Cameraman, Swing the Focus

Chapter 3

Brendon grabbed Nicole's hand and lead the way into the club, their friends following along behind them as they headed straight for the bartender. It was already overcrowded in the small underground room, and more people were constantly being allowed to enter. He wove through the sweaty bodies on the dance floor, doing his best to touch as few as possible. 

"Beer," Nicole announced when they reached their destination, since she's the only one the bartender would give the time of day to. She gestured in a way that included all of them in her order. He winked at her before going to pour six pints of a local craft beer. The guys all dug money out of their pockets, and Brendon reluctantly gave double to cover Nicole's share.  

The beer was cold and hoppy, and Brendon would have preferred something fruity, but he sipped it in contentment regardless. They'd gathered around a tall table that was the perfect height to stand at, and surveyed the people around them. This club was far enough from campus that most of the people looked genuinely over 21, and not just pretending to be with a fake ID. It wasn't strictly a gay club, but it was in the part of town where most of them were located, so the crowd was definitely of a more diverse and experimental demeanour. 

Brendon liked to judge how gay locations were by how out of place Dan and Mike looked. While he'd been informed that he was no longer allowed to refer to them as "The Straights" out loud, it was still one of the defining characteristics of them in his head. He'd never really had straight friends before, since all the ones he'd met growing up were raging homophobes. Brendon, however, liked them regardless of their sexual orientation. He just had to remind himself occasionally that not everyone was queer, and watching as Mike and Dan stood out like sore thumbs in a sea of sequins and bright colours, he decided he liked the club.

He turned his attention away from the conversation his friends were engulfed in, and scanned the room for possibilities. No one immediately stood out from the crowd, but there were certainly a few decent looking people he wouldn't mind taking home. Every time he looked at Jon and Spencer's familiar touches and extended eye contact, he was reminded how lonely he was. Well, lonely was a pretty strong word, he really just wanted someone to sleep with and maybe cuddle afterwards. 

Both Mike and Dan claimed to have girlfriends, though no one else had met them yet. That left Nicole as his only other ally in singledom. He nudged her and pointed across the floor to a really tall guy who was dancing with the most awkwardness Brendon had ever seen. Nicole shrugged after checking out the guy, and Brendon wiggled his eyebrows at her. "We could make this more interesting, you know." He leaned in close so he wouldn't have to yell over the music.

"Jesus, you want to bet money on this or something? We're supposed to both find hook ups and leave happy. What more interest do you require?" She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

"A little healthy competition never hurt anyone!" he tried to defend. "We don't have the challenges of being limited to one gender, so it's really all too easy if you think about it."

Nicole made a get on with it gesture with her hand. "Okay," he decided it was a good sign that she was hearing him out, "first one to get tall, dark, and dreamy to make out with them gets to use the apartment tonight."

Nicole burst out laughing. "Nice try, but that's already mine. You'll have to offer up an actual prize to make this worth it."

Brendon considered for a moment. "How about I do your laundry for a month if you win, and vice versa."

Nicole jutted out her bottom lip. "Not bad. You having clean clothes for once would be nice, so I win either way." He shoved her shoulder and barely managed to stop himself from smelling his armpit.

Nicole's drink was almost empty, so Brendon decided to play dirty, knocking it over to cause a distraction as he took off through the crowd to find his target. He couldn't stop the laugh that burst from his chest when Nicole shrieked after him something about being a big fat cheater.

He was in the very middle of the dance floor when a mistimed glance over his shoulder caused him to walk directly into someone. Brendon took a small step back, not able to manage much more with the density of the people around, and started apologizing before fully taking in the guy he'd hit. His initial disappointment that it hadn't serendipitously been the guy he was looking for, was replaced with a quicker heart rate and a rush of excitement. 

This guy wasn't as freakishly tall as the other one, but he was still taller than Brendon, which was his preference. He was ridiculously gorgeous, and also looked ridiculously out of place on that dance floor. Brendon found it easier to picture him at a poetry reading than where he currently was.

"Sorry," Brendon said again. 

The guy shrugged but didn't say anything in response. 

Choose your path:

To ask the guy you bumped into to dance, go to chapter 5.

To pass by and look for the taller guy to win the bet, go to chapter 6.