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I must've fallen asleep before James came to bed that night, because next thing I knew, my alarm clock was screeching loudly in my ear. I slapped the "off" button down on the alarm clock to get it to shut up, and then crawled out of bed. I was still dressed in my clothes from last night so I didn't mind wandering around in the bedroom with the two guys. Wandering over to bag of clothes, I searched for something to wear. A black sequined top that didn't even cover up my belly caught my attention. I had always liked sequins. They were so sparkly and shiny! I had resisted wearing the top before because I figured James would probably call me a hooker again, but today, I found that I actually wanted to piss James off.

I was pretty mad about the whole situation with Ron. Seriously, who did James think he was to just go inviting people to share our room without asking me about it first? I had thought that we were on this journey together. Apparently, James was the one who was going to make most of the decisions. That was fine, but that meant I was going to dress however I wanted to and not give a shit to what he thought of me. I dug through my bag and selected a short jean skirt that couldn't have been any shorter without exposing my panties. Grabbing the clothes, I popped into the bathroom and quickly dressed in them.

After that, I decided to continue my slutty look. I yanked off the cap to a tube of blood red lipstick before smearing it all over my lips. After that, I applied dark, heavy lines around my eyes and a whole lotta mascara. After placing my feet into my black stilettos, I found the effect to be quite attractive. The girl who looked back at me in the mirror looked like she was just begging for attention. No guy was going to be able to resist giving me a second look. I might look cheap and easy, but who cared? I was mostly doing this just to get revenge on James. I know revenge isn't exactly a good thing, but I couldn't help this. I was really pissed off at him. When I was angry, I usually ended up making a lot of rash decisions.

Striding into the kitchen, I flopped down on the couch and waited for James to get ready so he could drive me to work. But after five minutes of waiting, I was starting to get pretty impatient. Suddenly, I realized there was an alternative way to getting to the club. I didn't have to wait for James. Lars had told me I could take a bus. That was exactly what I would do. I thought about leaving without even telling James where I was going, but then decided I wasn't that evil.

If I left without even a note, James would probably have a heart attack or something. I pulled a sheet of notebook paper off of a pad of paper lying on the counter and quickly scribbled James a note about how I had decided to take the bus to work today. Placing the note on the table, I started to head out the door. Suddenly, I heard laughter and the chatter of voices from the bedroom. My heart sank again. I was really jealous of how much attention James was suddenly paying to Ron. It was nice that James had friends, but really, he seemed like he had completely forgotten about me! I should be the one who he was talking to and getting dressed with in the morning - not Ron. Green with envy, I kicked open the apartment door and headed down to the hotel lobby. After passing through the lobby, I headed outside and found a sign that read "bus stop."

I stood by the sign and waited. Glancing at my watch, I realized that the next bus should be arriving in the next five minutes. Rubbing my hands together to keep warm, I paced back and forth in front of the bus stop sign. Just as expected, the bus pulled up in five minutes. I hurried to enter it and walked up to the bus driver.

"Um...could you stop by the Tatou Super Club?" I asked him tentatively. The bus driver nodded without even looking at me, "Yeah, sure. We're driving by that area of town. That's gonna be three dollars." He opened his hand out and stretched it towards me for the money. I dug around for the money in my purse and then dumped it into his hand. Without bothering to count it, he stashed it away in his pocket and jerked his hand towards the back of the bus.

I walked in the direction he had pointed me in, and sat down by myself on one of the back seats. As I waited for the bus to take off, two other people entered. To my delight, they sat up front and didn't even look in my direction. That was good. I didn't really like drawing attention to myself. I was still shy and didn't like talking to people unless I was in very safe conditions. Normally, I would've been scared in the Tatou Super Club, but for some reason, I trusted Marty with my life. He was just one of those people who seemed like he had never told a lie in his life.

Finally, the bus started up with a loud grumble and we were off to the club. I was surprised when we reached it in only five minutes. The ride in the bus had been kind of bumpy, but otherwise, it had been quite nice. I definitely preferred it to riding in James' old truck. After all, in the bus, I didn't have to deal with the annoying country music, the broken heater, or James.

After thanking the bus driver, I climbed out of the bus and hurried towards the club. I pushed the doors to it open and stepped inside. Usually, I was able to slip through the groups of people and head straight back to the bar. Unfortunately, that was not the case today. As soon as I was inside, several guys turned to look at me.

Suddenly, five of them were trying to talk to me and trying to take my hands to lead me away to only God knows where. Feeling small and scared, I pulled away from them and ran towards the back of the club until I reached the bar where Marty and I worked. I hadn't thought about the consequences of dressing like this. I was obviously going to have guys looking me over all day.

When Marty saw me, he raised an eyebrow, "You look different today. What's up with the change in your dress code?" Oh god, so even Marty had noticed the difference. I supposed it was probably a pretty big difference between my boring black pants and sweater from yesterday, but still! Blushing, I shrugged, "I'm pissed off at something."

Marty laughed in his usual friendly way, "Okay...I don't really get how that changes the way you dress, but I suppose you have your reasons for it." That was something I liked about Marty; he didn't keep asking question after question. If he sensed that we were talking about an uncomfortable subject for me, he would just shut up about it. That was nice.

~ ~ ~ ~

The rest of my day at work was much busier than usual. Apparently, everyone wanted to see who the "sexy new bartender" was. I had ten guys ask me for my phone number and even more guys asked to buy me drinks. I turned them all down and didn't give out my phone number, but I felt a little boost in confidence. I had been so convinced that I was ugly and that nobody would ever pay attention to me. Maybe James had been right about my appearance. Maybe I wasn't all that ugly after all.

"You should dress like that everyday," Ray remarked as I was getting ready to go home. "We had way more sales today than we usually have. All the guys seemed attracted to you." I rolled my eyes and shrugged as I swung my purse over my shoulder. Giving Marty a little grin, I called over my shoulder, "I only dress like a whore if I'm pissed off. Remember that!"

I hurried towards the door to the club, hoping to get out of the club before a bunch of guys started circling me. I had just reached out my hand towards the doorknob when I felt a hand grab mine. A voice in my ear said, "Hey! Where are you going?" I stopped in my tracks and resisted the urge to curse. I had almost made it out of the club! Too bad this guy had to notice me at the last moment. Turning around to see who the guy was, I noticed it was the blonde guy with the curly hair who had talked to me yesterday about the band and stuff. His face looked slightly different today, but maybe that was because he had kept his sunglasses on. Figuring that this guy was safe and that there was no need for an instant retreat, I stopped and decided to talk to him instead of yanking away and running out the door to safety.

"I'm just heading home," I told him. "How about you?" He shrugged and looked me over. Leaning against the wall, he released my hand and replied, "I'm not doing much. Hey, guess what though? I contacted Lars last night and went over to his house to audition for the band this morning. The audition went great, and now the band is complete! Isn't that awesome?"

"Yeah, it is," I said wryly. Then suddenly, a thought occurred to me. I quickly added, "Um, I know this is a weird question, but you have an apartment or house somewhere, right?" The blonde guy looked at me with one of those you-are-kinda-crazy looks. Finally, he answered, "Well, yeah. Don't we all?"

I sighed with relief. For a moment, I had been worried that James might try to invite another guy to stay with us in our apartment. If he did that, I would definitely be leaving. There was just no way I was going to share an apartment with three other guys. I waved my previous question away and said, "Don't ask, it's a long story. Anyways, I'd better be heading home now."

"Oh," the blonde guy's face fell instantly and then quickly lit up again, "Hey, do you have a ride home today with your friend? If not, I could drive you back to your apartment." I hesitated before answering his question. It was true that I didn't have a ride for tonight. I had planned on taking the bus back to the apartment, but that meant I was going to have to wait at the bus stop for a while. I was tired and didn't really feel like doing that. But on the other hand, it probably wouldn't be too smart to jump in a car with some guy I didn't really know. However, I was still in pissed off mode and felt like doing something reckless.

"Nah, I don't have a ride. That'd be nice if you could drive me back to the apartment. It's only like three minutes from here. You sure you don't mind?" I asked. Okay, maybe the decision to let him drive me was stupid, but he did seem like a safe enough guy. Anyways, he sure looked happy about it. His eyes had lit up and he was already heading towards the door.

"Of course I don't mind, girl," he replied, opening the door to the club politely for me. The two of us walked down the sidewalk and climbed into the guy's Oldsmobile. I carefully sat down into the front seat and watched as the blonde guy pulled out of the parking lot. As we traveled along, I decided to try to make conversation, "So...how did you like the other members of the band?"

"Hm?" the guy murmured, keeping his eyes on the road. "Oh, they're great! Everyone's really nice. I think we make a great team. Lars is really great. I think the two of us will be really great friends." I couldn't help but smile to myself at this comment. Lars and this guy did seem like they would get along pretty well. They both had odd personalities and both seemed really enthusiastic about the whole band thing. Of course, James was into it too, but he had more of a passion for it instead.

Five minutes later, the guy pulled up to my apartment just like he promised me he would. I sighed with relief as we drove up to the doors of the lobby. I hadn't really expected this guy to drive me somewhere weird, but it was still nice to be home. As I opened the door, he called after me, "Wait a sec. What's your name? I don't even know who you are. Wait...maybe you did already tell me. I don't remember. But anyways, I've got a crappy memory, so tell me your name again."

"I'm Olivia," I told him. I didn't see any reason in letting him know my last name, so I just went with my first name. Figuring that I didn't know this guy's name either, I might as well ask. So I paused outside the door of the car and turned back to him, "So what's your name? We probably should know who each other is at this point."

The guy laughed, "Yeah, probably. I'm Dave." Hm, Dave. The name really seemed to fit this guy for some reason. Turning towards the apartment entrance, I shouted over my shoulder, "Bye Dave! Thanks for the ride!" Dave waved at me from the car before turning and heading back onto the highway.

My steps slowed as I went up to my apartment. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to find there. Would James and Ron still be at band practice? Or would they already be in the apartment? I guess I would just have to wait and see.