Kevin has been a whack-job all his life and has been friends with people who were from a completely different world, but it was those friendships that allowed him tonight to celebrate the beginning of his relationship with Veronica.
The 18-year-old winks at the security guard as he removes a fake ID from his pocket. The man shakes his head, but lets everyone in because he knows Kevin and knows that he is a friend of the establishment's owner.
Lucas snottily watches as the 18-year-old grabs his friend's hand and leads her inside, grinning from ear to ear. He is happy because the girl he likes reciprocates his feelings.
This sight takes away his desire to party. This is supposed to be his first time at the club, and yet he feels no joy.
- Hey, what's that face? Tonight we are supposed to have a great time! - Vanessa presses her fingers to his cheeks and lifts the corners of her mouth up. - Cheer up. - She grabs his hand and, jumping up joyfully, pulls him inside. Entering behind them, Eric looks around the interior with a grim expression, wondering what he's doing in a place that doesn't fit him at all.
- Out of the way. - Miranda squeezes past him dressed in fifteen-centimeter stilettos, with exaggeratedly heavy makeup, tonight she doesn't stand out from the girls who came here for a one-time adventure.
- Pretend you don't know me. I'm ashamed to talk to you. - Eric is disgusted by her appearance.
- Then why did you want me to come with you? - Fluttering her fake eyelashes, she scares him to the point where he focuses all his attention on them.
- We were pretending to be a couple, so I couldn't come without you. - He puts his hands in his pants pockets and walks away from her as quickly as possible.
Walking at the very end, Henry, forced to accompany Nicki, watches Miranda with infatuated eyes, who, upon crossing the threshold, immediately runs onto the dance floor, feeling like a fish in water in this place.
- I don't know why I even agreed to this. Vanessa's ideas are always strange. - The blonde tightens her lips and hurriedly heads to the largest table, previously reserved by Kevin.
Veronica watches her brother while everyone sits in their seats. He pretends not to see it, though he feels her gaze on him perfectly.
It's too late for him to simply forgive her now. Her sign only confirmed that she only now believed him that Julie was a demon.
The 16-year-old now wants her to suffer being used by a phantom, to feel the same way he has felt all these years.
- Veronica, why don't you explain to us what happened that you so suddenly decided to give my brother a chance? - Vanessa smiles radiantly, unable to enjoy the sight of them.
The redhead glances at the boy and shrugs her shoulders.
- I liked him from the beginning, and since I wanted to change something in my life, I chose this to be happy.
Lucas lowers his face, nervously playing with his hands. He has to keep it deep inside, pretending that everything is fine. Veronica is his best friend, they made a deal to keep it that way for the rest of their lives, because they are like one soul split in two bodies and nothing can spoil that.
Eric snorts under his breath.
- Being happy in this situation won't help you, sister. It will still destroy you, suck all the life out of you.
No one, except Veronica, knows what the sixteen-year-old is referring to.
- You haven't even tried to be happy, so don't make any statements about it.
This is the beginning of the party, and the atmosphere is spoiled at the very beginning.
- This club belongs to a friend of mine. I will order alcohol for us in a moment, but remember to keep an eye on your fake IDs, just in case. It cost me a lot to get them for you. - Kevin gets up from the table and heads toward the bar. He is passed by Miranda, who is returning from the dance floor.
- People, this club is amazing. I feel like this is going to be the best night of my life.
The brunet rests his chin on his hand and looks at his peer with pity.
- It is said that whores feel at home in the club. - His words are harsh and he doesn't seem to realize that he has just exaggerated.
The others look at him with indignation in their eyes.
- Isn't that your girlfriend? - Vanessa attacks the younger boy. - A little respect.
- Girlfriend? - repeats Eric, crossing his arms over his chest. - She is my toy, a puppet on an errand.
Miranda feels humiliated. She blinks her eyelids, trying to chase away tears.
- Why do you hate me so much? For my appearance? Because I like to dress bolder and paint my face harder? Your sister is not much different from me, and you don't call her a slut. - She points to the redhead with her hand. Vanessa slaps her side, indignant that she dares to compare her to herself.
- Count your words, shithead.
The pretty girl smiles under her breath, no longer intending to be Eric's toy. She's had enough of him denigrating her at every turn, she can't take it anymore.
- It was a very short, pretend relationship. I've had enough of it. - She crosses her arms over her chest, scowling at him with her eyes. - With your own efforts, you drive yourself to the top of Horace Mann, I don't give a damn. People at school have managed to love me, so even if you tell everyone I'm a "Pauper" it won't change anything. I'm still going to be myself. I'm not going to be anyone's puppet.
- You are rebelling, Barbie. You claim you are not a slut, and who shamelessly pulled down a towel in front of me, parading naked?
Henry is outraged by the behavior of Veronica's younger brother. He feels like standing up for the girl and telling him a few words, but Miranda intends to defend herself.
- It was an accident, a moron. It hangs on me that you saw my boobs.
- If you still had them... - interjects her opinion, disparagingly eyeing her long, pale fingers.
- I don't care about your opinion of my boobs. You don't have to like them. Find yourself a milking cow, maybe it will satisfy you.
The others burst out laughing, even Lucas, who has so far sat gloomy.
- And I was worried that you were in a real relationship.... I could have guessed it was fake," mutters Henry.
- Apparently, there are understanding people sitting here, since they did not react to the word "Pauper", but the other students will be fascinated by the news that their divinity, who pretends to be a rich maiden, is actually a wench from a poor family, who got here only thanks to the good heart of the headmaster. - His wicked smile, causes her to take it no longer. She jumps on Lucas and Vanessa, intending to catch the moron who is sitting in the middle of the couch.
- I'll kill you, asshole!
Kevin, who returns to the table, looks confused.
- Did I miss something?
- My brother decided to reveal Miranda's dark secrets. It was predictable, considering that he feeds on pain.
The disheveled pretty girl steps off the couch, leaning her hand against Lucas' thigh. The boy tightens his lips, which does not escape Veronica's attention.
- Do you want a war? You'll have it, black horse. - She blows her hair, which overlaps her face. - Only now you will know my true character.
Eric watches her with boredom in his eyes as she walks away toward the dance floor.
- And good, at least you will provide me with more entertainment," she mutters under her breath, putting her hands behind her head. - You are boring at pretending.
- It speaks ill of you. This is no way to treat girls. - Henry pierces him with his eyes.
- If you could, you'd lick her ass, so shut up.
Nicki parries with laughter at these words. She covers her mouth with her hand when her friend expresses her displeasure at her brother's behavior.
- I didn't take you with me to put on a show.
- And I came here solely for that. I want to express my joy at the news that you are in your first relationship.
Lucas croaks at these words. He still can't digest the fact that his best friend has found a boyfriend. And so suddenly, since she hadn't mentioned Kevin to him before.
- Friends forever... - he mutters under his breath, then his gaze finds Vanessa. He grabs her hand and rises from the couch. - Should we have some fun? I guess that's why we came here, right?
Veronica watches her friend's face, then lowers her gaze to the hand Vanessa is holding.
- Of course we did. Let's kill this numbing atmosphere.
When Lucas walks past his friend, she lifts her face and looks him in the eyes. She smiles slightly, which is forced, but he ignores it.
*
Eric tilts another glass of whiskey, watching the dance floor where his friends, including his energetic sister, are partying. The alcohol is no stranger to him. He started sipping at the age of fifteen, picking up the beverage from the home bar. He drowned his sorrows, killed his loneliness, enjoying the taste in a closed room.
He hates his life, if he could he would most willingly disappear, just like that. The darkness consumes his soul, the long-suffering leads him at times to have silly thoughts that allude to losing the battle with himself, with the demon that has accompanied him since birth.
At times he is fed up with everything.
- Handsome, why are you sitting here alone? - The tattooed girl, who arouses a vomiting reflex in him, leans with her hands on the table, looking at him with lust in her eyes. - A club is a place where you have to party till you drop.
- And you are interested in it because....
With his stern look, he lets her know to leave him alone and go away, but the girl is intrusive.
- I like you," he finishes boldly, when her gaze finds the precious watch on his left hand.
- I don't like artificial ladies, so get lost," she announces in a tart voice. - I'm repulsed by the smell of plastic.
The brunette rolls her eyes.
- Another rich puppy who shouldn't be here at all. Do your parents know where you spend your nights?
- And do your parents know that you sleep with someone else every night? - He's so swollen that another moment and he'll blow this disgusting ninny away. - The sight of your face, makes me want to puke.
The girl reaches him and in a fit of aggression grabs him by the collar of his shirt.
- Listen, puppy, count your words, because this night you may not come home again.
- Why, are you a psychopathic murderer who will get me after I leave the club and cut me to pieces? - His eyes shine with amusement. - Go ahead... I won't have to think any longer about whether I want to die. You will make it easy for me.
- Let go of my brother, Spreading Legs After Whiskey. - It was Veronica who gave her that nickname in middle school, when her peers started gossiping that she goes around clubs and sleeps with guys who drink expensive alcohol. - Unless you want me to embarrass you.
The 17-year-old, who pretends to be a student, turns to face Veronica.
- Have you started going to clubs, bitch?
Eric rests his chin on his hand, watching his sister get ready to attack.
- Bitch?
- And what should I call the person who destroyed my life in middle school?
- You should have thought with your head, not your ass. Rumors spread pretty fast in school, so it wasn't me who destroyed your life, but the person who saw you spreading your legs over whiskey. Letting yourself go at the age of fifteen? That's disgusting.
Tired from the long dance, Miranda returns to the table, but stops in mid-step and looks with panic in her eyes at her older sister, who is talking to Veronica.
Her heart rises to her throat because she knows what Kylie does for a living. More than a year ago, she accidentally discovered her secret. Her sister explained to her that she started doing it to have something to feed her family. Miranda found it hard to accept at first, but accepted that her sister had chosen such a life, since she was doing it in large part for her and her younger brother's sake.
There was a period of time when she went hungry, and Kylie made sure that her stomach would never be empty again.
But at Horace Mann, no one can find out that she is the sister of a hooker. Tonight Eric revealed that she is a "Pauper" anyway. She can't let them find out more, because she won't have a life at school. She will turn from a cool chick into a scapegoat.
She has to pretend to be someone she is not. It's a way to survive.
Kylie doesn't see her, so she hastily retreats to the back to avoid giving away her presence. If Eric found out she was the sister of a hooker, her life would be over.
- Sweetie, do you want to fall into my arms for the rest of your life? - She panics when a man embraces her around the waist. She hastily extricates herself from his embrace and disappears into the crowd of dancing people.
Eric, who spots her, raises an eyebrow being sure that her behavior is due to the fact that she is afraid to look him in the face.
- Be glad you were born into a rich family and don't have to search for guys with expensive wristwatches in clubs to make a living.
Veronica crosses her arms over her chest and snorts under her breath.
- Not everyone is born into a rich family and not everyone is a whore. There are other ways to make money, but it already depends on one's character. Some people just like to combine work with pleasure. - Her arrogant smile drives Kylie crazy, but the brunette just tightens her lips.
- Finally I can say: my blood," purrs Eric, pleased with his sister's attack.
Kylie nods her head.
- You're right, I was probably born to be a whore. Everyone has a destiny.
- But that destiny shouldn't concern others," interjects Lucas, who appears behind Veronica. - Take care of your life in the end. - He turns directly to his friend. She looks at him with disbelief in her eyes.
- Excuse me? Are you standing up for a whore?
Miranda's sister does not intend to participate any longer. She walks away from them to avoid confusion. Talking to Veronica doesn't make any sense.
- No, I just can't get over how much you are changing. Every day you stop being yourself, you are moving away from me. I can not only see it, but also feel it. Do you want to change your company? Do you enjoy spending time with your new boyfriend more than with me?
Eric is sprawled comfortably on the couch, unable to believe that tonight is so exciting. It's amazing that he's just lived to see the day when he witnesses his best friends' upcoming argument.
- What are you talking about, Lucas? Are you drunk? - Veronica tries to joke, but his face shows that he is not laughing.
- I think it's you who are drunk. Apparently I'm already boring to you, worthless, that's why you're spending less and less time with me and you're going to trade me for Kevin. Maybe he will turn out to be your soulmate after all? Maybe you have been wrong all your life, thinking that I am your other half of the soul? - he mocks, but she can see by his eyes that he has had too much to drink. The first time he tried alcohol, he acted like he wasn't himself.
The brunet tilts his head as he sees that behind the quarreling friends is a demon that feeds on conflict.
- Veronica, when you're done, I think your best buddy is going to comfort you," he turns to his sister, who finds the apparition with her eyes.
Tears appear in the redhead's eyes. The demon intends to destroy her life, to do the same thing he did to her brother.
- I've had enough of you! Disappear, be gone! - he yells, furiously stomping his foot. She shifts her frantic gaze to Lucas. She embraces his face with her hands, terrified that the phantom is about to take her best friend away. - Listen to me, Lucas. Listen carefully. You are the most important thing in the world to me, that will never change. Something subconsciously will stir in your head, you don't see it, you don't hear it, but you know I do. You know my secret. I've told you about it many times. I see a damn phenomenon that tries to destroy my life. Me and Eric are suffering because of her, so don't let her push me away from you.
Lucas looks into her eyes, believing she is telling the truth. Despite everything, it still hurts him that she hid the truth from him about Kevin, and now it seems to him that she feels more comfortable in the company of her boyfriend than in his. He has a bad feeling that he will soon lose her completely.
- But it is not the phantom who makes the decisions but you, Vera.
He looks at her with disappointed eyes as he removes her hands from his face. She walks away towards the dance floor, where Vanessa is still raving, holding a bottle of beer in her hand.
Veronica tightens her lips and lowers her face.
- In the end, you will be left alone. No one will believe that it is not your decisions, but those of a demon manipulator. You will feel the same as I did. You will suffer alone, you will endure everything I endured for sixteen years. - Eric pours himself another glass of whiskey and drinks it all in a stranglehold. - Welcome to hell, sister.