GOLDEN (harry styles)

un doigt loin

"What do you mean 'kinda'?" She laughs.

There's something about her tone that makes me shrink in my seat. It has a genuine happiness to it, yet something so menacing and harsh hiding shallow under the surface. I steal a quick glance at her, only to see she is watching me as well. Her eyes are slightly darker, unnoticeable to anyone who wasn't trying to see.

"I am Nixie. I don't know why I said that." I laugh nervously, trying to pass it off.

"My name's Charlotte."

I look to see her lips setting in a smile, one so unbearably fake I turn away. Charlotte almost looks expectant, arms crossing over her chest and long nails tapping her skin impatiently.

"Nice to meet you, Charlotte." I nod unsurely.

"So Daniel's never mentioned me?"

A cold, bitter laugh escapes her mouth, accompanying the death glare she now shoots me. I gulp, feeling myself become small under her freezing gaze.

"No, I'm sorry," I stumble. "How do you know him?"

Charlotte tears her glare away, now focusing on the road ahead. Her eyes are set, hands tightening around the steering wheel in frustration whilst her cheek sinks with the biting of her lip. She breathes out lightly with a laugh worse than the first one as she speaks.

"We had a good time last summer."

I open my mouth to question her, but my breath is quite literally taken away by the speed of her driving as Charlotte slams her heel on the pedal. The whole car shoots forward, a surprised shriek erupting from Lilia in the backseat. I feel a lipstick hit the back of my ankle.

"Shit, Char! Tell us before you almost kill us!" Lilia whines.

Charlotte rolls her eyes so far I'm surprised they don't get stuck, raising a hand off the wheel to flip Lilia off. I wring my hands out nervously, not feeling safe in this car at all.

I have no idea who Charlotte is. Obviously she knows me.

After a good ten minutes of white knuckling the side of my seat and praying internally that I will still be alive by the end of the night, we pull up to the vibrant, beating night club I've learned to love. Even at the early hour of 9pm, the doors are flooding with people of all kinds. Some hold drinks in both hands, some seem to have already had a few drinks, some are dressed in more formal clothes despite the known fact they will get ruined by a stupid teenager who spills their drink on you and has to explain later to security how they snuck in.

It never ceases to amaze me.

I pull my dress down from where it has risen up around my waist, the hot pink colour luminous against my pale skin. It's only just starting to get cold in Sydney, a bitter chill sweeping through the street we're still standing on. Lilia giggles, taking my hand and running inside. She manages not to fall over in her heels, chasing the wafting aroma of alcohol. It leads us to waiting awkwardly beside a bar counter. The bartender already has deep creases of stress forming in his skin, exhaustion pooling beneath his tired eyes.

"I'm so excited for tonight." Lilia gushes.

"Why?"

"Because I'm seeing that guy again! You know, the one from last time!"

"Oh, Nick?"

"Yeah I think that's his name."

She takes a long gulp from the drink that has just been placed in front of her, swallowing the toxic liquid with a gasp of disgust. It will never seem normal to me how she can so easily drink and forget her night like it doesn't matter what happens. Like it never matters.