52. Schnapps

Lance said loudly, "No way you are going alone when meeting a sociopath?!"

Paige rolled her eyes. "I'm double your age; I can go where I want to." The second part let her sound like a real teenager.

After digesting the age matter that had hit him critically, he contradicted,

"No way, I will just follow you."

"Do you even know where the 'Darcy's' is?" She asked, intentionally giving the name of a different club than the one she was going to.

"Naturally." He lied.

It went back and forth until Paige screamed at him that he was like a helicopter mother, and while Lance looked at her, horrified, she slipped away.

Lance let her go, already knowing where she was going anyway. He searched for the club online, seeing that it was far away. He cursed and went out himself. He took a taxi there after not meeting her on the way outside the building.

Paige asked the system, sitting on the staircase of the fifteenth floor if Lance had already left.

When the system answered positively, she felt really guilty.

But no one could stop her from getting beaten today.

She would never last in school without cheating with the help of the system, and a deal was a deal.

She arrived a bit late because of fighting with Lance. Hating herself for lying to him, the more time passed by, she opened the door of the private room inside the club.

There sat five girls with heavy makeup and bathed in gold or silver accessories. They were already around nineteen years old and presented their assets openly.

She nodded at them, and one with black hair and short bangs pointed her long nails at the door behind her. "Sweety, you got the wrong room."

Nailgirl turned around again, continuing the conversation with the others.

"I ordered the most expensive one. '' She giggled and pointed to the menu for the others to see.

Paige slumped on a couch and asked,

"What are we drinking if it's so expensive?"

All eyes turned to her, and the girls needed a moment to recognize her.

Nailgirl asked, "PAIGE?" in absolute shock.

It's not about being caught ordering the most expensive champagne; Paige would pay even when knowing that, but looking at her, she was so beautiful and so slim. How?

The one beside her with apparently fake blue contact lenses and bleach blonde hair was jealous, observing Paige's sharp jawline and amorously shaped eyes, looking constantly bored or sleepy.

Being fixated by these eyes, she felt all her ugly thoughts were uncovered.

Paige normally would not drink because of her young body, but she decided she needed a bit of schnapps for being beaten later.

She pushed the button on the table, and soon after, a waiter came in and professionally welcomed her.

"Do you have hazelnut schnapps?" She asked.

The waiter said they had, and she was much happier.

One girl with a lip piercing asked her,

"How come you are so thin?"

"Diet," Paige answered curtly.

The others looked at each other, not knowing why Paige changed her attitude after being thin.

"How is it going?" Nailgirl asked while taking a sip of her cocktail.

"Fine." Paige would show if she did not like someone and these girls were not being liked.

"How is school?" Lipgirl asked.

"Whatever." 

The waiter came back with the hazelnut schnapps and the expensive champagne.

Paige told the waiter to wait for a moment while the others opened the champagne. Then, she poured herself a glass of schnapps. 

Taking a sip, she looked at the waiter. 

"This is tasty. Oh, by the way, who is the party that has to pay, if no one wants to settle the bill?"

The smile fell off the waiter's face. And the girls looked in terror at Paige.

He said, "The party has booked the room."

Nailgirl froze and looked at the other girls in panic.

"And... let's say everyone leaves and only one party is left, but not the one who had made the reservation. Who pays then?"

The girls gripped their bags, ready to make a run for it. They had met much earlier because they wanted to have fun together without Paige. Knowing that she always came reliably because she thought of them as actual friends, they had ordered enough for it to be worth a considerable sum of money.

The waiter repeated what he said before. 

"The party that has booked the room. Do we have a problem here?" he blocked the door, ready to call the security in.

"Dunno." Paige glanced at Nailgirl, who had made the reservation.

"Do we?"

Nailgirl was utterly shaken, looking pleadingly at Paige,

"But....you always pay..." She said with her voice quivering.

"Mhmm....but not today." Paige made sure that one of the others booked the room, which was not difficult, as they wanted to meet there earlier anyway.

The waiter said sternly,

"I have to ask you to pay the bill now."

Paige had finished her glass and poured another one. She pointed openly at Nailgirl and said,

"It was her who made the reservation, I think."

The waiter nodded cooperatively.

"Yes, I am aware. You have to show an ID to make a reservation."

Lipgirl hesitantly stood up. 

"I have to go...." 

Nailgirl gripped her arm when she wanted to go, breaking her skin with her nails,

"Don't you dare leave me alone, all of you; pour out the money you have with you!" She bellowed suddenly.

The others felt indignant.

"You had ordered the most expensive stuff; why should we?"

"Yes, I didn't even want to come." Lipgirl wanted to break free of them.

While arguing, the waiter called security. They stormed in, not looking happy with customers not paying for what they ordered.

One wanted to touch Paige, but she pulled out a few thousand dollars out of her cleavage- having always wanted to do this someday. 

While feeling like a boss, she said

"I have money, they do not."