Just Friends

The End (Part 1)

The car doors slammed shut in perfect unison as Paul and Candace stepped into the night air. At the end of the block, the nightclub had opened up it's doors and people were beginning to find their way inside. A line had already queued a good distance out the door.
"Just in time, it looks like." Paul narrated to the young woman beside him.
"Good, it's getting pretty chilly out here." She answered.
Saying this, Candace hugged her arms close to her body and rubbed at them, craving the little warmth the friction gives her. The temperature had indeed dropped off sharply after the sunset in the short distance here from the batting cages. Had she originally known they'd still be out after dark, she would have worn something with sleeves.

She suddenly felt an odd tension. Candace glanced over to see Paul staring at her. "Are you really that cold? We'd better get you inside." He suggested. She smiled and brushed off her uneasiness. Paul was just the same as ever. So why did she feel so awkward beside him now, and so suddenly? Candace already knew the answer, but it's not easy to admit. It was her own fault.
'Stupid Paul.' She thought.
'Paul just asked for a little kiss, and now I'M acting weird.'
'Stupid ME. I actually DID it.'

Suddenly just making eye contact with him was difficult. Her gaze fled his, and bolted forward and toward her destination. Right up in front of her, the building loomed. Overhead, a simple neon sign displayed the words "The Wallflower." A cute little daisy shape sat inside the letter o. 'What a strange name for a nightclub.' She thought. 'It must be ironic or something.'

They got in the back of the line, and began to bide their time.
"So, have we ever been here together? I don't think so." He asked the shivering girl.
"Not that I can remember, and I THINK I'd remember. Unless you slipped something in my drink." She joked, spouting a short, curt laugh.
"Darn, left the roofies in the car this time." He sarcastically frowned.
"Nah, you haven't got the guts to try something like that."
"I got a kiss, didn't I?" He boldly boasted in spite of the color that tinged his cheeks as he did so. He could just play it off as an effect of the cold weather, he hoped.

They took a few steps forward together as a small party of people filtered it's way inside the club. Candace wasted no time in dropping the bomb.
"...so why DID you ask for that?" She asked, locking her eyes on his with laser like focus.

Paul strangled the words in his throat to keep them from getting out:
'Because I'd been dreaming of it for years.'
He instead let silence fill the gap between them for a few moments while he searched for an answer. He finally pulled one out of thin air:
"Just to mess with you. And it worked. It got your mind off what's-his face, didn't it?"

The crowd lurched forward again, this time a much larger mass of patrons. Paul and Candace found themselves moving inside.
"Yeah. I guess it did." Candy murmured. Paul liked to tease, yes, but this felt different.

Energetic, thumping music began to overtake the awkward atmosphere she had dredged up. The entire central interior was interspersed with alternating darkness and soft lights at regular intervals. The furnishing and floor were a mix of browns, tans, gold, and charcoal grey. The further a body moved away from the center, the dimmer it got until it faded to black. The bar against the back wall was the sole exception. Lit up from seemingly every direction at once like a stage, the bar here was the worst possible place to go if one felt like drinking in obscurity. The glossy tables around the edges reflected light brilliantly- quite possibly over-polished, but amazingly lustrous. In many ways, this place looked like an upscale restaurant that some enterprising owner had drastically repurposed for inviting nocturnal fun seekers.

Off to the side and semi-concealed by shadows were large booths, where the majority of people were gathered. Small clouds of men and women were dancing on the main floor, brushing together, mixing, and separating once more. The night was young- many, many more people would fill out this small area before the evening was over and the drinks started flowing more freely. For now, there were only a few dozen people here yet. But they all seemed happy and full of energy. The kind of energy that just rubbed off on a person. Candace felt herself smile.