Hi. I'm Elli. Here's my story.
My best friend Alex had invited me to our local club. We hung out there all the time, but this text had seemed more urgent.
Elli, meet me at our place. I need to talk to you.
I had shoved on a swishy pink dress and rushed over.
Here I was, staring at tonight's dance theme, annoyed and full of giggly silliness.
In giant gold letters, it read, "Theme: wedding night"
I rolled my eyes. Alex sure could pick them.
I steadily made my way toward the front of the line. It was 10 dollars for girls under 25. Luckily, I was under that. Only eighteen years old, but they didn't need to know that.
I paid and went inside. There was a DJ in the far corner, and a sea of slow dancers filling up the remaining space.
As I looked for Alex, a weight fell on my shoulder. I spun around. "Alex, you sca-"
It wasn't him.
Instead there was a tall man, leering creepily at me.
"Sorry, I ain't Alex, but I'll dance with you," he said, the stench of alcohol heavy in his breath. "Come dance with me. What's your name?"
I shrugged out from under his hand and backed up. "None of your business."
Alex better show up soon, I thought.
The man walked toward me, wobbling slightly, and said, "aw, come on, dance with me. I'll be good, don't worry."
"Get away from my girlfriend," a loud voice commanded, and Alex rushed over and pried the man away from me.
I'd had a crush on Alex since I was 14, but he had only recently noticed. I hoped. But one thing he and I had come up with was calling me his "girlfriend" and him my "boyfriend." It was both true and false. He was a boy that was my friend, and vice versa, but we weren't romantically involved.
But honestly, how was I not supposed to crush on him?
He was not considered tall, but he was five inches taller than me, meaning he was five foot seven. He had heterochromia, meaning one beautiful eye was blue and the other was green. His dark blond hair fell softly around his face, making him look shy, even if he was anything but. Not to mention that, because he played soccer all year round, he was ripped. Gorgeous.
We went to the patio attached to the club, and he asked. "Are you ok? Did that guy hurt you?"
The moonlight highlighted his eyes, and it took me a minute to say, "I'm fine. What did you want to talk about?"
He was always very direct.
Nonetheless, his kiss was very surprising.
He leaned forward and softly touched his lips to mine. He lingered there, and I kissed him back.
"I love you, Elli. I have since we were kids. I-"
I kissed him again.
"I love you too, Alex." I stroked his face. "I love you too."
He smiled.
