Chapter 3: Out Tonight

Kaitlyn knocked on Tessa's door and waited for her friend to let her in. A minute or so later the front door opened and Tessa was bouncing out the door; she was dressed in a black miniskirt, blue silk corset with black lace over it, and black knee high boots.

Kaitlyn looked Tessa up and down. "I thought we were going to Joe's; you look like you are ready to go out clubbing!"

"There's a new club that opened up downtown that I want to see; it is called The Grotto. And you promised that you would come out with me tonight." Tessa wheedled.

"Tes, you know I don't usually go out to clubs. That's your thing."

"C'mon Kait, live a little! It will be fun! Besides, I already told Chad to meet us there!" Tessa grinned at Kaitlyn, "So unless you want to be the bitch and flake on Chad, who you said that I should invite..."

Kaitlyn glared at Tessa, "Fine! Let me go home, change and then we can go."

Tessa grabbed Kaitlyn's arm and dragged her towards the car, glowing slightly rosy pink to Kaitlyn's eye. "It will be fun, I promise. And if you aren't having fun, well, we can go to Joe's."

Kaitlyn pulled into the crowed parking lot in front of The Grotto. Tessa had convinced her to wear an emerald green tank top, slim black jeans, strappy sandals, and a black and hematite choker. As they walked towards the club Kaitlyn could feel the base making the air vibrate, almost making it shimmer. As Tessa and Kaitlyn stood in line to get in they spotted Chad standing in the patio area; Tessa nudged Kaitlyn and pointed at Chad.

"Hey Kait; look who's here early! Bet he is waiting for you."

"Maybe he is waiting for you since you were the one to invite him."

Tessa rolled her eyes, "You know that he's into you. You can see his eyes follow you when you leave class."

Slowly the line moved forward and Kaitlyn and Tessa were checked over with a wand; Tessa flirting with the guy shamelessly as he scanned her. Kaitlyn shook her head, Tes was an incessant flirt but it was fun to watch Kaitlyn mused as they walked into the club.

As soon as they walked into The Grotto Kaitlyn started seeing colors on people. Tessa was glowing more rosy-pink the more excited that she got. But there were others that were faintly glowing; Kaitlyn could see different shades of many colors. All she saw was dimly glowing people, no sparkles around any of them. At least glowing people were easier to ignore than people with sparkles around them!

"I'm going to go fetch Chad from outside; I don't think he saw us come in." Tessa had to yell to be heard.

"Ok, I'll go get us a table or chairs, whatever I can find." And at least I can put off seeing Chad for a few more minutes Kaitlyn though to herself as she wound her way through the crowd of people. She saw a free table in the back corner and started to make her way over to claim it.

"Kait? Kaitlyn!" Kaitlyn turned around and saw some other people from her class making their way towards her. She pointed to the table she was heading for and waved them to follow her over.

When Kaitlyn got to the table she grabbed a few extra chairs so that everyone would have a seat. Christina, Andrew, Mark, and Michelle joined Kaitlyn a minute later.

"Jeff and Kyle are here somewhere but we lost them in the crush at the door" Andrew said as he pulled out a seat.

"Regular crowd we got here! I didn't expect to see you here Kait; I figured that you'd be home studying," Michelle commented. "You always seem so ... studious. Not someone to go out, relax, and have a few shots or something."

Kaitlyn grimaced, "It's not like I enjoy it, just has to get it done. Tes and I usually go out on Friday nights, but we usually go to Joe's and do some karaoke. I haven't been to a club in years."

"If anyone could have gotten you out of the house it would be Tes; she has way too much energy for someone as tiny as she is!" Mark joked.

"Hey, I may be tiny but I can still kick your ass Mark!" Tessa called as she wound her way to the table with Chad in tow.

Mark scooted his chair over to make room for Tessa to squeeze in next to him while Chad managed to fit himself in next to Kaitlyn. Tessa glanced at Kaitlyn and smiled when she saw Chad's arm casually placed across the back of Kaitlyn's chair.

As Tessa opened her mouth to say something Kaitlyn quickly said "So what do they have here that is good? I haven't been here before."

"We know you haven't been here before little Miss Studious that you are!" Kyle commented as he walked up to the table and fit himself in between Kaitlyn and Christina. Jeff stood behind Michelle and wrapped his arms around her.

"After this week I definitely need a drink; so what's good here?" Kaitlyn glared at Kyle.

"Why don't you try the Purple Orchid?" Michelle suggested.

"Or the Purple Fuck" was Tessa's suggestion.

"Do you guys have an obsession with purple? Geez!" Kaitlyn rolled her eyes. "Where do they get these names anyway?"

"I got an idea for you Kait! Let me go get you one." Tessa jumped out of her chair and started making her way towards the bar before Kaitlyn could ask what she intended to get.

As everyone waited for Tessa to come back to the table they started talking about the exam this morning. Jeff was getting very animated and waving his beer bottle around to emphasize his points when Kaitlyn realized that Tessa still wasn't back. Kaitlyn sighed figuring that Tessa had gotten distracted and was flirting with someone.

"I'm gonna go find Tes; see if she got lost." Kaitlyn pushed back her chair and started to get up.

"Don't worry about it, I need another drink anyway. I'll grab your drink from Tes, k?" Mark got up and pushed Kaitlyn back into the chair. "Besides, I think Mr. Possessive here would have a fit if you left him," he whispered in Kaitlyn's ear before moving off towards the bar.

Kaitlyn turned to Chad, "Look Chad, what's your problem? You never had a problem with Mark before."

"I don't have a problem with Mark," Chad looked sheepish.

"Aw, c'mon Kait, give him a break! Relax, have some fun; take after Tes for one damn night." Christina poked Kaitlyn's arm. "You need to have shot or something."

"Chrissie, in theory I have a drink coming; I don't need a shot on top of that."

A resounding "Yes you do!" from everyone at the table to Kaitlyn's comment shocked her. She didn't think that she was that uptight. Sure she didn't go out every weekend to party, but that was because she was in grad school; you just don't do that in grad school.

"Chad, why don't you go get Kait a shot? Or two" Christina winked at Kaitlyn.

"Uh, sure, I can do that." Chad leaned over "They have this awesome shot called 'Bonfire' here, want to try it?"

"Sounds like it could be interesting; what's in it?"

"This isn't chem class; you don't need to know what is in the dink as long as it tastes great Kait!" Christina remarked. She turned towards Chad, "Get her two; she looks like she needs it!"

As Chad headed towards the bar Kaitlyn sighed and turned to Christina. "Why did you do that? He doesn't need any encouragement."

"Kait, he has been into you since day one! Cut him some slack, let him buy you a few drinks tonight, dance with him, flirt." Michelle told Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn just stared at everyone at the table.

"What? Why do you look like you just swallowed something unpleasant? He is a good looking guy." Christina asked.

"Ok, I think this is a good time for me to leave and get a drink. Kyle?" Jeff looked back and forth between the girls at the table.

"Yeah, I'm with you J. Let's go find a drink." Kyle pushed back his chair and he and Jeff moved away from the table and melted into the crowd.

Christina and Michelle leaned closer to Kaitlyn, glanced at each other and then back to Kaitlyn. "Ok, Kait. What's going on that you're so against Chad?" Christina jumped in.

"Nothing; sure, he's cute and all, but I don't know." Kaitlyn really didn't feel like getting into a discussion about what had happened to her this week. Christina and Michelle were friends but they weren't anyone that Kaitlyn wanted to share something like seeing colors or Dylan with. So she temporized and said "I just don't really feel attracted to him, something just sets me on edge."

"Kait, how can you say that? He is the nicest guy in class!" Michelle exclaimed.

Kaitlyn saw a flicker of color out of the corner of her eye; when she turned there was nothing there. Something was off about the flash of color that she had seen; it was a sickly purple color. Kaitlyn turned back to Michelle and Christina.

When Kaitlyn looked behind her friends she saw Tessa winding her way back with a black haired woman in a black leather corset and black leather pants with metal rings down the sides of the legs. Mark was trailing along behind the two of them looking like a lost puppy. Tessa's eyes were shinning and she was very animated as she was talking to the woman. Tessa lead the group up to the table and announced "Everyone, this is Morgan; Mori this is Michelle, Christina, and Kaitlyn."

"Hi Morgan; pleased to meet you." Kaitlyn reached out to offer her hand to Morgan; as her hand touched Morgan's Kaitlyn felt a little jolt of energy go up her arm. Morgan's eyes were a chilly purple as she looked over Kaitlyn and then dropped her hand.

"The pleasure is all mine." Morgan's voice was smooth and very pleasurable to listen to. It reminded Kaitlyn of Dylan's voice but about half an octave higher.

"Oh, here is your drink Kait. Mark came over and reminded me that I had something to bring back to you." Tessa slide a bottle across the table.

Kaitlyn looked at the bottle. "Orange Blossom Beer? I didn't expect this kind of drink from you Tes"

Tessa shrugged, "I've had it before, thought you might like to start out with something different. Hey, where did the guys go?"

"Chrissie and Shell started asking questions so Kyle and Jeff felt a little uncomfortable so they went to get drinks. Chad had left before that Chrissie insisted I needed a shot or two." Kaitlyn grimaced. "It seems that they are pushing me at Chad as well."

"Well, Dylan is not here and Chad is. Why not just have some fun with him before you make up your mind? I think you should go home with him. And if Dylan does find out, well," Tessa shrugged, "Makes it so he has to work for you."

"Dylan? I have a friend name Dylan; maybe they are the same?" Morgan injected herself into the conversation. "What do you want to make him work for?"

Kaitlyn's voice was cool when she replied, "It is really none of your business what I make people work for or not. Excuse me; Chad is coming back with my shots."

Kaitlyn pushed back her chair and stalked off. Tessa watched her go, looking very confused. Michelle and Christina were looking back and forth between Morgan, Tessa, and Kaitlyn's back.

'What is wrong with me?' Kaitlyn asked herself. She could not figure out why she reacted so badly to Morgan's interest in Dylan. It wasn't like she was being possessive; she had no claim on Dylan. But something about Morgan set her teeth on edge and she really did not want to be around the woman. Kaitlyn walked up to Chad as he was balancing a few shots in his hands.

"Let me give you a hand Chad." Kaitlyn reached out for the two shots in his hand; Chad flashed her a brief smile.

"Those two are yours by the way Kait." Chad nodded at the two shots that she had taken from him.

"Thanks." Kaitlyn tossed back one and then the other shot in rapid succession. She didn't usually do shots but she was pissed and not thinking clearly. Kaitlyn looked at Chad, "Are you actually going to take those, or are you just going to stand there holding them all night?"

Chad threw back one of the shots, looked over at Kaitlyn tapping her foot and then took the other shot. Kaitlyn put her empty shot glasses on an empty table nearby.

"C'mon, let's go dance. I don't want to be around the table right now." Kaitlyn headed to the dance floor without waiting for an answer or to see if Chad was following her. She wanted to avoid Morgan and as long as Tessa was flirting with her, Morgan would probably not leave.

After dancing for about 45 minutes Kaitlyn needed some water and a rest; hopefully she could be civil towards Morgan. Kaitlyn headed to the bar to get a bottle of water. She didn't know where Chad was; he had left the dance floor a while ago and she had not seen him since.