FicWad

"Lia I don't see how the fuck this is gonna help me." I said looking at my reflection in the dingy mirror. We were back stage at the club. The strip club where Crystal works that is.

I don't even know how I ended up here. After Lia said she had a plan she and Crystal started whispering and then Jay and Brian came back in and the next thing I know Lia said that Crystal had to go 'to work' and we were all leaving.
Apparently Brian goes with her. At first I thought that was kinda creepy. I mean they're cousins and he goes and watches her strip? But I guess its sweet in a way. I mean there are a lotta wackos out there and I guess he's just keeping an eye on her. Kinda like Bob wanted to do for Lia...So that's not creepy, I guess. Well as long as its only one eye. And its not directly focused on her...But I digress...

Somehow Lia asked Jay if he wanted to go and have a drink there and then he said yeah and somehow we all ended up here. Lia was still bruised from the accident and ummm not to mention still underage so she wasn't 'working'. Just Crystal was. But she said she wanted to show me around. That I had all these crazy ideas on what goes on in a place like this and she was gonna prove me wrong. Like after tonight I'd be what? Supportive of her working here? Highly unlikely...

Jay and Brian went and sat at the bar. Lia brought me with her in the back. It was a small changing room. Kinda like a locker room only it had a long countertop against the wall with a large mirror. One wall did have lockers. The other wall was made up of all full-length mirrors. There were a few benches in the center and stools along the wall.
I sat uncomfortably on a stool in front of the counter trying not to watch Crystal as she changed out of her clothes. Lia dumped out a bag full of makeup and hair crap onto the counter. I smiled. It reminded me of Chrissy... She even had a fucking curling iron! I was gonna say something about is all this really necessary. I mean the club is fucking dark and smoky. The only lights on the stage were black lights. Just then another girl came in. Lia said her name was Molly or some crap that she was pretty cool. Crystal started talking to her as she unlaced her boots. I couldn't help but stare.

They were the most awesome boots I ever saw. Black patent leather platform stilettos. They laced up past her knee. She saw me looking.

"Can I touch them?" I say to her and she laughs.

"Usually when some one around her says that they're not looking at my boots!" Molly laughs lifting her leg up and putting her foot on the bench. I leant over and looked at her boots closely.

"Those are something else." I said admiring them and she smiled.

"Elle come back over here and leave Molly alone." Lia laughed. So I got up and went and sat back on the stool in front of Lia.

"What is all this crap Lia?" I said looking at the stuff she had spread on the counter.

"Glitter, sparkles... ya know shiny stuff Elle." She tells me and I make a face.

"Here try it." She says and I frown. "Come on!" She laughs and I sigh. I was too fucked up to argue. "Here put this on too." She says handing me a white tube top.

"I don't think so." I laugh.

"No seriously Elle the glitter will get all over your clothes." She says and I frown. "No like it wont even wash off." Lia says and l look over at Crystal. She nods.

"Fine." I say taking off my shirt and squeezing into the tube top. It was like 2 sizes too small. After 20 minutes of Lia fussing with me she said she was done.

"Isn't that better?" She says spinning me back around to face the mirror.
"Lia I don't see how the fuck this is gonna help me." I said looking at my reflection in the dingy mirror.

I was dressed like a stripper. Well not fully dressed. I mean I still had my jeans on. I was wearing the white tube top and my breasts were spilling over the top. Lia had clipped these long strawberry blonde extensions into my hair. She had my hair clipped halfway up in sparkly butterfly clips with curls hanging down. I had on like two fucking tons of makeup and glitter around my eyes.

"Are you nervous?" Molly said coming up behind me.

"Nervous about what?" I say a little confused.

"Well about going on stage." Molly laughed.

"I'm not going on stage!" I shrieked and Molly looked at me funny. I looked over at Lia. She smiled and nodded. "I am not going on stage." I insist.Lia continued to smile. "Lia if that was your plan then I..." I stood up and reached for my shirt. Lia grabbed it first and tossed it into Crystal's locker slamming the door laughing a little. "Nooo!' I cried out as she pressed the lock shut. She spun the dial and laughed. "Lia!" I yelled and Molly just looked at us blankly. She wasn't sure what to make of us.

"If you want it back Elle. Open it." She says smiling at me.

"Fuck you Lia!" I say and she laughs again.

"The combo is um 4-34-9." She says and I reach up and start twisting the dial. Nothing happened.

"Come on Li- fucking open it." I say and she shakes her head no.

"I'm not opening it until uh Crystal is done and were ready to go home." She says and I try the dial again... fuck... nothing. I hate combination locks... I look up at Lia.

"Please Lia." I say sweetly.

"Hell no Elle!" She laughs. "You can either sit back out here and pout or you could get up and get out there and dance." She says and I smile.

"Why the fuck do you want me to get out there and 'dance'?" I say and she looked at me like well isn't it obvious... "I cant fucking read your mind Lia!" I snap at her. I was so pissed. I hate when she pulls manipulative crap like this. Especially on me.

"Cause I want you to see." She says softly sitting next to me.

"See what?" I kinda laughed.

"See that... that there's nothing wrong with working here." She tells me and I frown. "Listen Elle... nothing funny goes on here. It's not a sin. It's not dirty. Its just a bunch of older men who cant even get it up, gawking a little." She says and I shake my head. "Yeah sometimes a couple of college guys come in and I'll admit -its fun okay." She says and I look over at Molly. She nods in agreement. Molly was fully dressed now. Quite conservatively too. I would've never guessed she worked here. "Elle... its just I thought it would cheer you up." Lia says as she got up off the bench.

"Cheer me up?" I say in disbelief.

"Well you know cause you were kinda down about Ger-" She said and I winced at the sound of his name. "See." She laughed a little. "I just thought the attention would cheer you up." She tells me and I roll my eyes.

"She's right." Molly interrupts. I look over at her like you've got to be kidding. "No seriously what was your name?"

"Elle." I say and she nods.

"Well, Elle." She says smiling at me. "There's no greater feeling then having everyone's eyes on you. Knowing they all want you." She says and Lia laughs. "And the best part is they cant have you. No touching you know? Its like such a power trip." She says and Lia nods. "I mean a lot of people say that stripping is degrading and it is... to the men." She laughs. "I mean they fucking pay to look!... to fucking look!" She laughs. I just smiled.

"I get what you're saying Molly but I don't think that I could." I say and she shrugs and grabs her bag.

"I'll catch you later Lia and it was nice to meet you Elle." She says and I wave by as she leaves.

"Soooo" Lia says nudging me a little.

"I'm just gonna go sit at the bar Lia." I say getting up and heading towards the door. She shrugs.

"No hurry Elle... Club's open till 2 am." She calls out after me. "You can get your shirt back then!"

I turn and flip her off as I walk out. I make my way back through the bar. Great. Everyone's looking at me. Probably cause I stick out...maybe just a little!

There was maybe 10 or 15 guys in there. A few were sitting at tables towards the back. Most were up front near the stage. I went and sat down next to Jay. Brian was to his right and I was to his left. Crystal was up on the stage and Brian was looking intently at... at... at the guys who were looking at Crystal. One of them must've said something offensive to her cause she shook her head no and was giving him a dirty look as he dangled a dollar in front of her.

"Motherfucker." Brian mumbled getting up quickly and circling around towards them. So much for not being degrading...

"You look..." I looked over at Jay as he spoke to me. He was smiling at me funny.

"Don't even fucking say it." I laughed and he licked his lips and looked me over again.

"You gonna get up there for me Elle baby." He says nodding a little.

All of a sudden Gerard's words came rushing back to me. If he really cared he wouldn't want...If I ever see you dancing with no clothes on I'd fucking...

Oh my god. I think Gerard really does care for me... And Jay doesn't. It all seemed so clear now. He does love me. Or else he wouldn't have cared so much.

"So?" Jay nodded towards the stage again.

"No." I said firmly. Jay frowned a little and downed the rest of his beer. He reached over and put his hand on my thigh.

"Aaah I guess your right." He chuckled a little. "I'd much rather a private dance anyway." He said running his hand along my leg.

"I'm not going home with you tonight Jay." I say lifting his hand from my leg. Brian came back over and sat next to me now.

"What the fuck?" He mumbles slurring his words pretty badly. Fuck how many beers did he drink?

"I'm sorry Jay I'm just not." I say and he stands up and grabs my arm roughly.

"Hey!" Brian yells jumping up. "She says she ain't going with you-then she ain't going with you." He yells at Jay, pulling his arm off me.

"That's the second time I bring you out and you screw me." He says as he collapses against the bar. He was wasted.

"no it's the second time you don't screw me!" He laughs. I look at Brian. He tries not to laugh.

"Jay why don't you let me call you a cab?" Brian suggests.

"Aw fuck you both." Jay mumbles as he stumbles out. He was beyond wasted.

"You're not gonna let him drive like that are you?" I say and Brian laughs.

"Naw he fucking does this all the time." Brian shrugs a little. "He'll fucking pass out in the backseat of his car, you'll see." He says and I frown.

"And if he doesn't?" I say getting a little worried. "If he decides to drive and fucking kills somebody then what?" I say loudly.

"He wont." Brian says smugly. I just look at him like how can you be so sure. "I got his keys Elle." Brian laughs pulling them from Jays coat, that he left hanging on the back of the chair when he walked off. I smiled.

"I like you Brian." I say and he smiles.

"I like you too Elle." He laughs. "Uh can you excuse me for a minute?" He says looking over my shoulder at the guy who was harassing Crystal before. Now he seemed to be bothering the other girl. I watched as Brian went back over.

He leant over and said something in the guy's ear. The guy got up gave Brian a nasty look and then walked out.
Brian came back over and sat down. We sat talking for a long time. He was a really nice guy. He was actually wanted to sign up for the army, but he was scared about leaving Crystal alone. They had a real dysfunctional family from what he told me and he was real happy that Crys found Lia. He just wished they found a different job. Apparently playing bouncer wasn't a lot of fun...

It was almost closing time. The club was practically empty. There was me and Brian at one end of the bar. A middle-aged guy smoking a cigar at the other end. They said he was a regular, his name was Al. Always sat in the same spot with his newspaper. Never looked up, never spoke but always left a nice tip... Umm Jimmy the bartender and two or three 'college' aged guys. Jimmy was ushering them out now. Lia was pouting cause I still didn't come up on stage.

"Were closing up now Al." Jimmy calls out and Al nods.

"Fine Lia... you want me to come up- I'll come up." I say going around the back of the bar and up onto the stage. If I don't do this she'll never let me hear the end of it.

"No the club is closed." She snaps at me.

"No its not. Not for another 2 minutes." A voice says. We turn and look its Al.

"I thought he doesn't speak?" I whisper to Crystal.

"He doesn't." She whispers back and looks over at Jimmy.

"Ga head." He tells me reaching under the counter and flipping a switch. The lights and the music come back on suddenly.

Crystal climbs down and heads to the back to change. Either that or she didn't want to watch Lia watch me strip. Lia went and sat next to Brian. I reach over and grab the pole and spin a little on it. It was kinda fun.

"You gotta take your jeans off!" Lia yells and I laugh. I look over at Al. He's got his face back down in his paper. Jimmy is cleaning off whatever bartenders clean behind the counters and Brian is trying not to look up.

"Oh fine!" I say sliding my jeans down slowly. Lia starts hollering cat calls at me. I was so not prepared to do this too. I had little girl underwear on. They were white cotton with little purple and gold daisies on them.

"That's fucking hot." I hear Crystal say from behind me. I look over at her.

"What?" I gasp.

"Your panties." She says and Brian looks up. I catch him looking and he blushes a little and looks back down. Crystal is fully dressed now but she hopped up on the stage. "Grab the pole like this Elle." She says wrapping her arms around and helping me.

"You know what it doesn't even matter now." Lia sighs. "He's obviously not coming." She says and I look over at her.

"Who Lia?" I ask and she frowns.

"Gerard." She says plainly

"Why would he come here?" I asked her.

"Cause I called him." She says and I almost jumped off the stage and choked her.

"What!" I yell.

"Remember when he said he didn't want to see you like that" she says and I just stood there with my mouth open.

"Well he was trying to 'protect' Jessica so I figured this is kinda the same thing ya know... he would come and stop you cause he cares..." She says her voice trailing off.

"Well I guess it's pretty obvious that he doesn't then." I say sniffling a little. He really doesn't care...my heart felt like it was breaking all over again. "It was a nice try though Lia." I say climbing down off the stage. Brian reached up and helped me down.

"Maybe this will make you feel better." He says pulling a dollar from his pocket. I smiled. He folded it in half. "Your first tip!" he joked holding it out to me.

"Ahh you have to stick it on me." I laugh and he smiled. "No I'm serious Bri" I tease him. "Either do it right or don't do it at all." I laugh and he hesitantly reaches over.

He's pulling on the waistband of my panties, trying to slip the dollar onto my hip with out touching me when I hear a familiar voice behind me...


"Get your fucking hands off her..."