invisible string [ joshua bassett ]

one

i hate love, which is ironic considering my name translates to 'love' in greek mythology. anything that is related to the feeling, i have a new hated for; romcoms, the colour red, valentine's day. valentine's day being my least favourite.

february fourteenth. created by Pope Gelasius in the fifteenth century. the day where my mood drops and i'm reminded that cupid just loves to shoot me up the ass. also, todays date.

" ubers here! " lexi cheered, turning to look out of the kitchen window and seeing the car pull up on her front drive. there was a collective squeal from the group, as they all stood up collecting their things. i stayed sitting, downing the rest of my wine and saying a silent prayer.

" last one in the taxi buys the shots! " riley exclaimed, pulling open the front door and running out to the taxi. hats off to her for being able to run in heels, i'm only sitting down in mine and i feel like my feet are on fire. imogen followed behind, leaving me and lexi in the kitchen.

" hey, " she said, grabbing her house keys off of the kitchen island and coming to stand infront of me.

" i know you're still bummed about atlas. but come on, let loose tonight. " lexi pushed my shoulder slightly and i shook my head. lewis was the reason i didn't want to go out tonight. he was also the reason i now hate love and everything that correlated to it.

to be completely honest, all i wanted to do tonight was lie in my bed with junk food and watch true crime documentaries. the idea of going to a club in the freezing new york weather was not my favourite idea, but my friends were not going to let me sit and mope over a boy that didn't deserve me.

the taxi outside beeped it's horn and i took it as my sign to finally stand up, my feet burning from the heels. i tried to find the smallest heel i could find but they still hurt, i'm not as lucky as riley in the foot strength department.

" you know, the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else. " lexi teased, making me roll my eyes. i couldn't stop the small smile from rising on my face when she said it.

" i told you before, i'm pretty much over he who shall not be named. " i told her, stepping out into the cold and watching as lexi locked her front door. we were all going to freeze until we got inside the club and the alcohol kicks in, the four of us were wearing short dresses and heels.

it was true. i was nearly over atlas. what i wasn't over was the way i could just be tossed to the side so easily after putting my everything into them. i felt replaceable. i was a pretty naive girl until three months ago, i trusted people the second they said hello to me. the girl who wore her heart on her sleeve and had no walls. but now i didn't have walls, i had mountains.

" who knows, maybe tonight will be your lucky night. " lexi grabbed my hand, leading me towards the taxi. riley and imogen has already connected to the aux and was screaming the lyrics to whatever song they were playing in the back. i hadn't spoken to any boy apart from my dad the last few months, so my flirting was pathetic. i hated the idea of speaking to a random guy almost as much as i loved it. lexi was right, i needed to let loose.

the entire car ride consisted of singing and dancing to whatever imogen played and i found myself starting to relax a little more. the half a bottle of wine i had drank at lexis must be beginning to settle. when we pulled up to the club the line was easily to the end of the block. thankfully, imogen seemed to know everyone that lived in new york city, so we headed straight to the front.

" hey girls, id's please. " the bouncer said to us all. thankfully we were all twenty one, so the years of worrying if our fake id would work we're over. the guy looked over our licences before moving the red rope and letting us past.

" let's find you some dick! " riley announced, grabbing my hand and dragging me into the club. we had been to this place a few times and like normal, we headed straight over to the bar.

the club was full. the dance floor was already filled with people and the que for the bar was back a few meters. the four of us stood at the back, waiting for the que to go down but a bar tender waved us over to the front. normally i would of insisted we waited our turn, but the wine was beginning to wear off and an uber back to my house was starting to sound like a good idea.

" a vodka rocks please. " i told the man after the other girls had placed their order. riley looked as though i had shot someone.

" vodka rocks? girl, you're crazy. " she laughed, shaking her head and taking a sip of her vodka cranberry.

" letting loose, remember. " i told riley, taking my drink from the bartender and thanking him.

" tab? " imogen asked, handing her card over to the man once we all agreed. i turned around whilst imogen sorted it out and took in my surroundings. the club was illuminated red, lights flashing on the dance floor. there was no tables available but that was no bother, we always went straight to the dance floor.

" let's go. " i said once everyone was ready. the four of us wore big smiles on our faces as we walked over to the dance floor hand in hand. i'm pretty sure everyone that was in the club was piled onto the dance floor. people were kissing, dancing, grinding on people left right and centre. for the first time in a long time, i was in here single. no worries to text anyone back, no arguments, no surprising visitors. my only worry was if i looked like an idiot whilst i was dancing.

i grabbed lexis hand, singing the words of whatever song the dj was playing. i ran a hand through my hair, a big smile on my face. it felt freeing. the vodka definitely helped.

a few hours later i was countless drinks down and imogen was sucking the face off of some random boy. i was yet to get any male attention, not that i minded. it was good to spend time with the girls.

" guys, this is vincent. he has a booth, do you wanna go sit down? " imogen asked, her hand wrapped in vincent's. i cant lie, i think vincent was one of the most attractive guys i have ever seen.

" there's three more of us but we're all good guys, promise. " he said, flashing his white teeth at us. they were too white to be real, he must've had them done. i looked over at the girls and we all nodded in agreement before following behind vincent. i stayed at the back, i was the least drunk out of the four of us so i wanted to make sure everyone made it to the table. the last thing we needed was a search party to go out looking for someone.

" guys, this is imogen and her friends. " vincent started as we finally reached the table, i couldn't see the other boys yet because i was stood behind lexi and she was much taller then me.

" i'm so sorry, what are your names? " vincent asked, riley spoke and introduced us all. i finally stepped forward once vincent and imogen had sat down and there was more room. there was three other guys at the booth and as i looked over each of them i felt as though i was in heaven, like i had won the lottery and the four most beautiful boys in new york were stood infront of me. even though the light wasn't on one of the boys face, i could tell by his style and physique that he was attractive.

i turned my head slightly to look at lexi who wore a big smirk on her face, her eyes glued on the boy sat in the centre of the booth.

" dibs. " she whispered to me before walking over and sitting next to him. i turned to look at lexi to find she had moved and was sat next to the other boy. that just left me. so much for getting me some dick, i didn't even get first pick. the last space on the booth was by the boy who's face i couldn't see. i rolled my eyes at my friends and let out a small laugh before taking the final space, saying a silent pray that the guy wasn't the opposite of my type.

" hey. " i said, smiling at the boy next to me. he turned his head towards me and the light finally shone on his face. it was as though time stopped. forget my type, he was the whole package.

" what's up, i'm josh. " he replied, sending me a smile that could of made me pass out. this was going to be a good night.