Ace of Hearts

The club was dark, the only light in the room were dim strip lights behind the bar, allowing the staff to see who they were serving and get the customers required drink order. A few purple UV lights were dotted around the room, but apart from that, the only light came from the glowing paint that was splashed across skin and clothes. Bodies were packed in tight, with barely any room for them to breathe. Everyone moved as one on the pulsating dance floor, as stragglers tried to locate their friends, or make a trip to the bar.

Madison was standing by the dark windows, she could see the long queue of people outside, dying to get inside and dip their hands into the glowing paint pots waiting at the door. She could clearly see each eager face, but they couldn't see her. Her cheeks glowed in the dark, after she had carefully applied two lines of orange paint to each side of her face. Slade had gone one further and splashed yellow paint across her black dress, to which she had shrieked at him and flicked some orange into his hair.

She sipped at her lethal cocktail. The mixture burned her throat, but it tasted sweet on her tongue, so she carried on drinking. Her eyes scanned the room for someone she knew. Slade had disappeared into the crowd, with claims of going to empty his bladder, a while ago, and she had yet to bump into Blair or Austin.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips as a boy of about her age sashayed over to her, his hands were dripping with orange paint, a smirk danced across his lips as he approached her. "You alone tonight, babe?" He asked.

She raised one eyebrow, glancing down at his dripping hands. Choosing to ignore the weird stranger, she took another sip of her drink, hoping Slade would return and rescue her as soon as possible. She looked past the taller boy, hoping to spot someone she knew as a way of escape, but before she could move, the boy had pressed his glowing hands to her chest, creating two orange hand prints on her dress.

Madison shrieked and threw her drink in the boy's face. His smirk had grown into a grin and his body shook with laughter, as he wiped his hands on his jeans and rubbed his eyes with his arms.

"Taylor! Stop molesting girls!" A voice called, as another, more familiar boy walked over to them. "Madison?"

"Mike? What are you - "

"Oh, you two know each other?" 'Taylor' asked, looking between Madison and Mike.

Mike glanced down at the orange hand prints on Madison's chest, his eyes narrowing at Taylor, who shrugged innocently, hiding his guilty hands behind his back. "Slade's gonna kill you for groping his girlfriend."

Taylor's jaw dropped open slightly. "She's Slade's - " he motioned at Madison, who was still staring at the boys, her eyes wide, her empty glass still in her hand.

"Maddy!" Slade appeared by her side, his arm slid around her waist, his puckered his lips at her. She glanced at his glowing green lips, before shaking her head slightly, a smile dancing across her lips.

"Um, Slade, I think - " she motioned to Mike and Taylor, who were still standing before them.

Slade looked up at his friends. "Oh yeah, I know, I saw Greg in the bathroom." His eyes went down to Madison's chest, a frown creasing his forehead. "I take it you met Taylor then."

"Not officially," Taylor commented, he removed one of his orange hands from behind his back, holding it out for Madison to take, which she did, gingerly. "Taylor Juwig, at your service."

"Um, hi," she smiled faintly at him, dropping his hand quickly. It had all been a little strange, and it had all happened in a matter of minutes.

"I think me and you will be good friends."

"If you hadn't groped her, maybe," Mike shook his head, disappearing into the crowd in an attempt to fight his way over to the bar.

Madison removed herself from Slade's grip and excused herself to the toilets. She moved in and out of the crowd, before pushing the door open and stumbling inside. She stood before the mirrors in the room, as girls walked around her, washing their hands and re-applying their make up. She sighed heavily, studying her weary reflection. She pulled her dress up slightly, the hand prints moving as she did so. Her cheeks were pink from the heat and her hair was slightly frizzy.

"Maddy!" A familiar and comforting voice cried from behind her. She spun around to see Blair standing in the doorway. Her best friend was wearing a black dress that clung to her frame, and heels that were way too big for her. She wobbled slightly, before walking over and throwing her arms around Madison. "Where have you been hiding all night?"

"Well, Slade went to pee, so I was waiting for him by the door, and then - his friends are here, did you know? Anyway, I got molested by one of them, who wasn't at the party, I don't know who he is, Taylor J- something."

Blair's eyes narrowed, "Taylor Juwig?"

Madison nodded, "that's the one."

Blair grabbed Madison's wrist and stomped off out of the bathroom. "I thought they'd kicked him out already! Ugh!" She pulled Madison back through the sweaty crowd, ignoring the filthy looks for pushing someone out of the way. Slade and Taylor were still in the same spot Madison had left them in, but now they were joined by Mike, Adam and Greg. The five boys grinned at the two girls, even though Blair had a face like thunder.

She grabbed Taylor's arm and pulled him towards the door. "You, were supposed to be gone ages ago!"

"Blair, baby, don't do this!" Taylor cried dramatically.

"Get out!"

"No! I'll be good, I promise!"

Madison looked at the four boys expectantly, whilst Blair and Taylor fought. "Am I supposed to understand what's going on here?"

"Taylor hit on Blair, so then he and Austin got into this really girly slap fight. You should've seen it, Maddy, it was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time," Mike grinned. "Some security guy kicked Taylor out, but he got back in through the back door."

Madison smiled, watching Blair drag Taylor towards the door. He was waving his arms around in the air, as she gritted her teeth and pulled on his arm.

"Can I get my kiss yet?" Slade pouted, puckering his glowing green lips at her again.

She chuckled and lightly kissed his lips, leaning away from him. He frowned and shook his head. "Not good enough." Madison scoffed and kissed him again, this time Slade wrapped his arms around her tightly, not setting her free. He pulled away after a moment, grinning at the paint that was now smudged all over Madison's lips. He kissed both her cheeks and forehead, creating glowing lip prints.

"Blair, don't kick me out!" Taylor pleaded, dropping to his knees on the sticky floor.

Madison giggled at their argument. She wrapped her arms around Slade's waist, pressing herself against him. She finally felt content, as if she was on her way to being happy again, and then a buzzing in her bag brought her out of her happy thoughts.

She pulled her phone out and glared at the screen. Only two people could ruin her mood right now, and one was on the other end of the line.