James had never felt a lot of motivation in life. Oh, he was smart enough - that's how he got into college, after all - but he rarely felt like applying himself unless someone made him. He went to college because his family expected it of him, but he wasn't like, super invested in it or anything. He fell in with Sam, Cynthia and their other friends mostly by happenstance, since they had classes together and he liked them and they liked him. But he still couldn't shake the feeling that life was something other people did - he just found it easier to drift along wherever things took him. And that's how he ended up here.
He bought a drink, but instead of sitting with the others at the bar he found an empty booth where he could nurse his drink and just watch everybody. Easier than trying to interact. He was fascinated by how it seemed to be almost all girls and women in this place, and by how into each other they seemed to be. His eyes followed this cute goth girl for a while as she headed back to a table where her friends waited with fresh drinks. He'd always been fascinated with women's bodies, but it wasn't really sexual - well, okay, it was a little sexual - but mostly be just thought women were interesting and *real* in a way he and his fellow guys weren't. And as the goth snuggled up to one of her friends, put her arm around her shoulder and then kissed her hard, he felt a twinge of... was that jealousy?
"Well, look what we have here," a voice said as a girl slid into the booth across from him. She had a cute face, boyishly short red hair, and wore a black tank top that exposed her arms and some fairly generous cleavage and jeans that tightly hugged her shapely legs. She leaned in close and grinned, and James suddenly felt nervous - and like he knew her from somewhere, if he couldn't quite place where. "James, isn't it?"
James squinted. "Do I know you?" he asked hesitantly.
The girl laughed. "Come on," she said. "I kicked your butt enough times at video games, you'd think you'd remember at least a little."
His eyes widened. "Liam?" he asked. Liam had been one of his close friends on campus, a scrawny redheaded guy. They'd gamed a lot, much to the annoyance of each others' roommates, but Liam had vanished a few months ago; James had thought he'd dropped out. Now, Liam had been very definitely a guy, but this girl... she looked like she could've been his twin sister.
The girl grinned again. "Got it in one," she said, "but it's Liane now, if you don't mind."
"Li... Liane," James said, stumbling over the name, "I mean, what, when... how?" he asked. "I don't wanna be rude, but last time I saw you, you didn't look like... uh... this."
"What, you mean I didn't look like a chick?" Liane asked. "No, I didn't. But this place, James... it's special. It does wonderful things for people, and it really helped me figure some things out about myself. And the company is..." she glanced around at the mostly female, mostly hot clientele and winked, "pretty good too. Let me go grab a drink and I'll tell you what happened. But I think you'll appreciate this place just as much as I did..."