The Red Room
My day begins as usual with class in the morning, work in the afternoon, and Disney movies in the evening. But while I'm curled up in my pink pajamas pulling my long, pale blonde hair into two French braids, I get a phone call from my best friend, Cara. She's leaving after the Spring semester finishes next week to travel around Europe with her family. We've never been apart for longer than a few days ever since we met in the third grade and I've grown to be a little too dependent on her. She's always been naturally outgoing and confident while I'm much more reserved and frequently riddled with anxiety. I've been freaking out about her leaving for the summer but haven't voiced any of my concerns. I don't want her to spend her whole vacation worrying about me so I've told her I'm fine and that I'll find something to fill the time, knowing full well I'll probably just camp out in my bedroom until she comes home. Cara has always been able to make friends wherever she goes but for me, she's my only friend.
"Hey bitch! Get dressed, we're going out tonight!" her bubbly voice practically shouts into the phone.
"We are?"
"Yes! I'll be there in 20. And wear something slutty," she commands. Before I have time to ask any more questions, she abruptly hangs up the phone. I know there's no use arguing with her, so I leave the sanctuary of my cozy bed and start rifling through my cluttered closet.
I don't really have any "slutty" clothes as Cara so thoughtfully put it, so I just pull out the most revealing pieces I have. My outfit is composed of a short pastel pink tennis skirt that barely reaches past my butt paired with a lacey bralette that I usually just wear as a crop top. I also pulled on white fishnets and add some cute jewelry to pull it all together. I decide to just leave my hair in braids, too lazy to do anything else to it. I keep my makeup light, as always, only using pink blush, shimmery gold highlighter, and a small black wing on my eyelid. I never like to use foundation or concealer because it covers up the freckles that dapple my nose and cheeks. Then I put on mascara and run clear gel through my eyebrows, finishing the look with some red lip gloss that tastes like cherries.
As soon as I finish getting ready, I hear a loud knock on my door. I leave my bedroom to answer it and am met with a grinning Cara, looking stunning as always. Her hair is in long box braids that reach her waist and she's wearing a skin-tight black dress that perfectly hugs her curves. The dress has a slit in it that reveals a black leather garter hugging her thigh. I feel like I look like a silly child compared to her and start to regret agreeing to go out. But she immediately hurls a thousand compliments my way and starts chattering about how fun the club she picked out is going to be and I forget all my worries.
"You're going to lose your mind when you see the place I found. It's super new and is supposed to be insane" she says with a smile.
"Insane? Can I have a hint about where we're going?"
"Nope! Now come on!" she responds, dragging me out of my apartment.
It takes an hour to reach the club but Cara keeps me entertained the whole time with jokes and music. I actually start to get excited about going out with her and try to push away my sadness that I won't get to spend the summer hanging out with her like always. We finally reach our destination, a large building that a neon sign identifies as "The Red Room." Outside is a line of people wearing skimpy latex outfits, lingerie, or practically nothing at all. I give Cara a nervous look.
"Cara...what is this place?"
"Surprise! It's a fetish club, and since I'm leaving soon you aren't allowed to tell me no. That's against the rules" she says with a smug grin. I groan and roll my eyes.
"I can't believe you're getting me to do this. But how are we going to get in? That line is crazy long." My concern makes her laugh and she bops my nose in response.
"Silly girl! I know one of the bouncers, we met on Tinder the other night. How else would I have heard about this place?" She takes my hand and pulls me out of the car, sauntering to the front of the line.
She greets a large bouncer with tattoos all over his hands and neck with a passionate kiss, making me blush in embarrassment. Nobody else seems fazed by this, but I guess this place has seen much worse than a kiss. He lets us in immediately and gives Cara a quick smack on the butt as she enters, making her giggle again.
The inside of the club is wilder than I ever could have imagined. The whole place is illuminated only by red lights, so I guess I see where they got the name. We walk into a large main room that seems similar to a club, except for the people wearing full-on bondage gear. Some people are crawling around naked on the floor being led by a leash. The dance floor is crowded with lots of sweating bodies and behind it is a large stage with a few people doing some sort of exhibition. A woman in the highest heels I've ever seen is spanking a nude man wearing a latex mask with a large whip.
My whole face is bright red and I keep trying to avoid eye contact with all the scantily clad or completely nude clubgoers. Cara pulls me by the hand and struts right up to the bar, ordering both of us a drink while flirting with the bartender. She gets me a sweet-tasting drink, knowing that my tolerance for alcohol is slim to none and I hate the taste of most drinks. This one tastes fruity though so I eagerly slurp it down. Cara decides we should go look around the rest of the club so we shuffle through the throngs of people and make our way out of the main crowd.
Upon exiting the main room, we are met with a series of doors lining a hallway. Each room has something uniquely horrifying, like a room full of different paddles and whips that people are testing out. We even come across a room that has a full-blown orgy going on with at least 20 people. Cara wants to check out the rooms upstairs, but first, we decide to get another drink from the bar. For this we have to brave the crowds again so Cara decides to have me wait on a nearby chair, knowing how nervous I get being close to large groups of people.
I wait for her a long time before I start to get worried, and finally decide to get up and start searching for her. I would have texted her, but my phone is already dead. First I head to the bar, but she's nowhere to be found. I look through the sea of people on the dance floor but there's no sign of her. Maybe she decided to look around upstairs like she said. Fiddling with the ends of my braids, I make my way to the second floor. I nervously peek in the first room and see a woman all tied up getting hot candle wax dripped onto her bare chest. I quickly shut the door and head to the next room, but still don't find Cara. The music is so loud and there's so many people around, I can feel my anxiety growing with every second. I sit down on a red loveseat in the hallway and begin to cry. Pulling my knees to my chest, I curl into a ball and try to become as small as possible.
"What's wrong, little one?" a deep voice asks. I look up, startled by the sudden presence of a large man. I sniffle and wipe my eyes, already getting nervous in front of him.
"I-I lost m-my friend" I stammer out, another tear slipping down my cheek. He brushes the tear off me with the pad of his thumb.
"You poor thing. Why don't we go somewhere a little more...appropriate?" I nod and accept his open hand, escorting me to a pink door at the far end of the hallway.
