ARCANE

022

The room is dark and filled with bodies. As is the case for a Friday night in a college town, the bars are packed with people. They are too drunk to really pay the music any mind, though they sway on beat for the most part.

Lee hates drunk people, and crowds, and generally everything, but she is lost in the music. Though her foot would normally tap to the beat of the music, tonight is different. Her leg slams down over and over against the stage, and her wild burgundy hair whips around as she rolls her body to the beat of the song. It cascades around her as she dances on the stage. Bright lights ignite her, tinting her shining black leather dress with each flare, red and then gold and then blue. Techno isn't her thing usually but mixing it with her bass guitar makes every beat thump heavily in her chest.

She leans into the mic, a grin infecting her body

"I don't really think I'm alive

I'm waiting for my soul to revive

I don't really think I'm alive

And it doesn't even matter at all"

The words escape June, mostly because everything is fuzzy. As usual, she finds herself pressed up against the wall, watching. It's difficult to keep tabs on the others in here, especially when she has had this much to drink.

She manages to get to the bar, and she is able to do so while walking in a straight line so she can't be that drunk. Tipsy at best, she decides. She makes it next to Erik, who sits on a stool, staring at a shot glass.

"How's your first time in a club?" She asks, leaning closer towards him. Her cheeks are warm and red, and her eyes are fiery.

Erik shrugs, trying to pretend he is in his element despite the drunk people who keep knocking into his barstool. "It's average."

"You're average," June snorts back. She shakes her head playfully at Erik and moves off into the crowd.

A man, a bit taller than her, with shoulders much broader than hers, leans into June from behind. They sway together in the music.

"What's your name?" he whispers.

With a smirk on her face, she responds. "June. Yours?"

"Brandon," he answers back.

Something about him feels familiar. Now, June is pretty good with faces and she knows she hasn't met this guy before, but she can't shake the feeling that she has touched his strong arms before.

"Want to go to the bathroom with me?" Brandon's lips tickle her ear.

June nods and leads the way.

From his spot on the bar, Erik watches the interaction. He finally lifts a shot glass to his lips and pounds one back. Anger courses through his veins and he isn't sure if it's at June or the man she is with.

Brandon.

Okay, maybe the anger is Thea's and not his, but Erik doesn't mind all that much. The feeling is welcome inside him.

"Why are you getting your shit in a twist?" Percy leans in next to him. She keeps her distance, trying to play it cool. She hopes she is doing a better job than Cara at the very least. Cara puts the hot in hot mess. Percy furrows her brow at Erik's frown. "Who gives a shit if June fucks some guy in a bathroom?"

Erik shakes his head back and forth. He doesn't have to answer to Percy. Her questions are getting so annoying. "Don't you have someone else to go try to hook up with? Like Eden, or something?"