CHAPTER ONE

ALIYA

This was definitely a bad idea.

I knew it from the very moment I let Maya persuade me into putting on this fitted black dress that left little to the imagination and these heels that felt like I was walking on a death trap.

We stepped down from our uber, the cool night breeze hitting my skin. I took in the long line of people waiting at the entrance to Sexy Peaches.

“I knew we shouldn't have come here tonight. We're never going to make it inside with this queue,” I said to my best friend Maya amidst the loud music.

If the music was this loud from out here, I feared for my poor ears the moment we eventually stepped in.

“And who says we're standing in the queue?” she said, flashing me a mischievous smile. I knew that smile all too well and I definitely knew she had some crazy plan cooked up in her head.

“Wait…what?”

“Queues are for lame people, babes. We're skipping it,” she said, already bent on going along with her plan.

I shook my head, not buying whatever she had planned. “We better not. I don't want to cause a scene here. What–what if they get mad?” I let my anxiety get the best of me.

“You overthink everything too much. We came here to celebrate your internship at Santiago and Associates law firm, right?” She asked, stating the obvious.

I nodded at her.

“Do you know what that means? Sweetheart, you got into the best law firm in the States! Only one in every ten thousand applicants gets in and you got in. That definitely calls for a celebration!”

“But—”

“Nope,” she shook her head. “No buts. We've come this far already and we're definitely going to have fun tonight before your big day, okay?”

I let out a small sigh. This wasn't my scene. I'd rather be in bed binge watching some N*****x series or reading some crazy mafia books, knowing fully well they were far from reality. But I knew Maya just wanted to celebrate my big win and this was her way of doing so.

“Alright,” I whispered, still a bit unsure. But what's the worst that could possibly happen? It was just a club. Just drink, dance and ‘have fun’, although I genuinely wondered what was fun about loud music and sweaty bodies.

“That's my girl right there,” Maya squealed, excited that she was able to convince me for the second time tonight.

“So how do you suggest we get in?” I asked, already regretting my choice of heels.

She had that smile on her face again.

“Maya…,” I warned.

“What?” She flashed me an innocent smile. “Don't worry, I won't do anything crazy tonight.”

I'd be damned if I believed her. Her middle name was crazy.

“Uh huh? Like the other time you said you wouldn't do anything crazy yet you sneaked into Professor Michael's office and changed your grade?”

“It was just that one time!” She tried to defend, suppressing a laugh.

“What about when you punctured Mrs. Raymond's four tires when she refused to pair us together for the research work?” I raised my brows at her.

“Okay, okay, I get it,” she raised her both hands in surrender. “Maybe I've done some crazy things. But tonight is different. I promise,” she urged.

“So what's the plan?”

“Follow me,” she said, already walking ahead of the people standing in the queue.

“Wait. Maya,” I tried to whisper-yell at the same time but she couldn't hear me. With no other choice, I followed her straight to the entrance of the club where the bouncers were.

“Hey boys,” Maya flirted in a sultry tone, bending a bit to display her cleavage while trailing her hands on one of the bouncers' chest.

The bouncer smiled at her, clearly turned on by whatever the hell she was doing. “My feet hurt badly in these heels. Is there perhaps a chance you'd let us in?” she batted her long lashes at the bouncer while biting her bottom lip.

“Sure thing sugar cake,” the bouncer said, pulling out his phone and handing it to her to put her phone number.

“Oh,” she gasped, then took his phone and inputted her digits before handing it back to him. “Call me,” she whispered before he removed the barricade and let us both pass.

The crowd behind us yelled and murmured, clearly pissed at the fact that we skipped the queue but the loud music inside the club drowned all their voices.

“Oh my God, Maya. I can't believe you did that!” I said amidst laughter as we walked to the bar section.

“A girl got to do what a girl got to do,” she winked at me.

Leave it to Maya to pull out quotes so long as they supported her actions.

We got to the bar and sat down while Maya ordered us some drinks. In a few minutes, the bartender was done mixing our drinks and handed it to us.

“To getting the best internship placement,” she said, raising her glass.

“To getting the best internship placement,” I replied, clinking our glasses together.

“Bottoms up!” She yelled, downing her drink in one go.

I tried to do the same but the hotness of the alcohol made it difficult to take it all at once so I ended up finishing the drink in two gulps.

“Another one!” She said to the bartender who slid two more glasses our way.

Two glasses turned to three, and then four, five, and six till I stopped counting.

Typical Maya ordered another round but before I could protest, she was downing hers in a go.

This was crazy. But hey! What's life without a little bit of crazy?