Into the Light

42

Her eyes got a far away look for a second. "I wonder if those are still around," she mused. "I'd like to see them, if they are," I said, winking when she caught my eye. "Absolutely not!" she cried, stopping at our car. I laughed and unlocked the car. "We'll see," I responded. She rolled her eyes, with a grin, and climbed into the car. Brennen and Corey hopped in the back, and the rest of the group got into the other car. "Follow me," I yelled at Sam, before closing my door. After setting the map for a club called Mango's, I started the 30 minute drive there. Brennen and Corey were fucking around in the backseat, punching each other, and talking shit. Anna kept glancing back at them and smiling. When she caught my eye, her smile got bigger and my heart seemed to skip a beat. "Boys will be boys, huh?" she said, quietly. I smiled, and nodded. "Seems that way. We never really grow up, but why would we? Being an adult sucks most of the time. Gotta do things to stay young. Enjoy life while you can." For the first time ever, she reached over and took my hand. "That's true," she replied. "Because you never know when that life can be snatched away." I squeezed her hand a little, but didn't respond. I knew that what happened to her was traumatizing, but I wasn't sure how well she was doing, mentally. Maybe that was something that I needed to keep a check on. When we finally got to the club, it was packed out. I had to actually pull around back, and hop the curb, just to find a spot. "You think we might get towed here?" Sam asked, when we all got out of the cars. I shook my head. "No. It doesn't say no parking, and there are other cars doing the same thing. We'll be fine." He still looked doubtful. "Okaaay, if you say so," he murmured. There were other people hanging out behind the club, dancing to the beat that echoed around us, stumbling around drunk, or smoking pot. We wove our way through all of the people, and made our way towards the front. I looked over at Anna and saw her chewing her bottom lip, nervously. Her eyes were darting around at all of the people. I took her hand, and she looked at me. "You okay?" I asked. She gave me a soft smile and nodded. "I'm just not used to being around so many people. I always feel like everyone is looking at me, even when I know they aren't." I glanced around and saw quite a few guys staring at her. When one of the them caught my eye, I turned my gaze hard as stone. He looked back at his friend quickly, and started talking. I turned my attention back to Anna. "If they're staring, it's only because you're the most beautiful woman in this place," I replied, then brought her hand to my lips. She smiled again, and rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said, then snuggled into my side. I draped my arm around her shoulders, and held her close. When we made it to the front, there was a small line that we had to get in. The outside of the building had a huge neon purple sign reading 'Mango's' hanging over an ivy covered trellis. Security was standing to the side of the entrance, checking ID's. "Oh shit," I muttered. I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my wallet. "What's up?" Sam asked, overhearing me. "Forgot this," I said, pulling out Anna's fake ID. I wasn't worried about being caught with it, because the replica was literally identical. After getting caught with a couple of fake ID's myself, I had went through a few connections to make sure this one would be perfect and undetectable. The guy that I got it from actually worked at the DMV. He used the machines up there, to run his little side business. "Here," I said, holding out the card to Anna. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What's that?" she asked, taking it from me. "Is that me? Wait, oh my God! You got me a fake-." She stopped and looked around. Honestly, she looked so sus, I wouldn't have been surprised if security sent us away just for the look on her face. "You got me a fake ID?" she whispered, staring down at it. I nodded. "Yeah, you need an ID to fly and obviously to get into the club. What did you think we were going to do?" She looked up and met my gaze. "I don't know. I guess I never really thought about it. I haven't had to think about these things in a long time. Is this going to work? Maybe we shouldn't. This is illegal!" I hugged her to my side, as we stepped forwards a few places in line. "It's fine. These are special circumstances. You are of age, so it's not really illegal. Except for the card. You're not going to be able to get a real ID, Anna. You need your birth certificate and social security card. Proof of residence and all of that stuff. This was the best thing to do for now. I'll help you make it legal later. We have all the time in the world." "What are you guys talking about?" Jake interjected, from behind us. I had forgotten that there were people all around us that could probably hear us talking. Especially if they were being nosy. "Nothing bro. Private stuff," I replied. "Sorry," he said, with a shrug. Anna kept staring at her ID, and whispering the information on it. "That's not my birthday," she murmured. "For now, it is. I don't even know your birthday," I whispered back, then smiled at the huge guy that was checking ID's. He didn't speak. Instead, he just held his hand out for our ID's. Sam and Kat passed theirs to him first. He checked them quickly, then passed them back. Next was Brennen and Corey. No problems there, obviously. Then it was our turn. I took Anna's and handed him both of ours. He stared at them a little longer than he had Sam and Kat's. I could see Anna start fidgeting and slightly bouncing on the heels of her feet. I squeezed her arm, and gave a slight shake of my head, trying to tell her to calm down. He flipped the ID's over, glanced at them, then handed them back. He waved us through. I breathed a sigh of relief, then put both ID's back into my wallet.