strawberries & cigarettes / / phan

three

phil

"what are you doing out here alone?"

he shifted his weight between his feet, and bit his lip in contemplation. trembling in fear, he finally manages to mutter a few words in answer;

"uh- listen, mister, i gotta go.."

suddenly, the stranger is sprinting towards the opposite direction from me. his silhouette slowly becomes smaller and smaller, eventually to the point where he's out of plain sight. the only thing i'm left with is the sound of his footsteps and the blaring music emitting from the bar.

despite the fact that he was just a stranger, everything about this moment just made it feel so much lonelier.

i let out a deep sigh, thoughts swimming in my head.

why can't i just be normal?

the rest of the night was a blur.

~

i groaned as i pushed myself up onto a couch, taking in a throbbing headache. how drunk did i get last night? i don't remember much after a few shots. i could faintly remember some parts of last night, but i couldn't piece them together. what the hell had happened?

i glanced over at the clock and noticed how late it was already. shit, i thought to myself. i felt awful. i was thirsty, and somewhat nauseous at the same time. i thought about having another cigarette to calm myself down, but oddly enough, my lighter wouldn't work.

abruptly, i felt my stomach lurch, so i ran as fast as i could to the nearest bathroom.

i sat there, on the bathroom floor, emptying my stomach's contents for what seemed like forever. afterwards, i rinsed my mouth to get rid of the aftertaste.

to lessen the headache i had, i poured myself glass of water and took aspirin with it. thankfully, i felt a bit better, so i headed out of my apartment to get my lighter replaced and for some fresh air.

i stepped out onto the streets of london once more, the bright light radiating from the sun temporarily blinding me. the shop wasn't more than a few blocks away, so i didn't have to walk very far.

nearing my destination, i paused when i saw a particular boy with chestnut colored eyes that matched his dark brown hair.

why did he seem so familiar?