Chapter 2 : Six months ago (1)

Kai didn't want to go to the party.

He'd told Mia this three times over the phone, twice over text, and once in person when she'd shown up at his apartment with a garment bag and that look on her face that meant she'd already decided for him.

"You need to have fun," Mia said, hanging the garment bag on his closet door. "When was the last time you did something that wasn't work or your mom's medical appointments?"

Kai looked at her. Mia looked back, unflinching, which was the problem with having a friend who'd known you since high school. She remembered when Kai had been a person who did things besides survive.

"I have work tomorrow," Kai said.

"You have work every day. Come on. It's my birthday. Daniel's taking me somewhere nice and you're my plus-one's plus-one."

"That's not a thing."

"It is tonight." Mia unzipped the garment bag. Inside was a button-down shirt, dark grey, probably expensive. Definitely expensive. "Daniel's friend had an extra ticket and I said you'd come."

"Mia."

"Kai." She pulled the shirt out, held it up to his chest. "It'll fit. Wear your black jeans, the ones without the hole. We're going to Club Imperium."

Kai had heard of Club Imperium. Everyone had heard of Club Imperium. It was the kind of place where people who had money went to be around other people who had money, where the cover charge cost more than Kai's grocery budget, where the bouncers looked at you like they could see your bank account and it wasn't good enough.

"I can't afford that," Kai said.

"You're not paying. You're my guest. And before you say you can't accept charity," Mia held up a hand, "it's my birthday. You have to be nice to me."

Kai looked at the shirt. Looked at Mia. She had that expression on, the stubborn one, the one that meant this argument was already over and Kai just hadn't realized it yet.

"One drink," Kai said.

"Three drinks."

"Two drinks and I leave by midnight."

"Deal." Mia grinned, victorious. "Get dressed. Car's picking us up at nine."

Club Imperium was exactly what Kai expected and worse.

The building looked like someone had taken a glass tower and decided it needed to prove something, all sharp edges and lights that cost more to run than Kai made in a month. The line to get in wrapped around the block. People in clothes that fit right, that looked like they'd been bought specifically for tonight instead of pulled from the back of a closet and hoped for the best.

Kai stood next to Mia and Daniel and Daniel's friend Marcus, wearing borrowed clothes, and tried to look like he belonged.

He didn't belong.

The bouncer checked their names, waved them through without looking at Kai directly. Invisible again. That helped.

Inside was loud and dark and full of people who moved like they'd never worried about anything in their lives. The bass was physical, rattling in Kai's chest. Lights cut through artificial smoke. Someone laughed too loud near the bar, the kind of laugh that came from being drunk on expensive alcohol instead of cheap beer.

"This way," Daniel said, steering them toward a roped-off section. VIP. Of course it was VIP.

They got a table. More accurately, Daniel got a table and the rest of them sat at it. Kai ended up on the end of the curved booth, half-hidden behind Marcus, which was fine. Preferred, actually.

A server came by. Daniel ordered a bottle of something Kai didn't recognize. When it arrived, the server poured it into glasses that looked like they'd shatter if you held them wrong.

Mia pressed a glass into Kai's hand. "To being twenty-five," she said, grinning.

"You're twenty-four," Kai said.

"I'm celebrating early. Drink."

Kai drank. The alcohol tasted like it cost three hundred dollars, which probably meant it did. It burned going down in a way that felt intentional, designed, like even the burn was supposed to be an experience.

He nursed the glass after that. Sipped slowly. Made it last. The plan was simple: stay for two hours, be polite, leave before midnight. He could do two hours.

Mia was happy. That mattered. She was leaning into Daniel, laughing at something he'd said, her hand in his. They looked good together. Natural. Like they fit.

Kai tried to remember the last time he'd felt like he fit anywhere.

The thought slid away before he could catch it.

Marcus appeared at his elbow. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah," Kai said.

"You look like you want to be literally anywhere else."

Kai almost smiled. "Is it that obvious?"

"Little bit." Marcus waved the server over, said something Kai didn't catch over the music. The server nodded, left, came back with two cocktails, bright blue, garnished with something crystalline. "Here. This one's better than that fancy shit Daniel ordered. Trust me."

Kai looked at the drink. It looked like something that glowed in the dark. But Marcus was being friendly, and Kai was a guest, and saying no felt rude in a way he couldn't afford.

"Thanks," Kai said.

He drank it. It tasted better than it looked, sweet and cold, the alcohol hidden under layers of fruit and something sharp he couldn't identify. It went down easy. Too easy. Kai's stomach was empty. He should have eaten before coming.

He drank half before setting it down.

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