Stormy

Chapter 16

While Emilio and I had been talking, Martijn gathered three of the bitchiest girls at the party around him at the DJ booth. As I look up to him, he has his one hand on the ass of a tall blonde chick and his other hand on the mixer, playing a new track. The other two girls try to be as close to him as somehow possible and it is very obvious that Martijn more than enjoys it. I can't stop myself from sarcastically remarking: "Ah yes, I can see why he doesn't bring girls to parties anymore. He has them all here already." Emilio follows my gaze and sighs: "I'm sure he didn't mean for you to see that side of him. That only happens when he's drunk." I mean, why did I even care? It's not like I had a crush on him or something like that. But still, we were supposed to go to the party together as friends and all he does is get drunk and hook up with random girls. Somehow it fits the mood he showed earlier that day. "Like okay, if that's what he does, I mean it's fine. I don't care...", I answer. I do care though, I just don't want to admit it. Emilio and I continue to chat about other topics for a while, but it is quite obvious, that the whole atmosphere has changed. After a bit, Martijn is done with his set and another DJ takes over the booth. As he returns to me and the guys, he has his arms around the waists of two of the girls and the third girl tags along as well. Such much for my wish for a better gender ratio at the party. Sometimes you should really take care of what you're wishing for... The third girl quickly starts turning her attention towards Julian as Martijn doesn't really pay attention to her, but the other two girls are still trailing closely behind him, as he approaches me to ask: "Julie! How did you like my set?" I roll my eyes and say: "It's was wonderful, gained yourself some new fangirls, huh?" "Oh, the girls? They are just being nice...", Martijn tries to say. "And they are good looking, so you can't keep your hands away from their pretty asses.", I remark. "Well, can't say no to that.", Martijn says and raises his bottle of beer, "I'll drink to that. And you should go and have some fun too, Julie. Go meet some new people at the party." "Seriously, I can't stand you today.", I say just loud enough for him to hear and then I turn and leave him standing there. I go back to Emilio, who is standing in a corner of the garden chatting to a few other people, because I can't decide whether I want to leave this shitty party or stay a bit longer, because it would be rude to go home already. I join their conversations for a while, until Martijn arrives with Louis and a few other people and tries to convince us to go to the dancefloor again. Most of the people quickly join Louis to the dancefloor and leave Martijn and I behind. "Come on, Julie.", he says, "What's up with you today? Usually you're such an outgoing person, but it doesn't seem like you're enjoying yourself tonight. Like come on, have some fun. You're so weird today." "You're the one acting weird today.", I answer. Martijn walks up closer and puts his arm around me: "I seriously want you to have fun today." For a moment, I think of it as a sweet gesture, but then he lets his hand run down my back to lift my dress up a bit and touch my butt just like he did with the other girls. Just one of many. I know he's drunk, but still, I feel disgusted by it. "Fuck off.", I exclaim, "Don't touch me like you touch these bitches. I'm not one of them." "Julie, come on.", Martijn says. "No, like seriously, it's enough! I'm going home now. I was really looking forward to going to this party with you, but honestly, if that's how you're treating girls, this was the last time I came to a party with you. This is so disgusting!", I say. Martijn tries to stop me, but I have made my decision. Enough is enough. I grab all my things, say goodbye to Emilio and order a taxi for myself to get back home to the academy. I am still super annoyed as I get home to my shared room with Emma. She immediately reads my face as I open the door. "Julie! What's up? What happened at the party?" I sigh, sit down next to her on the bed and the words just flow out. She listens to me, hugs me and as always, she has the right words of advice for me: "Listen, you should maybe just go to sleep now. And when you see Martijn the next time, try and talk things out. I know that he means something to you, so don't be too hard on him. I can totally understand that you feel used, but he was drunk and things just got a little out of hand. I bet as soon as you're back in the studio together, music will fix it." "Thank you so much for listening, girl. You're the best friend I could ever ask for.", I smile and give her another hug before we both decide to go to sleep.

On Monday, it's time for the next studio session with Martijn. I arrive to the studio first with the intention to talk things out, but as he enters the studio and doesn't even bother to say hi, I start to get annoyed by his behavior again. It would be his responsibility to make up for what happened, not mine. That way, we sit next to each other quietly working for the next half an hour, with none of us saying a word. Martijn has his headphones on and keeps moving colorful lines up and down in his Fruity Loops project. I sit next to him, my notebook open, scribbling new ideas for the lyrics. Another 15 minutes pass by until he finally breaks the silence: "I need to record a first demo version of the vocals today. I need it for the project." "So you're not gonna talk to me for a whole 45 minutes and then the first thing you ask me to do is a first recording of the vocals? Wow...", I answer. "Well, you made things pretty clear at the party on Saturday...", he says. "Oh come on, Garrix!", I exclaim. He answers: "You fucking know that I don't want you to call me like that, it's Martijn, god damn it. Can you just sing now? I need to leave on time today." I roll my eyes, grab my notebook with the most recent version of the lyrics and walk up to the microphone without a further word.