"And that's exactly how I am going to ask Andrei out!" Pristine plodded through the damped lane, clutching Arabella's sleeves to immobility.

"Okay, silly!" Arabella used her open hand to wrap it around the brunette's neck, supporting her frail body. Stumbling through sombre alley, she regretted drinking late for the nth time.

Pristine sought to count the infinite stars that lay before her sterling grey eyes. Connecting the crystal pearls sluggishly, she formed the
ravishing image of Andrei Lawson.

He is definitely more debonair than this constellation, she thought to herself.

"I am in love, Ara! In love!" Pristine clenched impatiently, kindling Arabella to squeal in pain.

"Get a hold of yourself, Pristine!" Arabella berated, releasing her arm to ventilate the burning pain,"I won't be always with you when you are drunk!"

Pristine swirled in the murky alley as if she was casted for the female lead, paying nought heed to her flaring friend. She wasn't drunk in brandy, but in a handsome Andrei.

Arabella attempted to bang her friend's skull as a method to bring back the lost senses, failing pathetically upon being halted by a phone call.

"What's up, Adrius?" she responded anxiously to her brother.

Another mission, Pristine's saturated brain told her.

"Okay! Will be there! Don't you dare touch the system!" Arabella ended the call with an apprise.

"Work, Pristine," she informed impulsively, "I am leaving to the headquarters. Will you manage?"

"I will carefully make my way home, sire!" Pristine winked in whiskey, tiptoeing to reach Arabella's remarkable height and saluted her exhausted comrade. Arabella couldn't help but chuckle at her bestie's frivolity. She was surely harder to handle than a whining Abigail.

"Reach home safely, and don't forget to ping me!" Arabella waved in blasé and vanished through the cryptic murkiness.

Pristine resumed to hop through the handsomely paved footpath in glee, as if she owned the entirety of Caperwood's happiness. Every step she took reminded her of every moment she gazed at Andrei's delectable face from afar. Sometimes in the college canteen, sometimes through the crystal panels of the cosy Bean and Bagels and sometimes, right through her window, when Andrei would drop by her neighbour's house to visit his inseparable friend, Alan.

Pristine had blurred visions of deliberately standing before the open satin blinds, attempting to tie her already done hair, just to hear his husky, handsome voice through the sturdy walls and fresh block of air, that obstructed their proximity, all with a tinge of the newly tasted gin, that added to her drunken delirium.

The dusk of tonight meant the dawn of a new beginning to Pristine. A chance to pursue the wildest dreams of her frenzy imaginations. A dance with Andrei at the Caperwood Gala would be the best opportunity to allure her man and profess her fervent love.

Pristine weaved dreamy illusions across the glum street, until her leg stumbled upon a gritty rock. As her torso bent forward, aiming at the sturdy path and reflexing to cause an excruciating pain, she was luckily saved by a piteously withered hand, that stretched across her waist to balance her weight.

Pristine gripped the wrinkled hand tighter and used the assistance to stand upright. In front of her was the woman who saved her, a grandmotherly figure dressed in a scarlet flowing gown, painted with crooked lines on her soft, pale face, carrying a gentle beamy smile.

"Thank you, Ma'am!" Pristine answered as her cheeks hued in pink, launching tiny freckles that appeared like red hills on a pale, white sea. She felt embarassed to appear in front of the lady like an inebriated drunkard. Standing straight with her hands clasped, she tried to appear apologetic, and awaited the regular question that she was supposed to receive in such a circumstance, "Are you drunk?"

However, the woman was different. Pristine's befuddled brain comprehended that the woman kept scrutinizing her appearance, as if she identified who Pristine was.

"Oh my! Aren't you the most gorgeous, elegant, winsome, beguiling, glamorous stunning Pristine Marvin?" The woman blandished in her shrill voice.

Pristine appeared perplexed upon the glorious introduction offered. Her inane brain decided to ask the disturbing question that itched her tongue.

"But you forgot to mention 'Andrei's ravishing girlfriend'!" Pristine raised her eyebrow cynically, folding her sleeved arms, demanding a correction.

How to be perfectly wasted 101
A detailed guide by Pristine Marvin

Price - Flattery and Compliments with a mention of Andrei's girlfriend /- only.

The woman was bewildered by the suggestion made. Of course! How could she miss that? Why, isn't that the whole point she is talking to this crazy girl late night?

"My bad!" The woman cried in approval, "The most elegant girlfriend of Andrei Lawson," she inscribed in the misty air.

Pristine turned red in coy. The words echoed through her muddled mind and passed through her pumping veins, reaching her hankering heart that began sprouting airy dandelions along with delicate butterflies, that is, a whole garden. She smiled mirthfully and suppressed the tiny squeal that reached the corners of her thin, chapped lips.

The woman succeeded in inveigling the dumb target within a short span and she was extremely proud of it. Her silver forelocks shone in delight as she fantasized her upcoming popularity. Slowly, she began the conquest of her mission with the first typical bait.

"Would you like to take a look at my shop, Pristine?" she gestured at the unexpectedly glowing shop that stood as her background.

If Pristine wasn't drunk, she would have realised that the shop was never there before, ever in their protected town. And if she wasn't drunk, she would have been conscious about the bait laid. Only if she wasn't drunk.

The Wishing Emporium

The flickering banner that engraved the Gothic capital letters illuminated through the obscure lane. It took a glance of it's luminescent reflection through Pristine's twinkling eyes, who turned immobile in awe.

The woman took her lambent eyes to be the consent and cue. Marketing had been in her veins for ages, the woman reflected haughtily. A trader had the capability of assessing their customer's reactions and speak in accordance with that, and this woman's blood was at peak when it came to Pristine. She was the most gullible target the woman had seen in her career.

Pristine took hold of the woman's warm hand and stepped slowly on the glass staircase. Opening the pellucid doors, was the sinister realm that had coveted for a delicious prey. Something naively tasty like Pristine.

Pristine felt the magic ascend her torso, after seeing the lucent scene. It was not just a shop to her groggy eyes, but an undiscovered world filled with loads of glowing objects that seemed precious.

"We sell products such as perfumes, bouquets and stationery," the woman expounded pompously.

Any sane person would have recognized the bizarre combination of products sold at the middle of the night. Any sane person, unlike our wasted heroine.

"But they aren't any ordinary items," the woman swirled in glee afore her hysterical customer, "they are capable of fulfilling the earnest desires and cravings of the individual who possesses it!"

Pristine's pupils enlarged within the small eyeballs. The woman's ethereal tone wrapped up the process. Pristine was surely enchanted.

"It can be any kind of wish! Name it - fame, money, talent, power," she danced in a rhythmic charm and reached Pristine's rapt ears and whispered,"even Andrei Lawson."

The woman ended her sing-song in a reflecting silence, leaving the muddled customer to make her choice.

It only took a few minutes for the addled Pristine to make a decision - she wanted Andrei.

"Choose anything that piques your attention, my child! We don't charge beautiful people."
The woman added tints of convincing flattery in all her dialogues. Her script was well planned and precisely written to enchant the target.

To express her interest, Pristine traveled through the different lanes of neatly arranged products concealing witchcraft carefully.

Like it was planned, her eyes landed upon one product that stood aside.

Parfum d'amour

How obvious was it that this whole set up was to trap Pristine? Very much.

Pristine's slender fingers ran through the glass bottle filled with fuscia-hued potion, supposedly called a perfume. Her eyes sparkled upon viewing the chimera, that promised her the love she ached.

"Ah! My hunch was right!" the woman cried, "You are a smart woman!"

Pristine demured the compliment and sent her wavy hair that stood stanchion in pride, behind her credulous ears.

"Parfum d'amour is the perfect choice for beautiful women, who desire for their true love, but have no ways of expressing it, probably due to their timidness and reserved nature."

It felt like the woman was talking about Pristine's life alone. That's exactly what she was doing.

The woman picked the precious product and handed it to Pristine.

"This has been exquisitely made for you, Pristine. So that you no more live the life longing a loved one."

Pristine clasped the perfume in her hands, admiring it keenly. The only chance she had to win the race against all the other popular and pretty girls was right in her hand. And it would pain to reject it.

"Would you like to -"

Pristine nodded frantically. She had nothing more to hide. She wanted Andrei and it was universal. There was nothing more to be embarrassed about, when you are in the brink of pursuing your desire.

The woman let a long sigh. It was time for the final execution of her trap. She could then relentlessly pack her bags and vanish from Caperwood.

She took hold of Pristine's wrist and brought her to the center of the shop, marked by a flowery circle in the floor. She gestured Pristine to stand at it's pivot, so the sorcery can be performed without any disruption.

Pristine obediently complied with the stranger's orders. Clasping her hands, she invisibly clutched her pounding heart to prevent it from dying even before the magic could be performed. She prepared her soul to be psyched up for a new horizon that contained only colours of love.

The woman looked at the susceptible with promising eyes, hiding the sea of turpitude by suppressing it within her trustworthy mien.

"Listen carefully dear," she demonstrated, "stand erect facing my torso and close your eyes."

Pristine completed the first step within minutes, albeit being tipsy. Two more steps and she was going to become a successful kaput.

She glanced at the woman for approval and was received with a smiling nod.

"Now, you are going to spray the perfume on yourself, and within the time limit it's lovely fragrance fades away, you are going to recite your wish loud and clear."

Pristine went through the last steps that appeared complex. The woman noticed her puzzlement and repeated the words once again. This time, she made sure that each of her sorcerous word reached her about-to-be-scapegoat clearly.

After comprehending the repeated sentence, Pristine primed skittishly. Her convulsive fingers probed the enclosed perfume for it's nozzle. Upon detecting the nozzle with her muddled senses, her thumb reached it's top as her hands raised in the direction of her torso simultaneously.

Instantly, she realised her reflexes pressing the perfume, to release the air of wonder into her deprived soul. Pristine couldn't describe the scent. It comprised a warm chypre smell with a strong induction of arousal. It demanded the aching heart to pound more.

As the scent began to steadily fade, Pristine was alerted by the woman.

"Make your wish, Pristine!" the woman reminded.

Pristine invigorated her heart and was ready for the big moment. She prepared her voice and announced loud and clear, well enough for the one who mastered this bait to hear and smile, "I want Andrei's heart."

Pristine solemnly smiled through her shut eyes and wondered why she had framed her wish that way. Maybe the surge of my emotions, she replied to herself.

A strong gale sweeped her awaiting body as she sensed the vanishing of the perfume. Instead, she began to feel something weird in her hand.

A bouquet? Her brain inquired eagerly.

She trailed the object that her hand had been unconsciously given, and detected a squishy, slippery skin that had various lines like the humps on a slick road. She also felt a slimy fluid that painted her clean palms, forcing her to open her eyes.

Pristine opened her eyes to look at the witchcraft that awaited.

And that is exactly how Pristine Marvin ended up holding the bloody heart of her classmate Andrei Lawson, who lay aside her trembling legs, with a gruesomely lacerated ribcage, probably with an axe, leaking the remnant blood to the tiles of her once-peaceful room.