Hometown Happenings: Metropolis

"Okay, let me see what you're wearing," Miranda Rusk said to the mini-version of herself standing in the bedroom.

Aurora "Rory" Rusk put out her hands, performing a slow twirl to show her mother the outfit she planned to wear. Both Rusk women had blonde hair cut short, medium-sized breasts, and toned asses. The only physical trait that Rory didn't inherit came in her hazel eyes compared to her mother's green ones.

"What do you think?" the younger Rusk woman asked.

SLAP

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed, laughing.

"This ass, in those jeans, should attract plenty of attention," Miranda remarked, while her daughter shook her head at her mother for slapping it. "Now, are you sure about the sweater? Dancing will warm you up quickly."

"That's why I wore this underneath," Rory responded. The younger blonde lifted her white sweater to reveal a matching tank top underneath. "I might not even dance much, but if I do, I can take it off for a bit."

"Honey, those boys will definitely want to dance with my little girl," Miranda stated proudly. "Are you all set? Good. Let's deal with your father."

Aurora scanned the room, checking to make sure that she had everything. Following her mother out, the teenager locked her bedroom door behind her. While her mother descended the stairs from the second floor normally, Rory slipped down them stealthily, carrying her high-heeled boots. On the first floor, the teen watched her mother walk over to the front closet, where she grabbed both her jacket and her daughter's. Tossing Rory her coat, Miranda walked the few steps toward the closed door of her husband's office. Knocking, she waited for Orrin to respond.

"Orrin, I'm heading next door to the Gettingers to see Sybil. Rory's feeling tired and went to bed early," Miranda informed her husband, after politely acknowledging the three men in the office with her husband. Frankly, she wasn't at all on board with this latest plan of her husband's, so she tried to stay out of it as much as she could. Expanding the auto dealership to another town seemed risky and time-consuming

"Is Aurora feeling alright?" Orrin questioned, more out of concern over himself catching anything.

"She's fine. Just a little worn out from the holidays."

"Aren't we all!" chuckled Michael Lintz, one of Orrin's guests.

"Very well. Will you be long at the Gettingers?"

"Not too long. Sybil wants to show me the special present she got yesterday," Miranda told Orrin before saying her goodbyes to the other men.

Closing the door, she winked at her daughter. Aurora nodded eagerly as her mother approached her.

"Thanks, Mom!" the teenager whispered.

"Now, you go and flirt with as many boys as you want. Enjoy your night of freedom away from our men," Miranda ordered, hugging and kissing her daughter on her cheek. "But remember to be home by one. I'll stay up and watch one of my shows until then."

"Thanks again, Mom," Rory said, grateful for her mother's help. Getting grounded for telling her father off the other day nearly ruined her night out with Austin away. She'd desperately been looking forward to not having her twin brother watching her every move.

"Of course, honey," Miranda replied, watching her daughter leave through the back door. Satisfied that her husband didn't catch wind of their plan, the older blonde turned and left the house by the front door.

Outside, Aurora felt like a spy, sneaking out the back gate and then through the back neighbor's yard. It wasn't a new feeling for the young actress, who liked to act her roles in real life as a way to distract from her overbearing father and brother. Seeing freedom, along with a cute, red car, Rory skipped down her neighbor's driveway.

"Woo-hoo! The prison escape succeeded!" Delilah O'Dell celebrated, rolling down the driver's side window.

Eighteen-years-old with dark skin, medium-length, curly black hair, brown eyes, small-to-medium breasts, and a toned ass, Delilah was one of Aurora's oldest friends. That Delilah served as co-captain of the Sugarbees dance team while Aurora had joined the rival cheer squad didn't affect their friendship one bit. A friendly, outgoing girl with tremendous dance skills, the cheer squad didn't hold her decision not to follow her mother's footsteps against her. It would be almost criminal to stop the natural dancer from showing off her abilities.

Racing across the street and around the car, Aurora hugged the vehicle's passenger, who had gotten out of the two-door car. Rory's best friend forever, Beyza Baris, appeared more excited than even the blonde at her escape. Attached at the hips since they were in diapers, Aurora and Beyza copied their mothers, who had been best friends since their early teens. A friendly, passionate girl, Beyza often pushed her BFF to be more daring. Also eighteen, Beyza had long, wavy dark-brown hair, the same color eyes, medium-to-large breasts, and a firm ass. Assets that she now flaunted in a tight, low-cut red mini-dress.

"Whoa! You're wearing that?!" Aurora halted upon seeing her BFF's outfit.

"Damn right, I am! It's time we find us some men," Beyza announced with false bravado. She still hadn't fully recovered from her breakup with Sean Tarver, a fact that Rory and Delilah knew well. "And in honor of your night of freedom, I would offer you shotgun in the car. However, I don't think I can crawl in and out of the backseat in this thing." The girl motioned to her tight mini-dress.

"Maybe you shouldn't let your mom dress you," Delilah joked from the driver's seat. Both girls laughed, knowing the truth in her comment. "Let's go! Metropolis and superhot boys await us."

---

"Plenty of prospects in here tonight. No doubt about that," Marcus Withrow noted, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. Eighteen-years-old like all his football teammates he'd come with that night, he had a buzzcut for his black hair to go along with his brown eyes, dark skin, and athletic physique. Outgoing with a great sense of humor, the tight end proved popular with the opposite sex at Honey Hollow High. He often claimed to be juggling multiple women at once, but his secrecy about their identities led many of his friends to call bullshit.

"Hopefully, they start dancing soon," Oscar Vargas commented at his side. Sporting a similar black haircut as his friend, the star running back scanned the dance club with his brown eyes.

A two-story club, Metropolis consisted of three dance floors and two bars. The largest main dance area sat on a sunken floor, four steps down, in the middle of the room. Guardrails and small circular tables lined three of the main dance floor's sides. The main bar sat back from the stairs, allowing a nice view of the action. Near the front entrance and in the back of the room, two smaller raised dance floors provided areas for dancers to show off their moves to other club patrons. Video boards lined the walls, providing live images of the dancing. Upstairs on the second level, a lounge lined with couches and plush chairs allowed tired patrons a chance to regroup and chat in a slightly quieter atmosphere. Or they could use one of the two billiards tables. A smaller bar provided clubgoers with refreshments. If those on the second level wanted to watch the goings-on downstairs, they had the choice of several monitors, or they could watch over the railings that lined two large openings in the floor.

Marcus and Oscar rolled into Metropolis with a relatively deep crew of football players. Or ex-players now that their senior year had finished with a disappointing playoff loss. A solid baker's dozen of players milled around, with several others possibly showing up later. An equal split with offensive and defensive players, their kicker Wilbur Winkie stood out as the unlucky thirteenth person. Marcus chuckled as he watched two of the Brawny Boys, the nickname for several offensive linemen, appear lost without Austin around to tell them what to do.

"The night is young. Let those old enough to drink loosen up a bit, and the others will follow," Marcus responded with experience. He'd been a regular at the over-eighteen Wednesday nights and a few of the other nights when he shouldn't be inside the club. "I don't think you'll have a problem finding a girl for Winkie, Kessler," Marcus said over his shoulder to their teammate at the bar, who barely acknowledged the comment.

"Hell, we might even find one of their ugly friends for Max," Oscar cracked, causing the brown-haired teen to scowl.

The team's top wide receiver, Max Moxey, didn't care for Oscar's treatment. Nudging a fellow receiver, Max led a couple of teammates away. But not before Oscar called out after him, "Don't mope, Moxey, you can always close your eyes and pretend that she's Whitney Diamond."

"Bro, why you gotta be like that?" Marcus challenged Oscar, who laughed alone at his own joke.

"What? It's just teasing," the other teen replied.

"Austin might buy that crap, but I know it's not, and you know it's not," Marcus stated, not happy over the way his one friend treated his other friend. "Leave him alone tonight, or you're walking home."

"You didn't even drive."

"But I'll still make you walk home."

Over at the bar, the middle linebacker from the team, a stocky teen with shoulder-length brown hair and green eyes, attempted to sweet talk the bartender into spiking his soda. Abner "Don't Call Me Abner" Kessler watched as his charm offensive felt flat on the hot raven-haired bartender on the other side of the bar.

"Come on, doll, just add a dash of Jack into the glass. I'll repay you in spades after closing time," he offered with a wink and sly smile.

"Oh, really? So your magic cock is going to make up for my getting fired?" the pale-skinned bartender inquired, flashing a knowing, annoyed look to her fellow bartender. "Hey, Chavelle, don't you just love high school night? This one talks like he's like an old gangster."

"Cheap tips, blatant staring at my cleavage, and the worst pickup lines ever," Chavelle listed. "That's what makes it my favorite night of the week."

"It's going to be like that, huh?" Kessler questioned.

"Sorry about my young friend here, ladies," Marcus interrupted, stepping up next to Kessler while sliding his driver's license onto the bar top. "I'll take a pitcher of your finest beer on tap."

The pale-skinned, dark-haired bartender picked up his ID and studied it. "Travis Turner, huh?" she sounded, glancing at Chavelle. "That's funny. You don't look like a Travis."

"Hmm, you're right, Eve," Chavelle agreed, moving down closer to scan the ID that Eve held out. "You look more like a Marcus."

"Excuse you?" Marcus responded while Kessler flashed a broad, satisfied grin. Marcus never had any issues using his fake ID at Metropolis on past trips. Although he'd never had these two bartenders before.

"He definitely looks like a Marcus," Eve nodded, making a show of peering at the license and back up at him. "If I had a guess, I'd even go so far as to say he looks like a Marcus Withrow."

"Indeed, he does," Chavelle nodded.

"Hey, I don't know who this other handsome guy is, but my name is Travis Turner," Marcus insisted, ignoring the snickering from his teammates behind him.

"Oh, no, I think we better call Trishelle. It seems her little brother has amnesia," Eve mockingly brought her hand to her heart in concern.

"Let me find her number in my phone," Chavelle said, pulling it out of her back pocket.

"Ah, hell, no! I had to get the bartenders that know my damn sister," Marcus groused, snatching his fake ID from Eve's fingertips. Of his two older sisters, Trishelle continued to be the bane of his existence, so having her hear of this debacle wouldn't go over well in the Withrow household.

"Oh, I know more than your sister, Marcus. I know almost all of you boys," the twenty-three-year-old beauty announced, her eyes scanning the senior members of the Honey Hollow High football team. "I'm Evelyn Naylor. My little brother, Evan, is a classmate of yours."

"And I'm Chavelle Cox." Marcus cringed at the name. "Ah, so you do remember your fling with my little sister two summers ago. And Kessler's cousin spent a year hitting on me in French class with no luck," the twenty-four-year-old dark-skinned bartender added.

"Is Evan here?" Wilbur Winkie asked, finally perking up enough to speak. The team's kicker and punter usually kept a low profile as to not get teased.

"No, he's out on a date with Daisy," Eve replied, smiling at the disappointed look on the teen's face.

"Only soda and fruit drinks for you kids tonight," Chavelle declared, garnering groans of disappointment. Looking over Marcus' shoulder, she asked, "What do you need?"

Realizing the hot bartenders had moved on to other clubgoers, Marcus turned back around and moved over to Oscar. His friend still stood in his last spot, watching a small group across the room intently.

"The basketball team is making a move on our girls," he seethed through clenched teeth.

Marcus followed his eyes to see several of the ballers mingling with the cheerleading squad. Spotting Roxanne Kink among them, he felt surprised as the squad's good girl rarely went out on the town with her teammates. Knowing that Roxy was one of the two girls that Oscar had a crush on, Marcus tried to raise his friend's spirits.

"Do you really think Conway calling himself The Denster is going to work on Roxy?"

"No! But I don't like the way she's hanging on the new kid's every word," Oscar growled, staring daggers at Tyler Blick.

"Don't do anything stupid like marching over there," Marcus warned. "Why don't you see if Jasmine is here."

"No Sugarbees tonight. Word is that Bianca's parents are hosting a party," Oscar supplied. "Except for Delilah. She just walked in."

"Well, call me shocked," Marcus remarked, seeing Delilah and Beyza arrive with a surprising third girl. "I'll be back. I got me a sister to bother."

---

"Oh, my. Is that Bobby Hooper talking to Jayden Cooke?" Caterina Quill asked out loud. The resident wild child and co-captain of the cheerleading squad, Caterina oozed sex appeal. After dyeing her brown hair, she was currently a blonde. Cat had piercing blue eyes, medium-sized breasts, and a toned ass.

"It is. He came with Palmer and Kieran," Kaitlin Beal revealed, referring to her on-again, off-again boyfriend Palmer Malloy and his cousin, Kieran Danforth. The couple currently were on-again as the twenty-year-old Palmer was back in town on winter break from college. A brunette with long, curled light-brown hair, soft baby blue eyes, medium-to-large breasts, and a firm ass, guys at Honey Hollow High couldn't wait for Palmer to leave and revert the couple to off-again status. "Hmm, have you seen Palmer lately?"

"No," Caterina answered curtly. She had little use for her best friend's relationship drama. "Is Bobby dating anyone?"

"Oh, that's right! You had a thing for him back during sophomore year. But he--"

"His girlfriend wouldn't let me near him," grumbled the blonde vixen. "I hope they still aren't together."

"No, they broke up over a year ago. Long-distance relationships..." Kaitlin trailed off, thinking of her own long-distance relationship.

An annoying laugh accompanied by a high-pitched giggle drew the two cheerleaders' attention. Caterina rolled her eyes.

"For fuck's sake! Katie, go get Yumi away from Denny. It's embarrassing."

As Kaitlin scurried off, Cat watched her old crush with renewed interest. I haven't thought of Bobby in a long time. He still looks good. Very good. I know he was tempted two years ago by me. Perhaps I should make him chase me tonight.

"There's a lot of cute boys here tonight!" Yumi remarked excitedly when she joined them. "You see anyone you like, Cat?"

Caterina paused a moment while glancing at her friend. Yumi Nakano had been one of her earliest friends. So early that she had no memory of the day they first met. Their mothers had been Sugarbees together in high school. A byproduct of a Japanese-American father and an airheaded blonde mother, Yumi could be both smart and ditzy. Having moved away from Honey Hollow five years ago, she'd only moved back to her hometown last summer. A cute, friendly girl with long, dark-brown hair that she often wore in pigtails, light-brown eyes, medium-sized breasts, and a tight ass, it hadn't taken long for Yumi to adjust to life back in her birthplace. The most significant difference between the two old friends came down to Yumi's continued innocence and Cat's experienced, worldly ways.

"Boys? Haha! I don't think so," Caterina laughed off the notion. "I'm only interested in men."

"She's checking out Bobby Hooper," Kaitlin informed their friend.

"Who's that?"

"Bobby was the school's basketball star two years ago. Cat wanted him badly, but he had a girlfriend," Kaitlin supplied. "He's the one talking to Jayden."

"That one?"

"Jesus, Yumi! Don't point!" Caterina exclaimed, pushing the girl's hand down.

"He's cute! Are you going to ask him out on a date?" Yumi inquired.

"Something like that," Caterina replied, winking over at Kaitlin.

"Maybe you should hurry. I think Hazel likes him too," Yumi said, pointing again.

This time Caterina didn't push her hand down. Instead, she fumed as Hazel Tarte flirted with Bobby. Fortunately for the brunette's health, her cousin, Heidi Ceet, interrupted, dragging Hazel off to meet someone.

"Well, well, well, look who's here," Cat gestured toward the entrance, trying to hide the flash of jealousy that she'd felt.

Their squadmate, Aurora Rusk, entered with Beyza Baris and Delilah O'Dell. The three girls searched the ever-growing crowd for familiar faces.

"Rory's here. Yay!" cheered Yumi, who proceeded to stand on her tippy toes and wave frantically. "Over here, Rory! Over here!"

"I thought she was grounded," remarked Kaitlin.

"Maybe she broke bad and snuck out," Caterina sniffed.

"Is that what you did?" asked a shocked Yumi.

"What? No!"

"But you're grounded too!" Yumi pointed out.

"I'm not grounded. I'm getting punished. They're two different things," explained Caterina before complaining. "And I wouldn't even be punished if you could've remembered to keep your story straight."

"Sorry," Yumi meekly apologized, looking down.

"Next time, when my mom asks, you say that I slept over at your house. It's not hard."

"Are you going to meet your monster man again?" the ditzy brunette queried.

"Mystery man, Yumi, not monster man," Kaitlin clarified.

"I don't know, he did have a monster-sized dick," Cat smirked, sending herself and Kaitlin into laughter with Yumi shuddering at her friend's life.

"Oh. My. Gawd! Look at how our little babies grew up, Molly!" screeched a voice that Caterina and Kaitlin knew well.

Katie barely had time to brace herself before an excited dark-haired girl flung her arms around her for a big hug. Cat prepared to fight off any attempted hug, but the other girl moved too quickly. Giving in, Caterina briefly returned the redhead's hug.

"How's life, Cat?" Molly McSweeney inquired.

"It's good, Molly. How's college life at Breakwater?"

"Awesome! It's so much fun. There are more hot guys than you can imagine. And I joined a sorority!"

"A sorority? Uh, congrats," Caterina said, holding back a snarky comment.

"Yes, it's almost the same as being cheerleaders," Molly stated, showing how much she loved her new sorority as Cat knew the redhead obsessed over cheerleading.

"This is Yumi Nakano, Kelly," Kaitlin reminded the other newcomer.

"Of course, I know that. I keep track of who's on my squad. You had an impressive tryout last summer, Yumi. I especially liked your peppy attitude," Kelly Nomura said, hugging Yumi.

"Thanks!"

"How's my squad doing, Cat?" Kelly questioned, eager for information.

Kelly Nomura and Molly McSweeney had both been Honey Hollow High cheerleaders last year before graduating. Kelly had served as captain, a role she had been well-suited for. A bubbly girl, she'd driven Caterina nuts at times. Her non-stop obsession with school spirit and belief that she could will the school along with her had irritated Whitney more than anyone. Much of Whitney's captaincy had so far been anti-Kelly's.

"Where's Whitney?" Kelly inquired, searching for her successor.

"And Lacey?" Molly asked.

The two ex-cheerleaders appeared devastated to learn that Whitney and Lacey weren't around. Instead of moving along, they launched into a series of questions about the squad. Kelly wanted to know what routines they performed, why they abandoned others, and what new ones Whitney created. Molly's questions focused more on gossip. She wanted to know who was dating who, what couples broke up, and any other drama. After an excruciating fifteen minutes, the conversation broke off with Caterina vowing to find Whitney and lock her in a room with Kelly for an hour as payback.

"Let me know when your next practice is happening. I want to stop by and see everyone," Kelly said as they parted.

"Me too! I'll get the rest of the girls back in town to stop by too!" Molly promised excitedly.

"Great. I'm sure Whitney will love that," Cat replied without any enthusiasm.

"Wow, we're going to have a cheerleader reunion at the next practice!" Yumi said in awe.

"Can you imagine having them as sorority sisters?" Kaitlin questioned.

"You get the razor blades, I'll get the noose," Cat replied.

"So, I heard that Molly is going through a slut phase at Breakwater," Kaitlin quietly informed her friends.

"No shit?" Cat asked in surprise. "First semester too. I didn't think she had it in her."

"What's that?" Yumi asked, wishing she hadn't afterward. Her face showed horror as she asked, "Do we all have to go through that?"

"Don't worry, Cat's slut phase is more than enough to cover for yours," Kaitlin joked, relieving the believing Yumi.

"Very funny, bitch," Caterina responded. "Hmm, I wonder if she'll pull Kelly into one next semester. Can you imagine?"

Kaitlin and Caterina looked at each before bursting into laughter at the idea. Cat noted that she had to tell Whitney that joke the next time they talked. The blonde captain would get a kick out of the idea.

"I see you ladies are having a ball. How about we move to the dance floor and see those cheerleader moves?" Dennis Conway said, moving far too close to Yumi for Caterina's liking. Behind him, Tyler Blick smiled at the girls, shook his head at Denny, and walked away. "What do you sat, Cat? Wanna show The Denster how flexible those legs are?"

"Talk to me again tonight, Conway, and I'll gladly show you how high I can kick my leg up," Caterina promised, lining up her foot between his legs for a practice half kick. "Katie, do you remember if these boots had steel toes?"