Clementine had become a wild child. Born in America but raised abroad, she now had little regard for the expectations of high society. But her reckless ways eventually catch up with her when she is kicked out of college in New York City and forced t...
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5
It was impossible to explain, but as soon as I saw him it felt like there was something. An attraction would be the wrong term. It was like a connection, a knowing, a pull and a strange desire all at the same time. It was a chemical reaction.
The immediate reaction after that, though, was fear. I felt that this wave was powerful, strong enough to pull me in and I snapped out of it. I saw it in him too; an immediate recognition in his eyes followed by a dismissal, an acknowledgement and an ignorance.
He was with his friend, and they came up to where I was since they knew the girls I was just introduced to by Laticia. They hugged and got into a conversation, and I didn't get a chance to be introduced to them. I looked at the floor, feeling a little awkward, then looked around to see if I could find Laticia, or any familiar face.
I felt a little bit jealous. Even though I knew nothing about him or these girls, I felt a pang of jealousy when he was talking to the slightly prettier one.
I had no reason to, but at the same time, I did.
Usually, I was pretty confident. I was popular at school, a little bit too much so that it got me kicked out. But here, I felt like I didn't even want to bother because his magnetic field felt very powerful, and maybe he could feel that from me too.
It was an opposing force. A strong desire to know him, and strong pull away due to fear. Leaving me stranded in the middle.
I observed from a distance for a little bit, as he made his rounds. He was taller than me and had dark hair. It was hard to make out his features completely in the dark and the lights, but I could tell he was handsome. Above all, he looked familiar in a way that felt strange to me.
Then, somehow, we all migrated to the side of the dance floor and he and I ended up cornered, with no choice but to face each other.
"Oi," he said to me in Portuguese and I responded in an English hi.
"What's your name?" He asked me, not missing a beat. His English was surprisingly good, with only a slight accent.
"Clementine," I said, blinking, staring at his eyes.
"I'm Zico," he grinned.
"Zico," I repeated. I couldn't help but smile back.
At that moment, his friend came up to both of us.
"Oh, you two know each other?" The friend - Juan - asked us.
"We go way back," Zico said, grinning even wider, not looking at me.
His friend laughed and got pulled away by another girl carrying their drinks.
"Where are you from?" He turned back and asked me.
"New York...here...everywhere. You?" I wasn't sure how to answer at that point.
"I go to school in Rio, but my family is from the North. Of course, not as far North as New York. What do you study?" He asked me through the music, both of us yelling slightly, so he motioned for me to come closer.
"Economics, well, business. Nothing interesting," I said, feeling guilty about not being able to say something better.
"I like Economics," he said as if he was genuine about it.
"What about you?" I asked, not knowing how else to frame all my questions.
"Business. Nothing interesting," he was repeating me, winking at me.
I nodded, and took a last sip of the drink I was holding on to, hoping it could stabilize me for all the feelings that were rising up inside of me.
"Want another one?" He asked referring to my empty cup.
I looked down, and just nodded.
"Come on," he turned away to lead me from the large group and to the side, where the makeshift bar was set up.
At this point, I had no idea where Laticia was and I didn't care.
He took my hand and the next thing I knew there was a drink in the other.
"Ready?" He asked me, referring to the Tequila shots we were both holding, salt on our hands, lime on our fingers.
I laughed and nodded, feeling giddy. Feeling the sharp liquor burn a path through my body.
"You wanna dance?" I asked him, feeling free.
Not it was me, leading him back on the dance floor. Surrendering to the night.
The song playing had a hypnotizing beat and it was like we were moving as one.
It was like we were alone in the world.
Except, of course, we weren't.
I only had a vague recollection, flash of a memory of what is waiting for me on the other side, in the real life section of this adventure. But it only lasted a moment until my eyes found his, and his lips found mine.
My body was moving faster than my brain and I felt a little shocked, feeling his tongue in my mouth so quickly. But it also somehow made sense, and pulling back the first time, I gulped and looked at him apprehensively. Seeing he had a dopey smile on his face, made me feel strange.
"You wanna get outta here?" He asked me just like that.
And just like that, in a series of short burst questions, we were able to communicate all that we couldn't say with our being.
Maybe this was familiar, maybe it wasn't, but I was gathering my shoes in my hands and making my way off the dance floor. Trailing behind this man I just met.
"Wait," he pause on the outskirts of the dance-floor, "I need to get something. Wait here." He quickly skidded back inside the crowd and I was left there, alone and waiting apprehensively. Nervous that he left.
I looked around the crowd but realized that I didn't recognize any of the faces at that point.
My mind started to rush, trying to think of how I would get home alone, looking for my phone in my dress pocket.
But, he came back. Whatever it was he needed, done.
A wave of relief washed over me. In an attempt to block out everything else but this moment, I decided I would just 'go with the flow' as I have been told so many times. See where that gets me.
We ran out onto the nearest street and Zico was able to seemingly get a taxi easily simply by whistling.
Inside the car, there was music playing. Loud and obnoxious and so Brazilian.
I had to laugh. About the situation, about this about him and I and everything.
Going with the flow was easy, but I had to be careful. So when the driver asked where we were planning on going, and before Zico even had a chance to chime in, I practically yelped out the beach!
Zico paused, looked at me and laughed.
"Ok, está bem, de praia," he said half in English - half in Portugese, and that's when I really started to feel I was in some kind of dream.
