SUPER UNLIKLEY- PART ONE: PSYCHA

”So Everest is having a party on Friday night, her uncle owns a night club and since its her birthday hes letting her bring fifteen people in for free but we all have to buy at least two drinks. ” Tiffany told Ana on Wednesday morning as the two of them walked around the campus.

They were on their lunch break, but Tiffany insisted she had to go see someone in the chemistry lab on the fourth floor before they could go to the cafeteria, and Ana agreed however much her stomach protested.

”Does this have anything to do with whats happening on the fourth floor? ” Ana asked as her stomach let out another growl. Tiffany stifled a giggle. ”Oh yes! But its a secret, and you
e terrible with secrets so wait outside. ” Tiffany told her. Ana gasped in an offended tone. ”Hey! What do you mean Im bad with secrets? Ill have you know Ive kept your secret about what happened in the chemistry lab since freshman year! ” Ana said pointing an accusatory finger at her.

Tiffanys eyes grew wide as she looked around the hall, practically hissing ”Shhhh! We still can talk about that! ”

Ana rolled her eyes and put a hand on her hip, eyebrow raised expectantly. Tiffany gave her a reassuring look. ”Ill just be a minute, okay? ” She asked, pulling something out of her pocket. Without giving Ana a chance to respond, she dashed into the room, leaving a fuming Ana in the hallway.

What did Tiffany know? Ana was great with secrets! She was right, she hadn told anyone about what Tiffany did in their freshman year, even if it was how they met, she even kept up a massive lie throughout her entire college lifetime just to make sure said secret was safe! She also kept all of Stephanies secrets about every time she accidentally dropped food on the floor, even if she felt bad about it, but in her defense, it was rush hour, and only like two fries, they kept the floor clean so whats the big deal?

The massive report she had to do on fool spoilage that was now weighing her bag down even more was telling her exactly what the big deal was.

After what felt like no time at all, Tiffany returned, looking rather proud of herself, shoving something back inside her pocket. ”Alright! ” She exclaimed. ”Now we can go, ” She glanced at a clock on the wall, ”Oh! And with ten minutes to spare! You ready? ” Ana grunted, annoyed that her facial expressions weren conveying how annoyed she was.

Perhaps it was the reminder of her report.

”Great! So Ill stop by the diner to pick you up on Friday and well go to the party together, okay? ”

Ana nodded, deciding not to be petty at the moment. ”What time are we going? ” She asked. ”Around nine. ” Tiffany said, scrolling through her phone at lightning speed. ”Ill bring something for you to wear since you
e an absolute disaster. ” Tiffany told her.

Scratch not wanting to be petty.

”Excuse- ” ”No time now! Ive got to demonstrate like eight different ways to prevent a toddler from chocking. Bye Ana, catch you later! ” Tiffany called, taking off down the hall.

Ana stood there with her mouth open, mid-insult, watching her friend disappear around a corner. Now she was mad for three reasons. One, because her friend made her walk all the way up to the fourth floor and then ditched her, two, because she said Ana was bad with secrets, and three, she said that Ana was a disaster!

Ana grumbled to herself all the possible insults she could hurl at Tiffany as she made her way down the hall too the first floor, focusing her newfound rage on delivering her report.

—

Friday rolled around a lot sooner than expected, Ana told herself she really needed to go out more if this was the reaction she was having. She was at the diner again today, although this time she had help on the diner floor, which sounded like she should be less tired.. if she didn have to train the newbie.

”Yoo-hoo! Pretty waitress! ” Ana heard Tiffanys voice call from the counter. She saw Tony roll his eyes as a few customers that had heard her chuckled. Ana placed a hand on her hip as she glanced back at her friend who was signaling for her to come over. Ana turned back to the new waitress, Sally, Ana remembered was her name.

”Ill just go see what she wants, just finish up bussing out these empty tables and let me know if you need any help alight? ” Ana asked the sandy blonde girl, who nodded. Ana gave her a thumbs up and skated over to an excited, and clearly party ready Tiffany and a very bored, standoffish Tony. Tony was another one of those people who felt Tiffany was just too much when he met her, and noting her energy tonight Ana couldn really blame him for looking extra tired as he eyed Tiffany sipping her fruit smoothie with a blank expression.

”How much longer until you get off so I can tell Everest when to expect us? ” Tiffany asked her.

”Is it party time already? ” Tony asked her blandly. Tiffany nodded as she slurped her smoothie. Ana looked up at the clock. ”You can take off early if you want Ana, the rush is pretty much over and I think the new girls got it under control. ” Tony told her with a bit more expression on his face this time. Ana glanced back at him. ”You think so? ” She asked sparing a glance at Sally who was chatting happily with a few regulars.

”Yeah. ” Tony shrugged. ”Its not like shes a complete newbie Ana, shes had waiting experience before, and besides if she needs help, Im here. I used to be a waiter here too, remember? ” Tony asked her giving her a small smile. Tiffany looked from him to her, still slurping her smoothie loudly. ”Oh, yeah. Right, forgot about that. ” Ana fiddled with the hem of her uniforms apron as she became increasingly aware of Tiffany staring at her. ”Alright- so Ill clock out then! ” Ana exclaimed as she caught sight of Tiffany wiggling her eyebrows that, judging by his expression Tony did not see.

”I brought you a change of clothes because you
e a disaster. ” Tiffany told her, holding up a leather bag. Ana rolled her eyes but took the bag with a smile, a contrast to how she felt few days ago, skating into the bathroom to change. Ana recognized the clothes as her own once she opened the bag, which wasn too alarming because she either had left clothes at Tiffanys place or Tiffany had used the spare key Ana had given her to get something from her closet.

Either way she wasn complaining.

Ana pulled out the outfit, it was a bit different from what she would usually wear but Ana wasn going to complain. It was a black mesh tank top with a neon green bra underneath with a matching neon green mini skirt and leg warmers, as well as a pair of black mesh shorts that stopped about mid-thigh. Ana let out a quiet sigh of relief that the rush hour hadn sent her hair into over frizz from skating around all evening.

With a quick touch up to her makeup which Tiffany had also put into the bag, Ana grabbed the leather bag that now contained her uniform in one hand, and her roller skates in the other as she walked back to the counter, getting a thumbs up and wide smile from Tiffany and slightly raised eyebrows from Tony.

”Eh, eh? What do you think? Am I a genius or what? ” Tiffany asked nudging Tony.

Tony rolled his eyes. ”Im leaning towards the or what category. ” Tiffany pouted at Ana. ”Hes so mean! ” She exclaimed, making Tony send her a small smirk. ”I don understand how you could like this guy! Hes suuuch a killjoy! ” Tiffany yelled, exasperated. Ana paled slightly at her word choice and stole a quick glance at Tony who didn seem phased by Tiffanys comment.

Instead he looked at Ana with a concerned gaze and told her, ”Don get into too much trouble tonight, okay? ” He asked. Tiffany let out a soft ”Ooooh ” and Ana quickly thought she should consider herself lucky that Ana couldn punch her at the moment. Instead, she absentmindedly kicked her foot as she gave him a bashful smile. ”Now wheres the fun in that? ” She asked slyly.

”WOOO! Thats the spirit! Finally, I have my best friend and partner in crime back! ” Tiffany exclaimed hopping off of the barstool in front of the counter making Tony give her a stern look. ”Im serious Ana, please be careful. ” Tony said. Ana opened her mouth to reassure him but Tiffany cut her off. ”Yeah, yeah Dad, well be careful and Ill have her home by twelve, okay? ”

Ana put a hand to her mouth to stifle her giggles unlike the other customers who had overheard who were openly laughing at the exchange, however Tony didn look pleased.

”Eleven thirty. ” He said pointing a finger in Tiffanys direction, getting more laughs from the onlookers.

Tiffany grabbed Anas hand and waved him off. ”Yeah sure Gramps, Ill return her safe and sound, ” Tiffany called to him, rolling her eyes once more, ”This is gonna be so much fun! ” Tiffany squealed to Ana as the two of them made their way out of the diner.

Ana took in a breath of fresh air. ”Yeah, ” Ana concluded. ”This is just what I need, a little night on the town adventuring to clear my head. ” ”You said it, Ill let our ride know we
e ready. ” The image of the news article about Zalic and her super cronies flashed through her mind. Ana took in another deep breath and reassured herself that there was no way a mad scientist would be crashing a nightclub of drunk and sweaty twenty somethings to find a new test dummy for her experiments.

Yeah, she was being way too paranoid.

”You sure you won miss your boyfriend too much? ” Tiffany teased, snaping Ana out of her thoughts. Anas head whipped to face her. ”Huh? ” She asked. ”Oh come on Ana, you could almost play dumb before but you can now. He looked like a kicked puppy! ” Ana rolled her eyes as she looked out onto the street. She saw a large blue car turn into the road the were standing next to and come to a stop in front of them.

”And heres our ride. ” Tiffany said, shimmying her shoulders.

The drivers window rolled down revealing a guy around their age with sandy blonde hair and dark brown eyes greeted them over the blaring music from inside his car. ”You gals ready? ” He asked them. Tiffany nudged Ana who nodded excitedly before the two of them got in the backseat of the car.

Inside Ana saw that there were two other people inside the car besides the blonde-haired guy, there was also a guy with curly black hair in the front, and a girl with long purple hair who was on her phone in the backseat next to them.

”Thats Randy, whos driving, ” Tiffany told Ana after she shut the door, ”The guy next to him is Andrew, and thats Merli next to me. ” Ana waved to everyone, getting noise of greeting in return. ”Everyone, this is Ana, my best friend, and of course you guys already know me. ” Tiffany chirped making Merli sigh in annoyance. ”We know Tiffany. ” She huffed. Andrew snickered from the front seat as Randy pulled the car out of the diners parking lot and turned around to drive into town.

Ana saw Tony glance at the car from the diner window. He ran a hand through his hair and turned back to a group of people who had approached the counter.

”See, kicked puppy. ” Tiffany said making Ana jolt in her seat. She put a hand to her chest and glared at Tiffany, who shrugged and popped a stick of gum in her mouth. She handed one to Ana, who took it, and felt herself nodding along to the music that was playing in the car.

—

If Ana thought the music in the car was loud, it was nothing compared to the music inside the club.

”Geez it really has been a long time since you went out if you
e flinching like that over the volume. ” Tiffany called over the music. ”WHAT?! ” Ana called, making Tiffany roll her eyes and lean next to Anas ear. ”Try to have fun! Lets go find Everest. ”

Tiffany and Ana trudged hand in hand throughout the dim crowded club, following Randy and the others they had rode with in the car. The club had dozens of different strobe lights shining and flashing throughout the space and a bright dancefloor whose tiles faded to different colors occasionally. Ana couldn tell if the thick cloud of smoke was from a smoke machine or the amount of people smoking inside.

Ana caught sight of a DJ over the crowd of people dancing across from a large bar with more different types of liquor than Ana could even count.

Finally the group reached a back room and walked inside, the loud music muffled after Ana shut the door behind her. The room had glittery black walls that seemed to have a light projector on it, as the walls shone a different color every few seconds in a type of ocean wave. Ana was able to locate the source of the smoke coming from people smoking a vaping as she looked around, and after a few seconds she was handed a drink, which she stared into and eventually sniffed.

Tiffany was way ahead of her and halfway through her own, giving Ana a curious glance. ”Don wanna drink? ” She asked Ana. Ana rolled her shoulders. ”No, I mean yes- but thats not why I was staring at it. I just remember back in high school my uncle telling me never to drink something that I didn see get made- I was getting flashbacks to that. ” Ana said swirling the liquid around in her glass.

”Oh relax Ana, Everests brother made that. And if its any consultation I saw him make it, I was the one that handed it to you, if youd get out of your head long enough to pay attention to your surroundings. Did your uncle tell you that? ” Tiffany asked her sarcastically. Ana nudged her. ”Yes, asshole, Im just saying- ”

”Tiffany! Im so glad you came! ” A voice cut Ana off.

Ana turned to see a girl with dirty blonde hair and a short purple dress along with a purple birthday tiara approached the two of them from the back of the room. ”Everest! Happy birthday! Hows it feel to join the rest of us in our roaring twenties? ” Tiffany asked her as she pulled her in for a hug. ”I feel good! ” Everest exclaimed pulling back from the hug and glancing over to Ana. ”Oh hi! ” She exclaimed. ”Hi! ” Ana smiled at her. ”Happy birthday! ” Everest gushed under the attention. ”Oh thank you guys, really! ” ”Oh man I feel kinda bad because I wasn able to get you a present. ” Ana pouted at Everest.

”Speak for yourself, ” Tiffany nudged her. Both Ana and Everest gave her a confused look.

At that moment Andrew walked into the room with a large box carefully balanced on his hand. Tiffany turned to Everest with a smile. ”We got you a birthday cake! ” Everest smiled wider taking the cake from Andrew. ”Gather around everyone! ” Tiffany called clapping her hands together getting the attention of the rest of the young adults in the room.

Tiffany pulled Ana in giving her a wide smile. ”This was the big secret on the fourth floor. ” She whispered, making Ana roll her eyes. ”I couldve handled that! ” Tiffany rolled her eye back at her. ”Sure you couldve. ” Randy lit the candle on the birthday cake, getting the full attention of everyone in the room.

Tiffany extended her arms as Ana pulled out her phone to take a video.

”HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN THREE- TWO- ONE- ”

—

Ana stumbled back into her apartment at around 2:30 am.

With the help of the receptionist at the counter, Ana was able to make it back to room 216 and into her apartment with little no issue. She pulled her phone out of her bag as she staggered into the kitchen, attempting to stabilize herself on the walls.

She flinched at the bright back light in her fridge as she pulled a water bottle from behind an half empty orange juice bottle. She unscrewed the cap, which fell on the floor, as she shut the door with her hip, sinking onto the ground and downing the cool liquid of the bottle. She pulled her phone out from her skirt pocket. She idly sipped from the bottle as she mindlessly scrolled through her phone, barely registering the contents flashing by on screen, a notification from her messages getting her attention.

Tony- 2:15 am – You get back okay?

Ana took the bottle away from her lips as she clicked on the message, she had no recollection of talking to Tony at all.

-11:39 pm audio call-

11:54 pm Tony: Have a good time lol

11:59 pm Me: im gdoing great

12:02 am Tony: Don do anything crazy

12:15 am Me: ITS SO CRAZY RN

12: 16 am Me: ANDY BROUGH COKE

12: 17 am Tony: ANA DONT YOU DARE

12:17 am Me: MY PARENTS NEVER LET ME HAVE JUICE LET ALONE SODA

12:18 am Tony: …

12:19 am Tony: Don give me a heart attack please.

12:30 am Me: [image]

12:31 am Me: Thats Everst in the back

12:42 am Tony: Tell her happy birthday from me

12:43 am Me: I will!

12:56 am Tony: Im going to sleep, call me if you need anything

2:15 am Tony: You get back okay?

Ana chuckled at the messages as she, in her muddy mental state, sent another text, before black spots over came her vision. She drained the rest of her water, feeling herself drift off to sleep.