Again | Luke Hemmings

i

2 years later

"Jordin! Let me in!" Bailey's high pitched voice rang through the door.

"Wait!" I yelled, finishing the last of my cigarette, throwing it away and rushed over to the door.

"Finally." Bailey sighed and stepped in my apartment. She scrunched her nose as she smelled the smoke still lingering in the air.

"Sorry about that." I apologized, gesturing my hands to the air.

"That's alright." She shrugged.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her and she gave me an 'are you serious' look.

"I think you're forgetting the party?" She said in a 'duh' tone, pushing a piece of her blonde hair out of her face.

"Right." I sighed, making a clicking sound with my mouth. "But it's Sunday!"

"What? Are we suddenly banned to party on Sundays?" She teased.

I stayed quiet, wondering how she turned from innocent to this in a time span of one year in college.

"Well don't just stand there, let's pick your dress for tonight!" She squealed in excitement and pulled me to my bedroom. My best friend, everybody.

"Can I just go there in jeans?" I whined, watching her rummage through my closet.

She stopped what she was doing and looked at me. If looks could kill, I would have been dead by now.

"What?" I asked, a smirk forming on my lips because I know she gets annoyed when I make jokes about my outfits for events like the party tonight.

"You have really great clothes and I will not, and most certainly will not let you wear jeans in a party full of sweaty people understand?" She said sternly. "I want you to look presentable."

"Yes, ma'am." I playfully rolled my eyes at her. She stuck her tongue out and focused her attention back to my closet that she named, and I quote, 'her paradise'.

"I finally found one!" She shouted, waving my black floral skater skirt and white top in the air. I actually forgot I owned such clothing because I usually wear just shorts and a shirt. She tossed me a pair of black heels that I never wore. I should probably start paying attention to the clothes we buy when we go shopping.

"Isn't the top a little too . . . short?" I cringed at the white top being handed over to me.

She walked over to my jewelry box that was on top of my bedside table and pulled out my gold necklace, dangling it around her finger.

"Joey," She started, pausing for a dramatic silence. "With that body of yours, anything will look good on you and you have really nice clothes. Own it!"

"I'd rather you wear it." I smirked.

She glared at me and threw me a random skirt.

I scoffed, going back to the previous topic. "I can barely wear tank tops, what makes you think I could actually wear this?" I laughed, studying the piece of clothing.

"Just think of it this way, it's going to be the first party that you'll ever go to and it wouldn't be bad to show off some skin and curves to people you will never meet ever again." She reasoned, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I sighed, knowing there was no way I'm winning this little debate. "Fine."

A big smile spread across her glossed lips. "Let's get you ready and can I borrow your clothes for tonight?"

I sighed and nodded.

-

We arrived at the party thirty minutes after it started and there were already a few people puking in the bushes of a wide looking club.

My mind started to go frantic as all the possibilities of getting drunk and the aftermath could happen.

"What if someone offered me a drink?" I asked Bailey as she looked for a parking space.

"Don't accept it." She said it like was natural, but between the two of us, Bailey was like the expert of these things, so I trusted her.

"Okay but what if he asks me to dance? You know I-I can't dance." I started to feel uncomfortable and the clothes I was wearing made me feel even worse since my top barely covered my stomach but luckily my skirt could do just that, but it wasn't enough.

"Relax, Joey. Just say you can't dance or something and walk away as fast as you can." She laughed, parking the car just behind a tree not too far from where the party was.

"What if someone wants to take me home or something? Sorry for asking a lot of questions, I'm just so nervous." I started to feel out of breath and I kept playing with my hair, making it slightly messy.

"Say you have a boyfriend or you can stick with me." She smiled, placing a hand on my shoulder to calm me down a bit. "And keep your hair that way, the mess makes you look hot." She laughed.

I let out a shaky breath and I think Bailey noticed my uneasiness because she sighed. "You know, we can just ditch this party and go grab us some pizza." She suggested. I was really grateful for having a friend like her, but I didn't want to ruin her fun just because of me so I said no.

"Are you sure?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows together.

"Very." I assured even if I wanted to leave oh, so badly but I needed to get over this little fear. I never actually went to a party like this, never got drunk, I never drank beer or wine because it tasted weird.

"Okay. Call me if you want to go home or I'll give you my keys because I'm pretty sure I'm getting wasted tonight." She joked the last part in attempt to calm me down a bit again.

"I'll just call ya." I mumbled, straightening my skirt.

"But here are my keys anyway." She handed her keys to me and I kept them in my purse.

"Let's go?" I asked her, preparing myself.

"Yes. Let's go." She said and got out of the car. I got out as well and the cool mid-September air brushed past my exposed shoulders, making me shiver and regret agreeing to wear poor amount of clothing.

We entered the club and I immediately felt nauseous at the smell of alcohol, sweat and smoke. For a person who smokes, this was just so bad. But this is the way most people feel the adrenaline nowadays.

"Hey, where's the-" I turned to face Bailey only to see that she was no longer by my side.

I huffed and made my way through the crowd, getting some sweat rubbed to my skin by the people dancing. I found the bar and took a seat on one of the stools and asked for a glass of water.

"What's a pretty lady like you sitting here all alone?" A deep voice asked from my right, surprising me.

I panicked. "I'm a-actually here with my boyfriend." I lied, not bothering to look at the man but I could feel him looking at me.

"Where is he?" He asked, getting closer to me. He smelled really good, as creepy as that sounds. The scent almost reminded me of someone I knew.

"In the bathroom." I shrugged, moving away from the unknown man. I tugged lightly on my skirt in attempt to cover as much skin as possible, but failed.

"I'm Luke Hemmings and you are?" He spoke, holding his hand out for me to shake and I froze on my spot. I felt a sudden rush of mixed emotions when he said his name but I couldn't show him that.

I slowly turned my head to face him and his blue eyes immediately widened when he saw me and that was the last thing I saw before everything went black.

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Published on May 29, 2015
Edited on March 21, 2016