DAZED

Chapter One

Diana sprinted to her next class; she was now a junior at UCLA. Her dark brown shoulder-length hair is tied into a tight ponytail. Two textbooks stuck to her chest, keeping them in place. As soon as she arrived, the previous class was leaving; she was always early. It doesn't matter what; she always is. While students pour out of the room, she pats down her jet-black schoolgirl skirt, along with her semi-tight nude sweater. Some girls smile at her while boys wave, although Diana being the queen of the antisocial club, keeps her eyes glued to her old beat-up Chuck Taylor's; as soon as she steps in, Ana bolts for her seat, saying a quick hello to Professor Flint. He rolls his eyes at the young girl looking through his mess of a desk for this class's lesson.

After her last two classes, Diana went to her car and began her journey home. She had decided to rent an apartment rather than live in a crappy dorm with other people. As soon as she turned on her 2019 BMW series 7, a smile spread on her face. Gentle music plays throughout the ride. Diana never had many friends; she didn't have one. At all. No best friend from kindergarten, no new friends from high school or college. After pulling into her parking spot, she goes to her apartment. Before opening her door, she could hear her dog, a small female cocker spaniel with a mixture of brown and white.

"Hey, there, peaches," She greets sweetly and quickly sees her mixed cat, Petunia. "Hey there, Petunia" she runs her hand on both their heads before kicking off her shoes, taking out her ponytail, sliding out the skirt, and taking off the stuffy sweater. Now she was in a tight white spaghetti-strapped shirt, Nike pro shorts, and black ankle socks. Her thigh and rib tattoos were now exposed; nobody understood what went on with her. All they were what she let people see, a shy girl who dressed like a prude. She would do her usual routine of changing into regular clothes and going to a small cafe. Diana always separated her clothing from what was appropriate for school and out of it. She slipped into black jeans with many rips, her same shirt, and some air Force. Her hair lay carelessly on her back while she got her keys and laptop.

"Bye, babies." She said and blew a kiss before beginning her path to a small cafe she loved. A song by Pierce The Veil played on her speakers, and she shouted along. Diana did get lonely, like now; she wondered how it would feel to have a friend in the passenger seat calling the lyrics along with her. Diana's music taste was extraordinary. She ranged from so many things. So she wondered how it would feel. A long sigh escaped her lips as she pulled into a parking spot. Now her headphones were in, and she muted everything around her, which was pretty dangerous, but she didn't care. She strode into the almost empty cafe and sat in the back near their open library. The waitress, Jessie, came up to her and smiled sweetly.

"Hey pretty, the usual?" Diana looks up at the girl taking out an earbud; she smiles back.

"Of course, Jessie." Diana and Jessie would flirt occasionally, but she didn't know if Jessie was a lesbian, just like her. Diana has never come out before; she never had anyone to come out to. There was a lot more to our girl than meets the eye. About 5 minutes pass when Jessie returns with her drink, but instead of leaving like usual, she sits.

"You are always here. And I have never gotten anything but your name." Slowly Diana's almond-colored eyes rise from her computer screen and latch onto Jessie's eyes.

"Appears so." She replied softly; she always welcomed the company, but she was trying to study right now.

"So..." Jessie started before perking up again, "tell me about yourself, Diana."

"Um, nothing much about me. Pretty ordinary. I grew up in Boston, was an orphan, and now I'm a junior at UCLA." Jessie smiles and nods at the girl.

"Cool. So how old are you?"

"Recently turned 21..."

"Awesome, I'm 18." Diana nods and realizes that Jessie is a child mentally. Ana never fit her age; while 12-year-olds played 7 minutes in heaven, she bought vinyl and kept her face in a book at her favorite lake. It wasn't Jessie's speech that gave her away more of her vibe and personality. A small ding rang at the front door, indicating a new customer had entered. Jessie groaned loudly before winking at Ana and going to the register. She couldn't see who it was, but all she knew was that they had long, straight black hair. Jessie smiled widely and hugged them tightly; ah, they knew each other, Diana thought. Minutes after, the person left, and Jessie ran over to her table.

"Sooo, my best friend is throwing a party for her coming back tomorrow. You should come."

A party?

"S-Sure. What time?"

"Umm, after your classes, we can go to your place immediately, okay?"

"Okay..."

Diana walks out to the front of her campus, wearing her usual attire, which some would consider 'prude-like. She was expecting Jessie. Ana was unbelievably happy that she was invited to a party and to make a friend, finally, after 21 years. Suddenly a black 2017 Jeep pulled up in front of her; in the passenger seat, Jessie had tears in her eyes. Diana didn't care for the driver but for her new friend. She immediately went with her gut and opened the door, pulling Jessie out to hug her tightly.

"Thank you, Ana." She sniffles into her shoulder, which is covered by a burgundy sweater. "By the way, what the fuck are you wearing?"

"School attire?" She said in more of a question about what was wrong with it. Jessie rolls her eyes playfully and pushes her toward the car. "My car," she continued pushing her weight down on her feet so she wouldn't move closer.

"Let's go then. Bil follows us." Diana didn't bother to look back at her other friend and only cared about Jess's wrongs.

"What's wrong, Jess?"

"A guy I was dating dumped me. Because I accidentally scratched his Porsche. It was a 2009 Porsche anyway!" She ranted angrily as they approached Ana's car. "Woah, this is your car. It's super sexy."

"Damn" now Diana turned to see the other friend, the person from yesterday's long black hair covered but a rag and sunglasses. She could already tell that this girl was gorgeous. "Your car. Pretty damn fine."

"Thank you." She said quietly and went to the driver's side. "So you guys can just follow me?" She asked, and they nodded; before leaving, Jess hugged her. That girl, for the entire drive, didn't leave her mind; her name was Bill. Well alright. Before she even knew it, they had arrived. After finding parking, the three girls went up to Ana's apartment. As usual, Peaches was at the door. Bill embraced the animals along with Jess. It was now she noticed that Jess had a bag on.

"I'm changing here, but go change. Put something that doesn't scream I'm a prude." Diana nods and hurries to her room, quickly changing into a silver sequin body con dress. Her hair let down now; what would she do? She decides to just put a curling gel in it and just straps on silver heels. Diana's heart was pounding; she always had clothes for events. She never thought she'd use them. A deep breath passes her lips before she walks out to see Jessie in a tight red latex dress; she looks fantastic. Her friend Bill stayed in her baggy outfit, which suited her perfectly.

"Holy shit!" Jessie shouted, catching the attention of her friend Bill. Her friend's eyes widen at the sight of Diana; she now takes in how her eyes are an aquatic blue. "I never knew you had a thigh tattoo! Hot" Diana wanted to say that 'we just became friends.' But she settled with a polite

"Thank you. Should we go?" Jessie nods and struts out. Her friend, however, stayed back with you.

"Since this bitch won't introduce us. I'm Billie." A small laugh escaped from Ana's throat at what she had said.

"I'm Diana." They smiled at each other and began walking out together. Talk, Ana! She scolded herself. "So, um, dammit." She started a bit loudly but faded out towards the end. Billie lets out a laugh and looks at the awkward girl.

"What's up? You never had friends?" She joked, but Diana quickly replied as seriously as could be.

"No."

"Oh shit, seriously?" She looked at Ana with pity at the fact. She also thought that a lot of stuff had added up. All these teen dramas shows in Ana's head were added together, and she formed a sentence she'd never typically say. Considering she never has drunk alcohol.

"You're going to have to get me drunk to hear my life story, mamas."