from first love to worst heartbreak

Chapter 25

We enter the room and colourful lights reflecting from the disco ball catch my attention. There are people dancing with glasses full of liquid in their hands. The DJ has his headphones on and he is moving his body to the beat. The music gets louder and people make a loud noise. Hands are thrown in the air, some are jumping around, some are slowly moving to the rhythm. Jace puts his arm on my shoulder and we start stepping in the direction of the bar. We sit by the bar and the bartender notices us.

"So what's it going to be? What is the contest drink?" Jace asks me.

"Can you handle scotch?" I smirk and raise an eyebrow.

"Bring it on" he challenges.

"There is a twist to it. We are going to have a big cup of it, not a shot" I reveal.

"What?" he looks irritated.

"Come on dude, anyone can handle a shot" I tease.

"Okay, let's do it" he agrees. He catches the bartender's attention, who sees him right away and comes to us.

"Hey bro" Jace greets him.

"Sup brother, what can I get you two?" he asks.

"Two scotch. Big cup" he says informally.

"Coming right up" he says and walks away. In the meantime, I turn to face the door and see Ty and Lana searching for us in the crowd. They are both looking to the left where only dancing people are to be seen. I keep my eyes on them and turn my head a little to Jace.

"Hey, what is the deal with those two?" I say and make eye contact with him. He looks in the crowd and sees them.

"What do you mean?" he asks. I can't be the only one who noticed a weird vibe that they have been giving.

"They are too close today. I seriously don't understand what their deal is" I sound harsh.

"Too close?" he keeps on questioning as if he doesn't understand me, as if im speaking a language that he doesn't comprehend.

"They have been with each other the whole day, all they do is talk shit and giggle, like what the fuck are they talking about, dude?" I try to explain the situation to myself.

"Chill out. Maybe they are just good friends" he answers.

"Well, let's hope that's all" I say and they notice us and start taking steps in our direction.

"Scotch. Here you go" the man says and outs two big cups in front of us.

"Hey guys" Ty greets us and I put on a fake smile. Both of them take a seat next to me and he notices the drinks on the table.

"You guys already ordered a drink?" he asks.

"Yeah" Jace answers "You want to join us?" he questions.

"Join you in what?" he looks confused.

"Chugging contest" he mentions.

"I'm in" he agrees. "What about you?" he turns to face Lana.

"Sure" she says in a quite tone. Jace and I wait for their order to be brought to them to start.

"Alright, let the fastest one win" I note in a sarcastically voice. "On three" I add.

"One... two..." Jace slowly says and evokes excitement.

"Three" I quickly say and bring the cup to my mouth. The liquor burns on my tongue and in my throat but I keep swallowing big gulps of the scotch and seconds after I finish and put my cup down.

"Done" I almost yell. Jace finishes after me, followed by Ty and Lana.

"Not bad" I almost whisper to Jace.

"Where did you learn to drink this stuff?" I hear Lana complaining.

"What do you think I did in high school?" I question.

"Bravo" she says. "Not going to lie, I feel like I will throw up" she adds. That is actually funny, to throw up after a drink. The music soon gets louder and I turn around to watch the people walk on the dance floor.

"Let's dance" Jace looks at me and I am instantly reminded of our dance a few hours ago.

"Sure" I say and stand up. "You coming?" I ask the two.

"Of course" Lana excitingly says, stands up and grabs Ty's hand. What the actual fuck? They have to be kidding me. Am I dreaming, because I don't think so. Jace seems to notice that as well and he grabs my arm and squeezes tightly and drags me with him to the dance floor.

"Okay, you saw that too. Can you tell me what the fuck that was?" I feel my rage rising and I can't stop myself from cussing.

"Bella Anderson, if you criticize one more thing..." he says and stops.

"What you're going to punish me?" I still sound angry. He bursts in laughter and I get confused. "Okay, why the hell are you laughing?" I asked annoyed.

"I won't punish you. I want you to have a good and fun time but all you do is get pissed off" he explains.

"I'm sorry, I just feel like they are hiding something from me but I don't know what and why. If that is the case, I swear to God I will kill Ty" I tell him.

"Shut up" he says and grabs me by my hand, instructing me to dance. I spin around, still holding on to his hand and let go afterward.

We keep on dancing to the beat until I see a familiar face enter the room. Christina. Followed by the man whom I saw the other day. She is holding his hand and walking in the front. The man is following her lead. He is wearing a black t-shirt and grey jeans. A silver bracelet and two rings are easy to be seen when paying attention to his outward appearance. While holding hands, they go to the bar and sit down. They talk to the barman and the man leaves Christina. He makes his way to the bathroom and...

"Earth to Bella!" Jace says and looks me in the eyes.

"Yeah?" I ask and wait for his response.

"What is going on?" he questions.

"Well, Christina came in. With that pervert I told you about" I explain.

"Where are they?" he sounds curious.

"There" I say and turn in the direction. He looks around for a second and notices her.

"Where is the guy?" he asks. Following his question, the man enters the spotlight and catches Jace's eyes.

"That dude looks like a criminal" he states.

"How would I know that? You are the one with experience, not me" I tease him.

"Sure" he says and laughs. We stop dancing and go to the bar to get a tequila shot. Christina is in my sight and the man is holding his grip on her waist. She is sipping white wine and the man has a glas of whisky in his hand.

After the second round of dancing, I lose sight of Lana and Ty and Jace is the only one around me.

"Are you feeling alright?" Jace sounds like my parent.

"I'm amazing" I answer.

"You mean you feel great?" he chuckles.

"No, I mean I am amazing" I tease and he giggles.