pink nights / sally face

the end of november (pt. 1)

y/n's pov

ash and i got an uber to the house and to no surprise, we arrived before larry and sal.

"larry's terrible with time," ash said checking her phone. it was 10 pm and windy, the cloudy sky threatened rain. my light jacket offered no warmth in this weather but it's uncool to wear anything heavier than a hoodie to a house party. "it's cold as fuck out here! we're going in, they can find us."

this house was much smaller than the last one and much darker. except it really wasn't any less crowded, every inch from wall to wall was occupied. i reached out for ash's hand and reminded myself to breathe. colored lights flashed across my face illuminating my vision into a neon nothingness. i squinted and tightened my grip on ash as she lead us to a more breathable spot. even though i wasn't fond of crowded spaces, i was becoming more familiar with the sensation of carelessly bumping shoulders with strangers. and oddly enough, i was kind of starting to like it. being lost in a crowd provided a warped sense of belonging, like i was just another face among dozens and i existed equally as much as everyone else.

"how're you doing?" ash smiled and gave my hand a squeeze. her eyes were sparkling with an array of colors and the glitter on her cheeks twinkled as she spoke. she had her hair tied up into pigtails with fuzzy pink scrunchies.

ash was so cute i couldn't help but smile back. i leaned in closer to speak over the music's distorted guitar, "i'm a little scared but excited."

ash giggled and nodded, "i know what you mean. hey, i can go get us some drinks if you want."

"sure," i chirped. i watched ash battle her way back through the dense living room into the kitchen. from the moment i met ash, i admired her strong will. she possessed a strength that was genuine yet demanding. from a far i could only see her pigtails and fuzzy scrunchies. i tried my best not to lose sight of her but i could feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. i quickly answered while making my best effort to keep sight of ash. "hey!" i pressed my phone to my ear trying to shield the microphone from the noise of pursuing chaos. "oh, uh ... yeah, we're here. we're, umm, just come in and we'll find you."

"hey! here's your drink." i jumped at the feeling of nudge on my back. i had lost sight of ash and not noticed her standing behind me. she laughed, "jeez, someone's on guard."

"i told you i was scared!" i took the plastic cup and examined its contents.

"it's like uh, a punch. or ... something." ash shrugged and took a sip, "yeah, it's like punch ... kinda."

i raised an eyebrow at her bravery, "well, i guess if you say so." although she was right, the criteria for punch is very loose. you could mix gasoline and sprite and call that a punch. which, to be honest, wouldn't be too bad of a guess as to what i was drinking. "this is really gross."

"maybe we just need to get used to it or something." ash took another sip and swayed to the music. "oh look!" she pointed to the front door. if it weren't for sal's hair, i probably wouldn't have figured out what i was looking for. she gestured for the boys to join us before leaning into me, "you should dance with larry tonight!"

my mouth dropped and i whipped my head around only to see ash giggling, "hey, you quit it!" she gave me a sheepish smile and redirected me with her eyes to sal and larry. "hey guys." i laughed nervously, clutching my drink tighter now.

"hey, sorry we took a while. larry kind of, had some business to take care of," sal shouted over the music and mimed smoking.

ash shook her head at larry, "that's what i told, y/n!"