Dark Moon | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 11

Esmeray felt like the lamest person at the party.

She was tempted to head back upstairs and continue working on all the ways she could try and kill Klaus, but she didn't want to be a coward and walk away without first trying everything.

Approaching the beer keg, she poured herself a bit to drink and downed it, making a face and coughing before going to throw her red cup away. She went to the table with the jello shots and popped one into her mouth. These were more pleasant to chew on, and she took a few, though it did absolutely nothing to excite her, it simply put a more or less delightful taste in her mouth.

She'd forced herself to go onto the dance floor, which was a lot emptier than it had been before. Many of the attendees had already got home with their dates to either rest or continue the celebration in a more intimate setting. She saw Caroline and Tyler dragging each other out the door, she saw Jeremy and Matt stumbling over the porch to get to Matt's truck, and she heard a faint argument upstairs before Elena was gone, too. Though she felt more nervous at the realization that now, she really didn't have any familiar faces to rely on, she had a greater sense of comfort because everyone would be too drunk to remember if she messed up, and either way, there were less individuals who might be judgmental.

Moving her body to the beat, she slinked along the wall, looking for an opening, and hoping that she didn't look stupid with the way she was moving her arms around. Her eyes fixated on one of the more attractive girls who was dancing with her friends on the opposite corner, all of them too drunk to know that Esmeray was a stranger to them.

"You look so hot!" the girl told her, pulling her close and giggling. "You're my best friend."

Esmeray half-smiled. "Sure, I can be your... friend."

"This is my bestie!" the girl squealed, pointing at Esmeray and making the other girls around her cheer. She turned herself around and started to press her bottom against Esmeray's front, which made the hybrid's face heat up. Uncertainly, she put her hands on the girl's waist, rolling her own hips forward to meet hers, which apparently was the right thing to do, because all the girls started to cheer again.

The girl then stood back up. "Your turn!" she told Esmeray, turning her around. The hybrid blushed and tried to do the same, albeit a lot less professionally because she had never done it before. The girl seemed to enjoy it, and giggled, which made Esmeray's entire body feel significantly warmer. She wanted so badly to turn around and just kiss her...

"You're so sober!" the girl slurred when Esmeray stood back up. "Hips don't lie about that."

"Um, yeah, they don't," said Esmeray, not knowing what she was talking about. She hadn't yet learned who Shakira was. "What's your name?"

"You can call me Ash," the girl told her, pulling her close and grabbing her face. Esmeray squeaked a bit, finding herself now sandwiched against the girl as another person came up behind. "Dance!"

Esmeray gave her an awkward smile and started to sway her hips a bit more, putting her hands on the girl's shoulders. "Am I doing it right?" she asked nervously.

"Your hips are so nice," Ash said, which Esmeray guessed was a good thing. "So sway... sway... they move a lot like... curves."

"They're good at swaying?" offered Esmeray, making Ash nod. "Swaying," she confirmed, pulling her close. She smelled of alcohol, and Esmeray made a face, but Ash didn't notice.

"You wanna kiss me?" Ash asked loudly as she pulled Esmeray closer to her.

Esmeray wanted to. She wanted to kiss her and take the girl to her room, because she needed relief and she needed it now. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. The girl was drunk and it felt wrong. So rather than leaning in, Esmeray pulled away and sped out of the crowd, ending up in the kitchen, which was surprisingly vacant. She grabbed herself another water bottle and then moved up to her room, feeling mortified.