The Caffeine Fix

CHAPTER 25

Tyla was extremely relieved as she woke up the next morning. There was going to be a fest for the next three days and that meant no classes. There was going to be a concert in the campus that evening and Tyla was set on missing out on it. That was until Stephen and Cecille forced her to come.

“Come on Tyla, I'll drag you with me if you don't come….” Cecille yelled from the other side of the phone.

Cecille was often bossy and dominating and Tyla could not refuse any longer.

“Well, it's a good thing that you're going…” Nancy spoke as she stepped out of the bathroom, smelling of her new rosy shower gel.

“I wish I could join too….” She added.

Tyla didn't reply. Nancy was well aware of the reason. Tyla didn't enjoy concerts. She didn't enjoy places with a lot of chaos and noise. Back in graduation, she would join in only because others would. And even now, she was only joining in because her friends wanted her to.

“Don't worry, it will be fine….” She consoled Tyla.

Suddenly, a waft of lavender fragrance engulfed Tyla and calmed her down. Aiden? Would he be there too? Of course he would.

The whole of the campus was decorated with a lot of bright and colourful lights and some banners. There were groups of students hanging around, some were obviously drunk and many of them even appeared to be high on weed. Most of them were undergrads. However, many grad students had joined Tyla, Stephen and Cecille too. 

The stage had huge lights and huge speakers were kept on either side. There was a lineup of 3 singers. By the time the trio stumbled their way through the huge crowd, the concert had already started. Tyla had obviously not recognized who the singer was, but he had a nice voice. He seemed not older than 25 and was crooning a heavy heartbreak song. Some of the students were singing along. One of the girls near Tyla suddenly shouted, “Oh, just what I needed tonight,” and started singing along in an extremely ridiculous voice.

“So this is Los Angeles huh….” Cecille spoke, commenting on the overall atmosphere.

“So…..this is a concert at the University of California, Los Angeles….”

“Whose this guy?” Tyla could not restrain herself from asking.

“Oh, you don't know him? That guy's song had gone viral on Instagram reels…..I suppose a month ago…..” Cecille answered.

“A month? And he's already singing in university concerts?”

“Oh…..he's already had a country tour…..UCLA has been late in inviting him….”

“Who are the other singers?”

“Well, there's….”

Suddenly a student volunteer brought some drinks in small cups.

“Oh, I hope that contains alcohol….” Cecille took a cup and finished it all in a gulp.

“Oh no….that's just juice! Hey kids, does anyone mind slipping some alcohol in this?!”

Tyla and Stephen watched Cecille awkwardly.

About an hour passed and by this time, the trio had gotten quite drunk and they clicked drunk selfies, drunk pictures and posted stories. Tyla felt light after drinking and swayed to the music. Stephen went and joined some of his guy friends and Tyla and Cecille danced together without a care. And just like that, another hour passed by. By this time, a woman had started singing, she had a very harsh rock band voice, or so Tyla felt, perhaps because of the alcohol? Suddenly the stage started shaking before her eyes. What was happening? She stabilized herself. 

“Is there some….is there some lemon around here?” Tyla asked but no one could hear. Cecille was jumping and dancing and was obviously way too drunk herself, so Tyla somehow pulled herself to the table where there was a tray with cups of water, cups of the cocktail and some snacks. Tyla helped herself to some snacks and a cup of water when suddenly, there was a rush of students towards her and a guy pushed her aside and her cup of water spilled on her.

“Excuse me?” She shouted.

“Oh, Tyla!!” An excited voice called her from behind the guy who had pushed her.

It was Aiden.

“Aiden?!!” Tyla shouted to confirm.

“Hey, what are you doing here? Join me!” He pulled her towards his group and Tyla stared angrily at the guy who pushed her. This guy was apparently Aiden's friend.

There was a lot of dancing and drinking for another hour. Finally, Tyla started feeling anxious and sweaty. She couldn't take it anymore. She held her head between her hands and just stood in one place quietly. Suddenly, everything started shaking in front of her again.

“Tyla, Tyla!” 

She felt the hands of Aiden holding her and supporting her on the way out. After breathing some fresh air outside, Tyla felt a bit stable. But as soon as she tried to stand on her own, she felt faint again. Aiden held her tighter.

“Hey, easy…..”

When Tyla could finally sense what was happening around her, she realized that it was Aiden's shop. He had placed a lavender plant beside her to make her feel better. She woke up with a start, too shocked to react.

“Relax! It's me….” Aiden spoke.

“Oh, Aiden, thank you…..but I think you should go back to your friends and have fun.”

“Uh, no, I guess I have had enough…..”

“No, if you want to….you can….ah, is there some water here?”

“Sure, don't talk…..and I can't leave you alone here….” He replied as he gave her a glass of water.

“It's fine, I'll call……”

Suddenly Tyla realized that if Cecille or anyone else came to know that she and Aiden were here, they'll think that both of them sneaked out in secret.

“What time is it?”

“It's 11….”

“What?!”

Tyla checked her phone and saw 5 missed calls from Cecille and 3 missed calls from Stephen. Another 5 missed calls were from Nancy. 2 missed calls were from Abby, a classmate and their friend.

‘I'm sure that Cecille must have called Nancy to ask about me…..damn, Nancy must have been worried…..okay, what do I say now?’