Zoned: Waking Up

"Do you guys wanna see the pretty face under the mask or what?" Jorel's words were slurred and his voice was like nails on a chalkboard to me. I was breathing rapidly and shook my head at him. Dylan and Jordon chuckled

"C'mon, baby, show us your face!" Jordon leaned forward and stood with Dylan.

"Guys stop." Jake quickly said as he stood.

"What? We just wanna see her face. There's nothing wrong with that." Jorel defended. He was paying more attention to Jake, and I saw that as my chance to get out of his grip. I quickly jerked out of his arms and backed up. They all noticed, and Dylan quickly grabbed my arm.

"Woah woah, we still payed for our dance." he said. I tried getting myself out of his tight hold, but he was too strong.

"Dylan, just let her go." Jake said. Scribs and Matt were just sitting and watching; not doing a thing.

Dylan completely ignored Jake and gripped me tighter as he pulled me close to him. He turned me to where my back was pressed up against his torso and he wrapped his arms around mine, making it difficult for me to move. Jorel and Jordon shared glances and chuckled. Jordon stood next to Dylan and started to play with my hair. Jorel stood in front of me and looked at my body. I felt as if they didn't just want to see my face. My stomach turned and I felt like crying. I was frozen and couldn't say anything. My throat was dry. I was so scared.

"Goddammit, guys. Just leave her alone!" Jake started to raise his voice, but Jorel got mad.

"Shut the fuck up." Jorel got in Jake's face. Jake wasn't nearly as drunk as Jorel, but he was too drunk to "fight." He rubbed his face and then rubbed the back of his neck. Jorel looked back at me and slowly reached for my mask. I tried wiggling my way out of it, but I couldn't. A rush of adrenaline hit me like a brick wall, and I yelled, "STOP!" No one recognized my voice.

"Shhh it's okay, baby." Jordon chuckled as Dylan and Jorel laughed. Matt and Scribs were still just sitting there. That was until Scribs said something, "Maybe we should just go home?" They ignored him, though. They didn't even acknowledge him. Jorel traced the designs on my mask with his index finger, and took a drink of beer as he did so. "You're not ugly, are you?" Jordon asked, still smiling. He and Jorel looked at each other and started talking.

"What if she's like those pig people from the Twilight Zone?" Jorel joked. Dylan and Jordon laughed and they all looked at me.

"Maybe she has a Michael Jackson nose!" Dylan said.

"Or a Squidward nose." Jordon added. All three of them laughed.

"Or no nose at all!" Jorel said. They all kept swapping ideas and assumptions of what my face looked like before Jordon said, "Okay, let's see your face, babe."

So much rage flowed through me. I felt my body heat up in Dylan's arms, and I began to breathe heavily. I was furious. It was all in slow motion, it seemed. Jorel reached for my mask, but I quickly kicked him in the balls. Everyone tensed up and straightened their backs in surprise. Jorel let out a loud groan and fell to his knees. Jordon quickly turned to me and, before I knew it, had his fingers under my mask. I didn't hesitate to headbutt Dylan and elbow Jordon in the chest. I finally had a chance to get the hell out and ran towards the exit. Before I could take a second step, Matt grabbed me and said, "Wait hold up!" He reached around me and grabbed my mask. Scribs was now standing in shock. I had my back facing the guys and covered my face with my hands. Jorel was still on the floor, but Dylan and Jordon were standing in silence. Jake swiftly punched Matt in the face. Matt fell back and tripped over Jorel.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" Jordon yelled. I picked up my mask and ran out of the room. Tears were running down my face and I couldn't breathe. I started hyperventilating. The music was so loud. No one was acting any different on the main floor. They were all acting normal. It freaked me out that no one even noticed the screaming and yelling. It was as if it didn't happen.

I stood in silence and tried to breathe. I ran out of the room and into the lobby of the club where no one could see me. I paced and tried to settle down but that only made my stress even worse. I was startled and screamed when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"A..." Jake stood there.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU FUCKING CAUSED THIS!" I screamed. I was hysterical.

"A, just calm down-" "DON'T TELL ME TO FUCKING CALM DOWN! THEY FUCKING ATTACKED ME!!!"

"Yeah they did. I didn't. Just listen to m-" "THIS WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU DIDN'T FUCKING LET THEM COME HERE-" "WOULD YOU SHUT THE HELL UP FOR A SECOND, A!!!" Jake finally raised his voice. I was so angry. I almost threw up from how mad I was. I let him talk after a moment of heavy breathing.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't get them to go somewhere else. I tried so hard to get them to change their minds about this place, but they ignored me. Victoria even tried to get them to avoid Circles. She suggested the dance club we went to, but they were too fixated on these 3 prostitutes we drove by. After we drove by, they wanted to see naked chicks and didn't change their minds about the strip club. I am so sorry." He said. I didn't reply. I just stood in silence until I started crying. Jake hugged me and let me cry. After a few minutes of trying to calm down, he asked, "Why is it such a big deal if they find out you girls strip?"

I didn't answer for a couple of minutes, but finally did after I took a deep breath, "We just don't want to be judged. We actually care about these guys and we don't want to be seen as just 'sex toys' to them if they knew we stripped."

"Okay that makes sense..." We just stood and hugged for a while. Up until I heard yelling and screaming through the walls. I pushed Jake out of the way and put my mask on. I ran to the room where the boys were, and saw them doing the same thing they did to me, to Richi.

"Oh look! She's back!" Jordon yelled. Richi was able to squirm her way out of Dylan's grip easier than I was. She kicked Jorel in the stomach, turned around, and punched Dylan square in the face. Jordon reacted with anger, and slapped her in the face. It didn't seem to hurt her very much since her mask was still on. But she was pissed. She jumped forward and tackled Jordon, making him fall back onto the couch. She was on top of him, punching and clawing at his face. Scribs tried to pull her off, but she accidentally elbowed him in the side. Jake ran in with a security guard and they finally got her off of Jordon. She was kicking and screaming at them as the security guard dragged her onto the main floor. People began to stare as she flailed. She got out the guard's grip and got to her feet. Tammy ran out from the backstage, and screamed, "What the hell is going on here!?" Richi ran her fingers through her hair, looked Tammy directly in the eyes, and screamed, "I FUCKING QUIT! "