Stranger with the Stars

Casual Encounters

“A club? You want me to go to a club for my birthday?” I questioned Archie while we were in the living room, attempting to follow some music video dances.

“Not just any club, you judgmental swan. Seriously, how the f**k are you doing this so well?” He huffed through the dance. Dance wasn’t Archie’s strong suite, but he needed to attempt to learn a dance or two for his Theater class. It was a group project of being able to put a spin on an assigned music video. Archie was already panting by the second attempt. 

“I just really love to dance. When I feel it, it just takes over my body. It’s exhilarating!” I was full of energy. It would take hours for a dance to wear me down. It was my happy place. The one thing I could do without judgement or without rules. It was mine.

“Jesus, could you just dance for me. This is so dumb. I could always say that I gave you my artistic vision with a cute outfit!” He was absolutely winded at this point, deciding to crash on the second couch.

“That would be cheating and you know it. Come on, it’s just a short dance. You just have to give it a lot of energy. You can sell anything that you believe in! I’ll let you take a short break.” I stuck my tongue out at him. I grabbed the remote and paused the song. I needed a break from reviewing the dance all morning. I tried to learn it in advance to help him learn the steps. 

“So, you said it’s not just any club?” I shot air quotes to him. 

Archie shot straight up from his slouched pose. He’d been talking about doing something out with a group for a while. We’d only been in for a few months at this point, but he and I were inseparable. I had tried to get to know some people, I couldn’t quite pin any names down but I was getting better at remembering things we talked about. Most of the time I was in my headphones or studying. The other students didn’t find me hard to talk to, it was just that I wasn’t sure what to talk about. The anxiety would build up to the point that I’d end up separating myself to recoup. 

“It’s a club, okay, follow along with me. It’s a club where you have to wear a mask to enter. No one is allowed in without a mask in order to make it more fun!” His eyes lit up like Christmas. 

“What, so we have to wear costumes too?” I eyed him. He scoffed before responding.

“No! You can wear whatever normal club stuff, but the mask is to make people feel like they could be more independent or brave. Honestly, it’s super fun. Some people end up taking off their masks when they leave. The owners and staff always have more elaborate things on to make them stand out from everyone else. Seriously, we should go. I have a mask you could wear!” Archie was now bouncing up and down on the couch. There was no way I was getting out of this one.

“It sounds fun. How many people normally go?” I was curious now.

“It’s always packed. I do know one of the bartenders, so don’t worry about getting in. I can handle that part. We could take some of the people from the theater class! Maybe those two girls from that one class in the lecture hall! Oh, this is going to be fab!” Archie jumped up from the couch, dashing up the stairs with his new found energy.

“WHERE WAS THAT ENERGY 5 MINUTES AGO!” I shouted up the stairwell. I didn’t get a response from him. I could hear him digging for something in his room. Looks like dance class was over for now, so I pushed the couches back in place. 

“I honestly think the club would be a good way to get out and explore. The mask would make it easier to be comfortable dancing, so you wouldn’t be easily recognizable. I know you fear people judging you.” Archie came back down the stairs, humming with excitement. I had made myself comfortable on the couch along the wall. He was holding something in his hands.

“Ta-da! Two masks. I’ll be the cute little kitty cat, and you can be the big bad wolf.” He tossed the second mask over to me. It was a light gray and white colored half mask. It would cover my ears, nose, and a good chunk of cheeks. I glanced at my phone's reflection. It was true, I could barely recognize my facial features. The only thing standing out is the skin around my eyes, my eyes themselves, and my lips. The nose was elongated to help provide the illusion of wolfness. The mask had false fur carved in, a black ribbon tied it around the back for security.

Archie's mask was a simple black cat. He even had a pair of matching ears. It didn’t stand out too much, and it only covered his eye area. 

“I’ve never really touched the wolf one, I prefer the cat one as I don’t want to cover too much of this gift.” He proceeded to do vogue poses at me, making sure I got to see the cat mask at every angle possible.

“Thank you. I almost didn’t recognize you. Are you sure you’re not someone famous? Oh wait! Sign my thigh!” I praised him. Archie rolled his eyes at me.

“Just say thank you and that you’re going to go. It will be fun. Just trust me. Who knows, maybe you’ll get laid!” He chirped running to the kitchen.

“I don’t want to get laid. I told you I didn’t want to get that far with anyone yet. I’m keeping this virginity locked tight. You’re gonna have to call Houdini to get in these pants.” I did want to wait until it felt right. I hadn’t felt it yet with anyone. I’ve gotten to the point of doing some hand stuff once. Then I never spoke to that person ever again. It just didn’t feel right to me to go any further.

“Yeah, yeah. Who knows? Maybe you’ll meet your lucky lumberjack.” He called out.

“I’m not taking anyone home. That and I’m not drinking. I’ll be the DD. I don’t trust anyone to carry me back home!”

“Fine, don’t get laid. However, drinking it is up for debate. We’re gonna either get someone to be the DD or get a cab or something. It’s your day to be drunk. So drunk, is what you will be.” Archie sang out to me, making his way back out to the living room.

“You win. I’ll try a drink or two. What are we doing for outfits?” I curiously looked up at him.

“Are you kidding me? Have you not looked through your closet? You’re like Hannah Montana with some of the s**t I’ve seen.” Archie said sarcastically.

“Oh… I forgot about those. I’ve never actually worn anything back there. Uncle Eren snuck them all in when I had my stuff in the guest room. He did say he was going to surprise me. It’s my size, just not quite my day to day taste.” I wavered my hand back and forth in uncertainty.

“Great, well I’ll just go tell the goblin closet to stop being a w***e and sneaking those dresses in. Come on, lets go pick something you can move in. Can you dance in heels?” He was making his way back up the stairs now, stopping to ask the last part.

“Is that a real question?” I craned my neck to look at his position.

“Fair. Come on.” He huffed going up the last bit. I lazily stood from the couch chasing after. 

In all honesty, I knew Uncle Eren was going to sneak some stuff into my bags. He had a hope I’d meet a man friend up here. I’d hope that Archie wouldn’t notice them. They weren’t  too bad. Mostly short dresses that were skin tight. There were a few low cut tops. 

After a while of holding dresses up to a mirror, a few try-ons, a lot of ‘oh honey’s’, it was settled that I’d wear a white long sleeve top that hung off the shoulders. For the bottoms I’d wear a satin black skirt with chains acting as suspenders. I paired it with a pair of black shorts to hide underneath. Paired with some fishnets and a pair of six and half inch boots with some metal chains hanging off the back. The outfit was actually super cute. It accentuated every asset without overdoing. I felt incredibly sexy. I paired it all with a deep smoky eye to help hide the skin around my eyes that the mask didn’t cover, and a deep black lip glossed up to the gods.

Archie decided to borrow a blazer and mini skirt combo. He tried to walk in some of the smaller heels in the closet, however we learned very quickly that he was as graceful as a newborn giraffe. Archie decided to stick with a pair of super low heel boots, and some sheer tights. He said he’d consider putting on some lipstick the day of, but wanted to wait to see how he felt.