Far From Perfect

Chapter 29

No more Nate or Johnny. But mostly Nate. Tonight it's just about Mia, Gracie, and I. No one else.

I make my way to the bar and order another beer for Mia and I and I order a fruity concoction for Gracie.

Mia downs what's left of her beer and takes her new one while Gracie drinks hers slowly and savors it like it should be savored. She's clearly a smarter drinker than both of us.

"Let's find a table," I suggest and Mia parts the crowd by the bar.

We follow after her and after walking around the club and coming up empty, we finally find a tall table with four stools at the very back of the club. We immediately claim it as our own and are relieved when we realize that the music isn't as loud on this end of the club.

"I want to dance!" Gracie says excitedly and looks to Mia and I.

"I'll join you," Mia responds while I pass. They try to convince me otherwise, but I refuse. I hate dancing. Dancing is not my thing, and if anyone knows that, it's Nate.

He tried to teach me the night of Gracie's BBQ, and I was an utter failure. I stepped on him so many times that night it's not even funny, but it didn't stop him from trying to teach me. It also didn't stop him from stealing my heart and asking me to be his girlfriend that night. That was honestly one of the best nights of my life, and now it just feels like a distant memory.

I sigh out loud and take a big gulp of my beer when I remember my goal for the night and that is forgetting. As long as I can remember Nate or so much as think of him, I know I have not drunk enough, so I take another big gulp of my beer as Gracie and Mia leave me to babysit their drinks.

I polish off my beer within minutes and immediately want another but I can't leave. I have to watch Mia and Gracie's drinks.

The struggle is real.

I look at Mia's beer and Gracie's fruity drinks and am tempted to commandeer them but I can't. They're not mine to drink. I pull out my phone and go on Facebook and scroll through my newsfeed but not even that is enough to keep me entertained. Not tonight.

I look back at Mia and Gracie's drinks and swear they are staring back at me.

"Sorry, ladies," I whisper and take Mia's beer from its spot. "Mia will understand," I tell her beer and that's when I realize I am teetering on the edge. I'm not drunk but I'm very, very buzzed, and damn well near drunk.

Being a lightweight has its perks when you want to forget.

I chug Mia's beer and start feeling a bit fuzzy. I welcome the feeling and go back on my phone to kill some time while I wait for Mia and Gracie to return.

I grab Gracie's nearly empty cup next and sip on it slowly. It doesn't last long enough. I move onto her next drink and sip away.

My fingers have a mind of their own and do their thing while I just sit back and let them. By the time I'm done with my phone, it's dead and I have no idea what I did. No recollection at all, and I'm not even mad.

It feels nice to forget and not think about anything. Let's just hope I don't regret whatever I did tomorrow. I'm guessing it will probably involve some embarrassing Snapchat stories and some stupid Facebook and Instagram posts but I'm not worried about it. I'll just deal with whatever I did tomorrow.

Tonight is about forgetting and forget I did. I smile, feeling accomplished and put my phone away.

Mia and Gracie finally return what feels like a thousand hours later with more drinks in hand. They hand me another beer and take their seat.