Chapter 2: Drunken Night Out

"Listen Kennedy I am so so sorry for attacking you. It's just I thought you were the enemy." Stella apologizes in an embarrassed tone. Why is this girl so uptight about the "enemy". Oh well I guess I should accept her apology.

 "Trust me I totally understand. This situation is super weird and seems not real to an outsider." I explain to Stella.

 "Hey Kennedy, how about I take you out to the bar to make it up to you?" Stella offers. A bar? I'm not old enough to drink yet. And by the looks of it Stella isn't old enough either. There is no way she is much older than me.

 "Well it's kinda embarrassing, but I'm not 21 years old so I can't really drink." I explain while avoiding eye contact. This really shouldn't be that embarrassing to admit but it is…

"What do you mean you're not 21? You're at least 18 right?" Stella questions me in a confused tone. Why would it matter if I'm 18 or not!?!?

"Yeah I'm 18, but why does that matter?" I ask Stella.

"Well then you can drink dumbass…" Stella teases me in a sarcastic tone.

"WAIT WHAT IT'S 18 YEARS OLD NOW!?!?" I exclaim flabbergasted.

"Yeah the United States has been that way for centuries now." Stella informs me. Wait so we are in the USA? Wait what time period are we even in?!?!

"Wait Stella, I have so many questions. Can I ask you about them?" I ask Stella. Please Stella, I need you to help me!!!

"Listen hotshot if you go to the bar with me and we get a few shots in us. You can ask for anything you want." Stella tells me in a seductive voice with a wink. WAS THAT A HINT!?!? THAT SEEMED SO FLIRTATIOUS. No way she's interested in me at all. Right?

"Okay deal" I say with a nervous voice. My face is flushed and it feels like it's burning.

"Awww how cute your face is so red!! It must be the first time a girl has talked to you like that huh?" Stella teases me. No way it's that bad that she noticed!?!?

"UUUUH NO!!!!" I Exclaim. I can't let her know she is right!!!!

"Suuuuuure." Stella says sarcastically.

"WELL WHATEVER LETS JUST GO TO THE BAR!!!" I exclaim in embarrassment trying to escape the situation.

"Alright let's go then," Stella says as she goes to the left and walks down the hill and I quickly follow suit. We make it to the bottom of the hill and start heading forward towards the street and sidewalk.

"So which bar are we going to?" I ask Stella.

"We are going to the iron castle," Stella tells me as she turns right and I follow.The iron castle seems like a generic bar name. Guess some things never change.

"What is this bar known for?" I ask Stella.

"It's known for how much variety they have in terms of drinks." Stella informs me as we arrive at the bar. The bar has a castle theme to it. Its main color scheme is black and dark grey with some red mixed in.

"I see it makes sense it would be more popular," I say as we walk into the bar. As soon as we walk in we go to one of the open stools at the bar.

"Hey Kenzo, let's do a competition for every shot you take. I take one and the first one to get shit face loses and owes the other person 50 dollars." Stella challenges me. A challenge huh? She doesn't know that I can really hold my liquor. I mean I did play junior hockey after all. The parties back then were CRAZY.

"Alright sure but a fair warning I can drink a lot" I inform Stella. She doesn't know the stuff we do at parties in juniors. I don't even know how many times I got bitch cup while playing rage cage, but surely enough to build my tolerance.

"Okay sure," Stella says in a sarcastic tone. "You don't have a chance in hell at beating me," Stella claims confidently with a smirk.

"Alright then let's get started." I tell Stella.

"Hey dusty can I get a bottle of new amsterdam?" Stella asks one of the guys behind the bar. He looks to be about 5'10 with a scruffy beard and nose ring.

"Yeah no problem little Larson." Dusty responds as he gets a bottle of new amsterdam and puts it on the bar ledge.

"I'm not 'little' any more dusty." Stella says with a pouty face. "Little Larson" how does he know Stella?

"Alright suuure missy, but before you start drinking I need your keys." Dusty tells stella.

"I didn't drive here, but let me pay you really quick." Stella says as she taps her wristband. A hologram pops out of the wristband and she goes to an app called wallet.

"It'll be only 12 bucks with your discount Stella." Dusty says as he opens his wallet on his wristband. On his wallet it has a title that says "Iron castle finances". That must be how the business collects the money.

"Alright here ya go!" Stella says cheerfully as she moves the number up to 12 dollars and clicks 'Send'.

"Here's two shot glasses for you guys." Dusty says as he puts two shot glasses on the table. Oh lord, it's been a little while since I took shots.

"Thankies Dusty!!!" Stella exclaims. "Thankies" huh, why is that kinda cute. She does have a cute side to her I guess.

"Alright let's get started" I say as I grab the bottle and start pouring us a round of shots. I wonder how well she can hold her alcohol.

We take the first round and Stella exclaims "This will be easy no way I am losing to you Kenzo!". It's like you can see the fire in her eyes.

"Alright, I warned you," I say to Stella. This girl has no idea what she's getting into.

3 shots later you can tell she's drunk and her face is red. "KENZO I can see the red on your face already." Stella stammers. She is a lightweight isn't she?

"I am fine you're the one whose face is red." I let Stella know. Honestly I'm not really feeling it too much yet.

"Th-That's not true, your face is red." Stella insists.

"So you're not giving up?" I ask Stella.

"No way in hell I'm not even dr-drunk." She barely stammers. If nothing else this girl is determined to win.

2 shots later I am drunk at this point, but it's not bad, and I bring my phone out and realize it's at 90% I have a charger but nowhere to plug it in so I need to find a place to charge it before it dies. Anyways, I start recording Stella. "Kenzo *Hic* I wanna go *hic* to Chezzzzze Land *hic*." Stella whines.

Is she saying Cheese land, what is Cheese land? "No, you can't go to cheese land, you're too drunk," I tell Stella. I may not know what it is, but I do know she is too drunk to go anywhere.

"Dr-drunk *hic* what do *hic* you mean *hic* I only had *hic* 4 

shots *hic*." Stella says, drunk out of her mind.

"Okay, Stella I think you forgot how to count," I say as I burst out with laughter as I stop recording.

"Uh Kenzo I feel sick I think I might," Stella says but I interrupt her by taking a five from her wallet and then giving it to the bartender.

"This is your tip." I tell the bartender as I pick Stella up and take her off her barstool then start pushing outside and lead her into the alley where she starts to throw up. I hold her hair back so it doesn't get in her way. This girl pushed her limits waaay too much.

"K-Kenzo, I'm tired, I wanna go home," Stella says. "Take me home please." Stella whines. Home, where does she even live?

Stella, where do you even live? If I don't even know where you live how can I take you home," I tell Stella. Judging by the road they still use cars, but they can go super fast and drive themselves. There must be more features like changing into a flying vehicle or something for water.

"I live at *hic* 69420 Est Lincoln Ave city is Eden state is California, okay now can we go home?" Stella asks in a whining tone.

Even though this is California it looks like it has completely changed. Since I don't know this area I'll just go ask the bartender to help me get a cab. "Sure but first let's go back inside for a few seconds," I say to Stella as we head inside. I get up to the bartender who is currently behind the bar, "Excuse me, can you help me get a cab?" I ask the bartender.

"A cab sure I can get you one." The bartender assures me as he touches his wristband, and a holographic website pops up. "Where are you guys going? 69420 Est Lincoln Ave?" The bartender asks. How did he know?

"Yeah, how did you know?" I ask in a concerned tone. Does Stella know this guy?

"Yeah me and Dusty were her father's friends and even went to war with him." The bartender Informs me.

Huh, with her father they must be pretty close, but what does he mean by was? Did her dad pass? "I see well thanks for the help." I thank the bartender.

"Hey, kid, keep her safe. If you don't, your life will be in serious trouble." The bartender says in a joking tone but by the glare, he is giving me I can tell he is serious.

"You got it I promise she'll be safe," I promise the bartender.

I go outside with Stella and it's raining. The city-style look is very close to what LA used to look like, but it has modern tweaks inside the building I'm sure because I saw someone go and unlock their door by thumbprint and holding their wristband up against a scanner. Wristbands huh, wait everyone has a wristband what are they used for? Should I ask Stella? I look over to Stella. She is just sitting on a bench under a street light. She's wrapped up in her white knitted cardigan. I'll ask her. I am walking to Stella all of a sudden she runs over to a guy waiting to cross the street. Oh no what now, looks like I have to go help this poor man.

"Please sir help me go to cheese land!" Stella exclaims in a voice that you can tell she's wasted but trying to cover it up. I walk over to Stella and grab her wrist to lead her back over to the bench.

"I am so sorry for her." I apologize to the guy. She is so social when she is drunk it's kinda funny.

"Don't worry I get." The guy tells me.

"Sorry again. It's time to go Stella." I tell Stella and pull her back to the bench and force her to sit down.

"Hey, Kenzo why did you *hic* do that?" Stella asks me in a whining tone.

"No bothering other people okay," I tell her in an authoritative tone.

"That's not fair Kenzo hmph." Stella crosses her arms and pouts. Damn, she's kinda cute. Her icy hair is lovely, and her white cardigan goes well with her black shirt and light blue denim jeans. She has a very 2000's style. Now that I think about it, a lot of people have a very 2000's style, but I do know one thing about clothes now because Stella did it in a restaurant. She changed the color of the cardigan because she was just so drunk and wanted something to do and changed it black then changed it back to white. I also saw a woman add a hood and sleeves to her shirt by just clicking on her wristband like Stella did when changing colors.

"Hey Stella, what are those wristbands used for?" I ask Stella. Is that a weird question? I hope it isn't.

"Oh *hic* they're tickets for Cheezze land *hic*." Stella blurts out. Oh god, there is no way this girl has survived 18 years like this. Suddenly a car arrives next to us.

"Alright time to get in the car Stella I'm taking you home," I tell Stella.

"Noooooo I wanna go cheese land!" Stella exclaims in refusal but I grab her wrist and drag her into the car.

"Buckle up Stella." I order Stella as I sit her down, close the door, and go around the car to the other side and I sit down and close the door.

"Okay, it's not fair, hmph." Stella pouts as she turns away from me. Great now she's mad but, I do have to admit she does look cute when she's mad like that.

"Sorry about that." I say to the driver. He is wearing a cowboy hat and has a blue and light blue checkered shirt with dirty jeans and a handlebar mustache to complete the fit. All He needs is a Corona and a witty comment about you having a girlfriend and he would be the embodiment of every Mexican Tio.

"No worries mi amigo." The driver says.

"So what kinda things does this car do?" I ask the driver. I hope that's not too weird of a question. I hope he doesn't question it.

"Oh, are you trying to get into cars? Well, I know a lot I drive a tricked-out truck when I'm off work. So this car is a Blue Mountain car and it's their San Francisco edition. I hear that San Francisco was like a huge city back in the 2000s kinda like Eden or Farshore. It also can go at faster speeds than the average car. It's 0 to 200 in like 1 second. I mean you can't get under that. With car mode, Its maxed out speed is 250 mph and as the boat, it's 300 mph." The driver rambles on. I guess for a normal person this would be boring but, this is important to me. I need to know more about stuff like this.

"What's the normal speed of a car?" I ask the driver.

"Well for the average car form it's 150mph and boat form goes to 200mph." The driver answers me. Thank god it seems like there is a new wave of tech so it's not weird to ask about this stuff.

"Well, thanks for the info." I thank the driver.

"Hey, Kenzo stop talking to the driver and apologize to me for not taking me to cheezze land *hic*." Stella blurts out.

"No Stella, that's not how it works." I tell Stella.

"Yes, It is. Kenzo! I think I'm going to sleep real quick." Stella says as she falls asleep. Oh god, how has this girl survived this long? She is all over the place. I'm genuinely worried about her.

"Sorry about that." I apologize to the driver.

"It's no problem. Anyways I'll take you home." The driver says.

"How long will it take?" I question the driver.

"Well since the speed limit is 100 mph here it will take us a couple of minutes so yeah sit back and relax." The driver says.

"Okay, thanks." I thank the driver. I might ask Stella to crash at her place tonight after all I have nowhere to go.

About a few minutes later we pulled into a driveway on a hill. And I see a really nice house that almost looks like a mansion.

"Hey, kids, we're here." The driver tells me.

"Oh okay, thanks." I thank the driver. "Stella wake up we're at your house." I tell a currently sleeping Stella but she doesn't wake up. "Stella wakeup we're here," I say to Stella but it does nothing. Ughh I know a way to make her wake up. "Hey, Stella, we are at Cheese land." I tell Stella all of a sudden I see her spring up so fast she must have been as fast as light.

"Cheese land where?" Stella asks me as she realizes I'm lying. "That's not nice Kenzo you meanie *hic*." Stella whines.

"You wouldn't wake up otherwise." I plead my case.

"Yeah but still *hic* that's not nice." Stella says.

"I'm sorry, is that better?" I question Stella.

"I guess so." Stella says as we get out of the car. "Kenzo you're still drunk wanna crash *hic* here tonight?" Stella asks me. Damn, I guess I don't have to ask.

"Um, is that okay?" I question Stella.

"Yeah for sure but you'll have to stay in my brother's room, but he's not home right now so you should be fine." Stella assures me.

"Alright as long it's okay," I say as we head Into the house. The kitchen Is to your left when you enter and to the right seems to be Stella's room. Further down on the right Is her brother's room and on the left side of the hall are glass windows that reach from the roof to the floor that show off the backyard. And straight down is a living room that the backyard door is located in.

"Kenzo I'll show you where you can sleep," Stella tells me.

"Thank you so much." I thank Stella.

"No worries *hic*." She says as she brings me inside her brother's room "Alright you can just sleep in the bed and goodnight *hic* I'm tired." Stella says as she closes the door and goes to her room.

I turn off the light and sit on the bed. What a day I die and meet the "goddess" then end up here and meet Stella. She tries to kill me then we go drinking with her. Wait a minute, what about my family? I'll never see them again. I just hope they take this well in time's like this. I am glad we are Christian because when they find out I'm gone I know they will take it better than anyone I know. But It hurts like hell just to know everything I worked for in life is gone. The fact I will never see my family ever again just plays in my head over and over and over. I can feel tears welling up in my eyes. I feel like I need to get my feeling's out. "WHY! WHY ME! WHAT DID I DO!? MY MOM MY DAD AND MY BROTHER! NEVER AGAIN!" I cry as I hear the door open.

"Kenzo what's going on?" Stella asks me after she opens the door and turns on the light. She is wearing an oversized hoodie and some shorts. It must be her sleeping clothes

I need to calm down. I can't cry right now. Bite your tongue Kenzo stop crying. "Um, It's nothing." I say in a fragile voice with a sniffle.

"Kenzo, do not lie to me, I know something is wrong." Stella says as she comes over and sits next to me. As soon as she sits down she hugs me. It feels warm… I feel safe.

"Now tell me what's wrong." Stella says as she brings my head down onto her lap.

"Stella what are yo--" I question Stella but she interrupts me.

"It's okay Kenzo It'll be okay. What's wrong?" Stella questions me in a soft voice.

I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes. I can't keep this act for much longer. "I'm sorry Stella, you just met me and you're letting me stay over I don't want to trouble you anymore," I say to Stella in the most normal voice I can use at the moment.

"Hey, Kenzo It's okay I just want to help you out even though if we've only known each other for a day I still care. I know you're in terrible pain right now because you remind me of myself when I lost my family at 10 years old. Since you aren't from this world you probably didn't realize from my last name my family was known for being one of the strongest families ever the only other people who could wipe us out are 1 of the other top 10 families or someone with extreme Arcane Essence, but when I was 10 there were growing tensions between China and America. China eventually decided to hire the number 2 family and take my family out and ever since that we've been at war for 8 treacherous years." Stella explains to me in a very serious voice.

Damn my life is amazing compared to what she's gone through. "I am so sorry to hear that. I guess since you told me I'll tell you mine, but let me warn you it's nothing compared to you." I tell Stella.

"It doesn't matter if it's a thing that has hurt you greatly, I want to help you." Stella tells me.

"Well as you know I was transported here against my will basically, so that means I'll never see my family again…" I say with a voice filled with cracks.

"I'm so sorry, it's gonna be okay and Kenzo it's okay to cry, you don't need to stop yourself anymore." Stella tells me.

"I'm gonna miss them." I say while tears are running down my face but these tears aren't nearly as hurtful to shed. I miss them but they're still alive, unlike Stella's family.

"It's gonna be okay. You'll get through it and I'll help you through it." Stella says.

"Thank you, Stella." I tell Stella. This girl is so caring. I want to stick by her side. I mean it's really all I got at the moment.

"Stella, can I ask you something?" I ask Stella. I wonder if she is in the military because she mentioned her family being powerful.

"Yes of course Kenzo." Stella responds.

"Are you in the military? The reason I ask is because you mentioned your family and them being super strong." I question Stella.

"Well you see Kenzo I have fought since I was young as apart of the secret forces for the USA, but since most of my family is gone I have thrown around the idea of joining the military officially. I turned 18 a couple days ago on December 21st, so I think I'll be enlisting soon." Stella explains. My mind is made up. I'm asking her to join the military with me through the buddy program if they still have it.

"Stella, tomorrow morning can I talk to you about something?" I ask Stella.

"We can talk about whatever you want tomorrow, but we should go to sleep," Stella says as she gets up to go to her room. "Goodnight." Stella tells me as she turns off the lights.

"Goodnight thank you again, Stella." I thank Stella then she closes the door as I lay down on the bed. I'm so tired it's time to go to sleep. "Tomorrow I will ask her." I say to myself.