Strangers

Chapter 1

The buzzing of my phone woke me from a light sleep. Turning onto my side and roughly snatching my phone from my night stand, I looked at the caller ID and huffed in frustration. Of course it was the one and only Samantha Grale.

'Hello, Sam,' I yawned into the phone. 'Why the hell are you calling me at 9:30 in the morning? You know that I work late nights.'

I worked as a bar tender at one of the busiest local bars in town. After the bar closes, i stay behind to clean with a couple of my co-workers. It was good pay, and I needed that. Being a college student and living on your own isn't easy.

'Don't so sour,' she scolded. 'Listen, my brother gave me these tickets to see some lame ass band. You need to come with me.'

'Was it really necessary to call me this early to force me to see some shitty band with you? Why do I need to come with you?' I sighed. She was so annoying sometimes.

We've been best friends since kindergarten. To be honest, I have idea how we became friends, but I love her. We were basically sisters.

'Yes, it was necessary. Ronnie, you have been working so hard lately. You need to get out and let loose.'

'Don't tell me what to do,' I bantered.

'Please,' She begged. 'It'll be fun. There's probably going to be a lot of cute guys.'

It has been a while since the last time I went out. That wasn't even a pleasant experience, but I did want to have fun, and a litle eye candy didn't sound so bad.

'Fine,' I said, my voice flat.

'Yay!' she squealed. 'I'll pick you up at 8.'

She hung up without another word. I rolled over and placed my phone on the night stand. Curling into a ball, I drifted back to sleep.

***

Rolling out of bed, I looked at the alarm clock. 2pm. I groggily made my way toward the bathroom.

After turning on the shower, I turned and looked in the mirror. My blonde hair that made it's way to my belly button was a frizzy, tangled mess, sticking out in random places. Leaning closer to the mirror, I looked at my face. It was square with a thin nose and pink lips that weren't too small or too big. My large green eyes stared back at me as I concentrated on my porcelain skin. No break outs had occurred while I was sleeping. Good.

In the shower, I let the water pour on me for a while before getting out. The warm water felt good on my skin after sleeping. I loved the feeling of getting in the shower. It was so refreshing. Getting out, I wrapped my hair in a towel and made my way to the kitchen.

My apartment was small and worn down, but rent was cheap and it was kind of cozy in a way. Most of my walls were white with light brown laminate flooring and dark furniture not that there was a lot furniture. Just as much as I needed.

After eating toast with peanut butter, I looked at the clock. Almost 3:30pm. Life got boring when you lived on your own. Sure, sometimes it was peaceful, but after a while you get lonely.

I spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready. I straightened my hair, applied make-up, painted my nails black, and ate random snacks throughout the day.

I was sitting on the worn out brown leather couch that my parents had given me while eating popcorn and watching my favourite crime show, when I realized that it was already 7pm.

Walking into my bedroom, I opened my closet door. Taking a pair of my favourite faded, ripped skinny jeans and a flowy black tank top, I pulled them on. I grabbed a few rings, placing the on my fingers. Then, I took my silver necklace with a blue pendant and hung it around my neck.

There, I thought. Done.

Just as I finished, there was a knock at my door.

I walked over to the door and opened it. Sam stood there with a smile plastered on her face. Her naturally brown hair was streaked with blonde, straightened, and parted to the side. She was a petit girl, a lot shorter than me. She was wearing a pale pink crop top that stopped at the top of her stomach with a flowy, short, black skirt that rose above her belly button just shy of her top. There was about a two inch belt of skin showing. Her hazel eyes looked into mine.

'Hi, Sam,' I greeted her. 'Nice outfit.'

'Thanks,' she smiled, stepping into my appartment. 'Are you ready?'

'Yeah, I am.' I said putting on a pair of my favourite hightop skating shoes.

'Sorry I'm early,' she said. 'I was thinking we could go for supper before the show. I'm starving. Have you already eaten?'

'I've just been snacking,' I said. ' A meal sounds nice.'

'Good,' she said smiling.

***

One Big Mac meal later and we were in the parking lot of the club the band plays in. I looked at the clock on the car's dashboard. It was 8:30. People were crowded around the doors waiting to get in.

'Shall we go?' I asked when Sam was finished eating her last few fries.

She nodded, and we both stepped out of the car and made our way toward the people.

Almost immediately after we got to the door the bouncer asked for the tickets and Sam handed them to him. He scanned then and opened the large metal door for us.

'Have fun, ladies,' the large man winked at us as we made our way through the doors.

'Ew,' Sam squirmed. 'He was nasty.'

'Yeah, that was pretty gross,' I agreed.

The lights in the club were dim and the music was loud. The band wasn't starting until nine, so the stage was empty. People in the crowd were dancing and grinding on each other. Things were pretty bad and the band hadn't even started playing yet. Great.

I hated places like this. Everything was so claustrophobic.

'Want me to go get us some drinks?' Sam asked as we sat at a tall round table with bar stools.

'Sure. I'll have a beer,' I said digging in my purse to find some change.

'No, no,' Sam yelled over the music. 'First drink of the night is on me.' I rolled my eyes but didn't complain.

I watched her as she made her way towards the crowed bar. I sighed and bobbed my head to the music while thinking.

I hope this band is good. I don't want to waste my night. I have tests coming up that I need to study for. I looked around the room. There were a lot of cute guys here. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. I could do a little flirting.

As I was thinking, I didn't notice the two people standing behind me until I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I turned around and looked up at two very handsome faces.

'Hi, I'm Michael,' one of the boys said. 'And this is Luke.'