The party was...

Well, it was. A bunch of people crammed into a big empty arena somewhere on the college campus. The lights were dim, and people were painting each other with glow in the dark paint. There were refreshments.

The others had scattered all over. He could actually see Goldie and Evan dancing over in the corner. They were surprisingly good at it. Had he always been a good dancer, or was this magical enhancement? Maybe it was training. Two out of three of those possibilities would mean Kyle was now probably a decent dancer too, but whatever. That didn't make him suddenly magically like it.

He pulled his shirt away from where it had caught on the table. That kept happening tonight.

Kyle wasn't much for parties, like he'd said. He'd had a decent time at the dance, but this was a party, not a dance. A lot roudyer, a lot less organized, even if this WAS a school event. Then again, he'd had a good time at the dance because of the company.

Jenny was a sensation. While he stood by the refreshment table adjusting his shirt, Jenny had fallen into one of her ancient Uzbedi dances on the floor, and a circle had formed around her. He couldn't blame them, he was mesmerized by her too. She was in her human disguise, of course, but he found he almost didn't notice. Human or genie, brown skin or pinkish purple, it was just like Jenny was putting on a different shirt.

That thought seemed to summon the curses of his own shirt. It had caught on the table again. It had been doing that all night. It was driving him crazy.

"Hey!" A girl he'd never seen before said. "Not dancing?"

"Uhhh..." Kyle blinked. Girls he'd never seen before did NOT walk up to him and talk. Or at least they hadn't before.

But he was almost a foot taller now, and covered in muscles. At the highschool where everyone knew him before, that hadn't mattered much. Everyone knew him. Here, nobody knew him. This girl had no preconceptions.

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That was...a weird thought to have.

"I'm not much of a dancer," he said finally.

"Really? Because you look like you have ALL the right moves."

Ouch. Okay. Playing dumb was not going to help in this situation. This was...SO much more forward than anyone he'd ever spoken to before.

"Listen if I'm reading this wrong I'm sorry," he said, pulling his shirt out of the table again. "But I'm here with my girlfriend."

He gestured to Jenny dancing on the floor.

"So why aren't you dancing with her?"

"Because I'm not much of a dancer and I really don't know traditional Uzbedi dances."

"What's Uzbedi?"

"A country somewhere between Europe and Asia. Don't feel bad I'd never heard of it before I met her either."

"Huh. Well she's pretty cute. Real cute actually. You know what? Bring her along."

Kyle almost choked on his own tongue.

"That's a very tempting offer," he managed in a gasping wheeze. And one Jenny might even approve of, with her open bisexuality and talk of multiple wives. Though he doubted she'd want some random girl they just met, if they brought someone in she'd probably want someone they knew. Like Ammeline, Jenny already said she wouldn't mind having sex with Ammeline...

Kyle gave himself a mental slap in the face. This train of thought was counterproductive.

"That's a very tempting offer," he managed in a more normal voice. "But I don't think she'd be up for it. And I definitely wouldn't do it without her."

"You sure?" The woman pressed.

"Look at that. Would you risk that if you had it?"

He looked over at Jenny, undulating on the dance floor. The girl followed his gaze.

"Guess not. But listen, I'm writing my number on this napkin. Talk to your girl and get I'm touch sometime, huh?"

She tucked the napkin in his hand and walked off. He took a moment to look at it.

It read "Conni Fairbanks, Hot, Up For A Threesome" over a phone number. He stated at it for a moment, then tucked it in his pocket. He felt a little guilty about that. It was funny, that's all. He and Jenny would haugh about it later. That's right, laugh. Hah hah. That was the only reason he'd kept it.

It was certainly funnier than this shirt getting caught every damn....wait.

He'd stepped away from the table.

His shirt couldn't be getting caught on the table anymore.

He looked down at his arm, and the shirt. It was caught alright. It looked like someone was grabbing it.

No, wait, someone really WAS grabbing it. There were fingers clutching the fabric. His eyes just didn't want to notice them. Even now that he had, they kept wanting to slide away. He followed the fingers up to an arm, and finally noticed the person standing next to him. How long had she been there!?

She was cute, in a weirdly nondescript way. Mousey build, grayish pale hair. Kind of like if Betty's voice turned into a person. She was also shouting, but he couldn't make out the words. Like she was on mute. But as he focused, he began to hear a buzzing that got louder...and louder...until finally...

"....ou! Come on you have to hear me! You're looking right at me, can you see me? You can see me right? God I hope you can see me...I'm trying to warn you someone's planning to kill you!"