Low Road for the Fast Track
Two High Schoolers Meet in a Strip Club
As far as anyone else knew, Maria had dropped off the face of the planet. That was why, when Estela snuck in the back door of the strip club on a slow Tuesday night, she was shocked to see a familiar face. Though people at school had asked, Estela had answered precisely zero of those questions, and as far as she could tell, Alex Gaskarth had no way of knowing that her best friend had dropped out of school and become a stripper. So what was he doing here?
Surely Maria hadn’t told him. Estela was the only one of her best friends that knew, and no matter how chummy they may have been at parties, there was no way Maria would have told her ninth grade lab partner turned occasional friend over some of her closest friends. Estela had a quick debate in her head, weighing her options, before she approached her classmate.
“Drinking alone?”
Alex seemed surprised, but not startled as he calmly turned to face the speaker. He visibly relaxed when he saw it was Estela and not someone there to bust him. He gave her a small smile. “You’re not going to tell, are you?” he said drily. Rhetorically.
Estela took a seat beside him. “How did you find out? About Maria.”
Alex took a long drink of whatever it was he was drinking. “I just…wandered in here by accident one night and saw her dancing. She’s good.” Somehow, Estela thought there may have been more involved than just 'wandering in' for someone so underage to get into a place like this, but she didn't dwell on it. The place was, frankly, pretty shady.
“No one else knows?” If Alex had been in here, surely his friends had been here with him. Their lack of presence tonight was baffling enough.
Alex took another swallow and turned in his chair to look at his companion head on. “Are you going to kill me if I tell you no one knows?” he joked.
Estela let out a breath of relief and let herself slip into a smile. “I just might. You shouldn't make a habit of drinking alone.”
The teen downed the rest of his drink and put the glass on a small table between their seats. It joined several other glasses and bottles. “Who says I come here to drink?” he said, all irony.
She only shook her head. “Does Maria know that you know?” Alex shrugged.
“I don’t think she’s ever seen me. I sit at the back.”
Estela glanced at the new girl beginning her routine on the main stage. “You’d better go then. She’ll be out any minute.”
Alex nodded. “Cheers,” he said, pushing himself up from his seat and turning to leave.
“Alex,” Estela stopped him, “Get home safe.”
A moment later Alex was gone and Maria was joining her, now dressed in her normal clothes.
“C’mon,” Maria said, “You’d better get me home. You have school tomorrow.”