Snow stepped into the cold air at the streets of Orlando as the line of people was waiting for access into the nightclub. Eleven minutes at arrival before the opening, and the buzz was surrounding those people. They wore the coolest fashion that made a statement with ends of sequins, sparkly, and shiny material, looking glammed up and readied to spend their night away to the awaiting anticipation.

"We're almost there," Malloy said, grasping the air tight to form a fist with one hand.

He dressed up in a brown leather jacket over his gray tank top and blue skinny jeans with a belt. Even he brought on with his newly cleaned sneakers.

"What if I don't do well?" Kyle asked concernly.

"You look the part!" Malloy praised him, gesturing to the appearance of his white short sleeve casual button-up tucked in with one button loose and dark brown trousers with a belt that matched with his brown loafers.

Kyle took in a deep breath. "Okay, thank you."

I look okay too, right? Snow looked down at the outfit she had on, which was a peach-colored skater dress. Down to her feet were black wide calf boots. Comfortableness was more important than moving around in heels she wasn't used to. She put on sparkling rose gold earrings shaped like tiny bows and the gold infinity bangle bracelet around her wrist.

For the first time, she tried on a smokey eye look in glittery peach eyeshadow. She watched a makeup tutorial, and they always made it look so effortless and easy. Drawing the eyeliner was the worst part, for she had to erase it several times, thinking they looked funny. It couldn't be symmetrical, so she hoped no one would notice it.

These false eyelashes were weird. She couldn't believe her reflection when staring at it. She looked glamorous, but she felt her eyes heavy whenever she blinked.

Her nails were painted in a nude neutral color so that she would look prettier for tonight.

Even when her friends complimented her earlier about how fabulous she was, her esteem was lowering from checking out other people in line just now.

It's just a night out for fun, right? So why am I feeling nervous? The bubbling feeling inside her was growing.

Snow shifted her head to discover Casey's gaze onto her. Not expecting it, her eyes slightly widened in astonishment. He was definitely staring at her.

"What?" she asked softly.

"Oh," Casey said, finding himself on the spot, "nothing."

"Oh, alright." She didn't know what she was expecting, but hearing that response sounded flat.

She awkwardly looked the other way, just seeing another group in front of them had more spirit going on than over here.

"Your hair," he muttered, and she quickly turned back to him, "you did something to it, right?"

Glancing at her hair, it was straightened out. She had her mother do it for her because she was afraid on her own that she might overheat it and damage it.

"Yeah," Snow said slowly.

"It looks great."

She nodded her head, and then she heard him say, "You look great."

Did I hear that right? A compliment from him was out of ordinary and just not that often within his character. He kept most of his thoughts to himself, so if this slipped out, was it true?

She examined the look onto his face, and Casey looked elsewhere while he had his fingers touching the side of his head. He looked as he didn't know if that was all right just a few seconds ago, an uncertainty to his comment.

"Thanks, I thought it was a nice feel to it," she referred to her dress and slightly chuckled. "Does it look peachy?"

Okay, bad pun. "Don't answer that," she spoke again. "Same goes for you too."

Although Casey didn't deviate from his normal look, he still could go clubbing with that outfit. Wearing his black distressed denim jacket was new, something that put on the edgy side kind of look, and underneath was a plain white T-shirt. Snow wouldn't be surprised with the black skinny jeans, but those shoes she hadn't seen before. The black leather shoes.

Had he just casually thrown on whatever he saw from his closet? Even if it looked like the "no effort" look, guys could pull it off effortlessly. How could they pull that off every time? She genuinely wondered about it.

Casey didn't even want to go with them. Malloy had stormed into his house after ringing his doorbell numerous times. The excuse Casey made was that "his phone died," even though he actually just shut off his phone so he could avoid their text messages.

They may or may not have an argument inside, but at least he showed.

Finally, they were moving up the line to the entrance of the club. Embarrassingly, she was the only one to carry a passport while they had their driver's license. But once they were in, that didn't matter. She carefully put back her passport in her purse.

They advanced through the dark corridors, and when they stopped at the main center of attraction, the scene was unfolding before them. A series of LED lights paraded throughout the entire area to the dance floor, the bar and their closeby tables set up, and the lounge area with white sofas. Loud music blared from sound system stereos that got everyone grooving into the beat. From scanning each of their faces, they were here for a good time or forgetting their own existence.

Just as much as Casey felt, Snow wasn't a huge fan of the whole social scene. Why did she let Malloy talked her into this again? Not to mention the partygoers all at once made her head a bit dizzy. The confining space they had to get around even if the room was ginormous and went up to the next room for more partying and dancing happening.

"Now, this is what I'm on about; let's get it on!" Malloy shouted.

"Um, I think I wanna sit down for a bit!" Snow raised her normally soft voice.

"But we just got here!"

"Yeah, I know. I'll just catch up." She convinced him, pointing to him that she'd just take a seat in the lounge area.

"If you're not out by five minutes, I'll come get you." He heeded her a cautious look, and she nodded.

"I'll stay back too," Casey offered.

Malloy struck a pose similar to a confident businessman with his fingers pointing at them before he swept his feet toward the large crowd. Kyle waved at them. "See you guys in a bit," he said, and then he was off.

Snow and Casey found seats on the white long sofas, sitting on the farther end from the others. While conversations and activities took place, the two glanced at other things than at each other.

She didn't know if she was going to spend a couple of hours dancing or whatnot, but sitting here was an absolute bore. It's only a good thing she wasn't the only one with an anxious feeling.

"So, nightclubs, huh? This is what it looks like; something extraordinary, isn't it?" Snow said, attempting to start a friendly conversation.

Casey drew his lips in a tight straight line. "Yeah..."

The lifeless countenance of his sent her an odd feeling that she didn't like. She should be used to him neutral and composed, but it was pitiful to watch him as though he had to hold everything and his emotions in. It's not his fault that he still carried on his own problems but waiting around and letting him think that longer would just be sad.

"I would be lying to say if I wasn't nervous coming here. I am, but maybe this is the night. We should just let go of our problems now and worry about them later," Snow said.

"Is that so easy?" Casey asked.

"No, but does anything come easy? We have to consider that maybe so many of us are here just wanting to let loose, and you should too," she encouraged strongly.

Those words herself she might not believe as much as she said them, but she had to stay strong-minded; so he could believe it. He needed to hear them. A friend wouldn't want to see him down.

She'll keep becoming his support system.

After two minutes of silently pondering if those words were effective for him and the silent bridging, she really didn't know. What she did know was that she could try to let him know how she meant it in another way. Snow stood up, smoothing her dress briefly, and right next to him, she offered her hand out.

"They're waiting for us. We should go out there, and I'd like to see you as well." She motioned her head to the dance floor.

Casey guardedly glanced at the hand and then to her eyes. He contemplated with uncertainty, but soon he placed his hands on top of hers.

Helping him up, she latched onto his hand and walked him over to the dance floor. A throng of people dancing was in the way as she glanced at the faces to find the familiar two. It didn't take long until she found them.

Once they were closer, Snow dropped her hand with Casey's and put on a cheery smile to the guys. "Hey guys."

They turned their heads. Kyle bopped his head subtly and moved his arms around slowly as he gave them a sup nod. As for Malloy, he was getting into his groove. He could move his arms, he could move his legs. He knew what he was doing. The energy he was showing off reflected that.

His hair swayed in motion as he took a step toward them. "Don't just stand there. Dance with us," Malloy prompted, grabbing Snow toward him by her wrists to get her to wiggle her arms around.

Whoa! His strong hands held her in place, but she felt them casually loosened as he guided under her arms, and they lifted up. Following along in his lead, she got her arms throwing around. He slightly patted her on the hip with one hand to indicate to move them along too. As if telling her to also don't be afraid to swing them. At first, she awkwardly felt funny in her form but he was doing it and nodding at her.

Shortly after she swayed her hips, he threw up a fist in the air. "Yeahhh!" Malloy cheered.

He looked on to Casey. "You too, just dance. Don't even care. No one does!"

Hearing Casey shouted "What?", Malloy went to give him a nudge. "Dance, you got it! Move a limb, a muscle. Just feel it. Drift with the music."

Casey glanced around between the three as they were dancing even if they weren't exceptionally good—apart from Malloy who had smoother moves. After he picked on the social cues, he gave in to subtle gestures as his arms became loose, swinging them back and forth and bending his knees. He added a twist to his torso, nice and small.

Then he tapped his toes out and back, adding a bit of snap. Malloy instructed him to the free and easy steps that he knew.

"There you go," Kyle hollered, "better than me already."

For half an hour, it was continuous dancing and the music turning up. The DJ was getting everyone into high energy and pumped up. Snow hadn't used her full energy, but she wanted to keep on going.

But first, she wanted a drink for herself. "I'm a go get a drink," she shouted.

"What?" Malloy shouted back.

"I said, I'm getting a drink!"

"Can't hear you."

"Drinks," she said louder this time.

"I think she said something about drinks," Kyle mentioned to Malloy.

"Okay!" Malloy gave her a thumbs up.

Snow headed to the bar and asked for a drink from the bartender. He popped out the bottle cap easily with the can opener and grabbed a tall glass of cup. Filling it with fresh ice, he then poured the coke bottle over. As she paid for her drink, she took a few napkins by the dispenser then her leave away from the counter.

At the corner walking, was a girl and as her eyes glazed over at someone's leather pleated skirt, she thought how stylish they looked. It looked pretty on her.

I could never pull that off.

Hearing footsteps just behind Snow, it was a large group. Someone laughed loudly at what one of the others said. She wasn't expecting this next when a guy lightly shoved the other guy, and she felt an elbow brushed against her skin.

Suddenly making her skin jumped, she fastened her walk and the next thing she knew was the drink in her hand fell forward and spilled over a guy's jacket.

She gasped.

"I am so so so sorry!" Snow said with haste, watching the soda dripping down.

The guy had medium side-parted hair in bleach blonde and with a demeanor that made her feel like she should be cautious around. He knitted his brow at her, and she didn't know if he was thinking how she just ruined his jacket or even his night.

She put a palm up toward him. "Let me make it up to you. How about I buy you a drink?" Quickly realizing how it sounded and the situation that put them in this spot in the first place, she dismissed the offer. "Never mind, that's a terrible idea."

"Here?" Snow extended her hand out with the napkins she's holding.

He only eyed her quizzically, keeping his gaze at her momentarily then took the napkins from her.

"It's okay," he said then changed his expression with an unconcerned smile. "It's getting hot in here anyway."

He zipped down the zipper of his jacket, taking it off and staying comfortable in his long sleeve shirt. "So how about it?" he asked her.

A moment later, Snow sat across the table from the stranger who had ordered her a new soda. She insisted that he didn't have to, but he said it was a shame to lose her money because of him. Nonetheless, he spent his on her.

She sipped a little bit of her cup—her mouth was parched. She put it down and expelled out a small relieved sigh; she needed it. He stared at her, but nothing happened.

"Is that better?" he began.

Snow nodded her head. "Yeah."

He smirked. "You're welcome."

She smiled at him anxiously. "I didn't mean to... with your jacket."

"Ah, whatever." He shook his head without much thought. "It's black anyway, you can't tell far away."

That had to make her feel a little less bad about it. "True."

The guy caught a glimpse at something behind her. "This is where you were. We've been waiting a while, and they asked me to come get you." Snow turned to the voice of another guy who was speaking as he walked up to him.

Is that...? She peered her eyes at him, and he noticed when he turned his head.

"Snow?" he said her name, his eyes widening at her. "Is that you? I haven't seen you since. How are you?"

Gavin. She had him as a classmate for Biology, and they worked together as partners once. When they saw each other around in hallways, she'd wave at him. His light brown hair was short, but she could see now that they grew longer and had a windswept finish.

"Oh, it's so good to see you again, Gavin," she said, smiling friendlily at him.

"You two know each other?" The guy cut in.

"Right, we went to high school together," Gavin answered. "And what about you two? What are you guys doing here?"

"She spilled her drink on me, so I helped her get another one."

Gavin perched on the cushioned booth beside him. "Ah, so you just met?"

"Yeah." He nodded his head. As if he remembered he had forgotten something, he turned to Snow. "How foolish of me. The name's Ty." He extended a hand across the table toward her.

Snow accepted his hand and shook it lightly. "I'm Snow."

Funny. It was a weird one coming, and she hadn't expected to find anyone she knew. "What have you been doing?" She directed her question to Gavin.

He chuckled and leaned back on the cushion. "I'm just doing an internship program for Microbiology."

"Oh my god," Snow chuckled. "You really are a bit of a nerd, aren't you?"

"Hey, someone needs to study those microorganisms and the little bacteria guys; no one needs an upcoming epidemic for years to come," Gavin defended his case sharply.

Snow spent five minutes chatting to Gavin about things and catching up with him. At the same time she learned about how Gavin and Ty met. Ty worked at a gas station, and Gavin was a customer there.

A few of their friends came by, found them, and joined along at the table.

New people and social anxiety didn't blend in with her at all but she did her best to remain cool. She was getting a good look at them and had an exchange of a few words. She was only planning to stay for a few more minutes.

But then came out a name said bitterly and almost filled with rising ire. "Ty?"

Casey stood there with a wry face, his eyes glaring directly at that one person.

"C-Casey?" Snow muttered. Do they know each other?

Ty clicked his tongue as he steadily shifted his head, his eyes looking up. "Casey," he said amusingly. "Nice to see you again."

"Is it?" Casey snarked.

Snow looked behind to spot Kyle and Malloy, her eyes asking for what's going on, but they had no clue as they stood back.

This new acute air was stirring between Casey and Ty, and she didn't have a good feeling about it.

What's going on? Snow visualized a fierce exchange like the lion and the cheetah. They didn't get along well with each other.

Ty not seeming to be bothered, lifted his lips to a smirk. "Of course. I know we left it off at a lousy note, but that was then."

Casey didn't make an effort to hide the disdain in his tone of voice. "I almost didn't recognize you for a minute."

"Oh, do you like my new hair? I thought this color would look good on me." He petted a few strands of his hair on the side of his head.

"I don't care," Casey replied, then he made eye contact with Snow. "And you were with him," he said quietly.

He quickly tore away his gaze right after he laid his eyes on her for a few seconds. There was something in him, and Snow saw how he balled his fingers into a fist.

"You don't want to tell me how you've been?" Ty asked.

"No thanks," Casey said.

"Really now? It's been kinda long." Another voice spoke from the seat next to Ty as the guy waved at him.

With widened eyes and watching him stalked angrily out, she moved out from her seat and went after him as he took further steps away. It was like smoke inside of him, and it was just getting hotter. 

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Da da dum! Happy another Friday. How is today's chapter? I want it a mix of fun and a twist of unexpected. How about it? Did it work? Stay tune for more about this dash of tea.

It was meant to be just the name mentioned to provoke, but then... a minor appearance can be more fun, hahaha.

Please vote and comment as it means the world to me!