My Italian Nightmare

Chapter 28: LA Part 4

"What did you–", Hanna asked immediately when I returned to the party and looked at me inquiringly, but I quickly shut her up with a raise of my hand.
"Not now." I took a sip from her drink and sighed quietly, before handing it back to her.
"Oh hey Ari, there you are", Teo appeared by our side and grinned slightly. "I'm doing a little detour to the bathroom, thought you might wanna join?"
I didn't hesitate for a second. "Sure", I said and grinned back at him.
"What–", Hanna opened her mouth and I quickly lead my finger to my nose and sniffed slightly. "Ahh", she said and cocked her head to the side. "I'll stay here."
"Fine", I said and shrugged, "can you get me another drink?"
"You sure?", Hanna asked and raised a brow.
"Yes, very." I waved quickly at her as I followed Teo to the bathroom.
"I thought you guys didn't do anything...besides weed", I muttered under my breath as we locked ourselves into a bathroom stall."
"Well, that's what we....uh want public to think, yeah? I mean come on Ari, it's Los Angeles."
"Makes sense...well I'm not gonna say a word, promise."
"Yeah...you better not", Teo said as he prepared two lines of coke. "We have good lawyers." He chuckled and took out a little tube out of his pocket to snort his line. "Your turn." He offered me the tube and I inhaled my line, then put my head back and sniffed. "Damn this is good stuff", I exclaimed and Thomas nodded. "Of course, as I said...LA. Celebrity coke." I looked at him and we began to laugh.

When we got back, Angelo was talking to Valentina. Hanna raised her hand in which she carried my drink and I took it from her, smiling thankfully. Angelo turned around and eyed Thomas suspiciously.
"Hai dato la coca ad Ari?", he asked in Italian and I rolled my eyes.
"Sì, così?" Thomas raised a brow.
"Angelo, basta così. Lascia stare Ari. Non è il tuo ragazzo, vero?", Valentina said sternly, looking at Angelo. His face turned quite sour but he took a breath through his nose and then nodded.
"No, non lo è. Hai ragione, è stato stupido. Scusate." Angelo shrugged and left in the direction of the bar.
"I'm sorry, did I do anything...?", I asked Valentina and she shook her head and sighed. "No Ari, he's just in one of his moods. You should enjoy yourself. We all should", she said and looked around. "Where's Edoardo anyways?"
"Went out for a...special smoke", Angelo answered, who just came back with his drink. Val grinned. "Alright then. Everyone seems taken care of. Can we go back to partying?"

***

It was almost 2 am and Teo and I just got back from our second visit to the bathroom. I felt phenomenal and took his hand, spinning him around through the crowd. "Careful", he said and laughed, his lanky limbs seemed to be flying everywhere. We joined Val and Hanna, but Edoardo and Angelo seemed to have gone for another smoke.
"Boys are off to bed", Val declared and checked her phone. "I mean it is quite late, we wanted to go to the studio tomorrow, remember?" Teo sighed and nodded.
I sat down at a bar stool and took a sip from my beer. I really hoped I had not ruined Angelo's night. But after this weird conversation he had with Val, he seemed to have at least tried to let it not bother him anymore. He was pretty drunk and looked like he had had fun after all, at least the last time I saw him. I had not seen much of Edoardo, who apparently was talking to people outside and smoking. Party scenarios were probably not very appealing to an introvert like him. Still, I wish I could have talked to him more. Or danced with him.
"Ari, I think Val is right. We should go to bed", Teo's voice interrupted my thoughts and I looked up to him.
"How are you gonna sleep if you just–", I began but Teo just chuckled and squeezed me into a hug, pulling me from the bar stool. "Don't you worry about that. See you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, just text me", I said and he nodded, gave Hanna a hug as well and made his way to the door.
"Sleep well you two", Val said and also hugged Hanna and me. "Thank you!", Hanna said and smiled widely.
"What a great evening", she stated and I could only agree. We went to the lobby together and my friend pressed the elevator button. "Which floor is your room at?", I asked as we went in. For an answer she pressed four. I pressed ten and Hanna gasped lightly. "Your university run by the mafia?" "I honestly have no idea", I said and leaned against the elevator wall. I checked out my reflection in the big mirror and immediately my hands went up to fix my hair. Hanna rolled her eyes but I didn't bother.
"My stop", Hanna said jokingly and I hugged her. "Good night, text me when you wake up, yeah?"
"Wait a second", Hanna said and raised her brows. "What about the talk you had with Angelo outside?"
"Ughh", I made and ran a hand through my hair. "It was really just stupid, can I tell you about it tomorrow?"
"Okay...but, tomorrow really, yeah?"
"Promise."
"Alright, good night." Hanna went out the elevator and waved as the doors closed shut. I sighed and leaned back against the elevator again. It was irritably quiet now, with no one talking and no music. My ears were humming and I sniffed, the bitter after taste ran down my throat and I grinned inwardly.