Over the past week, I've learned everything I could from Sophia and practice in front of the mirror every single chance I get. True, I won't master the art of seduction as fast as lightning, but I'm getting better and better at this – I hope. Tonight, I'm going to put my skill to the test.

There is a long queue in front of Red Room – a huge night club in the center of the town. A lot of students from Westwood College go here every Friday night, but tonight is my first time. Actually, it's my first time ever going into a club; to say that I'm nervous is a true understatement.

I can feel the blood rushing through my veins and my heart beating like a drum as I strut down the street in my five-inches high heels – which are total nightmares. My short, white bodycon dress feels a little tight around the chest and especially the waist – something I've never felt before. While I struggle to gasp for air, Sophia constantly reminds me – or more like forces me – to walk with a straight posture. How can those models even breathe in these dresses?

But, days of practice allow me to put on a poker face and hide my true agony. Meanwhile, my eyes widen a little when I see there must be at least a hundred people lining before the door right now.

"Psst!" I tip on my toe to whisper to Sophia's ears. "How are we gonna get inside? By the time we get to the front line, it'll already be dawn!"

Giving a lopsided grin, Sophia replied, "Follow my lead."

Doubt still lingers in my mind, but I take a deep breath and follow Sophia as she walks straight to the front row.

"Robbie!" she greets the tall, dark, handsome man who before the queue.

The bulky young man is checking people's ID before they enter the club when he throws his gaze our way. The brown-haired man's blue eyes light up with excitement the second he sees the gorgeous girl walking next to me. "Sophia!"

A wide smile was formed on the man's square face. "Long time no see!" The smell of his cheap cologne pierced my nose as he bends down to give Sophia a tight hug. Straightening himself up, he asks, "How have you been?"

"Awesome as always, honey!" Sophia flashed a smile.

Then, he turns his gaze at me and observes me from head to toe. With a smirk, he nods to himself. "Who's your friend over here?"

"This is Mac. Mac, meet Robbie." Sophia leans sideways towards me and whispers, "He's my cousin."

"Ahh..." Shaking the tanned man's firm grip, I smile politely. "Nice to meet you."

He returns the smile. As we retract our hands to our sides, Sophia asks, "So, are you gonna let us in or what?"

"Sophia..." A look of perplexity fills his face. His thin lips form a straight line as his wide forehead puckers. He takes a glance at the flock of girls standing in line beside us.

When I turn around slightly, I notice Lisa Lemmons – one of the girls who bullied me on Instagram – is standing next to her friends in between the crowd. Their eyes are fixated on us as they start to whisper to each other, probably wondering why we're allowed to cut the line. Anger starts to seep into my brain as I begin to remember what she has said about me.

"You know I can't do that," Robbie continues after a while.

"Can't?" Sophia put her right hand on her hip and raises her perfectly arched brow, throwing him a judging look. "Or won't?"

The lines on his forehead deepen. Then, he lowers his gaze, silently answering her question. At the same time, I can hear Lisa and her friends start to giggle at us. I grit my teeth as my heart continues to pound faster, hoping Sophia has another trick up her sleeves.

Sophia lets out a fake sigh. As she reaches into her bra to take out her phone, she says, "Well, I guess I'll just have to call Aunty Betty and tell her about..."

"No, no, please don't!" Robbie exclaims, panic fills his voice. He quickly unhooks the velvet rope on the stanchion in front of the door and let us in.

With a winning smirk, Sophia gives his broad chest a few pats. "Thanks, Rob. I owe you one."

A heavy sigh escapes his lips. "You've owed me a lot already, Sophia."

She struts towards the club's door and I follow behind; but not before I wave mockingly and throw a victorious smile at Lisa and her friends.

"Bitch!" she curses. But her word makes my smile grows into a wide grin instead. Still giggling, I run after Sophia. The long hallway inside the building is rather dark; dim red lights on the floor are the only things illuminating the room. Loud music originating from the main hall in front of us is starting to get louder and louder as we walk further into the building.

"Oh, that was so fun! Did you see the look on Lisa's face?"

"Who?" Sophia shifts her gaze at me, her brows are drawn together in confusion.

"Never mind. So, what was that all about?" I ask, awe and curiosity spreading through my voice, while I glance at the poor bouncer outside the building.

Sophia gives a small chuckle. "When he was in tenth grade, I accidentally caught him doing the deeds with his neighbor on his mother's bed," Sophia explains and I snort out a laugh. "He made me promise never to tell his mom because, well, his mom's super scary when she's angry. So, ever since then, he'll do whatever I want in return."

"Whoa... that's..." 

"Lesson number ten." Sophia shifts her gaze at me with a wicked smile. "Always use people's secret to your advantage."

"But..." Doubt is beginning to fill my mind as my conscience reminds me of what's right and wrong. "That's..."

"What?" I can't see her face clearly because of the darkness surrounding us, but I'm pretty sure she's glaring at me now. "That's evil?"

"Well..."

"Look." Sophia stops abruptly, causing me to do the same. Turning to look at me in the eye, she continues, "There's a reason we're called bad girls, Mac. We don't care about right or wrong. We just... do whatever makes our lives easier."

Lowering my gaze, I reply, "Yeah. I know." But somehow, my conscience keeps nagging me about it.

Then, the loud music coming from inside the main hall breaks my concentration. Sophia and I are now standing before the door to the vast room. From here, I can see the DJ spinning the records on the stage situated right in the middle of the room. Different shades of red laser beams from the ceiling are lighting the crowded room.

"Now." Sophia inhales and straightens herself. "Are you ready?"

Hesitation crosses my mind for a while. Can I actually do this? What if I end up embarrassing myself? What if people laugh at me?

I close my eyes and shake my head ferociously. You can do this, Mackenzie. I take a deep breath and open my eyes. "Let's do this."

"Come on!" Sophia walks straight to the middle of the dance floor.

Determination fills my blood as I follow her to the dance floor. I continue walking past the crowd and stop next to Sophia. Concentrating on the loud beat of the music the DJ is playing, I breathe a small sigh of relief when I realize I recognize the song. A few days ago, Sophia made me a mixtape and told me to practice dancing to those songs. They're a lot different than those country songs that I usually listen to, but eventually, they grow on me; and thankfully, this is one of my favorite.

I'm all out of salt, tears are running dry. Won't give you what you want. 'Cause I look way too good tonight.

I sing the song mentally as I close my eyes and start to let myself go. Before I know it, seconds have turned to minutes. I look around me and see Sophia has already found a gorgeous guy to dance with. They seem to be lost in their own world as they dance to the beat of the song, while I'm... still dancing by myself.

Doubts start to fill my mind yet again. Am I not good looking enough? Am I not hot enough? Or... am I doing this wrong?

Well... at least people are not laughing at me.

Out of nowhere, I feel two strong hands rest on my hips. A loud gasp escapes my lips, the sudden touch makes me stop dancing in a split second.

"What's wrong, gorgeous?" a boy's voice from behind me yells over the loud music.

Then, stupid me freezes yet again. What am I supposed to do? My arms and legs go stiff in the blink of an eye; the only thing I can do is shift my gaze to Sophia, silently screaming for help. Luckily, Sophia happens to see me. Her eyes light up in a split second and she mouths something I can't make up.

"What?" I mouth.

She keeps yelling and I narrow my eyes, trying to read her lips. Hip... underwear?

I jerk my head back a little and narrow my eyes even more; I have the feeling that's not what she's saying. I concentrate on her lips again and I slowly understand what she means. Flip... your... hair.

Flip your hair!

With the utmost confidence, I flip my long hair as I turn around. Unexpectedly, the force that I give to toss my hair back is too strong and the back of my head hits his chin, sending him a few steps backward with a loud whimper. As if that's not enough, my hair lands right in the dark-haired boy's open mouth.

"Oh my God! I'm so, so sorry!" I blurt out.

Drawing a hand over his mouth, he spits out some of my hair that gets stuck in his mouth. Eww. As soon as I get home, I'm so washing my hair. 

"A little too excited, eh?" He flashes a wide grin that reveals his perfectly white teeth. "No worries, gorgeous."

Tucking my hair behind my ears, I flash a somewhat awkward apologetic smile. That's when I start to observe the boy. The young boy is my age, probably even younger than me by a year or two judging by the youthful look on his round face. The curly-haired boy has thick, straight eyebrows above his deep-set downturned eyes. His nose is a little big compared to his already large face, but he still looks handsome nonetheless. The tall boy is well-build; his broad chest can be seen through his open button, white shirt.

Nice catch, Mackenzie! I dance like a crazy girl inside my head, but I try to keep my calm mask on and flash a calculated smile.

"So..." Stepping closer to me, he suddenly wraps his arms around my waist and yanks my body against his, causing a small gasp to escape my mouth. Then, he lowers his gaze and starts to sway his hips from left to right. "Care to dance?"

My hands tremble and my whole body shivers when I realize I'm about to dance with a stranger. You can do this, Mac.

You. Can. Do. This.

I take a deep breath and throw my arms around his neck. Then, I start to dance like Sophia has taught me. It starts off as awkward, but slowly, I'm beginning to get a hang of it. Our bodies keep getting closer and closer towards each other and I raise my gaze to meet his. But the weird thing is, I don't feel a thing. Those heart-pounding, blood rushing through your veins, cheeks blushing kind of feelings that happened when I was with Peter are nonexistent.

Well, my heart still beats loudly and I'm pretty sure it's because of my nerves, but it's very, very, different.

I just feel... liberated.

Meanwhile, he bends down slowly, his eyes are fixated on my lips and mine on his wide, plump, totally kissable lips. All of a sudden, my conscience decides to return.

Kissing a stranger, Mackenzie? Really?

My reflex causes me to jerk my head back and retract my hand to my sides. "You know what? I'm feeling a little thirsty. Shall we get a drink?"

He's a little taken aback by my words. But then, he flashes that somehow-starting-to-get-creepy grin again. "Sure."

Grabbing my hand, he leads me to the bar. "Hey!" He gives a few taps on the table, gaining the attention of the bartender. "Two Malibu and Pineapples, on the rocks!"

What's a Malibu? 

I have no idea what it means but I'm too embarrassed to ask. A while later, the bartender returns with two small glasses filled with pretty, colorful drinks. As he put the glasses in front of us, I grab one and bring it in front of my eyes to observe it. There are some small ice cubes in the drink and the bottom part is red in color while it gradually turns orange at the top. It makes my throat dry and my mouth water.

The boy beside me quickly swallows the whole glass while I carefully take a sip. The second I swallow the drink, the sudden, strong taste of alcohol causes me to cough loudly. He shifts his gaze at me, confusion flickers in his hazel eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." I wave my hand back and forth in front of him while I try to put my poker face back on. "I'm fine."

Leaning on the table, he flirtatiously asks, "So, what's your name, gorgeous?"

The way he always calls me gorgeous begins to irritate me a little. "I'm Ma–"

I stop the second I remember what Sophia said to me in one of her lessons. My mind throws me back to two nights ago.

"Never give a boy your real name when you're at a club," Sophia warned. "Ever."

"Why?"

"Because, you don't want some creep stalking you after you're through playing with him, right?"

Why is she talking about people like they're some kind of toys? I shrugged the thought off my head. "No, of course not. So, what do I say?"

"Well, figure something alluring, something mysterious – guys love it when girls are being mysterious, but not one that you'd forget easily. For example, my go-to nickname is Ophelia." She smiled proudly.

"Ophelia?"

"Yes! Sounds posh, doesn't it? And it rhymes with Sophia!"

The sudden sight of a large hand being waved in front of me snaps me back to reality. "Oh, sorry." I flash a smile. "You can call me M."

"M?" Curiosity flickers in his eyes. "What's that stands for? Emma? Emily?"

"Hmm... It's just M."

"Okay, just M." He nods to himself, flashing another one of his creepy grins. "I'm Romeo. You know, like that famous lover?"

I snort a little and lower my gaze, struggling to contain my ever-growing laughter.

"So..." He steps closer towards me. Suddenly, he puts a finger on my chin and forces me to raise my gaze to meet his. Then, he rests his right hand on the small of my back and yanks me closer to him again. What the heck is wrong with this guy? 

"What do you say we..." he whispers to my ear. My lips curve downwards slightly and my forehead puckers as his hand slowly trails down my back and over my buttock. "Go and find somewhere a little more..." I let out a loud gasp as he squeezes my left buttcheek. What the heck? "Quiet?"

I gulp loudly. My eyes scan the room for Sophia and I spot her on the dance floor, kissing the guy she was dancing with earlier. Shifting my gaze back to the creepy boy, I give a wide grin and hold up a finger. "One moment, please."

I quickly run towards Sophia. As I approach her, I'm not even stopping as I yank her arm and drag her to the ladies' room.

"Whoa– Mac?" Sophia exclaims.

I release my grip on her as we arrive at the ladies' room. It's pretty packed with some girls who are fixing their makeups in front of the mirrors.

"What the heck, Mac?" Sophia puts her hands on her hips and glares at me.

"I..." My eyes move from side-to-side as my chest rises up and down heavily, breathing gets harder with each second.

My anxiety must be written all over my face because concern is slowly growing on hers. "Seriously, Mac, what's wrong?"

"That boy I was with outside, he's... uhm..." I glance around before stepping closer towards her and whisper, "He's asking me to go somewhere quiet with him. What should I do?"

Sophia gives a small chuckle. "Well, he's cute so I'd say go for it!"

"But... I don't know, I mean... I barely even know him! What if..." Hesitation fills my thoughts as I bite my lower lip.

Her smile is slowly traded with growing concern on her face. After a while, she gives another heavy sigh. "Look, Mac, if you don't wanna do it, then don't! It's your body, it's your life! If you think he's a creep – because God knows there are so many creeps out there these days – then don't do it!" Her gaze softens as she exhales, warmth slowly seeps into her blue-green eyes. "Only do what your heart tells you to do. Always."

Wow... that's kinda deep. I blink a couple of times before I purse my dry lips together and give it a quick lick. When I return my gaze to her, her gaze is lowered while her forehead is puckering slightly. She seems confused – and probably regretful – as to why she actually gives me a piece of real advice. But, she wipes all her emotion off her face in a split second and puts on her usual, calculated smile.

"So," she continues, "what do you really want?"

I stop and take a look around me. That's when I spot Cassidy Blake and Hannah Taylor – two of Dylan's 'fans' who insulted me on Instagram. Right now, the two girls – whose faces are caked with so much makeup they look like creepy plastic dolls – are giggling at me; their eyes scream their mockery.

At that moment, it becomes clear what I want to do.

I want to be a bad girl.

Author's Note:
Yoo hoo~ So, what do you think about this chapter?

Also, here's a cameo by Romeo xD

Well, hope you enjoy this chapter and don't forget to vote! See ya on the next one! :)