Mixed Signals

Prologue

***Thank You Next by Ariana Grande***

Bay

"So, how are we celebrating tonight?" My best friend Mia says, coming up behind me with another fruity cocktail glued to her hand.

"Aren't we already celebrating?" I ask, confused, waving my hand around, indicating our surroundings. The casino crowded with more people than I think is necessary. Half of them drunk. The loud clinks and sounds of slot machines depositing money ringing in my ears. Making me wish that I'd had an Excedrin right about now. The only thing better than alcohol to numb the dulling ache forming across my temple.

"Well, of course we are, silly." Mia laughs. Clearly drunk off the one cocktail that I've watched her consume. And lord-knows how many she's had since she "went to the bathroom" less than twenty minutes ago. As if I haven't been through this with her before. Knowing that she's off to find some pathetic man, more drunk than the two of us combined, to sneak off to a hotel room to fuck until they sober up and regret ever coming here. "I mean, we're free women now. And we don't need douchy men to cater to our needs. Only to fuck around on us and think we're not smart enough to know when their dick has clearly been in some other whore's twat. Am I right?"

"O-kay," I say, snatching the rest of Mia's drink from her. Knowing that the woman has reached her alcohol limit when she starts using vulgar terms like that. "That's enough of that. Let's get you something to eat? Yeah? I'm starving. And I think you've had more than enough to drink." I suggest. Talking to her as if she were a small child after getting scolded and now I'm the nice and caring mother that doesn't want to punish her. "Come on."

"Fuck men!" Mia shouts out of nowhere, pumping her fist in the air for no reason whatsoever. And then I realize that the reason behind her drunken stupor is because she was dumped by her longtime boyfriend, Peter, last week. And even though she's said, repeatedly, that she was over that, and I quote "asshole with a cock so tiny that no woman would want to fuck him anyway for as long as he lives" I don't think she was. Well...not until now, anyway.

I can't even begin to count the amount of eyes that have wandered over in our direction. Though, you'd think that they were staring right at us, unable to take their eyes off a couple of barely-legal girls who didn't come to this casino to find a dick to fuck in order to get the last guys out of our systems. I mean, neither of us are that slutty.

I'm as innocent as I look. Poor little virgin girl who might as well have been reaped for this round of the Hunger Games. Alongside my best friend, out to be man-bait. Waiting for any one of these drunken assholes to come snatch us up and whisk us off to a room upstairs where we'll be so loud that the front desk will get plenty of calls complaining of the Anastasia and Christian wannabes making way too much noise, banging the headboard up against the wall so hard that the whole casino might have it's own earthquake. The first ever in the Midwest.

All the more reason to avoid the species of men altogether. After all, in my life, they haven't been known to have very good track records. And I don't have time for that kind of drama in my life right now. I need a man who will take care of me. Not some pussy who sits on his butt twenty-four seven and never bothers to get a real job and force me to pay all the bills when he's just as capable of working as I am.

I've spent most of my life taking care of one man. And I'm not about to let another one come in and think that it's okay to mess with me. I had a guy like that once. And then one day, he just up and left. As guys like him get themselves off on doing things like that to young, innocent, women like me.

I'm a big girl now. And it's about time that I put myself first.

And no man is going to stop me from doing such a thing.

"Come on," I tell Mia. "Let's go get something to eat, okay?"

"Food!" Mia shouts, fist pumping the air. "Now we're talking. I think I've had enough to drink."

I laugh, rolling my eyes at my best friend. "Yeah. I know. Come on, let's get out of here."