11 Shut Up and Dance

Brad lifted the thick black curtain and gestured to me as we both entered the nightclub on a dimly-lit street. There was a long, dark hallway with blue, horizontal neon bars on the walls. A pink sign read "omg", with the letter "g" stylized to have devil horns and a halo.

"I've never been to this gay club before," I turned to Brad, who seemed more excited to be there.

"Come, come," He pulled me through another pair of black curtains into what seemed to be a dancefloor.

Katy Perry's "Walking on Air" was booming on two enormous speakers that stood impressively on the two sides of a purple and blue illuminated DJ booth. A sea of mostly males danced and moved rhythmically to the loud music, with blue lines of lasers frantically everywhere. An empty stage was placed amidst all the club-goers and had a long silver pole reaching all the way to the ceiling.

Brad took me to a standing table away from the dancefloor, and spared no time in ordering cocktails for us both.

"I'll have the margarita as well," I shouted to the bartender.

"Don't worry, kid. I can hear you." The bartender shot me a wink and moved aside.

"Wow, I didn't expect this many people," I spoke to Brad in his ear.

"Well, I think that's owing to the hype for tonight's exclusive show," He responded in my ear.

The drinks arrived, and I took a generous sip of my beige and green drink.

"It's a stripper show, right?"

"Yes, and the 'Green Hurricane' is making an appearance tonight."

"The 'Green Hurricane'?"

"He's a well-known stripper from London who's gaining a lot of popularity as of now."

"What kind of name is the 'Green Hurricane' though?"

Brad took a peek at his watch, and pulled me by my hands. "He should be on the stage any minute now, let's go."

"Where are we going?" I questioned as I was pulled back onto the dancefloor, pushing my way through the sweaty crowds.

"Let's dance," He stopped when we reached the edge of the center stage.

"But our drinks," I tried to peer in the direction of our table.

A finger was quickly put on my lips, a familiar gesture that I had experienced before.

"Shut up and dance," Brad beamed a smile. "With me."

We moved our arms and danced along with the crowd. Seeing Brad's sweaty and muscular body turned me on again, and the alcohol must've kicked in as I became more comfortable with dancing in front of these unknown people. Brad inspected my body, looking me up and down, and kissed my cheek.

"You look like a snack tonight, Ped," His voice echoed my ear.

"And you look irresistible," I replied.

Brad's handsome face illuminated by the alternating laser lights looked truly irresistible as I put my hand on his waist and danced.

He licked his lips and grinned at me.

With no cue, the music stopped and the lights became dim.

A voice thundered over the quiet club.

"Everybody please welcome, the one you've all been patiently waiting for tonight… The one and only, 'Green Hurricane'!"

The music was resumed and a muscular male wearing nothing but a sparkly green speedo and a green venetian mask stepped onto the center stage from behind the DJ booth. The crowd cheered and screamed as they marveled and admired his tan body from underneath the stage.

He spun around the silver pole expertly and delicately landed on his bare foot, while the crowd started throwing dollar bills at him.

The 'Green Hurricane' threw away his mask into the mass of people, and just as I was looking at his eerily familiar face, I realized who he was.

"That's my old friend, Christian Harris." I turned to Brad. "We went to the same high school!"

"What did you say?" He called.

"Christian was so reserved and shy, I literally can't believe he's now a stripper! What in the world?" I ignored Brad's reply and continued to gaze at Christian serenading the crowd.

I took my phone out and opened my camera app, swiftly recording him dance freely on the stage while people lustfully tried to touch his package by stretching their arms. I had to tell Nathan and Antonia immediately, I thought.

Christian carried on dancing away, blissfully unaware that an old classmate was in the crowd filming him. Though Nathan was my first, I briefly had a crush on him back in the day but we've never done anything other than kiss.

Not long after that, Christian seemed to have noticed me in the crowd, as he stopped dancing for a second and stared curiously at me.

"Ped?" He mouthed, before proceeding to dance again.

Brad observed the exchange and turned to me.

"You know the 'Green Hurricane'?"