date?**
"Well…" a quiet, hissing voice said to her ear. Something resembling an elongated slim shadow crawled out of her back and took a more discernible shape, looking like a dark, crimson snake tightly bounding Ana's neck. "...You bother to dresss up all cute and foxy jussst for the ocasssion. Ssso..."
"I didn't dress foxily," Ana replied quietly, without taking her eyes off the phone.
The translucent creature hissed intermittently, trying to simulate a laugh. "Hi-hi-hiss! Yeah, right! A black sssee-through messsh bloussse? A plaid mini ssskirt and thigh-high ssstockingsss? You're even wearing your brand new C.L. high heelsss, for chrissst sssake! But no, you're right! You rather look like a nun ready to pray to death than the thirsty teen you really--!"
"Hey, beautiful." A classmate sat beside her, forcing the mocking apparition to dissipate immediately, as if it was made of fog. "What are you doing?"
"Hi, Joel." Ana addressed him without looking in his direction. "I'm just farming this event before it goes down tonight."
Joel frowned before inspecting her screen. "Are you talking about a game? What is it called?"
"Oh, something Korean. I don't think you've ever heard of it. What about you? Are you having fun?"
"Kinda." The young man sighed loudly. "Unfortunately, the beer ran out."
"Bummer."
"And then I came here to take you to the dance floor." He elbowed her playfully. "Come on."
"Aww, you didn't have to worry about me, Joel. I've already danced half an hour ago. Watch." Ana stopped what she was doing to show him a video already uploaded to her social media. On it, Ana was dancing between the crowd. Her gaze locked on the camera while maintaining a half-smile.
"Were you dancing alone?" Joel asked, dumbfounded.
"Yes, so?" Ana quickly snatched the phone away. "And I'm not the one you should ask to dance." She pointed towards the center of the living room, where Laura was making her presence noticed, wearing a two-piece tight minidress. Her bosom looked extra stacked that night, and her hips attracted the attention of every male nearby.
Joel shook his head. "But Laura already has all the company she needs."
"She fancies you," Ana blurted out. "Did you know that?"
This time, she glanced at him just to see his reaction.
Joel's green eyes sparkled for a second, but he cleared his throat immediately. "Even if that's true, what if I fancy another girl?"
Ana looked him in the eye. Joel's features were charming, and his curly brunette hair made him look straight up from a TV drama.
**And yet… What do you like so much about me? You could have Laura letting you use her huge titties as pillows if you asked her to, while I'm here, wearing a padded push-up bra.**
"It would never work out. Trust me," she said.
"What makes you say that?"
"Because you're too good for me," she replied, turning her voice soft and caressing his chin. "I'm the Red Stain, remember? Would you like to get your hands dirty by hanging out with me?"
Joel's mouth remained ajar for a moment. "But you're not…"
"There you are!" Laura approached them briskly, taking Joel by his hand. "Sitting doesn't suit you! Come on, let's shake the body!" As Laura pulled him out of the couch, she turned to Ana to whisper: "Thanks for taking care of him in my absence."
"I was just making sure of keeping the bitches away from him."
**And it worked. Everyone here looks at me or evades me as if I had rabies.**
"By the way, about our previous talk," Laura whispered. "Sorry, but you'll have to wait a little longer. He's still not here."
"Don't worry, the night is still young."
Having heard that, Laura winked at her and pulled Joel to the center of the living room, who gave one last excruciating glance at Ana.
**Don't look at me like that, handsome. Just listen to your primal instincts and go for the bigger, thiccest fish in the pond, instead of pursuing your Gothic Lolita fetish with me…**
"We're nineteen, lol! We hardly count as a Lolita!" Ana's black companion materialized again, talking over her shoulder. "And I thought we were going for the 'Nymphet' aesthetic tonight."
"Whatever. Every single girl in this party looks childish compared to her."
Ana crossed her arms and looked at the teens gathered around Laura and her new partner, all dancing and jumping at the beat of the music. She then glanced at her side, where some smokers were happily chatting on the balcony. In the kitchen, another group was constantly drinking and hoarding the snacks.
Everyone gathered in Laura's apartment was having fun in their own way.
**Except for me…**
"I feel bad for Joel, you know… Laura isss going to eat him whole. Hi-hi-hisss. Too bad, becaussse I'd have loved to take a bite out of him firssst!"
"Yeah, go ahead," Ana replied begrudgingly. "Steal the crush of the only friend we have left and see what happens."
"That hasss never ssstopped usss before..."
"Let's see what Laura has in store for us, and if his cousin turns out to be a dork, I'll think about it."
"Fine. Let'sss wait a little longer…" Both master and dark companion remained in silence for half a minute before the creature snorted. "Can we at leassst wait outssside? Thisss place isss making me sssick."
"Agreed."
***
As Ana crossed the door that would take her to the outside corridor, her companion was stubbornly hissing. "God, are we wearing the Victoria's Sssecret's lace thong in vain?"
"Why are you complaining? I'm the one with the clenched ass."
"I can feel it too, remember? Even though I don't have a butt! Hi-hi-hisss."
"Shut up for a minute, will you?"
While exhaling deep, Ana leaned over the iron railing. From there, she could see a top view of the parking lot.
**All these cars came here just to give tribute to the Legendary Thicc Princess.**
Ana checked her social media, where a video of Laura suggestively grinding against Joel awaited for everyone to see. **It already has fifty times more visits than mine... Well, considering that my video only has one, ha!**
She checked her friend's list, now more empty than ever in her entire life. **I think it's for the best. Now I don't have to deal with men trying to befriend me before asking me for nudes and girls pretending to be nice to me.**
She filled her lungs with the chilly night air, feeling a minor discomfort. **This is for the best, yes.** Her eyes were aching and her hands were caressing the rough texture of the railing. Her right leg was constantly jumping.
**Wait, no, this is not right!**
**What I need right now is someone that doesn't judge me or has pity for me like Joel. Someone that doesn't know my past or what I have done. If your cousin is as amazing as you've described him to be, Laura, please don't talk to him about me… Never…**
**If the day comes when he learns about my past, so be it. I won't be mad, nor I'll hold a grudge if he decides to leave. But at least let me enjoy the first month… Or at least a damn week! When he'll believe I'm just a pure girl. I promise to act cute, girly, and hear whatever stupid thing he has to say.**
**Just… Let me feel alive for at least a couple of days, dammit!**
The sound of rushed steps came to her. Ana looked at her side, finding Laura getting out of the apartment and taking down the stairs in a hurry. Laura's hands were forming fists and her gaze only pointed at her destination to even notice Ana as she passed by.
Ana's heart started racing. **Could it be...?**
She looked down, searching for her, reuniting with a guy waiting beside a red classic car. He was so tall that when Laura jumped to hug him, he maintained her in the air easily.
Even though Ana could not have a closer look at that guy's face, she liked what she was seeing.
**He's… Perfect!**
Ana's cheeks and chest tickled and her hands got all sweaty. **Wait, wait, how do I look?! And where is my freaking lipstick?! I need my lips to look as freaking kissable as possible! And a mint! I need a damn mint before I even say 'hi, nice to meet you!' **
"Hey, Ana, down here!" a girly voice called her from below. Ana found Bere, wearing a tube top so tight that her breast almost burst out, and two girls giggling mischievously beside her.
**Oh, look at who's here. Bere, Cecy, and María… The Bitch Squad.**
"Someone has come all the way here just to see you. You shouldn't keep her waiting," Cecy, the girl wearing an unfavorable red eyeshadow, pointed to a red Toyota, where a woman was waiting, leaning over the car's hood, arms crossed and eyes fixed on Ana.
**You have to be kidding me…**
Ana glanced back in Laura's direction, but she and her guest were nowhere to be found. **They must be looking for a place to park his car.**
"Come on, Ana, don't be shy!" María teased, wearing a ridiculous—**Wait, she actually looks good compared to the other. Nice skinny jeans and heeled boots, girl!**
Ana returned her attention to Camila, stubbornly waiting in the parking lot. If Ana kept biting hard on her lower lip, it would bleed.
**Would this woman dare to enter the apartment and make a scene in front of everyone? **
Ana glared at the three girls, knowing that they had brought her there. **Fine, let's deal with this as quickly as possible. I have a date, you know.**