One Way Out

The red neon sign beckoned me in, promising good food and a warm place to sit. As the doorbell rings, a cook looks up from his station and calls out.

"Hey, sorry but we're closed"

I look down at my phone to confirm. Only nine pm but rules are rules.

"Do you mind if I sit for a minute to dry off? It just stopped raining but it won't be that way for long."

He looks over at a woman messing with the register who looks at me, my face, then down to my feet. Am I dangerous? Will I cause trouble?

"You got five minutes."

"Thanks I won't even walk around and get your floor wet." The woman goes back to the register, printing receipts, collecting papers.The cook boxes the last meal of the night and joins the others in cleaning their stations. I wonder how long they have to stay to get everything done. I certainly don't miss rolling silverware, going home smelling like grease, sweat, and ranch dressing.

Five minutes is over in a matter of seconds. I'm still chilly from the rain, but I've stopped shaking. Outside, the sky is clear so I take my chance without asking for an extended stay. It was, after all, my dumb idea to walk around town at night without an umbrella. Maybe exploring wasn't the best idea I had today. Home was so boring, no one else was there so I'm stuck with Netflix or Hulu. All my books have been read, most rooms cleaned. Let's do something different.

Let's do something when it's NOT raining, though. So I put my hood up and gauge the road toward my house. As I stand in the parking lot of Steak n Shake, I am pulled by a need to get out, to go...not home. Ah, but if it starts raining again?

Voices draw my attention toward cars that must've parked while I argued with myself, too busy to notice them. Two boys, probably mid-twenties, maybe a little closer to my age, walked toward the restaurant. Hanging onto them were three women, definitely in their early twenties if they were even that. Laughing and carrying on, stumbling as if they had already had an eventful evening.

"Hey, uh...if you're planning to eat, they closed at nine," I said, jabbing my thumb in the direction of the restaurant.

"Awwwe man," a girl whined. She played with her long black hair, twirling it around her finger. A chubby blonde girl put her arm around the whiny girl's waist.

"I know where we can go. A.J. said something about a place a few streets over. Clubs usually have some kind of food, right? Chips maybe?"

"Oh yeah," the whiny girl turned to the guy she had been hanging on. Short curly hair danced on his head as the wind blew, reminding me how cold and wet I was. "They're supposed to have really good music and...do they have food?"

A.J. smirked. "Yeah, they got something there to eat. We should definitely go."

"Hey, do you want to go with us?" The blonde asked. "You look like you need something to do."

"Well...it does sound fun, but I'm kinda wet and I didn't bring a bag with clothes or anything."

"It's okay, we have an extra shirt at least but I bet you won't notice after we get there."

"Oh...okay. Sure why not?"

Safety in numbers, right? More girls than boys here, and they seem fun. I've been dying for something different and here it is.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Asked the other boy. Shaggy red hair made me think of Ron from Harry Potter. Even the worry in his voice seemed similar.

A.J. shot him a look to bite his tongue. As quick as it came, the look melted into an open and inviting expression.

"The more the merrier," he said. "I know the guy that runs it and I'll have to make sure he's okay with me adding one more to the V.I.P. room is all. Shouldn't be a problem."

I began to feel uneasy. At 28, my mother's voice still rang in the back of my head anytime I made a choice. Red flag. This could be dangerous. What if they have drugs or try to drag you off to-

A crack of thunder made all of us jump.

"Yeah okay. Just don't drug me," I added, half joking but also throwing it out there in case someone became tempted.

Rain began to fall after we piled into the cars. A.J. and the black haired, whiny girl (whose name is Brandy) took to his car. Cody (the other boy) let me ride with him, Angie (the blonde), and the other girl. Not-Angie's skin is incredibly dark, her hair black and kinky, reaching her ears in a cute almost afro. She didn't talk much, but her light blue dress matched the theme of everyone else's outfits. Everything clung tightly to bodies as if they'd been shrink-wrapped and I wondered if they could breathe.

"So," Angie turned to me. "What's your name? What are you doing out by yourself? You lost?"

"I'm Erin. Honestly, I was bored and I thought I'd walk down here to get something to eat and find something fun. Instead I got rained on and no food." She laughed, a touch of drunkenness noticeable in her voice.

"Good thing we found you. This is gonna be great. We just came from Martha's where we met these guys."

So we're all just a bunch of strangers hanging out. I'm not sure if that's better or worse.

Once we parked in front of a building (I assume to be the club because I didn't see a sign) I stayed in the car to change my shirt. No use having a dry shirt and a wet bra so I went without the under garment. Angie helped tousle my hair as we stood under the awning, waiting to get inside. A.J. and Brandy had disappeared inside to get the okay for me to be added to the party. I shivered, though the rain had taken another break, I was still cold. My jacket sat in a plastic bag in the floorboard of their car, a wet sad mess, doomed to be left out of the fun.

"So...is the party out here, or what?" Angie asked. "I want to dance! I'm starting to sober up with how cold it is. Cody, get us inside!"

He looked a little worried and he tried to shush her. "Just hold on, babe, give him a minute."

Just seconds later, A.J. appears at the top of the metal stairs nearby.

"Come on guys, they're ready! Bring her too!"

My heart pounded under the black, satin crop top they'd given me. We're doing this. It's not incredibly far from the house so I can still walk home. Climbing the stairs, I tried to remember the last time I'd been out like this.

A few years ago, a friend of mine took me out for my birthday. Since she'd moved, I hadn't done anything really fun. Slaving away to make enough money to cover bills and sleeping took up most of my time now. Maybe this could be a new tradition. Just pick a night once a week, or every two weeks, and let loose. Totally loose.

One by one, we passed through the door. A dark red light washed over the small hallway we were pressed into. Slowly, we stumbled down the hallway and into a room. Almost no light, no music, no people.

"A.J. what is this?" I think that was Angie. "Cody?"

Silence. Someone put a hand on my arm and I nearly jumped out of my skin. "Angie?" I whispered.

"Erin, yeah it's me. Hey Canisha, you here?"

No answer. "Is that the girl in the blue dress that was with us?" I asked.

"Yeah. She was in front of me. Canisha!" Still no one answered.

"Angie, where are we? I didn't see any signs or posters or anything."

"I really don't know, they just said it was a better club. He said we'd have more fun."

"Not you," A.J. 's voice carried from the far side of the room. "I said we."

"Come on, dude, this isn't funny." She sounded desperate.

"I know it isn't. This is where we find the one way out."