Distract and Sedate | Hemlock Grove |

Chapter 3 | Reckless Youth |

- Philadelphia -

"Let's gooooo!" A voice calls from the other side of the door. It's followed by a long string of knocks. Emma yanks the door open mid-knock. She's met by Maggie, Hope, and a third girl she doesn't know.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" She turns back around to put on her shoes. Jules has an eyelash curler in her hands and rushes to finish her makeup. They uber to the edge of campus and towards a frat house that Emma had never heard of. Inside, it was different from what TV shows had convinced her it would be like.

Jules pulls her around introducing her to people and grabbing them drinks. The other girls have disappeared into a crowd. After two or three drinks, she lets Jules drag her into dancing. If it could even be considered dancing. She tries to stay with her friend, dancing with each other instead of guys.

Parties back home were very different from this. With the exception of a few girls here and there from a county over, everyone knew everyone. The same couples always fought, the same girls always cried, the same guy always passed out too early. Here everyone was a stranger.

It kept her a bit on edge. Even with a drink in hand, she glanced around from time to time to see who was around her. As the weight of the drink declined, so did the number of glances.

It's a chance that both of their heads turn at the same time. They meet each other's eyes across the room. She gives him a soft smile before turning her attention back to Jules. She hadn't expected him to make his way through the crowd to approach her.

"Hey," he slides next to her. He's tall, slightly taller than Roman. He's goofy looking but in a cute way. He doesn't look like he belongs in this sweaty room and she likes that.

"Hey," she shouts over the loud music.

"I'm Jack!"

"Emma."

"It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," she laughs.

"Do you want to dance?" She has to read his lips to fully understand him. Her ears would ring in the morning from the loud music and potential hangover.

"I'm not very good!" She admits.

"Good!" He calls out. "Me either!"

And he is not. It's almost laughable how little rhythm he has. By the time her cup is empty, they are both laughing at him.

"Do you wanna go outside?" He asks. Emma looks around for Jules's approval but she is long gone.

"Yeah, okay," she says and follows behind him. Outside it's chilly but the cold it welcomed on glistening skin. There are a handful of others outside smoking or cooling down. She follows him to take a seat on the brick ledge below the porch.

"Where are you from?" He asks, his breath visible in the air.

"A couple of hours away. Hemlock Grove," she tells him. Her skin is finally drying and her clothes feel lighter. "You?"

"I'm actually from Arizona."

"This weather must be quite a shock to you," she jokes.

"Not yet, but the winter is going to kill me," he runs his fingers through his tussled hair. "You wanna grab another drink?"

"Yeah," Emma smiles. Inside, Jack tracks down one of his friends for a few beers they had hidden and he hands her one. They hang around an make small talk until someone finally has liquor. Once they're sufficiently under the influence they go back to dancing.

By the way his arms fly around freely it's pretty obvious he's as drunk as she is. Emma's feet feel like cement blocks and the rest of her legs sway. When she closes her eyes and thinks she has about two seconds of clarity before saying fuck all and returning back to the world. It spins and spins.