Chasing Euphoria

Chapter Three

Landon

My phone pinged a text as I was about to greet the girl.

Adrian Wolfe: Thanks for the help man, Elle's doing alright.

It didn't feel vital to respond, so instead I put it back in my pocket and placed the flashlight on the floor, that way we would both be visible to each other.

In the glow, her delicate features were highlighted. She had cocoa brown hair that went down to around the middle of her ribcage in gentle waves, hence the nickname Coco coming straight to my head when I saw her. From my perspective, her dark eyes were glinting from the dampness threatening to spill once again, which was confirmed by the streaks reflecting in the light. They were surrounded by hazy, red clouds and her pale skin was stained with mascara smudges.

From that alone, I knew she had a rough night.

Anyone who took one glance at her would think that she's an innocent, delicate soul with the heart of an angel. You could see it in her stance. Her back was still straight and her legs were crossed all ladylike and respectful, it seemed so effortless.

Yet if you paid enough attention, you could see the furrow between her brows and the harsh clenching of her jaw along with the slight rattle of her bare feet. Then again, that could also be from the cold.

The half-empty bottle next to her along with all of this suggested that she was more hurt than most people would've expected at the first look. Hell, when I first saw her, I figured she just had one too many glasses and came up to the roof for a quiet breather. There was more than what you could see on the surface. It wasn't hard to tell if you looked closely.

"Excuse me." She said, waving her hands in front of my face slightly.

How long had I been staring?

"Yeah?" I scratched the middle of my nose to hide the awkwardness of how I was feeling. She probably thought I was a creep gawking at her.

"Coco? Where did you get that from?" She asked, her speech slurring faintly.

"Your hair, it's like chocolate." I sounded weird.

She exhaled a breathy laugh and patted the ledge next to her. Reluctant at first, I sat down beside her. I didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable, but she was waiting for me to accompany her, so I complied.

"I know why I'm up here alone, what about you?" her voice was rough, I wasn't sure whether it was from the crying or the alcohol. No matter which it was, the sound alone made me sympathise with her.

The element of mystery drew me in, so many unanswered questions that I was dying to ask. I didn't want to pry into an utter stranger's personal life. That's why I ignored the other peoples' dispute. Nothing to do with me.

Clearly there was a reason for her being here, not just for a break from the wild environment in every other building below us. She said it herself that she has her reasoning for isolating herself.

I would play along with what she wanted for the meantime. "I was looking for a friend, she was found and then I saw you."

It wasn't a lie, but it felt unusual to admit that. People drew my attention in often, usually not this much this soon. These circumstances were out of the ordinary. Ignoring my personal questions of why I was going with what she wanted, I focused back to her.

She nodded slightly, then turned away to look over the edge at the city lights. Following her gaze, people stood wandering around with no aim in sight despite how late it was. In this part of the city, it was all about socialising and events. We never came here often, it was Cailen's choice and we did what she asked.