Jennifer adjusted her hair for the third time in the mirror near her front door. It was 6:57 PM and her friend was never late. Jennifer checked for stray strands trying to leave the cascading brown curls she had painstakingly created from her normally straight shoulder-length hair. It wasn't a date per se but it was her first night at Ambrosia, a long-standing club on the upper side. She looked over her black dress,  tights to match, and sparkly pumps she'd found at a thrift store. It seemed like it should be fine, her dress ending just above the knee was a sort of flirty, right? Just enough cleavage to be alluring? Mel had told her to wear something fancy and sexy. She wished she had the kind of confidence required to know what that even meant. She couldn't help but feel like the whole look was trying too hard, like the thin shell of "sexy" was painted over her usual plain appearance. She looked around the living room and felt even her home didn't recognize her. Who was this creature with curly hair? The woman that lives here has dishes in the sink, and dirty clothes lying about. Her eyes drifted to the kitchen stove clock, it was eight minutes fast, and she caught the rollover to 7:08 pm. Like clockwork, Mel's knuckles quickly rapped three times at the door. A distinct knock that was as practiced and surgical as the woman behind it.

"EEEEEEE!" Mel shouted with shrill delight upon seeing Jennifer through the open front door, "You look Stunnn. Ing."

Jennifer smiled. Mel might be rather callous at times, even condescending. But she was never one to tear down her friends. She was wearing something from a designer, to be sure. The shade of red her dress emanated was enough to stop traffic, let alone the hem barely covering her and her full cleavage. No sane person would wear something so flashy. Mel made it work, somehow.

"Ready?" Mel beamed.

"I think so, a little nervous I guess. I really appreciate-"

Mel stepped inside, gently grasping both of Jennifer's shoulders. she cocked her head, straight blonde hair moving almost as a single wave.

"You deserve this. You've been studying and working way too hard. I really can't tell you how much it means to me that you helped me through the stuff with my mom, and this isn't me paying you back but, like, showing you how to have a good time."

Mel began to tug on Jennifer's shoulders, hands moving down her arms to her hands and leading her out the door.

"I know, I know," Jennifer replied as she walked outside behind Mel, letting go of her hand to lock the door. "It's just that I know Ambrosia is a big deal and you probably had to pull some strings to even-" Jennifer stopped talking as she turned around, "Did you get us a limo??"

"Well, yeah! Well, actually it's my dad's but yeah well you know." Mel said while standing next to the door ready to climb inside. The driver stood holding the door, motionless and facing forward.

Jennifer smiled broadly and followed suit. She slid into the plush leather interior and stared with amazement at the flatscreen television, rainbow mood lights, and room for probably 10 people. Mel of course came from a rich family but rarely flaunted it. On campus, she was always well-dressed but never gaudy. This was a side of her that seemed more aligned with her personality. Mel was already pouring champagne from a bottle into two slender glasses.

"Pretty cool, huh? This one is the smaller one, the really nice one is in the shop right now. I miiiight have made a mess inside last week" Mel reached towards Jennifer with a full glass, giggling about whatever had transpired.

"Thanks. This is... a lot"

"This is nothing. Tonight will be a lot. Cheers."

After the first few sips, Mel took her phone out of her bag and placed her champagne-carrying hand around Jennifer's shoulder for a selfie. Jennifer mustered a tight-lipped smile but blushed at the thought of this being put on Mel's Instagram. Jennifer lacked her own account but knew of the social media phenomenon that was Mel. Always sharing, always taking pictures, and apparently followed by tens of thousands.

The limousine drifted smoothly through the streets of the upper side, occasionally passing over bridges that overlooked the lower side. Thousands of tiny homes packed in-between upper-side plots. Their lights looked like stars littering the ground, their teeming masses squeezed into a tight plot. Jennifer sipped her champagne while she looked toward the campus, Mel giggling as she replied to comments. The school was situated right on the border between the upper and lower sides, easily accessible by those that couldn't walk more than a hundred feet in a single day. Jennifer watched the city fly by, the lower side border lit up with warning lights to prevent any accidental steps. Mel poured the both of them another glass.

"How many of them do you think are liking my content?" Mel asked

"Hmmm?" Jennifer was lost in the moment but noticed Mel was looking out her driver's-side window to a different lower-side patch of glittering stars.

"You know, they have phones for them now so they can make accounts and even pretend to be a real person. So-"

"Mel, they're real people. They're just, like, I dunno."

"Tiny?"

"Mel! They don't like that." Jennifer was beginning to feel a little tipsy and her usual efforts to curb Mel's sizism were dampened.

"Well, what the hell else am I supposed to call them? Descaled is so stupid. They're small. Tiny. Insignificant"

"You know if you got to know any of them in class you'd find some of them to be very sweet."

"Sweet! Hah. I'm sure I would." Mel drew in a particularly large gulp of champagne.

"No, really. There's this one. His name is Xavier. He goes by Xavi. He's a painter! Well, studying art anyway. I have him in my descaled studies course."

"Oh, Jennifer my sweet beautiful rose. You deserve so much more than someone who can't even lift a paintbrush. Have you seen his art? Did you need a microscope? Hahaha!"

"Mel!" Despite Jennifer's protest she smiled, her hand covering her mouth as she giggled. 

"What?" Mel was giggling too, and then shifted her voice to a lower register "Hey baby, I painted this for you. Just grab an electron microscope and you can see it!" 

Mel broke out into fits of laughter, spilling some champagne. Jennifer laughed as well, she knew it was wrong but it was funny. She wondered if Xavi would paint her a picture, and what she'd need to appreciate it.

"ahh, how is descaled studies anyway? I failed mine, I'm retaking it next semester. Fucking tiny teacher lol I can barely hear him!"

"He... Yeah, he's really hard to understand sometimes" Jennifer giggled.

The limousine came to a stop at a red light and while the streets were mostly quiet Jennifer noticed a pair of descaled people near a lower-side bus stop just off the curb. They were way too far from any lower-side area for this late at night, and curfew was supposed to prevent this. Accidents happen, after all, and they were much more likely to happen in the dark.

"Huh, I wonder if they missed their bus?" Jennifer wondered aloud.

Mel peered over to the passenger-side window and saw the pair of two-inch descaled humans standing apprehensively in the light of the bus stop. One man, one woman. Business attire? It was hard to tell through the tinted windows.

"James, be a dear and park us here for a minute!" Mel shouted to the driver, who dutifully parked the vehicle and turned on the hazard lights.

Mel then rolled down the window and called out to the two descaled people outside.

"Are you two lost? It's like twenty after curfew!" Mel exclaimed. There was a response but it was a little too quiet to hear.

"Ugh. They really need to shout if they want to be heard. Move over." Mel tapped Jennifer who slid to the other side of the limousine.

Mel opened the door and walked over to the bus stop. The roof of the structure barely came up to her knees, and her vibrant red platform heels were about as tall as the people waiting under it. She bent her knees, squatting down toward them. Jennifer looked with moderate curiosity. Something could have happened to them, being out after curfew. Then she laughed to herself, considering how poorly Mel's dress covered anything from the angle of the descaled bus stop. It must be quite a show. Jennifer finished her second glass of champagne and was feeling rather relaxed.

"Hi, I'm Mel. What were you saying? ...Oh, I see. Well, we can give you a ride to the club. They have a ti- I mean descaled taxi there to use."

Jennifer could only hear one side of the conversation.

"No, really, I insist. It's only a matter of time before a jogger comes around here."

A car moved in behind the limousine and was forced to go around the light which was now green.

"It's my treat. Really. It's only a few minutes away. We'll have you home by eight."

Jennifer thought of the recent reports of descaled deaths, often dismissed as accidents.

"Ok Great! Hop aboard!"

Mel returned to the limousine with two figures cupped in her hands. She slid along the leather, transferring both of them into one hand as she closed the door.

"So, this is Jennifer. We're having a girl's night." Mel held her handful of people up towards Jennifer, who smiled and waved. Their worried faces poked up over Mel's soft fingers, tentatively waving back. They indeed wore business attire.

"That's fine, James!" Mel shouted to the driver, and the vehicle hummed into motion once again.

"These two were working late, turns out there's a tiny business complex nearby! But the last bus didn't show. A real shame." Mel cooed.

"What are your names?" Asked Jennifer

"I'm Zoey" The woman answered nervously.

"Call me Tom, uhhh, nice to meet you both!" Said the man, forcing a grin.

"Annnnyways," interjected Mel, "We'll make sure you're taken care of. Just sit tight, we're almost there. I hope you don't mind jasmine-scented lotion."

Mel clasped the two extra passengers between her fingers as the limousine rounded the last few turns. She held them in one hand as she alternated between sipping champagne and texting with her other hand. The two smaller passengers had some kind of light chat with each other as Jennifer sat and idly glanced between them and outside the window. They probably lived nearby, and it crosser her mind that she could definitely see their house from here among the field of lower-side homes glittering in the darkness. If not for the danger of her steps she could just walk them there.

"Ugh I'm starvingggg" Mel broke the silence.

"Me too. I had a light lunch, the food better be as good as you say…" Jennifer joked.

"I promise. It will be. I skipped lunch entirely." As if on cue, Mel's stomach growled in complaint of the champagne which offered no satiety. The girls returned to silence, as did the other two passengers.

Soon they reached their destination, and where Jennifer was expecting a red carpet there was something far less austere. A simple metal door, flanked by two burly-looking bouncers, with a single harsh spotlight from an overhead lamp. They must be somewhere in the shipping district, Jennifer surmised from the warehouses and shipping containers nearby. She had thought there would be something more like a party at the most ostentatious club in town. One of the bouncers stepped up to open the door, allowing the two girls and their guests to emerge.

"These two were late for their bus. Could you get their info and take care of them?"

"Yes, Mrs. Artois. We'll see to them. Enjoy your evening."

Mel dumped the pair into the hands of the bouncer and strutted forward. They tumbled into the new hands slightly disheveled, the man swearing or shouting something. Jennifer cringed a bit but was glad to see them on their way. 

"It was nice to meet you both, have a good night" Jennifer waved to them and smiled.

Mel kept walking towards the door, Jennifer caught up just as the other man opened the large metal door without a word. Jennifer barely thanked him before she had to elongate her steps to keep up with Mel striding forward into the dimly lit hallway. The door led to a small corridor that seemed almost like a maintenance hallway. Red lights illuminated exposed pipes and rough-hewn concrete walls. The door shut behind them and their respective footfalls were all that broke the silence. 

"So... This is Ambrosia?"

"A bit much, isn't it? It's for the best though. Discretion, and all."

"Hmm."

They rounded a corner, shoulder to shoulder, and began to hear music as they approached another door. This time a well-dressed woman in a black gown waited behind a podium near a simple entryway blocked partially by a silky black cloth curtain. Soft rhythmic bass from the music inside pulsed outwards into the hallway.

"Mel, welcome back! So good to see you!" The woman beamed.

"So so good to be back, you have no idea! You're looking great by the way," Mel smiled.

The two exchanged a cheek kiss and a brief hug.

"Who's your friend?" The woman asked with a hint of sultry implication. She reached out for a handshake, clasping Jennifer's hand with both of hers.

"Jennifer. Just a friend." Mel continued with sarcasm, "Yeah, I know, but she's straight so I had to forgive her for denying me." Mel finished with a wink and a smile.

"I don't know how you put up with her! I'm Helena, welcome to Ambrosia."

Jennifer nodded, blushing.

"Since it's your first time, you get a little present." Helena quickly reached behind the podium and withdrew a single black metal card, "This gets you one freebie. Anything, really. I'm sure Mel can recommend a few things." Mel and Helena shared a knowing smile, while Jennifer took the small card. It had no markings, it was just the size and shape of a hotel room key.

"Uh, Thanks!" Jennifer offered in return.

"Oh, and we'll need a red room. Just us girls tonight." Mel said as she peeked through the cloth barrier.

"Of course. Please, make yourselves comfortable. We'll have one ready for you shortly." Helena said and motioned towards the entrance to the club.

"Perfect. Oh, and there was a pair of tinies we picked up along the way, I already dropped them off outside."

"Of course, we'll see to them. The usual?" Helena asked

"Mel, they don't like when - wait 'the usual'?" Jennifer began

"Yes, that's fine. Thanks, cutie." Mel smiled at Helena and grabbed Jennifer's hand, leading her into the club.