"What just happened," Chris asked shortly after Bren fled the table. "Is she okay?"
"Yeah, I'm sure she is," Emma answered looking down at her drink. "Everybody gets a bit sick sometimes. She's been stressing lately, so that's probably it."
"My freshman year of college was a mess. I was sick through half of it. I guess I cared too much," one of the girls at the table shared.
Ten minutes went by which turned into twenty which turned into thirty. Emma stirred her drink wishing that she could check on Bren; unfortunately, she couldn't leave Angela alone with a group of strangers. She sat patiently and make small talk with her new acquaintances, checking her phone every now and then to keep track of time. After an hour goes by and there is still no sign of Bren she can feel the anxiety building up inside of her.
"I'm going to the restroom," Emma announced standing from her seat and walking away from the table.
She found the entrance with no problem and walked down the hallway to the ladies' room.
"Bren?" she called checking the bathroom. A few girls were in there smoking, but there was no sign of Brendalyn.
She left the bathroom and walked back down the long corridor when suddenly the power shut off. The music in the club stopped and the only light was from the emergency exit sign.
She pulled out her phone flashlight and headed back towards the club before she heard a voice behind her.
"What are you doing? Turn that light off," a guy's voice called in the dark.
"What? Why? The power is out!" she replied shining the light on the guy, he put his hand over it.
"The cops are prepping for a bust. If you don't want to get arrested then I suggest you turn that flash off and follow me."
"I need to go get my friend, she's still in there," she replied turning, but he grabbed her wrist. "I'm not going to get arrested. I'm not on drugs."
"I can tell that you've been drinking and I can tell that you're not the right age for it. You will get arrested..." he said.
"Crap," she murmured running her fingers through her hair.
"Are you coming?" the guy asked.
"Let's go."
She turned the flashlight off and followed him out of the back exit and into the deserted alley.
⊙ ⊙ ⊙
"What happened to the power?" asked Angela as they sat in the dark.
"I don't know, this has never happened before," Chris replied turning on the flash on his phone.
Angela's phone began to vibrate on the table—Bren was calling.
Chris stood from the table to check on the backup generator. Surprisingly, no one was leaving. The doors were shut and everyone was standing around looking confused and annoyed.
"You're with who?!" Angela screamed into her phone in disbelief.
"H-Harry," Bren mumbled on the other side.
"Harry who?" Angela replied her voice coming off more threatening than intended.
"Styles," Bren barely whispered.
"Oh my god... I can't even celebrate with you! You've been gone for two freaking hours!Why are you just now calling?! Emma left looking for you and she's not back either! I'm about to leave!" Angela exclaimed barely able to control her rage.
"I'm sorry! I don't remember all that happened! I just remember meeting Harry and bleeding. The next thing I know I'm in a magnificent hotel suite with stitches in my head," Bren explained she realized how crazy she sounded because she let out a deep sigh at the end.
"Ugh, just please tell me you didn't fangirl," Angela pressed.
"I threw up on him..." she whined earning a giggle in return.
"You th— Nevermind, we'll talk about your vomit later," Angela said biting her tongue to keep from exploding in laughter. "Where are you?"
"I'm at the Four Seasons, are you coming to get me?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'll be there in about thirty minutes," Angela responded before hanging up.
She stood up from the booth and pushed through the crowd to get to the front doors. There was a loud bang from the doors being kicked open and light poured into the club.
"LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT EVERYONE GET DOWN AND PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!"
Cops rushed in with their guns out and began making their way throughout the club arresting attendees one by one. Angela was put in handcuffs and taken outside along with other people.
Her officer led her off to the side near his squad car and shone his flashlight in her eye.
"I'm going to perform a brief field sobriety test. Stand on one leg please," he requested.
"That's hardly fair," Angela challenged. "I'm in 8-inch heels! Even Cindy Crawford wouldn't be able to balance!"
"Just try," he replied.
"I can't just try, because if I just try and just fail then I'm going to just get arrested!" she exclaimed.
"Are you refusing the test?"
"No, I'm actually not refusing. I'm just pointing out a flaw in your system," she countered.
"Take the heels off," he proposed.
"What?" she questioned. "I still won't be able to do it correctly! You know when you take roller skates off and you still feel like you're walking on air—"
"You need to comply with the law, Miss."
"How am I supposed to comply with something that's so stupid? I only came to have a bit of fun! I haven't been drinking," she lied without a twinge of doubt in her voice.
"Are you calling the law stupid?"
"No, I'm just saying. You're not going to get accurate results," she replied.
"I'm a trained officer. I know what I'm doing," the cop said.
"Last time I checked becoming a police officer doesn't take much brain power. You weren't smart enough to become anything else, right? If anything I'm just as qualified for your job as you are so you might as well hear me out," she advised.
The officer's face began to turn red as her words registered in his mind. Angela was known for being crude at times. With her mother being so high up in fashion she was used to critiquing people without a filter. Most times it ended in lost friendships, not legal action.
"You're under arrest!" the officer declared pushing her towards his car.
"Wait, what? Why?" she gasped.
He didn't answer, instead he opened the door to his squad car and pushed her inside.
"You have to tell me why I'm under arrest! You can't just arrest me because I hurt your feelings!" she protested, using her foot to prevent him from closing the door.
"You were resisting arrest!"
"You weren't even arresting me!" she remarked.
"Yeah? Well, now I am," he responded using his hand to push her leg out of the way before slamming the door.
"You have no right to do that!" she screamed at him as he crossed the car and climbed into the front.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law," he taunted as he started the car and pulled out of the lot.
