I took one last look in the mirror before I left my house, on my first night out. I'd spent a fortune on clothes, make-up, accessories, shoes etc... I hoped it was worth the money.

I didn't look too bad. At the department store in the make-up section, the lady at the counter had shown me how to apply it properly, as I'd never really worn make-up before. I'd got my hair colored and styled- it actually looked quite nice for once. And in one of my new dresses, I looked OK. I was amazed how good I could look with a bit of effort. I didn't consider myself beautiful, yet it was a huge improvement.

I picked up my silver bag which contained my make-up and money, and walked downstairs to the door. "Dad, I'm going now. Don't wait up for me!".

"OK," I heard him reply. He didn't even say goodbye. He never seemed to care about me.

I got into my car and drove towards the party center of Tampa. I'd gone on the internet the day before and found out about clubs where people my age could get into without ID, by lurking on message boards. I bit my lip nervously as I drove. To most girls, a night at a club was just a normal Saturday night, but for me it was a whole new experience.

I found somewhere to park and went into the club. Like the people online, I managed to get in without showing my ID, it was easier than I thought. Music was pumping a cool dance track and people all around were dancing.

I felt really awkward. I sat at the side on a stool, looking around. Nobody had given me a second look.

Half an hour I spent just sitting there. Totally disappointed, I stood up and started walking towards the exit...

"Ooops sorry!". I'd just crashed straight into someone, how embarrassing!

"I'm sorry! Are you OK?".

I looked up and saw a girl of around my age, who was with a few girls and guys. "I'm fine thanks. Again, I'm real sorry...".

The girl smiled. "That's OK. Hey, weren't you just sitting by yourself? You're here alone?".

I blushed, hoping they weren't gonna laugh at me. "Yeah... I'm new to all this partying stuff, this is my first time here,".

"You can hang with us," the girl said. "Hey, I'd better introduce myself. I'm Angel...". She pointed at a pretty blond girl "...And this is Christina,".

"I'm Jessica," I added shyly, biting at my nails nervously.

"This here is Nikki, and the guys are Justin and Karl,".

"Hi," I said, giving them a smile.

"We're leaving now, this place is kinda dull," Angel said. "We were gonna go to another club, come with us if you like,".

I agreed and we walked outside. "I've got my car, I'll drive us," I offered.

The six of us piled into my convertible, and Angel directed me towards the club, which was towards the edge of town. "It's a real cool place, and they don't care if under 21's buy drink," Nikki said, as she lit up a cigarette.

"Here it is," Angel told me as we pulled up next to a cool pink building with palm trees lined around the outside. "Let's go, guys,".

The club was cool, they played really good music. "I'll get us some drinks," Karl said before heading to the bar. I couldn't help thinking he was cute!

"Let's dance," Christina said, pulling us onto the dance floor. "You know Jess, lots of celebrities come here,".

"They do?".

"Yep!" she smiled. "A few movie stars were here recently when we were here, and one of the N Sync guys comes a lot when he's in Tampa, I can't remember whick one though,".

"Wow!" I said, "That's cool,".

"And Nick Carter, he comes here," Justin added.

"He does?" I asked, my heart fluttering. I kinda liked Nick!

"Yeah- when he's not on tour, he comes here with his pals. He lives near by,".

"Cool. Oh did I say I used to go to school with him?".

Angel raised her pencilled eyebrows. "Did you, Jessica? Wow, lucky you! Nick's hot,".

"Yeah... well I haven't seen him since I was eleven, I didn't know him very well,".

Just then, Karl came back with a tray of drinks. He handed me a glass on a pink drink, a cool little umbrella floating in it. "Thanks," I said gratefully. I was about to ask what it was, but stopped myself. They might laugh at me for not knowing, I didn't want to lose my new friends after just meeting them!

Nikki and Christina were dancing to the beat of the music with Karl and Justin, but I sat on a stool next to Angel. She gave me a smile. "So, you haven't been here before?".

I shook my head. "No... well I'm new to clubs and stuff...".

"You'll love it here, the guys are hot!".

I grinned. "I can see that!".

I felt kinda out of place. I wondered if I stuck out from the crowd, if I didn't fit in to the scene. Angel and her friends, although very friendly, seemed too popular and good-looking for me. If they knew I'd been a lonely nerd at school, would they drop me..?

"How old are you, Jess?" Angel asked as she sipped at her drink.

"Eighteen," I said in a lowered voice.

She laughed. "Don't worry, no-one will hear! We're all underage too- I'm seventeen but the others are all sixteen, well Karl is nineteen. But we come here a lot and haven't been caught,".

I relaxed a little. "That's good,".

"Have you got a boyfriend?" Angel asked.

"Nope," I said. "You?".

She let out a laugh. "Well, kinda. It's an off-and-on kind of thing, at the moment it's off. As you can probably tell, Nikki and Karl are dating, so are Christina and Justin,".

I looked over to them, and laughed. "They look pretty close, yeah!".

Angel put down her drink and took mine from me, putting that down too. "Come, let's go and dance,".

"I'm not very good at dancing," I told her with a nervous laugh. I'd watched enough MTV to pick up some dance moves but I hadn't really had much practice.

"That doesn't matter!" Angel said, leading me over to the others.

Surprisingly, I enjoyed myself dancing. It must have been the drink taking effect, making me able to enjoy myself. We danced the night away, time flying so quickly.

"Gosh, it's late," I said as I looked at my watch.

"We're gonna stay another couple of hours," Nikki informed me as she danced with her arms around Karl.

"Oh, OK," I responded, walking over to pick up my drink. I'd lost count how many I'd had. As Karl was nineteen, he could get away with buying us drinks since he looked older.

I watched Nikki and Karl dancing closely, wishing I could have a guy of my own. I was kinda jealous. Angel must have noticed the sad look in my eyes. "There are plenty of guys here, you'll soon find one of your own!" she said, waving her arm in the direction of the dance floor. She was right- many gorgeous guys were there!

"Yeah," I said to her. "I'll have to come here again!".

"Come with us," she responded. "What's your number?".

Angel got her cell phone out and I did too, and we swapped numbers. "Where do you live?" she asked.

I told her. She raised her eyebrows. "You must be rich, living in that area...".

"Yeah, my dad earns quite a lot...".

We were interuppted by Justin and Christina. "We're going somewhere quiet to be alone," Christina informed us, picking up her bag before walking off with Justin, who's arms were all over her.

Angel laughed. "At least they're not fighting tonight,".

I ended up getting home at three am. Because I'd been drinking, I'd left my car outside the club and got a cab back. I had arranged to see the crowd again midweek, they said I could go to Justin's sister's party at his house. I looked forwards to it.

I kicked off my shoes and lay on my bed, still smiling. It had been a great evening! I'd really been missing out, all that time I'd spent locked away in my room watching TV. I loved going out, and now I had a few friends.

As I undressed, I put the radio on. It was playing a Backstreet Boys song. That made me smile as I remembered what Justin had said, that Nick sometimes went to that club. What if I saw him there one day? I'd liked Nick for a while- even at elementary school I'd thought he was real nice.

Not that I knew him very well- he was a year and a half older than me, so we were in different grades. But I'd remembered seeing him in a some school plays, he'd won my heart back then. I wondered if he'd remembered me at all...

My head was already throbbing, from the loud music at the club and all the drinks I'd had. I thought I'd better go to bed.

It took me some time to get to sleep. I was too wide awake, going over the events of the evening. It was kinda overwhelming- I wasn't used to going out, having fun, meeting people...

Now I'd had a taste of it, I wanted more. I couldn't wait to go out again.

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