Secondhand Embarrassment

bonus: just friends

two years before: in which a girl wakes up in her best friend's bed completely naked

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lennon feels the pulses from the music vibrate through her body, the color of light shining down from the ceiling switching from red to blue then green. when the bartender offers her another shot on the house, she kindly rejects with a small but sincere smile. the shot glass with neon liquid sits there idly on the counter as lennon turns around to face olivia who is replacing chocolate with alcohol. sometimes chocolate can't fix a broken heart, but alcohol always manages to numb the pain -- at least temporarily.

laughter pierces through the volume of the booming music. there are too many bodies on the makeshift dance floor, girls' stilettos scratching the polished hardwood floor. fraternity boys stand off to the side, most of them interested in nothing more than one night stands. most of the partygoers adhere to the same protocol: absolutely no strings attached. this golden rule manages to work without a single flaw until later that night.

"olivia, do you want me to wait for you?" lennon asks her best friend, leaning her back against the wall post adjacent to the barstool. she sighs heavily, realizing that all she want is to leave and feel the comfort of her bed.

"no, you should head back to the dorms," olivia replies, knocking back another shot. she stares straight forward at the wall behind the bar as she talks, her mind elsewhere. even though she can see her ex boyfriend making out with a sorority girl in the corner of her eye, she pretends not to notice. "i'll see you back in our room."

"are you sure?" lennon asks even though she already knows what olivia is going to say. while lennon waits for a response, she gathers her things and zips up her cross-body.

"i'm positive, lennon."

on her way out of the overcrowded bar, lennon runs into a boy with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a smile that belongs to the devil. he pulls the door open and steps aside, waiting for her to make it out before he even begins to peer inside. he's wearing a fitting black t-shirt and pair of gray joggers, the complete opposite of the boys inside.

"thanks," she mumbles under her breath at the unfamiliar face, glancing back behind her shoulder.

"you're welcome." he disappears into the bar and as the door closes behind him, she witnesses and hears a couple exchanges being tossed around the blonde boy and his group of friends.

"i'm so glad you could make it, noah!" a boy whose name lennon thinks is travis says.

"what made you change your mind? was it billy?"

"where even is billy?"

when billy finds olivia, who is still sitting at the bar counter where lennon left her, she's tracing the rim of her shot glass with her fingertips. the color of her nail polish matches the shade of her cherry lips. her chest feels hollow but heavy all at once, like the heart that was once there has sucked all the oxygen out from her lungs.

"there you are," billy says, a wave of relief washing over his head. he sits down right next to olivia and orders a beer even though he's lost count of how many he's had tonight.

it wasn't supposed to matter -- nothing was supposed to happen, but sometimes what's supposed to happen turns out to be a lot different from what actually happens. they're both going to learn that the hard way.

"hey will," olivia says with a flimsy smile as the bartender sends a bottle of cold beer billy's way.

"i heard what happened with jason last week." billy frowns sympathetically before bringing the bottle up to his lips. "how have you been holding up?"