Happy Birthday to Me

MARISSA

I practically skipped down the hallway in my apartment complex. I stopped at Harley's door and knocked loudly.

A moment later, Harley opened the door and asked, "Hey Marissa, back already? Did your auditions go okay?"

I smiled brightly, "Yes, my audition went great!" I replied.

"Wait, audition? As in only one?...Where did you go?!" he questioned.

"This place called Burlesquia. Have you ever heard of it?" I asked.

Harley's eyes widened, "Burlesquia? You got a bartending job at Burlesquia?!" he asked in a shocked tone.

"Uhhh...yeah. Why?" I questioned quietly.

"Congradulations!" Harley said with a smile, "Burlesquia is one of the hardest clubs to get a job at. Everyone wants to work there but no one is hardly ever hired."

I shrugged, "It didn't seem that difficult to me."

"That's because you're obviously the best at what you do." Harley complimented me.

"Thank you." I said as I smiled.

"You know what? We should go out and celebrate!" he said before he took out his cell and started to group text some people.

"Celebrating's cool, but I've got to go back to Burlesquia tomorrow morning to create a specialty drink menu and I don't want to show up tired as hell from staying up all night." I said.

"Don't worry, we'll be back in plenty of time." Harley said with a smile.

"You better be right cuz I really don't wanna be late on my first day."

"I promise you won't be late for work. Scout's honor." Harley said.

"Were you ever really a scout?" I asked.

"...No." Harley said quietly.

"You can't really make a scout's honor promise if you're not a scout." I said.

Harley shrugged, "Alright then... Chip N Dale dancer's honor."

"...I'm not really sure if that's better or not." I mumbled quietly.

"Oh-kay." Harley muttered just as quietly. "Why don't you go ahead and change and then we'll leave." he said, changing the subject.

"Is this not okay?" I asked as I gestured to the clothes I was wearing now.

I was wearing a purple button-up shirt Mikey had given me. It was a little long on me, just reaching past my butt and I rolled up the long sleeves. I was also wearing a pair of Frank's black skinny jeans and a pair of his black Converse high tops. It was the nicest outfit I could pull together for my bartending auditions.

I didn't have that much when it came to clothes. Just the clothes I had on my back the day I was dumped, what was inside the duffel bag and what band tees and skinny jeans and a few other items I bummed off the band.

Harley rubbed the back of his neck, "Uhh well... I just thought you would want a dress or something."

"Oh yeah, that's be great... but I don't have any dresses." I said.

Harley raised an eyebrow, "Are you one of those girls who doesn't like to wear dresses?"

"Err, no, it's not that.... I just have a very minimal clothing arsonal in my closet." I replied.

"Why is that?" Harley questioned.

I sighed. It wasn't exactly a conversation I wanted in the beginning of my new friendships, but for some reason it kept getting brought up. "About a week ago my parents kicked me out. Everything they allowed me to keep was put in a duffel bag and I didn't even know what was inside until they kicked me to the curb. Everything I call my own now either came out of the bag or it was given to me out of the kindness of strangers who became friends." I explained.

Harley was quiet for a moment before he said, "Yeah... that sucks. Luckily for you, you're friends with me now and I think I have a dress in your size that you'll love."

He started to walk up the stairs to his bedroom to get the dress, but I stopped him and said, "Wait, hold on, I don't want to wear a dress some one night stand left behind."

"Okay... I'm not sure if I should be offended or not... But anyway, the dress belongs to my sister and I think you two are the same size."

"Oh." I said quietly, "Uhh thanks." I added.

"No problem." Harley said before he continued up the stairs to retrieve the dress.

X----------X----------X----------X----------X

I slowly turned from side to side admiring my reflection in the mirror. I was wearing a black and white checkered dress. The checkered squares were about 1x1 big, it was strapless and tight and it showed off all my curves in just the right ways.

"Thank your sister for leaving this dress behind. I love it!" I called out.

Harley walked into his bedroom where I had changed and his jaw dropped at the sight of me. "Damn. You fill that thing out waaay better than my sister." he said.

"I can't accept that as a compliment."

"You're right. That was really over the line." Harley said, "But you do look smokin' hott."

"Uhm... thanks." I said quietly.

Someone knocked on Harley's front door. He smiled and said, "I'll go get that. You come down when you're ready." he said before he left to answer the door.

I checked my appearance on the mirror one more time. The last time I wore a dress was to my high school graduation and it was beyond ugly because my mother "didn't want me to look slutty for my graduation." My mother had final say on all my dressed only because she didn't want me to take any of the attention away from her.

"Well, Harley was right about one thing. I do look good in this dress." I said, "Oh, and I am totally forgetting to return this thing!"

"We're here~!" a female voice loudly rang out from downstairs when Harley opened the door.

"Hey Marissa, come down here and meet some of my friends!" Harley called out.

"Coming!" I called back before he left his room and walked down the stairs. Harley's apartment looked similar to mine, but the kitchen and the living room were reversed and there was a small balcony just off the living room.

Harley was standing at the door with two people.

The first was a busty blonde chick who was wearing a sequined blue top that tied behind the neck and a string around the back, a black leather mini skirt and black boots.

The second was a guy with short brown hair. He had an air to him like he was a popular jock in high school and carried himself as such. He wore a blue and white plad button-up shirt, nice blue jeans and a while pair of chuck taylors.

Harley smiled, "Marissa, this is Amelia and Jon. They live in the building too."

"Nice to meet you." I said as I smiled back.

"It's nice to meet you too, Ducky." Amelia replied in a thick Australlian accent.

I raised an eyebrow and asked, "Ducky?"

"It's what Amelia calls all the Vegas newbies." Harley explained, "Once you become a Vegas Vetran she'll either give you a new nickname or she's start using your first name."

"Oh okay." I said quietly.

"So why are we still standing around?" Jon questioned, "Let's go meet up with the others and party it up!"

X----------X----------X----------X----------X

Harley, Amelia, Jon and I got out of Harley's car in a half-full parking lot.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"We're at a club off of the Strip called Pig's Ear." Harley replied.

"Why off the Strip?" I asked again.

"The further you get away from the Vegas lights, the less likely you'll get carded." Harley answered.

"And the more likely you'll get in even if you're underaged." Amelia added.

I smiled, "Sounds good to me." I noticed five people walking in our direction and I asked, "Who are they?"

Harley looked up and smiled as he recognized the people and said, "They are the rest of our friends..... Marissa, I'd like to introduce you to the rest of my friends."

The first person who introduced themselves was a foxy red head. She smiled and said, "Hi, I'm Emma. I work at a club in the Rio casino."

The next person was a guy who had the whole bad boy vibe going for him. "Hey there, I'm Spike. I've had more jobs than I can count and I've been fired from all of them, plus a few extra."

"How does that even happen?" I questioned.

"That story is for another time, my dear." Spike said with a devilishly charming smile.

The third person, also a guy, didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the group. He was more neat, proper and had that who khaki slacks and polo shirt look going for him. He smiled at me and said, "I'm Pete. I fund all the group's outings and adventures."

"Huh?" I asked.

Harley leaned in, "His parents are loaded."

"Oh." I said quietly.

"I'm Ryder and I work with Harley." another guy introduced himself.

The last person was a sensable looking brunette and she said, "The name's JoJo and I work behind the hotel check-in at the Luxord."

I smiled, "It's nice to meet you all."

"So what are we all standing around here for?!" Amelia questioned, "Let's go party!"

The rest of the group cheered before we walked through the parking lot and got in line at the club's entrance.

"Looks like a 15 minute line." Ryder determined.

"Great!" Emma said happily, "We'll get in in no time!"

"Have you ever snuck into a club?" Harley asked me.

"N-No." I said quietly.

"Well then you better take great notes because you're about to learn from a bunch of pros." Emma said brightly.

I raised an eyebrow, "Wait a minute, I thought you guys were all of age."

"Harley is 18, JoJo, Ryder and Pete are all 19, and the rest of us are 20." Amelia explained.

My eyes widened, "Wow, really? You guys appear to be at least 21."

"That's the idea." Spike said, "At least we're doing something right." he muttered.

"Now when we get to the front of the line, Pete is going to tip the bouncer and we are going to walk with purpose into the club." Amelia instructed.

"But if the bouncer stops you and asked you for some ID look between mildly annoyed to extrememly pissed off. Pull out something that looks like an ID and flash it to the bouncer. Then flip your hair and storm into the club. It works every time." JoJo added.

"What if I don't have anything that looks like an ID?" I asked quietly.

"You don't have a school ID, a library card, or anything?" Emma asked back.

I shook my head, "No, I don't."

"What kind of person doesn't have any ID?!" Spike questioned.

I sighed. Here we go again. "My parents kicked me out about a week ago and I didn't have enough time to grab my wallet when they shoved me out of the car and left me in unfamiliar territory... Everything I have today was given to me from the kindness of strangers."

"Oh my God." Amelia and JoJo said in unison.

Spike rubbed the back of his neck and muttered, "Sorry."

"It's okay." I replied.

"Here, you can flash mine if you get carded." Emma said as she gave me her ID.

"But I look nothing like you."

"That doesn't matter." Emma said, "Just hold your thumb over the photo and it'll be fine."

As we got closer to the front of the line Amelia said, "Oh no. I don't recognize the bouncer."

"He must be new." JoJo added.

"Everyone be cool. Everything is going to be just fine." Spike said quickly.

Once at the front of the line Amelia, Jon, Emma, Pete and Ryder got in just fine.

I was up next.

I took a deep breath, flipped my hair and started to walk into the club.

But the bouncer stuck his hand out, refusing to let me pass, and said, "ID please."

I quickly flashed Emma's ID, taking care to cover my thumb over the photo, just as I had been instructed to do.

Unsatisfied, the bouncer took out a flashlight and said, "Again, please."

I tried to flash the ID again, but the bouncer caught my wrist and shined the flashlight directly over the card.

"That doesn't even remotely look like you." the bouncer said. He chuckled and added, "Nice try kid. Now get lost."