0 6| p i m p o

A A R O N



The party had already started when we got to the venue.

Courtney, Mia and Robyn already came ahead of us while the rest of us (Tyler, Noah and I) came much later.

Noah started socialising as soon as we got there. I was left with Tyler who exchanged glances with me and we shrugged at the same time. He headed for the couch and I followed suit.

The living room was as spacious as to contain hundreds of teenagers at a time but it was looking like only a few elites were invited to the party. Well, it's Daniel's party and his dad is one of the nine commissioners in this city.

Tyler took a long look at me, then started to chuckle.

"What?" I asked, tilting my head back.

He shook his head and shuffled closer.

"Well, why are you here man?"

Immediately I got the joke, I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "Had to show up."

"Hmm... Let's head up and get some drinks then."

I shook my head. "You can carry on—"

"Tyler? Oh my God... it's him!" A lady screamed not far from us.

I paused and took a long look at her. Tyler also did the same. Well, he's quite popular with the girls because of his looks and good boy demeanour so it's not surprising he quickly got recognition.

He gave the girl, who was soon joined by her two friends, his charming smile.

I'd leave it up to Tyler to condone their flirtation and play along, so I just patted him on the shoulder and stood up.

"Have fun."

I didn't wait back for a response and was making my way to the kitchen to get some snacks if there were any. While I glanced across the dimly lit party room, I caught a familiar face from a distance.

Two people, a lady and a guy were just coming in. The guy looked oddly familiar.

It wasn't until they passed by me that it clicked.

"It's... Pimpo... Yes!" I muttered to myself.

I paused in my tracks and turned around to take a good look at them. The two were approaching where I stood.

Pimpo was effortlessly comfortable in oversized sweatpants and a faded graphic tee, his bare face radiant in the soft light.

I caught his brief conversation with the lady.

"How do I look?"

"Like a lady!" Pimpo said whilst nudging his girl friend in the side. She reciprocated by hitting his at his hip as well.

"Okay, ow... Awesome!" Pimpo reassured her.

"Really? "

"He would fall at his knees. "

The friend giggled. "Well, if you say so. Or I'll kill you if that's wrong..." They both laughed. "Wait... My legs hurt. " She complained, shifting her weight on both legs.

"It's bound to be when you wear such high heels. Being a girl has so much trouble. "

I couldn't help but chuckle.

He's interesting...

"Hey! Sally?" someone said from behind me.

It was Daniel and our eyes met. I was taken aback when he nodded at me. We barely talk at school but his acknowledgement meant he recognised me.

"Hey, Daniel..." The voice belonged to Pimpo's friend.

"Thanks for coming guys. " Daniel seemed to be addressing all three of us. I nodded and replied "Sure. "

Somehow, I felt like looking back at the couple and I found Pimpo frowning at me. He seemed to be already boring his eyes at my forehead so it was almost the instant I turned, his eyes connected with mine.

I couldn't quite place my hand at what shifted in the air. I just couldn't tear my eyes away from his amber ones.

As I locked eyes with him across the room, I felt an inexplicable pull, my gaze drawn to the soft glow of his face. I was struck by the contrast between his laid-back attire, which is totally out of this place, and the radiant confidence he exudes. There's something captivating about him. His lashes were longer than normal and his face had this feminine structure but he's dressed like a guy. Our first encounter made me so sure he's a guy.

At this moment, I was hooked, my curiosity simmering just below the surface.

"May I have the dance?" Daniel disrupted the tense atmosphere.

I realised he was talking to Pimpo's friend. I smiled at every one of them after the awkward moment, turned around and continued on my way to the kitchen.

________

I wasn't the party type.

I had no clue what to do. I just continued to take some snacks in the kitchen, then stride out intermittently to check on Noah since I'll have to drive us home. Tyler would most likely give Mia, Robyn and Courtney a ride home in his vehicle and Noah and I would find a cab home.

I was on one of my checkups on Noah when a drunk lady bumped into me. I backed up rashly only to regret it later. I spilled her drink on my shirt because she clung onto me.

She was muttering incoherent words.

"Please... No..."

I winced, went on to take off the shirt and headed out of the kitchen.

"Sally..."

As I pivoted my head around to locate the owner of the voice, my eyes met with Pimpo's all of a sudden.

He paused in his rushed movements for a while, his wide eyes raking up and down my torso.

I was confused because he just kept shutting his eyes and groaning. It was when he broke eye contact that I realised I was now only in a see-through singlet.

He got around me and reached out for the lady I just bumped into. It then dawned on me that it was probably his girlfriend, the one he came here with.

Well, I'm confused why he let her dance with Daniel when it looked like they were together...

"What. . . You're so drunk!" He scolded.

I got suspicious because his voice sounded so feminine just now. Something's odd about him but I couldn't place it.

Out of curiosity, I stayed longer instead of going to the restroom to clean my shirt.

"I... I saw my brother..." Sally muttered.

Pimpo had his back towards me so I couldn't see what he was doing properly. Sally held onto the door frame and kept rocking her body back and forth in a distorted manner.

"Is... Is she okay?" I asked out of concern.

Pimpo glanced at me. "No... Yeah... Well, I don't know! She's just totally drunk right now." She faced me fully now. "Hey, did you see Daniel around?"

I was surprised he actually talked to me civilly.

"Uh, no... He's probably on the dance floor." I jabbed my thumb behind me towards the noisy living room.

He nodded a few times and his eyes went to my shirt. "Uh, she did that?"

I was confused about what he meant and when he didn't clarify further, I only stuttered, "Uh-uh...", assuming it's about my shirt.

"I'm.. sorry about that."

"Yeah- it's okay. You should take her home..."

"No..." Sally sounded like she was pleading and whining. For once I could see her bloodshot eyes. She looked like she saw something terrifying, the way she looked at Pimpo helplessly.

"Did something bad happen?" Pimpo voiced my question.

"Daniel... " Sally's voice broke... "He tried to..."

"Shh..." Pimpo cautioned, glancing at me. "Someone's here..." He whispered and hugged Sally, stroking her dark brown hair.

Sally continued to mutter words that sounded like she was molested and my blood boiled at the instant. No wonder she looked so haggard when she bumped into me.

Daniel has a bad record with girls in the neighborhood and even at his school.

"Did Daniel do something to her? Wait- He just bloody took advantage of your girlfriend!"

"My—" Pimpo suddenly cut in then faced me abruptly. "Well..." And that was all she said.

"A normal boyfriend would literally swear to kill Daniel and you're here. . ."

All he did again was glare at me. I noticed his unusually long eye lashes again.

"It's none of your business and I'm going to fucking deal with Daniel later. Right now, does she look like she can even talk properly?"

"Man, she's your girlfriend! And that's enough reason to just go out there and punch his fucking face!"

"Okay, calm your balls,dude. She's not my girlfriend in that sense and you're just getting it all wrong. She's my girl-friend like friend!"

Embarrassed, I kept shut. Was I getting the wrong idea all along?

"I'll just go find Daniel. " I turned around.

"Leave it. " he suddenly grabbed my hand to stop me from going. "He's not in his senses. I'll make him pay for this later. "

I nodded after the awkward pause and glanced at Sally instead. I wondered what she must be going through.

"Do you sometimes feel you should know more about how a girl feels in moments like this?" I ask abruptly. His eyes met mine. He deadpanned and shrugged.

"Nope." He replied in a monotone and adjusted Sally such that she was leaning heavily on him.

"Well, you should... Or you wouldn't really know how to treat them properly. It might just be too late before you understand them."

And why am I saying this?

It's totally unsolicited and awkward, but... Maybe I couldn't seem to forget what a six year old me witnessed.

"Shut up please." He snapped and pulled Sally out with her.

I wanted to reply when he shot me a glare and I just followed behind him, without even really knowing why.

There was a lingering silence as we walked downstairs into the partying crowd.

When we got out of the mansion, he pulled Sally away from him a bit to see her face. "Oh and she's asleep."

And that was when I remembered my twin brother also had the bad habit of falling asleep after getting drunk.

"Shit." I tossed my shirt in the bin quickly before heading back in.

I caught his confused gaze for a moment.

"I forgot to pick someone up, " I quickly say.

Noah.

By the time I got to see Noah, he was on the couch with a girl around his arm. I managed to pull him up and away from the girl and dragged him with me downstairs.

I just got to the parking area when I noticed Pimpo was standing alone in front of a car, his fists in his hair. The car was in wrecks, smashed in the windscreen and blood all over it. Sally was sitting against a pole in the parking area.

"What the fuck happened here?" He yelled and was about to walk around the car to do a double-check when our eyes met.

"You... You're a girl?"

That was what I realised from the moment she yelled.