Punked – a way to describe someone ripping you off, tricking you, teasing you, or making you feel foolish.

My name is Daniel White and the story I’m about to relate to you occurred a couple years ago now. I had been invited to a party by a friend of mine who thought I needed to “get out and socialize a bit.” You see, I had just been through a rather nasty breakup – finding my girlfriend with someone who I always thought was my best friend – and I hadn’t been seen much in the dating circles. So Julie invited me to a party she was planning on going to. She thought I might enjoy getting out of the house and meeting some people I didn’t usually associate with.

“So what kind of party is this again?” I asked Julie when she called to invite me.

“It’s called a steampunk party. Steampunk is a relatively new fad where people dress in fashions from the Victorian era – you know, bustiers and corsets and long dresses. But the twist is that the outfits also contain elements of old-fashioned steam-powered machinery, hence the name steampunk,” she said.

“Well, it will be interesting if nothing else!” I said. I wasn’t putting a whole lot into the night, but like Julie had said, it’s not a crowd I would run into usually, so if it didn’t work out, I wouldn’t lose anything.

“Wait a minute though ... do I have to dress up for this party too?” I asked, “Because I just gave the last of my corsets and long dresses to Goodwill!” I said, laughing.

“Silly! Yes, you have to dress up – that’s the fun of the whole thing. But don’t worry, we will find you something to wear. There’s a new shop that opened up in town that has costumes appropriate for this. And the best part is, once the party is over, you can sell it back to them if steampunk isn’t for you!” she said.

The next day, I met Julie at the shop she told me about to look at getting me a steampunk outfit. I had no idea at all what the hell “steampunk” was all about, but I trusted Julie and since she was going to the party too, I figured she could smooth things for me.

I walked out of the shop about an hour later with my outfit – a patterned vest, a long overcoat, knee-high lace-up boots, a top hat, and welders goggles! She “accessorized” me with a pocket watch and a walking cane as well. Not something you’d wear to the local market, but I shrugged and went along with it – after all she knew more about this than I did!

The night of the party, I got decked out in my “punkwear” (is that even a word?) and drove to the address of the party. The party was being held in the main conference room of a hotel here in town and as I walked in and up to the front counter, the nice girl behind the desk directed me to where the party was. “Nice outfit, Sir!” she said as I turned to head to the party. I smiled back at her and then headed down the short hallway to the party.

I could hear the music playing as I got closer to the conference room and when got to the door and opened it, I felt like I just stepped out of H.G. Wells’ time machine and I was back in Victorian England! I just stood at the door for a couple moments, taking in the sight of all the people dressed in their funky steampunk clothes. It was strange, but at the same time strangely exciting too!

Once I got over my initial shock and surprise, I started looking around for Julie who was supposed to be here to help me fit into this unorthodox and unusual crowd. But finding Julie in this group might be more difficult than I first envisioned ... a lot of people had their faces partially hidden by their goggles or by other parts of their costumes. And there were a surprising number of people at this shindig too – I didn’t realize that this steampunk thing was so popular!

I walked around for a bit, trying to pick Julie out of the crowd but having no luck at it. There were a lot of people at this party ... some were dancing, others talking in groups and in couples. Some were up at the buffet table set up on one side of the room. So after a fruitless look around, I decided that I would park myself at the bar and let Julie find me. I kept my eye out as well in case I caught sight of her.

But instead of Julie, my eye caught something else ... something infinitely more interesting too! Sitting at a table not too far away from me was a very attractive brunette with her eyes firmly fixed on me and when our eyes met, she smiled at me. I took note she was sitting alone and I didn’t see any telltale signs she was with anyone – the other chairs at the table were still pushed all the way in and there wasn’t any other coats or anything that looked like she had company at the table.

I knew she was looking at me too, there wasn’t anyone else close by that she could have been looking at. The only other person close to me was watching the news on television, oblivious to the goings on around them.

So I summoned up my courage and my drink and went over to her table. “Are you here with anyone?” I asked her.

“No,” she said, “I was supposed to meet someone here, but she didn’t show up.”

“Would you mind some company, then?” I asked.

“Not at all. Actually, I was hoping you would come over. My name is Anna. I saw you when you walked in ... you looked like you were a little lost. Is steampunk not your scene?” she asked.

“Hi Anna, my name is Daniel, nice to meet you. And to tell you the truth, this is the first I’d ever heard of it. A friend invited me to come to the party. She is supposed to meet me here, but I don’t see her,” I said.

“Yeah, Julie was supposed to be meet me here. But I got a text from her a couple minutes ago telling me she couldn’t make it,” she said.

“Really? My friend’s name is Julie too!” I said surprised.

That’s weird! Wouldn’t it be funny if it was the same person!” Anna said humorously.

“Well my Julie is Julie Moore,” I said.

The girl almost choked on her drink! “No way – that’s who I am waiting on too! Julie Moore? 26 years old, about 5’6” tall, with brown hair and hazel eyes?”

“Yes, that’s the same girl! That little shit – we’ve been set up!” I said. We both laughed at our mutual friend’s matchmaking.

“I guess you could say we’ve been steampunk’d!” Anna said.

“Yeah I suppose so!” I agreed

“Well, since she’s got us here, we may as well make the best of it. I do hope you’ll stay for a bit?” she said.

Anna did seem like a pleasant person and Julie did go to a lot of trouble ... besides I’d hate to take these clothes back without at least giving them a good chance! “Sure why not!” I said.

“Oh good! It’s been a long time since I have been out and I miss getting out and socializing,” she said.

“Yeah the same for me ... maybe Julie is trying to put together two lonely souls!” I said, grinning.

We started talking, telling each other about ourselves and our past relationship woes. She had broken off an engagement when she learned her boyfriend was abusive, and I told her about my girlfriend cheating on me. The more we talked, the more we found we had a lot on common – both of us liked the same kind of music, both of us liked going out to dinner and going for long drives in the country. I learned that Anna worked as a secretary for a law firm, and that she had moved here about five years ago because “the big city” just got to be too dangerous. I learned that she had been “into” the steampunk idea for some time, but this was her first actual steampunk party.

I told her that I grew up in this area, although in the next town over, and I was a firefighter. She really seemed impressed with that.

“Ooh, a firefighter!” she said, sitting up straighter and snuggling a little closer. “I’ve always had a ‘thing’ for firefighters!” That made me feel good and very quickly the subject changed and I started telling her about my job, some of the things I’d seen and done (the nicer, less traumatic things!).

“Did you ever rescue a cat from a tree?” she asked.

“No, but I did help get a kid out of one once. He had climbed higher than he thought, and was too scared to climb back down. So his mother called us and we brought the ladder truck in to get him down,” I told her.

“Hmmm, maybe I should climb a tree ... would you come and rescue me?” she asked coquettishly.

“Well, I would come get you out of the tree ... as for the ‘rescue’ part, that would depend on how you define rescue!” I said, parlaying her innuendo.

“At least you rescued me from a boring party where I would have been all alone!” Anna said. She moved her hand over mine and looked at me with her soft green eyes. I was definitely feeling this going to a different level, but I wanted to make sure I was picking up the right signals before I made any moves.

“Would you like to dance,” I asked her when the DJ for the party played a slow song.

“Mmmhmm,” she said. I stood up and offered her my hand and she took off her goggles, leaving them on the table before we walked onto the dance floor. There were several couples already dancing, so we found a spot where we could move around a bit. I pulled her close and she melted into me, laying her head on my shoulder.

We danced and I have to admit she felt really good, her soft warm body pressed to mine. And I must have felt good to her because once we got into rhythm with one another, her hand went from on my shoulder to my cheek and then around to the back of my head to play with my hair. I started to get a little stiff in the crotch and I was hoping she didn’t notice – I didn’t want to send any unwanted signals either!

But it turns out, I didn’t have too much to worry about. She pressed herself against me and when she felt me growing because of it, she pressed in a bit harder. We finished the dance and stood there a bit longer, until we both decided we should go back and sit down. As we sat down, the DJ started playing another song and that’s when I went for broke.

“Anna, would you like to go someplace quieter ... it’s too loud here to talk without shouting,” I said.

“Please! This music is starting to give me a headache!” she said. So instead of having another drink, we quickly downed what was left of ours so we could leave.

“Just give me a minute to go freshen up, okay?” she asked. I nodded and she went off to the ladies room. A couple minutes later she came out and we left the party arm in arm.

I walked with her out to the front of the hotel “Where are you parked?” I asked her.

“Oh, I didn’t drive here. I took a cab. Julie was supposed to take me home after the party. I don’t have a car – there’s not a lot of parking at my apartment building and I don’t need the extra expenses of a car,” she said.

“Well, that will make it easy then – we’ll take mine!” I said. We walked over to where I had parked my car.

“What, no fire truck?” she asked playfully when we got to my car.

“Well no ... they frown on us picking up beautiful women at parties in the fire trucks. You’d kinda have to light your apartment on fire. Sorry department rules!” I said grinning.

“Well, at least I got a firefighter, if not the fire truck. Do you drive the trucks?” she asked.

“No, I sit on the right side of the truck. I’m the Captain – I go into the fires with the crew. The driver has to stay with the truck and operate it – he misses out on all the fun!” I told her.

“Oh I see,” she said, visibly impressed.

We started driving and I asked her. “So Anna, where would you like to go?”

“Daniel, I hope you don’t think I’m being too forward, but could we go to your place? I’d invite you to my apartment, but it’s pretty small and like I said, parking is a pain. You’d have to park down the street, and I’d feel terrible if anything happened to this nice car. My apartment isn’t in the best neighborhood,” she said.

“That’s fine with me Anna, honey,” I said, and we headed back to my place.

It took us about twenty-five minutes to get to my place from the hotel – I lived in a quiet little suburb just north of the main part of town. During the drive, Anna made her intentions more clear, putting her hand on my thigh and moving it slowly up to where she found a rather large bulge waiting for her. She cooed happily at finding me getting ready for her, and she gently rubbed the lump in my trousers as I tried to concentrate on keeping the car on the road.

We made it safely home, no thanks to Anna, and as we pulled into the driveway, she commented on the house. “Oh, Daniel! This place is beautiful!” she said. “So much nicer than my apartment!”