Casey listened for a sign that either of her parents was still awake but all she could hear was the rush of blood and the pounding of her heart in her ears. It was just after midnight and Shalin had instructed her to leave the window in her bedroom open before going to bed. That way she wouldn't risk any noise waking her parents. 

 After saying goodnight to her parents, she had spent the rest of the evening trolling through her clothes, looking for something to wear. All of her favorite clothes now seemed childish in light of where she was going. She grabbed her phone and hurriedly typed a message to Shalin. 

"What should I wear?" The words tumbled out onto the screen.

"Wear your new shorts and meet me behind the shrub.  I'll grab a shirt from my closet.  Don't be late!" Came the reply. 

Not willing to risk another pair of pants being sliced up, Casey leopard crawled halfway under the bed to retrieve the backpack containing the illegal clothing. She gave the shorts a quick sniff and bulked at the thought of wearing them without being washed but then again, the sight of these shorts hanging on the washing line would give her mom a stroke. It was safe to assume that they would never make it to the laundry basket until she was at least twenty-one.

As quietly as possible, she lowered the backpack out of the window and into the flower bed. She stood and listened once more for any sounds but all was quiet. For once she was thankful for her long legs as she boosted herself out of the window and touched down lightly next to the backpack. She sat frozen between her mother's prize hydrangeas and looked out onto the lawn where she played as a child. The old wooden swing hung silently from the tree branch, swaying slowly in the cool night breeze. Casey rose to her full height and glanced over her shoulder through the window, and into the only bedroom, she had ever known. She stepped out of the flower bed and walked passed her old swing and away from the warm safety of her childhood room.

"I thought you were gonna flake on me. What took you so long?" Shalin whispered as Casey approached the familiar shrub.

Shalin was wearing a pair of low slung black jeans and a skin-tight black shirt. Her chunky white stomach was a stark contrast against the blackness of her outfit and her long dark hair. Casey briefly wondered how someone who lived by the beach could be so impossibly pale. She stepped behind the shrub and stripped down. It was more of a challenge to do in the dark but she eventually managed to put on the skimpy shorts and stuck out her hand for Shalin to pass her the shirt she had brought.

It was a black tee-shirt and Casey breathed a sigh of relief, glad that her belly button would not be on show again. Her relief was short-lived, however, as she lifted the shirt up over her head. The shirt had several horizontal slits cut into it, leaving inch wide slashes where the material curled in on itself. Her favorite turquoise colored bra peeked out from between the slits which adorned the front and back of the shirt. Casey sighed and made a mental note to confiscate her cousin's scissors.

"This is not a shirt! It's a fricking net!" she exclaimed as she stepped out from behind the shrub.

Shalin couldn't help but notice how loose her own shirt hung on her cousin's lithe body compared to when she wore it.

"That net beats the hell out of your pink little pony outfits." Shalin sneered. She stuffed Casey's clothes into the backpack and hid it inside the shrub. "Let's go before someone starts wondering why we like this bush so much," she said.

Casey followed Shalin as she expertly picked her way through the shadows, avoiding the soft yellow light which spilled from the street lamps. The docks were considered to be the shady area of Blue Water Bay and Casey had only heard whispers of the things that went on down there. By day, shipments would come and go from the mainland but by night, the rats, both human and mammal would crawl out of their holes to enjoy the cover of night.

The two girls stopped across from the club's entrance where two large barrel-chested men stood planted in front of the door with arms crossed and biceps bulging, daring anyone to cross them.

"Wait here," Shalin told Casey before going to talk to the bouncers.

Shalin walked up to the bouncer on the left, "Edrina and Eron are expecting us." She said in a low voice and nodded over her shoulder towards Casey. He nodded his approval and she signaled for Casey to come over.  She approached cautiously, certain that they were going to demand her ID  or even worse, call the cops.   When the bouncers did neither, she quickly scooted passed them before they could change their minds. Not even Casey's wildest dreams could have prepared her for the inner recesses of Club Slide.

To the right was a large dimly stage with four silver poles extending up into the ceiling and a young girl was spraying a solution onto one of the poles, wiping it down with a blue cloth. On the left was a long polished black marble bar with several bar chairs lined up in front of it. Three men sat at the bar nursing their drinks and a few others sat at the tables which were dotted between the bar and the stage.

Floor to ceiling mirrors covered the walls of the club, making the club seem larger than it was. Casey cast a sideways glance at her reflection and cringed inwardly at the turquoise bra which was now glowing beneath the blue UV lights above her. She barely recognized her reflection and looked away feeling a stab of guilt knot her stomach. The lighting in the club was lower than that of the stage and the bar and Casey felt slightly disorientated as she followed Shalin to a booth next to the Dee-Jaying station. She slid along the red leather seat and Shalin sat down across from her.  The booth was shaped like a horseshoe and the high backed leather couch curved around the table.   Casey noticed that Shalin seemed to be very confident of her surroundings for her first time in the club but the notion was forgotten when James and two other people appeared at the table.