I finally caught my bearings. Lea handed me a paper towel to wipe off the mess on my face. I was still on my knees at the base of one of the nasty stalls. If I wasn't so out of it right now, this probably would've grossed me out. The world was still spinning. How can I let one man have so much power over me?
"Do you want to leave? We can go somewhere else or home!" Lea looked down at me with pity across her face. "I'm so proud of you for even coming here, this is progress!" She smiled.
Everything in me was screaming to go home. To leave. To get as far away from that man as humanly possible but I'm here. I have been hiding in my room watching Youtube for far too long. I can't back down now. "No, it's okay! Let me clean myself up first before we go back out there!" I spit out a laugh to help reassure her.
I shakily got up on my heels and walked over to the mirrors, leaning on a sink counter for support. The surface was covered in water, paper towel, lip gloss, and... actually I don't want to know. I sucked in a deep breath and looked at my smudged eyes in the mirror. Get a grip, Raine. He doesn't want you and it's time to find someone who does. I released the breath I was holding and fixed my posture.
I grabbed Lea's hand and tugged her towards the door, "let's go have fun!" She glanced at me unsure but followed me nonetheless.
The volume once again grew as we stalked back towards the dance floor. I swear everytime Lea walked into a room, she had this enigmatic aura about her that attracted male attention. Like in an all-eyes on her type of way. Maybe it was her confidence and my lack there-of that held the difference.
I glanced to the back where his familiar face still was; feeling uneasy. Lea grabbed my shoulder to comfort me, "you got this, pretend he's not even there."
We start bopping to the music, brushing up against the people around us in the middle of the packed floor. A Pitbull song came on and the crowd began hyping up.
We had practically just started dancing when this tall brunette guy came up behind Lea and asked for a turn. She looked at me with a guilt-ridden expression but I shook my head and shooed her off with my hands. I leaned towards her, "have fun, I'm going to grab another drink!" I motioned over to the bar, "do you want anything?"
Lea shook her head no and gave me an apologetic smile before taking his hand. That was my cue. I headed towards the bar to numb my feelings.
I shoved my way through the hoard of drunk people to reach the bar. I could hear some girls to my left snickering about how hot some guy that just walked in is. I paid them no mind and focused on getting the bartender's attention. A guy was in the process of ordering himself a drink when he looked over at me. He leaned in uncomfortably close and whispered: "what's a pretty girl like you doing here all alone?"
His breath smelled strongly of beer and his body of sweat. He snaked an arm around my waist making me visibly uncomfortable. "Can I get you something, sweetheart?" A perverted look in his eyes. I pushed my hands into his chest but he wasn't budging. The bartender wasn't paying any attention, he had already moved on to different customers as this guy was wasting his time.
"I'm not interested!" I stated with disgust. His grip got tighter and lower.
I started really moving to get away from his grip. "Come on, just one drink, honey." I'm completely repulsed by him, I can feel my stomach turning again.
"NO!" I'm basically making a scene. "Get off of me, you creep!" He doesn't move until something catches his gaze behind my head. He looks nervous.
All of a sudden his grip loosens and he takes a small step back. His gaze never leaving behind me. His hands went up in his defence and he scurried away.
I felt gross as I wrapped my hands around myself. I turned to my left where the girls had been; now replaced by a tall man with a dark expression. Behind him were two other guys of similar stature. If I wasn't so out of it right now, I'd honestly admit them to be attractive.
"You okay?" The main man asked, sort of half-heartedly.
I looked up and gave him a curt nod and a half-smile.
He turned to the bartender and held up the number two with his hands. The bartender immediately stopped what he was doing and poured two shots of whiskey from what looked like an expensive bottle. The man slid one over to me, took his shot without batting an eye, and walked away. That was so weird.
