ARABELLA • Alex Turner

EIGHT

~

     When Alex accepted Sophie's invitation, he hadn't anticipated just how fun the party would actually be.

   He had never been to a university party before, having not known any students until now, but the mixture of cheap disco lights and even cheaper alcohol made for a surprisingly good time.

   Following his and Arabella's return to the lounge, he had been accosted by Miles and roped into round after round of shots.

   Now, at almost 3AM, he was beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol.

   Everything around him had become pleasantly warm and fuzzy. All the nervous energy he had been lumbered with since the beginning of the evening had dissipated with the buzz of the liquor. Music sounded better. Drinks tasted less pungent. Miles' shitty jokes were infinitely funnier.

   Once the last of the partygoers had gone home and only the group of four remained, Arabella and Sophie had somehow managed to persuade both he and Miles to join them in a karaoke contest, claiming that they were bound to win despite there being no way of actually judging the competition.

   They were absolutely hammered, fooling around and laughing and singing as if they were pop stars performing to a live audience.

   Watching Arabella have the time of her life with her friends was magical. She and Sophie were both completely in their element yelling lyrics through plastic microphones, and even though he was tipsy, Alex couldn't help but notice just how contagious Arabella's laughter was. Every little giggle that left her mouth brought big smiles to the faces of everyone else in the room.

   He and Miles cheered the girls along as they sang duet after duet, not minding in the slightest that they seemed to have hijacked the contest somewhere along the way.

   And for what it was worth, when they weren't attempting Celine Dion they were not terrible singers.

   No matter how much he tried to refrain from staring throughout the night, Alex's eyes were constantly drawn to Arabella as she danced and twirled around the room among the birthday streamers and balloons. It was as if she was a magnetic object and he was a mere paper clip, unable to resist her pull.

   He eventually excused himself to the bathroom, leaving Miles alone with the girls, and for the entire five minutes his head spun with thoughts of joyous laughter and flowing dark hair and alligator skin boots.

    He sobered immediately, however, when he re-entered the lounge just in time to witness Sophie fall off the sofa and pull Arabella down with her, both of them only narrowly missing the karaoke machine.

   The girls cackled hysterically as they lay in a heap on the floor, oblivious to the near heart attacks they had caused Miles and Alex who hurried to their rescue.

   "Okay, I think you ladies have had enough fun for tonight." Miles pulled Sophie up and laughed along once he had reassured himself that neither of them were injured.

   Alex held his hands out for Arabella, also laughing despite the fact that his heart was still beating out of his chest. She clumsily took them once her fuddled brain had processed the request, and allowed him to tug her into a standing position.

   "We won the competition." She announced to the room as if she hadn't almost just cracked her head open.

   "Yeah, we won." Sophie parroted to Miles who was currently the only thing keeping her upright.

   "Fine, yes, you won. They were much better than us, weren't they Al?" Miles shot Alex a semi-pleading look that read please agree or we'll have a mutiny on our hands.