To Caress My Day

The day of New Years came promptly. What was the year of 2012 would evolve into 2013. Twigs was excited for this only because she wanted to invest the coming year composing music and being with her boyfriend, Seth. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be seeing him tonight. She had left him a message to let him know what she’d be doing on the last day of 2012, but Seth hadn’t responded back. Who could blame him? Seth did say he’d be extremely busy and that his schedule would be hectic. Naturally, that meant phone calls, facetimes, and text messages would be scarce, and they were.

That didn’t change the fact that Twigs missed him greatly though. She missed him so much there were nights she tossed and turned as a result of thinking of him too much. Loss of appetite was another ensuing manifestation of missing him as well, and so she had to be careful not to think of him too much or else she’d perish of malnourished. Tonight was probably going to be no different. Tonight she was going to a party with her cherished friends. They were going to be her main focus, not her boyfriend.

Tugging down the hem of her shirt, Twigs drifted to a lengthy mirror she had in her room to reassess the outfit she aimlessly selected for tonight while thinking of her boyfriend again. Over a simple black vest top, she wore a black embellished top adorned with gold embroidery. Instead of going for a black pair of jeans she elected to go for a retro pair that would stand out the most. Opting for her typical stiletto heels, she tousled a few curls on her half-up half-down hairstyle before slipping on some circular orange tinted glasses. Her whole outfit was giving her disco vibes, and she was feeling it for the last night of 2012.

Instead of accompanying Amira to Percy Hopkins party with the rest of Neon Jungle, Twigs decided to stay behind to immerse herself with putting an outfit on and taking an outfit right off. Right now, Simone was meeting up with her GRL band members outside on the sidewalk of their apartment. Remarkably, they all were able to show up just in time for New Years. Twigs couldn't say the same for Tic, who wasn’t available to attend Hopkin’s party, but at least L.J and C’Yan would be there.

Shrouding herself in her long grey oversize coat from the coat rack by the door, she dropped her phone, wallet, and keys into the deep pockets before shutting the lights off in her apartment and locking the door behind her. Scurrying down to the first floor, she pushed open the front door of her apartment building to see GRL standing on the curb, flagging down a cab. Grinning, Twigs made her way down the short stairs and greeted them. “Hey, ladies! I’m glad to see you were all able to make it over here!”

Cloaked in long thick coats to ward off the winter chill of London, Emmalyn and Paula both whirled around at the sound of her voice and squealed with excitement upon seeing her. Simultaneously, they embraced her as if they hadn’t met once before, but a millions times before. “Oh my god, you’re here!”

“And you look so groovy tonight, baby!” Natasha exalted Twigs, imitating Austin Power’s voice before embracing her next. She too wore a long coat to keep herself warm.

“Thank you!” Twigs said, stretching an arm out to hug Lauren next who was the only other member of GRL that already lived in the UK. “That’s exactly the vibe I was going for tonight.”

“You hit the nail on the coffin with this number then.” Lauren nodded in approval. “Unlike these Californians who dressed in preparation for the cold last minute. They’re so used to the warm weather we had to scramble all over to locate a store that sold those coats the second they got off the plane!”

“Hey, you shut up over there!” Paula inserted past her giggles.

“Yeah, don’t tell our new friend how stupid we are!” Natasha seconded merrily. “We’re trying to make a good impression on her here!”

Emmalyn stepped forward to boast to Twigs. “I’ll have you know, I come from Canada so I get the gist of the whole cold weather thing.”

“Alright, you guys, I got us a cab!” Simone hollered to the group vying for Twig’s approval. “Get your asses in here or I’m leaving the lot of you behind to find your own ride to the party!”

Squealing with dread, the group ascended into a black cab that easily sat them on both sides, facing each other. Slamming the door shut, Lauren swept her long blonde hair out of her face to ask Simone. “Whose party are we going to again? I forgot his name.”

“Percy Hopkins.” Simone answered then turned in her seat to notify the cab driver of the address.

“He’s pretty cool. You guys will like him.” Twigs heartened the members of GRL. “I’ll admit he comes off kind of weird at first, but he’s not a creep.”

“He sure does give off the vibes though. Like majorly.” Simone cautioned them. “But seriously, try not to pay it no mind. He’s just weird, that’s all.”

“He’s not gonna kidnap Paula and make her a sex slave or nothing?” Natasha inquired, indicating Paula sitting next to her.

“Yeah, that would suck.” Emmalyn grieved, shaking her head in mourning over the thought.

Paula gaped at the both of them. “Hey, wait a damn minute! Why me!?”

“He wouldn’t hurt a fly, you guys!” Twigs promised them, giggling behind her hand. “He’s got a heart of gold. He just seems...strange upon first meeting.”

“And he throws one of the best and safest parties in London, believe it or not.” Simone vowed.

“I can’t tell you how many parties we went to where we turned out to be the lucky ones.” Twigs shared, shivering in remembrance of the horrors she heard happened to other tragic partygoers.

Lauren’s eyes widened as they darted between Simone and Twigs. “Do tell! What happened?”

“Well, me and my friends went out to a party and came back early. It was a bummer we had to end it so soon, but I wasn’t about to stick around without them.” Simone began. “We had entered my apartment and had just turned on the TV to find out a guy at that same party shot up the whole place!”

Paula gasped, horrified. “Are you serious!?”

“Did anybody die?” Natasha asked, a hand hovering over her mouth, her eyes deeply saddened.

“Thankfully not as many as were wounded.” Simone answered. “Although...a stray bullet did fire through the wall and killed a little girl sleeping in her bedroom.”

“Jesus!” Emmalyn exclaimed, closing her eyes and shaking her head in disbelief.

“And her parents were so distraught they killed themselves a few weeks later.” Twigs added with sorrow. “They couldn’t bring themselves to move on with life without her and wanted to be with her again.”

“Lord, no!” Lauren protested, not wanting to believe such an abominable tragedy took place. “Did they ever catch the person who did it?”

“Yeah, he turned out to be an American off of his medication.” Simone informed them. “There was almost an uproar to shut the Americans out of the UK for the safety of everyone’s children here, but that soon died out before it could hit the news.”

“My god, what else did you two narrowly escape?” Paula inquired, her brown eyes wide with suspense.

“Amira danced in the arms of a serial killer.” Twigs slid in. “He wasn’t a killer then but he was afterwards, had even went so far as to text her throughout his murder spree.”

“Shit!” Emmalyn cried. “Was she heartbroken?”

Simone shook her head. “No, she wasn’t in love with him. But I think she would have been if fate had not interfered. From what she told us, the man was a walking PERFECTION!”

“Clearly, not!” Natasha denounced with a shake of her head. “I haven’t known Amira long but she doesn’t deserve the Green River Killer as a boyfriend.”

I second that!” Twigs nodded firmly. “I’m just glad she never came across a dead body on the way home from a party like Percy had that one time by the pub downtown.”