Chapter Warning: To the perv within all of us, in spite of the title, read at your own disappointment. :3

"We're kids, aren't we?
"Yes, kids with grown-up powers." 
~ Lang Leav, Lullabies.

- - -

"The nanny will take care of them if they need anything, but it's unlikely since they're asleep."

"Tired guys," Cassie laughed.

Michael chuckled. "And we'll only be out for a couple of hours anyway."

Cassie stopped and stared. "A couple of –? Michael, by the time I get back home it'd be 3am. 3 am, Michael," she emphasized.

Cassie was perfectly wide awake despite it now being past midnight, but the idea of staying out at such a late hour made her apprehensive. Even without a rigid nine-to-five job, she had a rather disciplined lifestyle. She had grown up like this.

In no way had she anticipated a two-hour trip when Michael told her he wanted to show her something. "Wait here," he had said simply, making sure she stood where she was before leaving to tuck Prince and Paris into bed.

But with those dark brown eyes sparkling with adventure as if they would be going ghost-hunting later, she should have enquired the details of his mysterious plan.

"Michael –" she began again.

"Aww, 3 am is nothing," Michael prodded her shoulder playfully. "A little late-night fun once in a while."

Cassie's eyes darted sideways suspiciously and back to him again.

"No, no – that's not what I meant!" Michael spluttered hastily. "Cassie, it's definitely not – I'm not –!"

"Oh, I know, I know!" she giggled. It was true, it never really crossed her mind to be worried about being alone with him. The uneasiness was feigned for the sake of yielding his reactions because that was, after all, a somewhat suggestive sentence. "Michael, I know you're not that kind of person ... We're friends and I know that."

Her heart sank in resignation, but it was high time she drew a clear line. There was a moment's beat where the term she worded aloud hung between them - out of the corner of her eye, she thought Michael appeared downcast - yet when when she had full view of his face, she saw the same bright eyes and smile. 

"C'mon, let's go then!" 

* * *

They sat in a much smaller car this time. Riley was the driver. They entered the town once more, passing familiar shops and roads. When the vehicle halted temporarily at the stoplight, Cassie's eyes lingered on a sidewalk café. A group of young adults occupying one of the coffee house's tables were laughing their heads off at a joke a member of them had obviously shared.

The café had underwent several renovations over the years. It had been there for nearly a decade, Cassie recalled, and had always been a popular dwelling for college students.

It was a warm, sunny afternoon. Their semester projects and tests had finally ended and it seemed that everyone was out and about in town to kick back and relax.

Cassie sipped her tea and pursued her book solitarily, putting all her concentration on the words of the author. She didn't need anything else when she had a good book ...

She tried to convince herself that, but she felt abandoned, left behind.

Earlier, Yvonne did invite Cassie to join her and her friends for a movie, but from the difficult looks and half-hearted smiles the others gave her, Cassie knew she wasn't very welcomed.

"You guys go ahead," she said to Yvonne. It was better to decline than spend the afternoon striking up meaningless conversations with acquaintances.

"Alright ... then." Yvonne gave Cassie one last look and left. Laughter broke out instantly from the gaggle of girls when Yvonne joined them.

Cassie sighed. Yvonne didn't need her; she had her own ready circle of friends. Cassie was used to being alone anyway ... but perhaps she could find the company of another?

Maintaining optimistic, she soon made to meet with another fellow student whom she knew reasonably well at the nearby café.

And here she was, waiting. Her book in hand. It had been nearly half an hour and the girl still hadn't showed up.

But the girl wouldn't show up anyway, now.

Cassie saw her entering a boutique, exiting it with a bag of clothing twenty minutes later together with a gigglish friend, and the pair of them boarding the bus back home ... Why did she act all enthusiastic when she obviously had a date with someone else? 

The sudden unzipping of a bag amidst the silence made Cassie jumped.

Michael gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry," he said. He was rummaging through the bag and taking out what seemed to be random accessories and a set of clothing. He put on a jacket, a rather messy short-hair wig, a cap and various facial disguises.

"Where are we going, exactly?" asked Cassie.

Michael grinned at her. "You'll see."

* * * 

Riley parked the car in a back alley. Cassie stared blankly at the front seat's headrest.

"What are we doing here?" Cassie asked Michael. Her face was painted with utter shock as though the car had stopped in the middle of the desert.

Cassie's question wasn't about the location anymore. This was where Madeleine showed off her singing skills, where social butterfly Alica had boys flocking to her ... where everyone who had friends had seemingly been to.

It was a common place people visited for entertainment, but it felt surreal and completely bizarre to Cassie. There was no other word for it. Entering a karaoke bar.

Michael smiled at her and drew his jacket closer around him. Numb and in disbelief, Cassie barely registered that he had his hand just around her wrist to lead her out of the car and to the karaoke bar's backdoor.

Cassie felt she couldn't rush up to reality. There must be some sort of mistake.  It was half past one in the morning – what on earth was she doing here? She should be sleeping like a log in bed.

Cassie glanced around nervously, the breezy wind of the night whipping her face. She shivered, feeling scared and excited and bewildered by her own unusual daring. As a child, she had always been rule-obeying, never crossing a line. Heck,the riskiest thing she had ever done was staying up late to devour a book using her mini bedside lamp.

Even after all those years, there had always been a part of her which wanted to just know. It was a foolish and immature wish, but she was sometimes still that girl who wanted to fit in, to do the things people do ...

The backdoor opened. Stepping inside the bar with Michael, Cassie instantly heard loud chattering and laughs, clinking of glasses and the voice of a young man singing on the bar's public stage. Expectedly, she caught a whiff of alcohol, but this bar was a reasonably decent place, not the kind where it was an open secret that drugs and illegal items changed hands.

The young man finished his song; there was a smattering of applause and much good-natured thumping on the back by his friends. The next patron stepped up the platform.

All of a sudden Cassie felt small and little and naïve walking among these frequent late-nighters. But like the first time she ventured into forests and stepped on the leaves-strewn ground, she felt alive, her curiosity higher than ever.

So this was how it all looked like, she thought to herself. It was an odd reaction, but she was indeed fascinated by the people enjoying themselves here.

"Hey, Alex," greeted a man at the counter. Cassie could tell by the wink that the man knew it was Michael beneath the ridiculous moustache and beard. "Pretty lady friend you have," the man said. "Room 3. The last on the second floor."