Beads of sweat rolled over Faye's eyebrows getting into her eyes. Breathing came powerfully and deep, and her toned leg muscles propelled rhythmic movement all the way up her body, into her arms, her hands. She had been dancing for... An hour? Two hours? Well she wasn't sure. Faye hadn't really taken stock of her situation since she'd popped the pill and stepped into the fray. With techno tracks often blending all together as they do, and the nature of MDMA being what it is, Faye could no more have told you how long she'd been raving than who the person freak dancing her from behind was. Maybe it was time to reel on back to reality, just a tad.
She had a moment of tightening anxiousness. The drug, now having infiltrated to the very roots of her brainstem (she thought, she
felt
), was working its magic. And it did
feel
good, but god it was overwhelming.
These thoughts crop up now and then when your mind is being blown
, she mused.
Heartbeat? Yes there it was
, she thought, hand over her chest. God it was fast, keeping tempo with the zany beat pumping from the stage's speakers.
140 beats per minute? 150?
Then she noticed her shirt was missing.
Haha... OK, Faye. Still have my bra, thankfully. Fuck it's hot out tonight. Maybe I'm getting too hot.
Anxiety swelled in the pit of her stomach, and the music couldn't be helping. The track was becoming strange, was not
really
music in even a loose sense of the word now. No, this was more of a grainy crunching of glass shards on tile, mixed with echoes of clattering spoons and disharmonized traces of some popular melody.
How were you supposed to move to this crap?
And who was this dancing on her? Grinding into her ass? Faye noticed the hands on her undulating hips, long nails on her skin above the low cut jeans.
Probably a chick... But maybe a tranny
.
I definitely need some water.
Faye disentangled from the mystery dancer and their two bodies peeled apart like a static cling sticker from glass. Her partner's bare ample breasts (definitely a chick) came unstuck from Faye's back. Faye turned to look at the woman; at least she had little yellow and white daisy pasties on.
Wow, this crowd is going crazy.
From behind her: "Bye babe... Come find me when you're runnin on E!"
The Candy Raver giggled.
An illustration of the phrase "disgustingly cute"
. She was panting, still dancing hard. Faye flashed a smile. The chick retrieved a pacifier dangling from the necklace between her jiggling tits, and popped it between her lips.
Weirdos. Well, I am one tonight. How did I get convinced to do this?
Jericho.
It had been Jericho, her ex's coworker. He had hooked them up with tickets not knowing Faye's relationship had been on the verge of a nuclear meltdown for about a month.
Or had he known?
The invitation was innocent enough. But coming here had seemed to be the final straw for Jack, her ex, who was not into this kind of thing at all. After an argument on the drive, he had taken one fiery look at the rave and fled the scene. Core containment: breached. Faye wondered if Jack had divined the tension between her and Jericho- some force did always seemed to draw their wandering gazes together at Jack's work parties.
Where was Jericho?
Calm, stoic Jericho had given her a sympathetic look after Jack threw his tantrum and left. Jericho who'd asked to dance with her at a party before he knew about Jack. Jericho, A.K.A., "The guy with the tattoos" (as she'd referred to him with Jack).
A subterraneous hum had begun to vibrate in the trampled ground. Hysterical synth arpeggios poured out from the stage. A rainbow of slashing lasers crisscrossed her skin. They were reaching escape velocity; though no one knew how high the ecstasy addled DJ was taking them. Through all this the giddy throngs of human gummy worms danced on, oblivious to Faye. Anxiously wandering around the periphery of the crowd she tried to do a little interpretive gyrating, failed; not feeling it.
Someone was shouting her name.
Jericho's voice.
Pleasant familiarity beamed through the alien world. Her eyes focused. There he was, arms and shirtless chest glowing psychedelic neon blue. On the drive over, a pixie-like friend of Jericho's who'd referred to herself as "Thumbelina" had filled in the outlines of his tattoos with glow in the dark paint.
I'd have wanted to get my hands on his chest too.
Faye's stomach did some fluttering (which felt fantastic), and the anxiety dwindled palpably.
"I brought you some water!" Jericho shouted.
Just then, a magnificent crash of cymbals signaled their catastrophic ascent had finally (and mercifully) ripped itself apart. A giant wave of relief spread through the crowd as the music took on a new form. It felt like the DJ was performing the musical analogue of a swan dive into space from lunar orbit. They levitated in silent vacuum for a moment, and then a gentle, rushing melody tinkled in.
Jericho threaded between some flailing fluorescing teenagers to hand her the bottle. She sighed with relief and gulped thirstily, tossed the bottle down.
"Damn I needed that! Thanks!"
"No problem! Thank Christ he's spinning a new track." Jericho gestured to the DJ.