Elysian

The promise

"Have you seen Juliet?" Jasmine, who just got back from necking some girl upstairs asks. "No," I reply loudly, trying to project over the loud music.

We've been at this shit party in the middle of nowhere for hours, at first we all stuck together but Jasmine found a girl she fancied, Juliet ran into a friend and I just wanted to crash and smoke on the sofa.

Juliet wasn't lying when she said parties aren't my thing, I only ever go to appease Dex or if I want to get shit faced and considering I have to drive the girls home I can't even do that.

It must be past one am now and the party is still packed with drunk sweaty people dancing all over one another.

"I'll go find her," I sigh, noticing how Jasmine is antsy to get back to her girl.

I search the party, trying to find the girl dressed in all black which proves to be quite the task. "Have you seen Juliet?" I ask the girl I saw her with earlier, getting slightly concerned now. "No I haven't seen her for like an hour," She giggles, clearly plastered.

I search the entire house before heading outside, hoping that she'll just be getting some air. "Hey man have you got any white?" Some random kid that buys coke from me asks as I step outside.

I ignore him, pushing past and scanning the area. I eventually spot a small dark figure all the way down the huge back garden. 

As I walk down I can see that she's sat on the grass, the soft glow of the moonlight shining down on her as she stares out at the pond in front of her.

"Kingston," I greet, sitting down on the grass next to her. She tilts her head towards me, the wind blowing in her brown curls as a huge grin appears across her face.

"Heyyy," She slurs, the alcohol wafting off her. I lean over her, picking up the almost empty the bottle of Vodka from beside her. "Fucking hell you drank this straight? Are you trying to get your stomach pumped?" I question, completely baffled.

"Hmm," She hums, not answering my question. "Isn't it beautiful out here," She marvels, drunkly leaning into my side and applying all her weight onto me.

"It's a pond," I state bluntly, not getting what's so beautiful about a murky body of water.  "Well it's much better than in there," She laughs, motioning towards the party. 

I nod my head ever so slightly in agreement because to be fair it's much nicer out here, sitting in the stillness of the night then it is in there surrounded by drunks. 

"Why'd you come out here?" She asks curiously, her dark blue eyes looking up at me. "I knew parties weren't your thing," She teases when I don't reply.

"I came out to look for you," I reveal, moving the bottle out of her grasp when she attempts to reach for it. "Awh how sweet," She taunts, giggling into my side.

"So what are you doing out here Juliet," I question. "Ew don't call me that, only my dad calls me Juliet," She frowns. "Call me Jules," She corrects me.

"Alright what is Jules doing out here," I roll my eyes. "Well listening to people ask me about my dad isn't really my idea of fun," She snorts.

"Right," I nod, understanding how that would get annoying real quick. "So what is your idea of fun," I ask her, realising I've never heard her speak passionately about anything before.

"What's yours? Smoking and frowning all day?" She laughs, diverting my question back at me. "Sorry not all of us have enough money for expensive hobbies like going to waterparks and swimming with turtles," I respond irritably.

"What?" She says in surprise, pulling away from me and straightening up. "Well aren't those your plans for the holiday? I found your little checklist on your bed" I question, grabbing a blunt out of my pocket and lighting it up.

"Yeah," She says quietly, now avoiding looking at me. "I may not do it though," She trails off, sounding unsure.

"Why not?" I ask curiously. "It would be kind of sad to do all that stuff by myself," She replies, the alcohol causing her to actually be honest for once. 

"What about Jasmine?" I question, taking another hit. "She's going to Germany with her family," She sighs, lying back against the grass. "And you don't have any other friends?" I ask, knowing how almost everyone on campus is desperate to get to know her.

She doesn't answer, continuing to stare up at the starry night sky as her chest silently rises and falls.

Against my own will I find my mouth opening involuntarily, "I guess I can do some of that stuff with you," I sigh, exhaling smoke into the air around me.

"Really, you promise?" She asks excitedly, tilting her head in my direction.

For some reason I feel the need to help her, as if her happiness is my responsibility. Maybe I utter my next words because I want to distract her from whatever caused her to become so distraught last week or maybe it's because I actually enjoy the banter she brings like no other girl I know.

"Yeah I promise that I'll help you complete that list."