Nadine kept walking to the park, her favorite heavy metal music blasting through her headphones, until she finally made it to her friends - Athena DeVries (who liked to dress in witch-like outfits and study the occult in her free time) and Sabrina Johnson (a Goth punk girl with tattoos and neon-pink-dyed hair).
"About fucking time you got here," Sabrina complained. "Hey, take those fucking things out of your ears!"
Nadine rolled her eyes, then took out her earbuds. "Better?" she asked, barely hearing her friend earlier, but getting the gist of what she was saying, considering the expression on her pierced-up face, and the fact that she just knew what Sabrina was like, being long-time friends and all.
"Wh-who are you?" Athena asked.
Nadine and Sabrina turned and looked at the younger Goth girl, with confused expressions. "What the fuck do you mean 'who am I'?"
Athena blinked. That was weird. For a moment there, when she looked at Nadine, it was like she was someone else and not her friend. But now, looking at the girl who was two years older than her ... yes, this was obviously Nadine Ferguson, one of the few members of the Lake Point High School Goth crowd. Black-dyed hair, black make-up, pale skin, spiked collar, fishnet shirt underneath a black T-shirt, leather miniskirt, black-and-white striped stockings, and black knee-high buckled Demonia platform boots. Yeah, definitely a Goth. But just for a moment there, Nadine was another girl, one that kind of looked familiar, but then again not. And almost at the same time, it was Nadine, but she wasn't Goth in the slightest. It was a strange sensation and she hoped it wouldn't happen again. "Sorry, I guess I'm just tired from going through school all day," she said.
"Well, that's why we're going to the club," Nadine said. "To unwind and have some fun. It's certainly a better place to be than at home. You know how much of a religious bitch my mother is. And you know you could do without your dad for a night," she said to Sabrina. Her dad was a drunk, so she jumped at any opportunity to spend time elsewhere.
"Your homelives might be shitty, but mine isn't. Plus, you know I just got a new book from The Occult Stop that ..." Athena began.
"Go home then, if you want. Me? I'm gonna have some fun," Nadine said.
"No, no. I'm coming," Athena said. The crystal pendant that rested just above her pale breasts (being lifted up by her blood-red corset) flickered briefly, unnoticed by her. It was, in fact, what had clued her in on the fact that Nadine was now different, though Athena hadn't yet figured that out. But that was only because nothing like this had ever happened before. She studied the occult, sure, but nothing occult-ish had ever happened to her, definitely not in this lame town.
