External | HS

8.

Light flashes before my eyes. It's coming from all directions. I try to keep my head down but can still see the blinding flashes in my peripheral.

I grab onto Matt's hand and lead him out of the car towards the club. I hold him close to make sure I don't lose him in the crowd of people.

Looking behind my shoulder I see his worried face. I can tell he's never been in a situation like this before.

"We're almost there." I shout over the journalists and photographers.

He squeezes my hand in reassurance as we get closer to the club. Just as I go to reach the handle, the heavy door swings open and a hand pulls us in quickly.

"I thought you were going to get crumbled out there." Emily sighs and pulls me into a hug.

"How did they know I'd be coming here? I only just left the event." I pull out of her grasp and look around the club. The long hallway is littered with more people than last time. Bodies pressed against the wall, some in hushed whispers as others are making out rather aggressively.

The lights bouncing off the walls makes it look like we're walking through a twirling tunnel until we finally reach the bar.

Since Alex is working the event tonight, they have a younger girl working the bar. We look to be around the same age but my brown hair is replaced with her blonde.

Me and Emily take a seat on the velvet stools. Matt sitting to the left of me.

"So what are we feeling tonight ladies?" He takes out his card. "On me." He winks.

I'm not sure if I genuinely enjoy being around Matt given it's only been a few hours since we met but there's something off about him, I can feel it. Panic alarms were going off in my head when he insisted on coming with me here tonight. It was the way he spoke when suggesting joining me.

Emily giggles behind me. I can feel that she's giving me google eyes to the back of my head. I slowly turn to face her and give a cut-it-out look with a smile. She reads my eyes and diverts her crazy energy to a much calmer one. "Let's do raspberry vodka sodas." She clears her throat trying not to be awkward but also showing Matt she's thankful for his generosity in paying for our drinks.

We finally got the attention of the bartender and ordered our drinks and a few shots.

She places the glasses in front of us a couple minutes later. Me, Matt and Emily each take a shot of tequila sucking on a lime after. My fave scrunches up at the bitterness but ultimately easing the liquor going down my throat.

Emily is mid way through her shot when she laughs at me resulting in alcohol flowing through her nose all over my top.

I take a step back in shock and gasp. My hands going still in the air beside me as I look down my top. It's absolutely soaked. I glance at her worried face and we stare at each other for a few seconds before bursting out in laughter.

"I am so so sorry Stas." Emily slurs as she grabs hold of my shoulder and tries to wipe my shirt. I grab her wrist to halt her hand movements.

"Em, you're grabbing my boob." I laugh. She's definitely a lightweight. She quickly takes her hand off and asks if she can help to clean my shirt in the bathroom. I decline and let her know I've got it under control. I don't think she'd be able to make it around the crowded room without falling over.

I excuse my friends and head towards the small dingy washroom. It only has one stall, a couch and a sink. Not wanting to risk sitting on the dirty couch, I hop onto the counter and grab a paper towel from beside me. I start to blot my top softly but it's only making the liquid spread further into the material, not absorbing anything. There's no hand dryer so I can't blow dry it either.