Break of Dawn

04 | sufjan and ig models

RORY SIGHED in relief when the band finally left the stage.

They had played for forty five minutes — to which she had paid attention to ten at most — and the whole experience had made her realize that indie rock was definitely not her thing.

She, Ivy and Madison had arrived at the pub a few minutes before the band started playing. They had ordered a few drinks while Madison went on about Iker, the band's lead singer. Not for a second, however, had she mentioned his music, and Rory had the impression that Maddie's interest had little to do with his artistic talent and more to do with his sun-kissed skin and tousled caramel hair. Madison's musical preferences were limited to mainstream music and KPop, and the fact that she was willing to go through that insufferable amount of Sufjan Stevens covers just to hook up with the guy told Rory just how invested she was — kudos to her.

There was a Khalid song playing while Rory stirred her drink with a mini red straw. She had lost count of how many Cuba Libres she had already drank — somewhere between the third or eighth glass  — but, whatever, it was not like she really cared. She was not much of a lightweight and since the whole purpose of the night was to blow off some steam, she thought there was no point in keeping tabs.

She sat alone by the bar watching the people around her. Madison had sauntered over to the stage area to go talk to lover-boy and Ivy had abandoned her to flirt with a blonde girl who was sitting a couple of stools away. Rory could be doing the same, there were some nice looking guys wandering around the place, but despite her crazy dry spell, she wasn't in the mood — neither had the energy — to go flirty at the moment. She preferred keeping her mind occupied with other things like people watching and creating scenarios about their lives. It was some sort of twisted hobby of hers, trying to come up with life stories for people solely based on their looks. Using the basic psychology knowledge she had from a freshman year class and letting her imagination do the rest, it was the kind of game that would keep her entertained — and distracted — for a while.

Her "victim" at the moment was the girl Ivy talked — flirted — to. She had curly blond hair — like Taylor Swift back in the day when she still played country — and looked very short next to Ivy's model-esque frame. That was all the physical appearance aspects Rory could distinguish considering the distance, the poor lighting and — of course — her lack of contact lens. The girl wore a red bomber jacket despite the scorching heat and that told Rory how willing she was to make sacrifices for the sake of being fashionable. She gave off the whole too-cool-for-you vibes and Rory imagined her in an artsy major — maybe dance but probably music.

"I think you should start off that band's first fan club." A modulated voice invaded her personal bubble interrupting her train of thought.

Rory turned her head to assess the person who had just ruined her last five minutes of creative thinking. Her eyes caught the sight of a guy standing at a safe distance, his lower back leaning against the bar. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a set of the bluest eyes she had ever seen — the type of guy who could be an instagram model.

"What?" She asked, brows cocked in surprise.

"You looked really engrossed during that presentation, I think you've probably become their number one fan by now." She finally sensed the hint of sarcasm in his tone, his eyes glinting in mischief and crimson lips quirked up in a smirk.

"Oh —," She quipped in realization "Was it that obvious?"

"Only for someone paying attention," His voice sounded slightly husky and Rory smiled, nibbling on her bottom lip.