"Just Friends"

Chapter 3

SAM

Content Warning: Intense Anxiety Attack

We walked through the club's doors after half an hour of waiting in line. Inside, it was even more crowded. The lights flickered red, blue, and green; and the music blasted from the stage. 

Julie grabbed my hand to be sure I was following her and took us to the front row. There was itchiness in having all the sweating bodies bump over me as we walked down the dance floor.
Luckily, in front of the stage, the floor was practically empty, and I felt clean oxygen strike my lungs. On the other hand, the music was impressively loud, leaving me with a weird buzzing sensation in my left ear. 

I looked up at the band.
A pretty hot guy, with messy sweaty hair and a blurred black spot under his eyes, was standing in the middle. He was bare-breasted, showing off a skinny yet rough stomach from under the guitar he was passionately playing. The intro to Year 3000 jammed from it, and he leaned into the microphone when the lyrics started.

I sang along to the second line: "Went out to the backyard to find out that it was one of those rowdy boys."

I gotta say when Julie invited me to a concert I wasn't too hyped about it. She sent me a voice message while I was watching Teen Wolf explaining that Evan's friend, Garret, whom I had met last Friday at this party we went to, had canceled last moment.
She insisted I come.
She insisted a lot.

I looked around, wondering where Evan was.
"Where's Evan?" I asked Julie.
"I don't know," she replied and took out her phone, presumably to try and answer my question. "Fuck," she mumbled. I turned around.
"What?"
"He's not coming. He has a fever." She bit her lip.
"Oh. I hope he gets better," I said, not really feeling compelled by the situation.
I looked back up at the stage. The hot guy was still hot and the music was still good.
"What?" she cried out to me. That was the second disadvantage to being so close to the band: it was almost impossible to talk.

I stood closer and repeated my words into her ear. She nodded.
I suddenly felt the urge to pee and let her know that I was going to the bathroom.
"What?" she yelped again.
"I'm going to the bathroom!"
She nodded a second time and leaned into my ear to say: "I'm coming with you."

When I got out of the toilet, I heard the song's bridge blasting as people sang along to it. I leaned into the mirror and checked out my make-up.

My pink eyeshadow softly highlighted the side of my eyes, making the blue in them glow out. The red lipstick I had applied was now a smudged orange. I knew this would happen and I had brought it with me.
I took it out of my pocket and started outlining the curve in my upper lip. As I began painting the inside, I saw Julie come out of the toilet in the reflection and walk forward.
In no time, I was finished with my lips and Julie was standing behind me. I felt her arms wrap around me as she whispered in my ear: "Today girl; we getting wasted."
I turned around, meeting her face. I was invaded by this sparkling sensation rumbling up my body. The air around me shortened as she pressed onto the hold of my waist.

Unlike what I would rather say, I was beginning to get accustomed to this feeling. 

I grabbed a lock of hair running down her cheek and moved it aside.
Once I let go of it I wondered why exactly I did it.
My brain was calling at me, but my body wasn't responding. It seemed like they had split into two different individuals. One asking me to stop and the other pleading to go on.

She smiled, making my heart skip a beat.
My brain kept pressing buttons and sending warnings, trying to get my body to react.
But I was numb.

I was tired of always thinking things through before I did them. Was it too bad to take a risk sometimes? Shut your brain off for a few minutes. Take a break.