Too Many Tales

The Grimy Floor

"You probably shouldn't have pregamed so hard. You can barely walk." I said to Tori as we walked away from campus towards our favorite club.

"Ethan gave it to me."

"Oh yeah, that's a great idea. Drink whatever Ethan gives you."

"Shush, I don't want to hear it from you."

"Whatever."

"Hey guys, over here." Our two other closest friends were near the front of the line.

"Hey Claire! Hey Jules! Are you ready for a great night?" Tori asked them as we approached.

"God Eva, how much did you let her drink?"

"I am not in charge of her, she's a big girl and she can do what she wants." I wasn't fond of her choices either.

"Guys, stop talking about me as if I am not right here!" Tori whined.

"IDs please." We all handed over our IDs to the bouncer and were let into Glowing Shade.

"Let's do shots! You guys really need to get on my level."

"Two rounds of tequila shots please." Jules ordered with a wink at the cute bartender. We all took our shots, and several grimaces later, we joined the sweaty masses on the dance floor. There was a live band playing. It was a typical pop-punk band named Rocky Waters that simply played all the classic throwbacks. They were currently finishing off the chorus of "Mr. Brightside" and everyone enthusiastically screamed along.

Destiny is calling me

Open up my eager eyes

Cause I'm Mr. Brightside

The four of us formed a circle, but one by one got seduced to the side by tipsy guys. I felt a guy press up behind me, and I swayed along to the music with him, but my mind was on Tori. She was completely taken over by the music, or maybe it was the alcohol, and was gyrating against some guy. She probably didn't even know his name. She probably didn't care. Maybe I was being too quick to judge. I mean I was dancing with a guy too, and I definitely did not know his name.

I turned to face my dancing partner. His eyes glowed in the erratic neon lighting. He is cute. He smiled. He is really cute. He leaned down to say something in my ear. "What's your name?" While he was close, I took a deep breath. He smelled sweet, unlike the most of the sweat-covered people dancing.

"Eva."

"I'm Jayce."

I smiled at him, and he winked back then pointed towards the bar. I glanced back at Tori. She seemed fine; she was with Jules and Claire. I looked back at Jayce and nodded. He grabbed my hand, and led me towards two empty stools. They were simple and wooden and looked very sticky. With a sigh, I sat down. I tried to readjust, but the exposed skin on the back of my legs preferred to remain glued to the stool. I leaned on the equally sticky bar and gave my order. A rum and coke, as usual.

"So do you live on campus?" I nodded.

"Yeah, my friends and I all share an apartment. We're juniors." The bartender slid my drink towards me, and before I could unstick myself to pay, Jayce handed him more than enough money to cover the one drink.

"I'm here visiting my sister. She's a senior."

"Cool." He was cute, and I wanted to talk, but I felt like this was not the ideal place. I preferred getting to know people over random hookups, and a bar full of drunk college girls in crop tops did not seem like the ideal place. I thought of asking him if he wanted to go somewhere that didn't reek of sweat and alcohol. Suddenly, Tori was at my side.