When It Breaks

| ONE |

A chuckle flees my lips as I eyed my best friend whose trying to blend in. She attempts to do a dance move only to end up looking like a headless horseman.

It turns out that dancing is not her thing. Turning away from Madison, my eyes scan the room with my fingers absent-mindedly toying with the ring on my finger.

It is a habit I picked up after my eighteenth birthday when my mother gifted me the silver ring with a ruby gemstone at the crown.

My thumb nervously fingers the ring. Being too far from my element makes me anxious.

There are a thousand things that can go wrong here. The Pentagon club is bustling with life and a lot of drunk people, which means a lot of wrong probabilities.

"Relax," Amelia urges, plopping onto the seat next to mine. I didn't see her approach me.

She slides a glass towards me and I down the shot at once, feeling the alcohol burn at the back of my throat.

I seldom drank but tonight is an exception as I need to loosen up. Graduating from high school is a big deal.

But graduating as top of the class as well as the entire school is even bigger. Amelia's words, not mine.

Tonight marks my last night of fun before college next week. Thankfully, my father and mother agreed to my wish of going to a public school.

Wilson School for The Gifted is wonderful, but it has its weird sides. Most people think that being in that school is great, but I think otherwise.

Only a handful of students know about the wrong happenings in that school, me being one of them. Things that would get me eliminated for just knowing them.

"Where is Maddy?" I ask, not seeing the redhead around.

Amelia shrugs, flipping her black hair behind her back. Picking up my clutch, I rise to my feet.

"Be right back. I will use the restroom, then look for Madison."

Maneuvering past the sweaty bodies on the dance floor, I make my way to the restroom. My steps are light but unsteady.

I can already feel the alcohol getting to me. I search for an empty stall to relieve my bladder. If I am getting drunk tonight, it's best to do it with a free bladder.

After I'm done using the toilet, I pull down my blue dress and exit the stall before leaving the restroom to find Madison.

It isn't long before I find her grinding against a man. Shaking my head, I leave her and move over to the bar which is the least noisy part of the club. Although it is still noisy, I can hear myself think.

"Two shots of tequila," I say to the bartender who drops my order in front of me. Throwing my head back, I gulp the first shot while feeling eyes on me.

I blame that on my slight tipsiness as I down the second shot. It didn't take a while before the alcohol hits me in full force.

"Can I join your one-person party?"

I jump, startle, and slowly twirl around to the sound of the voice.

I see a woman, probably in her mid-twenties, sitting down at the bar, drinking a bottle of beer.

"Sure."

"I would like to ask why you are alone, but something tells me not to. My name is Lucia, by the way," the woman firmly says, stretching her hand for a shake.

For a moment, I study her face for a hint of something off, but against my better judgment, I take her hand. It's just a handshake. "Felicity."

My head tilts as I study her. Her blue eyes are sharp and calculating as they gaze into my light brown orbs.

Her body language gives nothing away, although she tries to appear as innocent as possible. She doesn't look harmful, but she is not innocent enough for me to let my guard down.

"Your eyes remind me so much of myself when I was younger. Wary and always alert.

"It is good to be cautious, but sometimes, the enemy might be someone you never expected," Lucia says with a far-off look on her face as the beer in Lucia's hand froze halfway to her lips.

From the haunted look on her face, it seems like she is talking from experience.

"Lemme guess, you got hurt."

She chuckles. "Blunt too. I think we will get along just fine."

Shrugging a wordless reply, I turn back to the bartender for a refill.

"No more tequila. Give my new friend the Pentagon's special," Lucia instructs him, and I raise a brow at her.

"Thank you," I mumble, receiving the glass of sparkly blue liquid from the bartender.

The drink tastes sweet with a tiny hint of sourness. It is a little tangy on my tongue as I roll the contents around my mouth. However, the effects are immediate because I feel the buzz as soon as I swallow.

"Woah," I exclaim in awe, loving the feeling.

"That's the Pentagon's special for you, my friend," Lucia announces with a grin.

We order two more rounds of the special drink, of which the second glass did make me relax fully as Lucia, and I chat away about our experiences.

Good, bad, crazy, nasty, and silly. You name it; we discussed them all.

At that moment, my body feels so light as I inhale and exhale, loving the way my lungs contract and relax.

Lucia's blue eyes land on my now empty glass. "Another?"

I nod, cheering as the bartender refills my glass which I gulp down, grinning as it burns my stomach. I guess I am a happy drunk.

"Good?" Lucia asks.

"I feel great," I slurred, gripping my clutch tighter as my vision blurred. Getting drunk is not reasonable, but I feel too good at the moment to worry about what can go wrong.

"Of course you do. Wait right here. I'm going to go use the restroom."

Lucia stands up and wobbles away. After waiting for some time, I decide to leave the bar and look for my friends. I can't believe I almost forgot about them.

Waddling away from the bar, I look around for my friends and find them after some time, momentarily forgetting about Lucia as we stagger out of the club.

While we walk, I can feel the effects of the drinks hit me more as I struggle to keep my eyes open. Note to self, never drink again.

"Stay here. I will go call a cab," says Amelia who is the least drunk one among us.

She leaves Madison and me to lean against the side of a car.

Through hooded eyes, I see a man approach us. Blinking the dizziness away, I squint my eyes, narrowing my gaze as he comes closer. He looks quite familiar.

I blink again, the action causing a wave of dizziness to wash over me, and I begin to see two of him.

"Who are you?" I hear Madison ask as I feel myself lose consciousness. In a panic, I struggle to stay awake for fear of losing myself.

"I have to warn-" the man begins to say but can not finish his sentence as my eyes roll to the back of my head. The last thing I feel is the man catching me.

(•)

Thank you for reading.