Rose Grove - (H.S.)

05

I mouth "I'm so sorry." To him, hoping he'd find the humor in this rather than judging me for the company I choose to keep. He laughs a little and shakes his head before motioning for us to follow him back inside. Essie doesn't miss a beat and begins walking behind him before the bouncer puts his hand out in front of her and nearly sends her falling backward onto me.

"They're not on the list, Styles." He says with an irritated face, obviously wanting to be done with us so he can get the line moving again.

"Toby, man, chill. They're with me." He says in a calm tone as he pats the man's chest and pushes his arm away from my friend.

"Whatever." The man rolls his eyes "Next!" He shouts as we finally make it past him and Harry swings the large steel door open and the loud music begins pouring out onto the sidewalk.

"I thought his name was Teddy," Essie whispers back to me and I just laugh and shake my head. I had assumed she just made up some basic guy name anyway.

"Toby, Teddy. Same thing." I reassure her with a slight shrug as the base of the music shakes my entire body.

We inch further into the club and once we reach the bar Harry offers me a slight wave before starting to walk away from us "Wait!" Essie yells after him with a mischievous smirk on her face. He turns around and looks at her with furrowed brows and she looks between us before speaking up again "Stay with us. We could use the company." She reaches down and pinches my thigh after she speaks, making me wince and jump away from her.

"What the hell?" I whisper and she just shrugs with a small laugh, obviously up to something.

He stares at her for a second before nodding "Alright. Let me grab my buddy, I'll be right back." He says as he holds up a finger and quickly disappears into the sea of people bumping and grinding on the dance floor.

"Odessa! Why?" I cry as I lean against the wooden bar and groan. It's one thing to randomly run into him and help out with Autie, but to voluntarily party with him is a whole different ball game. He is lovely despite the rude gesture of sending those flowers to my house, but he's still a parent at the end of the day. It's a conflict of interest and if someone were to see us together and report me, I could easily lose my job.

"He's cute, and I saw the way your eyes lit up when you saw him, don't be coy." She rolls her eyes before turning around and waving to the bartender to let her know we were ready to order our first rounds.

I scoff "My eyes didn't light up, first of all. Second of all, I have a boyfriend so I'm not sure what you're trying to do here." I say in a hushed tone, feeling myself getting a little irritated. All of my friends, not just Essie, are constantly trying to hook me up with other guys. They don't like Rho and I understand why, but it's still rude to disrespect my relationship like this.

"A shitty one." She corrects "I don't understand why you don't drop that loser, Dell. You could do so much better." She says with nothing but sincerity in her voice. Odessa is loud, sometimes rude, and abrasive, but above all, she's incredibly empathetic and I know if I ever needed anything she'd be the first one there to help. Nothing she does is ever with ill will and sometimes I forget that. She wants the best for me so I just need to sit back and be grateful that I have someone like her in my life "Speaking of.." She trails off quietly as Harry and his friend begin approaching.

"Everything is on me," Harry says to the bartender as he gestures to Essie and I. I quickly turn to him and wave my hands around frantically. I don't need a man to pay for my drinks, and even if I did, I don't want that from him.

"I can pay for myself. Thank you though." I say with a small smile as I pull out my wallet before I begin ordering my drink "Can I just get a vodka soda with some lime on the side?" I say politely to the goth-looking woman behind the bar.