Mr. Sandman

nine

"Lads!" Oliver called to a group of boys stood outside the cub. He sped up his pace a bit so he was now ahead of me as opposed to next to me. I watched as the boys all turned and made noises of greeting to Oliver as we approached. Oliver gave several of the boys an odd sort of high five as he began to converse with them.

I looked around as we stood in line outside The Society. There were several people in front of us as the bouncer slowly, allowed people inside. The neon lights on the buildings sign glowed green and pink against the December night. I shoved my hands into my small jacket pockets and let out a small breath, wishing I was in bed as opposed to being outside in the frigid air.

I felt Oliver put an arm around my waist as he pulled me into him. "How are you?" He asked, looking down at me.

"I'm okay. Cold." I said and he nodded.

"We'll be inside in no time. Hey guys, this is Sophia." He introduced me to the four boys (that looked oddly similar to each other) standing near us. They each greeted me when I noticed a girl standing close by, as well. She was holding hands with the boy in a green jacket. She had dark brown hair that was styled in loose curls, and she stood very stiff in her small red dress. Even though she had a jacket, I had no idea how she was withstanding the cold.

"That's Zach's girlfriend, Alayna." Oliver whispered to me, as he had probably noticed me looking at her. "You might get along with her."

I made a mental note to try and make friends with her later in the evening when I was desperately bored (if I didn't make my escape before that.) The line moved slowly, but eventually, the bouncer was checking our I.D. cards and letting us into the fog filled club. I had never actually been to The Society, but Sidney had told me about it multiple times. And it was just as she described; luxurious with an undertone of creepy.

The lighting was practically nonexistent as we entered the room. I noticed multiple chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, radiating gold light off of the black walls. There were clearly fog machines somewhere, as there was a thick fog cascading along the sparkling marble floor.

I watched as some people were dancing in a crowded group on the spacious dance floor, others chose to sit on the black velvet sofas in the higher sections of the club and drink or attempt to yell to each other over the trap music that was bumping throughout the area.

"We're going to go to the bar!" Oliver said into my ear, raising his volume so I could understand. I simply nodded in compliance as we walked. The bar was much like the rest of the club. The actual bar itself was black and the face of it was covered in sparkles. The wall behind it was filled with shelves and shelves of every kind of alcohol bottle; the shelf itself illuminated by a light that changed from purple, to blue, to green.

The boys claimed a table near the bar and Oliver told me to wait there. "Do you want something to drink?" He asked and I shrugged. 

"I think I'll be okay. Are you drinking?" I asked, worried about my ride-home situation.

"No, no. I'm just going to go over there with the boys really quick, make sure they order responsibly." He winked at me and I smiled, nodding as he turned to walk. I sighed and looked around the club. Partying was never my thing, especially in such huge situations. I was still engrossed by the figure I had seen after leaving the restaurant, but I knew it was humanly impossible for a person to have followed us; especially on foot.

I looked to see Zach's girlfriend sitting across from me at the table. She too, was looking around the room, watching people on the dance floor. "I'm Sophia," I said to her, catching her attention. Her green eyes were wide as she looked at me.

"Alayna," She called back.

"We're you dragged here too?" I joked and she looked at me oddly.

"I chose to come." She said blankly, looking back to the dance floor. I felt heat rise to my cheeks, realizing I had already left a bad impression on the only other girl in the group. I turned my attention away from her and looked over to Oliver and his friends. I internally cringed as I heard their voices over the music. They were laughing at something and being completely spastic as one of their friends dumped an alcoholic drink all over Oliver's head. They were literal animals.

I needed to leave, for my own sanity. I debated calling Sidney, but I knew it would be one big "I told you so" moment to her. And that wasn't something I was in the mood to put up with. I heard another shout from Oliver and decided against my previous thoughts. I would accept Sidney's teasing fully.

I grabbed my bag from next to me in the booth and put it on the table, zipping it open in order to find my purse. As soon as I felt the smooth surface of my iPhone, I was shoved deeper into the booth by Oliver as his friends began to pile in behind him. "Hey, sorry." He said to me as he put his arm around my shoulders loosely.

He smelled strongly of Jäger, and all I wanted to do was rip his arm off of me. "Hey Sophia, bought you a Jäger Bomb." One of Oliver's friends said as he passed out the shots to everyone at the table. I looked to Oliver, who seemed completely oblivious to the fact that I was in no mood  to drink. Even though I had told him I was fine without anything.

"Oh, I think I'm okay." I said as he put a shot glass of the brown liquid in front of me.

"Come on, loosen up a bit." Alayna said as she held her glass in her hand. She had a knowing look on her face that actually alarmed me slightly.

"One shot won't do much." Oliver spoke, talking to me like I was a child. I looked up at him, ready to leave. I looked back down at the small glass and made up my mind. I would take the shot, go to the bathroom, and ditch from there. When I got outside, I would call Sidney and be home in under fifteen minutes.

I picked up the sweating glass and looked up. "Okay."

Zach counted down from three, and we all tipped back the strong liquid. I hated it. The engulfing taste of black licorice made my throat swell as I put the glass back down onto the black-surfaced table. I shut my eyes and my mouth began to salivate at the taste. "Let's get another round!" Zach called to the bartender. And that was my cue to leave.

"I'm going to use the restroom really quick." I said to Oliver. He looked to me and nodded. "Okay, yeah. Do you want another shot?" He asked and I shook my head quickly.

"Um, no no. It's fine. I'll be right back." I said as everyone moved out of the booth for me. I apologized and walked off, slinging my bag over my shoulder. I maneuvered through the crowd fairly well, only bumping into a few intoxicated people who didn't even seem to notice my existence.

The bathroom was located in a long hallway towards the basement of the club. The hall that led to the bathroom was filled with cigarette smoke and was almost as dimply lit as the club itself. I pushed on the door to the bathroom to discover it was a one person restroom, and above the toilet was the perfect window for an escape.

I walked into the stall and shut the door, locking it behind me. I stood up onto the lid of the very dirty toilet and unlocked the window, shoving the glass pane to the left. I looked out and saw the window was at the level of the ground, as the bathroom was in the basement of the club. There was another building not too far from the club, and there appeared to be no people in the general vicinity of the window. I took a deep breath and took my small heeled shoes off my feet, trying not to think about how disgusting the toilet was beneath my feet. I threw my shoes out the window along with my purse and slowly, but surely, hoisted myself out of the window.

I crawled awkwardly from the frame as I heard another person enter the bathroom right behind me, making me thankful for leaving as quickly as I did. I sat on the cold grass and grabbed my shoes, slipping them back onto my feet. I looked to where my purse had been and noticed my purse was gone. I furrowed my eyebrows, knowing I hadn't forgotten it. I turned my body to see the two black shoes of another person right behind me. I felt myself freeze up as my eyes travelled up the body slowly, realizing being followed didn't sound so crazy anymore.

It was Dan, and he was holding my purse in his hands as he looked down at me with a smile on his face.

--------------------

Hey hey so I'm going camping tomorrow with some buds so I won't be on for a few days also I leave for college in thirteen days uMMMM????!!!!!!! anyways thanks for reading