• Chasing Rainbows •

1 | Alec

a l e c
drunken joy
_

The cold, autumn morning is as silver as her eyes and as auburn as her hair. Her smile is as translucent as invisibility. Side by side with her effervescent, enthusiastic best friend, Trinity West looks like a Greek statue, as elegant as Aphrodite and as cold as marble.

The strap of my new Hype backpack chafes on my shoulder, and I readjust my baggy black t-shirt to cover the exposed skin. I survey the tall, dark walls of the imposing tarmac back alley that leads to the Firefly. My eyes catch on the laughing faces of teenagers that surround me, their empty smiles blurred by cigarette smoke in the blue twilight. Trinity West and her lifelong companion, Hazel, walk a few steps ahead of me. Arms linked, merging two bodies and two souls into one, and yet they couldn't be more different. Trinity's pale Asian features, mist-grey eyes and unsmiling red lips contrast so strongly with her best friend's smiling, laughing, exuberant exterior. But God knows what's going on in either of their heads. No one dares get close enough to them to discover what storms they hide in their hearts.

     And I don't intend to, either. But I can't deny that there is something about the two girls that feels like a magnet pulling me forwards, dragging me right after them as they stride into the Firefly.

     The venue smells like beer and rose-scented air freshener. The walls are all painted dark blue, the yellow ceiling lights bouncing off the peeling posters in a contrast of colours. Fairy-lights, pretty and unnecessary, are strung around the wide room. Trashy but catchy dance music is playing through the speakers.

     At the entrance, a bouncer stamps our hands with blue ink, then I follow the other teenagers to the bar. They order and pass around drinks. Someone I barely know shoves a pint into my fist, and the golden liquid slops onto my hand, dripping onto the concrete floor. I curse under my breath – subconsciously keeping my actions small and my voice quiet to avoid drawing attention to myself. Because I really shouldn't be here.

     "C'mon." A girl I've never spoken to before grabs my free hand and leads me through the venue, pushing through swinging doors labelled FIRE EXIT. We emerge into the cold air of a beer garden, laden with pot plants, picnic benches and strings of twinkling lights in the trees that surround it. A few people are already out here, including Trinity West, who I lost sight of at the bar.

     Trinity is lying on her back on one of the picnic tables, staring at the stars and smoking a cigarette. Her glassy silver eyes twinkle with the stars, the frail ash from her cigarette stolen by the wind. Effortlessly cool, in her expensive skinny jeans and dark makeup. Glancing around at everyone else here, I realise that I am not the only boy to stare at this phenomenal creature as she stares at the night sky.

     The stranger girl who took my hand is still at my side, and she begins chatting in a mildly flirtatious manner. She introduces herself as Eva whilst she tosses her hair.

     "So, what brings you to the Firefly? I haven't seen you here before." She asks. Her accent has a faint European lilt that makes it sound like music.

     I tug my gaze away from Trinity to reply to the girl. "Yeah, this is the first time I've been."

     She looks up at me under her lashes, tucking a strand of her short blond hair behind her ear. "What did you say your name was?"

     "It's Alec Byrne."

"Nice to meet you." She takes out a pack of cigarettes and flips it open. "Smoke?" She offers.