Backseat Drivers

Green Hearted

It felt like only a few moments later, they were suddenly surrounded in a flood of shifting light, and Aika realised that Calum had drawn them into a club, where sound swooped in from every direction. Heavy drum beats manifested into patterns that swam through the masses of ecstasy-fuelled dancers; they were an indistinguishable swarm, occasionally illuminated by the spinning lights above their heads. Outside, Aika had been in a serene wonder of colours and curiosity - now she was engulfed in her own hyper-sensitive perceptions. The entire world had increased its volume, its saturation, its blur - its intensity. Overwhelmed, she could only let her head loll backwards to gaze at the mess of hues rhythmically revolving in time to the beat. 

Sean, meanwhile, was beside Calum - equally buzzing amongst the ravers in a psychedelic cohort of animated shapes. The two boys were pumping their fists in time to the music, holding each other's shoulders in a brother-like embrace, before breaking away into their own circles of dancers. Music seeped into Sean's ears and down his spine, jolting him into a dynamic display of disco, intertwined with the charge of a raver. He was utterly lost in the sounds and the colours and he knew that in that moment - he would crave the feeling once sober. He'd crave it from now on. Time was distorted, and the youth he had previously felt was fading was as vivid as it had ever felt. Who wouldn't crave it? Charging with energy, he turned to where Calum was necking a blonde, her hand gripping the back of his hair in a lustful hold, his hand wrapped around the lacy pink of her dress - without thinking, Sean's eyes darted across the room, perfectly coinciding with Cindy's dark gaze. She caught his eye from where she was leant against the wall, and only tore away after a strong six seconds of eye contact. In his drug-powered haze he didn't think to immediately follow her as she left, only return to the rampant dancing and the invigorating beats - but an uncertainty niggled at the back of his mind following the strange shared look. Determined to expel his concerns, he held a hand to his forehead before making his way through the mania to reach the doors marked with a bright green 'EXIT'. As he pushed through them, he was suddenly hit by a cold draft, and his senses surfaced with a WHOOSH from the strobic, thumping atmosphere he'd just been plunged into. Once he re-adjusted, it was cool, and softer outside, though he was still seeing patterned illusions, similar to the kind you see when you close your eyes and concentrate. Cindy was leant against the wall outside, her face lit up by a warm pink glow as her arms folded across her upper body in contemplation.

"Cindy," Sean said, prompting her to look up from her thoughts. He walked towards her, only stopping when he too was enveloped in the dim glow from the nightclub sign. 

"Hi," she said, smiling - though even through his intoxication he sensed a dejection in her tone. 

"Are you okay?"

"I am," she replied, not so willing to start venting, to Sean's dissatisfaction. 

"Why'd you leave the club?"

"Too hot," she shrugged, looking back out at the road. It was strange - the road seemed blue, and misty, but no external effects were causing it. Sean didn't seem to come to the conclusion that this was probably because he'd taken hallucinatory drugs. He paused for a moment, deciding Cindy didn't need to outwardly explain her frustration if he already knew what it was.

"He's just like that," he explained casually, prompting raised eyebrows from Cindy.

"Who?"

"Aright, we're done with the bullshit," he said amusingly, and clicking her tongue she looked over at the tropical themed nightclub across the road. A faint Hawaiian tune was floating from it, and people were stumbling out draped in flowers and garlands.

"And what's 'just like that' supposed to mean?" she asked, giving in; in yet another shroom-induced reflection, Sean thought that her New York-Italian accent made her words cursive. He shrugged.

"He's driven by pure instinct. He doesn't like to think about things."

"Mm, well I don't like assholes," she retorted, irritated.

"You like Calum, though."

Half amused, half vexed, Cindy looked over at Sean with her tongue pushed against her teeth. 

"Yeah, well," she scoffed, examining her nails. They were blood red, their tone darkened by the night. Her lack of assertion just proved to Sean how clearly she liked Calum. There was a silence, as Sean failed to think of much else to say. 

"Your voice has a nice font."

Cindy stopped looking at her nails, and then her eyes flickered up to Sean in incredulity. 

"How do you function so believably when you're that fucked up on drugs?" 

Sean broke into laughter, rolling his head at the jibe. 

"Shut up, man. We walking back to the car or what? Now I'm out of there, I'm not going back in." 

"What about Roy and Aika?" 

"They're fine - I saw them talking together in the club."

Cindy nodded, then smiled again, still poignantly. 

"Okay."