After ✔

11 | Dani

The club is buzzing with excitement. Colourful lights flash everywhere, illuminating the entire area in a haze of neon.

It's also packed. I'm not surprised, considering the time and the day of the week, and for the first time, I wonder why I'm here and not some place quiet.

But it doesn't matter. Atleast I'm out if the house.

Next to me, Valencia takes a deep breath. 

"Not your fortè?" I ask her.

"Not the least bit." She mumbles.

Her friend Catherine grabs her arm and leads her to the dance floor.

It's packed with writhing bodies all swaying to the beat on unbearably loud music.

A girl catches my eye and winks. She's tall, with long hair that reach past her waist and a red dress so short everyone could have easily seen what was underneath.

I would have complied, but not now. Now, I need my happy little dose of booze before I can do anything I regret tomorrow.

I make my way to the bar on the left and take a seat. The bartender flashes me a promescuous smile before asking me what I want. 

A shot of tequila, I tell her. One more after that, and then another.

I drink until the music isn't so loud and everything sort of falls in the background.

I'm not drunk, not yet, but I find myself making my way to the dance floor.

The girl with the long hair is there, leaning against the wall.

She tilts her head in my direction before making her way over to me.

"Wanna follow me upstairs, handsome?" She whispers in my ear.

"I'll pass." I say lazily, pushing my hair away from my forehead.

But the girl doesn't get the hint  apparently, because she drags me to the dance floor, and the next thing I know, I'm dancing alongside her.

And she's a little too close for comfort. The fact that I don't mind makes me cringe. 

She's swaying her hips, her arms in the air as she looks at me. "Get me another drink?" She asks, fluttering her long lashes.

"Sure."

Somehow I manage to make my way through the impossibly large crowd and find my way back to the bartender.

I'm about to ask her for the first thing comes to mind before a hand slaps my back and a grinning face comes into view.

The guy in front of me puts down his flute of champagne on the table. "DANI!" he yells with a grin on his face.

I close my eyes in relief before throwing my arms around him in a quick hug.

Finally. Somebody I recognised.

"It's been so long, man." He says.

And even though I remember seeing him just  last week, he looks a lot different. His brown hair is shorter though still curly, and he's taller.

I follow him to a secluded spot upstairs, and we both take a seat on one if the various leather couches. They stink, but I don't care at the moment.

"Raze." I say, shaking my head in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." He grins again. "I heard about your, um," he pauses. "From Nate. But hey, at least you remember who I am."

I smile too. Raze is beginning to seem like the only person who hasn't changed.