Life is Funny Like That

Sickstine. Gummy Bears and Depression

The beat rises to heavy and deafening volumes as he approaches his upstairs neighbors' apartment. The door is already open, showing dark figures in the shadows, only a disco ball hanging in the center of the ceiling to light the way.

Adrian finds his way through the thick crowd of dancing, half conscious bodies. The room smells of alcohol and something sweet like candy.

The thumping music surrounds him on all sides, pressing against him like the people on the dancefloor. Adrian only passes through it, numb to the surroundings like a zombie. The feeling is mirrored throughout the room.

A girl wearing a tiara bumps into him with the current of the crowd. She smiles in apology, looking down at his empty hands.

"Need a drink?" Her question barely reaches him through the deafening music just as she hands him an unopened beer.

Adrian receives the bottle, twisting off the cap and taking a small sip. He looks down but the space beside him is now empty. The girl is gone just as fast as she appeared.

Peering over the crowd, his eyes find an almost empty couch, littered with red cups and bottles.

The couch bids welcome, only holding a glowstick covered guy, passed out over the armrest. Adrian takes a seat on the opposite end, having another sip of his beer. He hadn't tasted beer since he lived under the same roof as his father.

It tastes different but similar. The familiar comfort lingers in his throat, a promise to forget and leave behind the troubles that feel like thousands of weights on his shoulders. Adrian stares at the fizzing bubbles rising within the bottle. The little square dots of light from the disco ball slowly travel over him, shining through the glass bottle making reflections bounce on and all around him.

The song shifts into a slower beat and the dancers disperse to the walls and other rooms, looking for their cups or abandoned friends they left in the corners.

The couch dips beside him and the same girl wearing the crown looks over at him, a bag in her hand.

"Gummy bear?" she offers in a half-scream, her mouth full of the sugary scent lingering in the dark and sweaty room.

"No thanks." His voice sounds dull beneath the layers of drunk laughing and synthetic music.

"What brings you here, stranger? You don't look like the type of partier that shows up at 2 in the morning."

"Just needed a distraction."

"You don't look distracted to me." The girl shrugs, shoving another handful of gummies into her mouth. "Depressed and not even dancing." She laughs.

"How do you know that I came here at 2 in the morning and not earlier?"

"Didn't have a drink in your hand." She pops three more gummies into her mouth. "Also, it's good that I gave you a beer before someone else did. You never know what people will give you at these parties."

"Well, thanks, I guess. What about you? What's keeping you here at two in the morning?" Adrian looks up at her for the first time. She pushes back her hair, black as a raven, now radiant beneath the bright crown as the lights shine on it.

"I guess we're here for the same reason. You live around here?"

"Same building." Adrian looks back down at the bottle in his hands. Trails of perspiration make their way over his cold fingers. "Why aren't you dancing?"

"Depressed." She smiles.

"You don't look depressed."

"That's cuz I already did some dancing. Just not a particular fan of this song"