Reflection: The Sequel

twenty

The word that they were having a hotel party must've spread like wildfire, because the whole hallway I was sent to was filled with college kids.
All seven doors leading to the girls' rented room were open and there were kegs and coolers full of beer set up all over the floor. While the music blasted through the corridor, I took in the new scene around me.
The lights which must've usually been fluorescent were taken out of the ceiling and replaced with blacklights. Chairs and a couple of couches were pulled out of rooms for some people to sit while watching others play beer pong on a somewhat competitive level.

The party seemed to have commenced earlier than I expected it to be or else people must've gotten drunk fast.
I tried to squeeze myself through people who were dancing and not aware I was there. I didn't have any luck for the longest time, but I finally broke through two people who were starting a conversation and went to the room that I left Naomi and Emily at a day ago.

I walked into their room which had normal lamps on. I breathed a sigh a relief that my eyes wouldn't have to deal with that purple lighting from the hall for too long. Naomi and Emily were standing by the doorway of the closed bathroom, cuddled close and dancing when I walked up to the pair. They seemed as though they weren't aware of people in their suite rolling blunts or snorting coke on tables in their room. It seemed like they were focused on each other's movements. Suddenly, Emily's brown eyes opened and she smiled, "Look who finally decided to show up."

"It's not my fault. I took a cab and he said he made a wrong turn. We wasted about thirty minutes, but he discounted the rate 90%. I'm pretty sure it's because we had a good conversation about life." I told her over the extremely loud music. Honestly, I had wished I brought ear plugs or something so I wouldn't go deaf later. The bass was the harshest thing about it.

"You would choose to chat up a driver in a hackney over two beautiful women?" Naomi laughed as she reached out to grab my hand and pull me in closer. "How about we get you a drink and some skunk? We can go out on the balcony and hang out."

"I'm surprised this party hasn't moved outside yet."

"We blocked off ours because we wanted to end up making the night super special without it being too wild or loud."

"Too wild? I've never seen so many people in a hotel hallway. I'm surprised no one has called because of a noise complaint." I laughed, interlocking my fingers with Naomi's and letting her pull me outside.

"Yeah, Cook talked us into opening all of our doors and the people started to pile in. I don't know what Cookie did to keep the people up front from calling the filth or shutting us down, but I always notice it's better to not know." Naomi chuckled, sliding the doors open.

The chilly air hit my face like an atomic blast once the sliding door opened wide to reveal a deck with a working fire pit and chairs. The London view they had was so beautiful. The people below looked so small like little bugs or germs. And the way the lights shined out of the city or how clear the night sky seemed from up here made me feel limitless. I continued to gaze out into the city so long that Naomi actually scared me when she spoke up.

"Captivating, isn't it?" Naomi took a cigarette out of her pack. "You want one?" I nodded and took it from her hand to put it behind my ear. "This was probably the best holiday we've taken together by far. The views from all of our rooms, and the club crawl this time has been absolutely incredible. Our group has been so close for the past two years, but eventually we will have to grow up and go separate ways. I guess this is how we usually cope."

"By partying?"

"Yeah. We believe you connect more when you're on an impaired cloud together. You just get to know people better when they aren't in control of themselves." Her soft british accent was very calming to listen to. "They show you who they truly are when they are fucked up enough to trust you."