20:28,the girls room, 18 degrees Celsius, the sun is setting and there is a gentle breeze flowing through the balcony door and cooling down the stuffy hotel room with soft salty air. Molly is fastening the buckle on her sandals whilst Katie tightens her ponytail to the back of her head. Cassie packs the refrigerated bottle of vodka into her bag. They're all about to head off to the boys room for an entertaining night. Cassies point of view as usual:
"Ready?" I asked, almost throwing the bag onto my back. They both nodded in reply and we head over to the boys room. As we reached room 439, I could hear the catchy beat of Arctic Monkeys 'Fluorescent Adolescence' playing through the door. Molly knocked on the door and Declan quickly answered.
"Oh hey," he said peering round the door before letting us inside. Molly followed over to the chair in the corner of the room. Katie followed next, to the chair that was under the vanity. Charlie and joe were already perched on their own beds and smiled slightly as I scanned for some place to sit. Dec flopped down onto his bed too, "oh, Cassie, you can come sit here if you like." I smiled at him and joined him by sitting with my back against the wall and towards the two other beds. I felt the five faces staring at me, then my bag, then me again. I unzipped my bag and held the bottle out for someone to grab.
Not to my surprise, Joe grabbed it quickly from my hand and unscrewed the lid even quicker, before chugging around a mouthful of the alcohol. His face winced slightly as the taste lingered in his mouth. He held it back out for me and I copied his style by drinking a large amount in one go. My reaction was a little more dramatic than Joes though, I had to swallow small amounts in multiple goes and groaned in instant response to the strong taste. Everyone just laughed at me.
~~
The night was fun, although there wasn't enough drink to make us all insanely drunk, we laughed, danced and talked until gone midnight. That was the night I realised me and Dec really had something going on (well I mean I got on with all of the lads pretty well, but everything felt different with Dec, like he was just a bit more than a 'lad friend'). I always felt drawn to him, even from when we were all sat in the reception of his college, out of fifty pairs of eyes, I was drawn to his straight away. He made me feel so welcome straight away, like he'd eventually be a lot more to me.
At around twenty to one, Katies tipsy head began to lol with exhaustion, we took it as a sign to say goodbye and get some sleep. The bottle of vodka had long gone since then, the curtains were shut and only a few lamps on bedside tables lit up the room. The atmosphere was surprisingly comforting for me only knowing the boys for a few days. "Come on Cass, Kate, we better get going, it's time for bed." Molly stood up and stretched before poking katie awake.
"See you tomorrow kids," I said standing up and picking up my bag. They all got up too and like good house guests, ushered us out of the room. There was a long line of hugs to pass through on the way to the door. First it was Charlie, his grip was soft as if he was weak or didn't want to hurt you. It lasted a sheer second and as I pulled away he smiled and as usual, adjusted his hair. Then it was joe, his grip was tight and strong (the complete opposite to Charlie's), he pat my back too. Then it was Dec's turn. His hold was perfect and comforting. My head seemed to fit perfectly into the shallows of his chest because of the height difference between us. The hug seemed to last a while and when I came out of it, I stepped back and looked up at him. He smiled at me just like the other boys did but it left me feeling different.
I thought nothing of it as me and the girls walked back to our room. I changed into my pyjamas and washed my face before climbing into the thin quilted duvet. We all just scrolled through our phones for a little while, not speaking, just laying in the dark until we got the notification that Dec had tagged us in a photo. It was a photo of us all mid dance to 'This Charming Man'. A filter had been put on it so it looked fresh from the eighties, the date was in small vhs style font in the corner. The caption was 'slightly intoxicated kids who're just lookin for a good time x'. I liked the photo straight away and commented 'mr mckenna I like being around you and your friends but this caption will get us in a lotta trouble'
