mentions of drug use
Lyla's twentieth birthday was just how she wanted it to be.
At first, they didn't go out, instead of the group – including Vera, who had flown in for the weekend – stayed at Luke's apartment hanging out.
No one made a big fuss out of it, nor did they try to get her to go out to the clubs.
It was the late afternoon, and everyone was sat out on the rooftop hanging out. The last time someone in the group had a birthday, the night crashed and burned because of Michael's drunk loudmouth and Luke's deep-seated jealousy.
Which explains why Michael Clifford was the only one not drinking out of the bunch. He'd rather not go through all of that again, not to mention, Maria didn't talk to him for a week after that.
"Lyla," Vera spoke, interrupting the girl from her petty debate with Calum. "Come with me," she said, standing up and walking back into the apartment.
Lyla got up from her spot, spinning around and pointing a finger to him, "I will be back." She told before following Vera into the penthouse, meeting her pink-haired friend in Luke's bedroom. "Yeah, what is it?"
Vera approached Lyla, "You're twenty today," she stated leaving the dark brunette confused.
"Okay... and?"
"Oh my," Vera sighed, reaching into her jean pocket and pulling out a small clear bag that held patterned blotter paper. "Do you not remember?"
Lyla gasped, taking the Ziploc from her hand, "How could I forget?" She mumbled, "Aw, you brought me acid on my twentieth birthday."
"Another thing crossed off our bucket list," Vera laughed. "Now all we need is disappearing for twenty-four hours and running away without telling anyone."
"No way, we're almost done with the list?" Lyla asked; there wasn't much on it, to begin with, but some of the things written down seemed ridiculous and unrealistic.
Little did they know, later that night, they would go on and complete the rest of their silly bucket list.
Vera nodded, checking the notes app on her phone for the list, getting ready to name everything they've done. "We've gotten arrested, snuck into multiple concerts, started a band, travelled together, running around in ballgowns, and etcetera."
"Huh, and now we're going to take acid," Lyla said. "Our sixteen-year-old selves would be so proud."
"Okay, well this shit lasts for like twelve hours and takes twenty minutes to kick in," Vera said, taking the baggie out of Lyla's hand before tearing a piece off and handing it to her.
"Too starting off my twenties on LSD," the girl joked, placing the drug on her tongue.
"And to going against everything you were raised not to do!" Vera cheered, "Oh! Hey, before our trip starts do you want to get some food?"
"Of course," Lyla agreed, "but I don't think we should be driving... or trusted with public transportation."
Vera waved the girl off, "I'll just call my driver. He'll take us," she assured, pressing on the contact and bringing her phone up to her ear.
"I'll go tell the everyone that we're going to get food," Lyla offered, "I'm bringing Maria."
The pink-haired girl gave her a thumbs-up as she heard the other line pick up, Lyla nodded, spinning on her heel and making her way out to the rooftop again.
Maria's eyes landed on her best friend, she knew about Lyla and Vera's bucket list, which also meant she knew that they had twenty minutes before the psychedelic kicks in.
"Maria, come, Vera and I are going to get food," Lyla told. The brunette jumped up from her spot next to Michael, rushing over to Lyla and immediately linking their arms.
"Oh! Get cake on your way back!" Calum called, getting waved off by the girl.
"Maria, I'm wondering..."
"Yes." The girl quickly said, "I will try drugs with you – wait, I won't die right?"
Lyla was taken aback, "Wait really?" She questioned, "Are you sure? I don't want you to feel pressured, or that you're babysitting."
"No, trust me, I want to try." Maria reassured, "I trust you guys, and besides – the boys are so annoying." She groaned,
There was no doubt in her mind that she was scared shitless. Maria has tried weed maybe once or twice, and now there she was ready to jump into hallucinogenic drugs. Usually, she would never go near substances such as narcotics or stimulants. But Maria is still young, and this should be the time to do crazy things.
And it'll be a good story to tell her kids – of course, she'll use it to scare them into never going down that path.
Though, right now, Maria was going to submit to the college student stupidity and join the team. Oh, and she really wanted to see new colours.
"Lyla, I'm nineteen, I want to do something crazy!" Maria explained, "For one night – your night – I will let loose and stop overthinking everything."
Having Maria want to join, definitely caught Vera by surprised, however, she had no complaints. If they're going to be high for the next few hours, they're going to do it together and make it some sort of twisted girls' night out.
Maria and Vera both knew that Lyla's ideal way of spending her birthday wasn't just sitting around doing nothing. Lord knows, that another hour stuck at that apartment would have been excruciatingly boring.
The girl's grabbed their things, and headed out, meeting Vera's driver outside. The three of them sliding into the back seat, "Hey Henry, can you take us to Magnolia's bakery – the on in the upper east side?"
The man nodded, starting to drive away from the apartment building.
♚
It had been three hours since the young men have heard or seen from any of the girls. The sun had set, and Luke was the first to notice their absence.
"Guys," the blond spoke, tearing them away from their game. "Where are the girls?" He asked, "They've been gone for three hours."
Michael paused his and Calum's game, checking the time on his watch, "What time did they leave?" He asked, seeing that it was already eight-thirty.
"I think around five," Ashton responded. "I wonder where they could be,"
"Maybe they went out to a club or something," Calum shrugged, "either way we shouldn't worry too much. I'm sure they're fine, Maria will keep Lyla and Vera from doing anything dumb."
The boys all nodded in agreement, except for Luke, his intuition was telling him that something was off.
"I don't know," Luke said, unsure of what his friend had said. "I think they're doing something really dumb right now," he explained, "Michael call Maria, I'll try Lyla."
Dialling the girl's number, and hearing the line cut off only to be welcomed by the automated voice message informing him that she is unreachable.
"Is Maria picking up?" Luke asked, his concern growing every passing second.
"No," Michael shrugged, tossing his phone onto the coffee table. "Luke, calm down, they are all responsible women. And if there's no sign of them by midnight, then we worry."
"Yeah, trust us," Calum joined. "We've known Lyla and Maria a lot longer than you have; besides, Maria's purse is still here." He pointed to the unknowingly useless bag placed on the ground.
"Calm down lover boy, your girlfriend is perfectly fine, and she'll be back in no time." Michael teased, "If it's any form of reassurance, I bet she's still in New York."
Unfortunately, Michael's reassurance couldn't be any more wrong.
The reason as to why neither girls have answered the phone is because they're thirty-eight-thousand feet in the air... and on a six-hour flight to Los Angeles.
During their trip, Vera suggested finishing the bucket list. Something about Lyla turning twenty on the twentieth and how that will only ever happen once, so as ridiculous as it sounded the three girls went to the airport.
And considering all of their elevated moods, Vera offered to pay for their spontaneous trip across the country. She didn't mind considering it wasn't her money, and her father can deal with a couple hundred dollars missing from the millions he has.
The flight was filled with a rush of emotions all good and bad, though still an experience, despite it taking up half of the high.
Upon landing, the time inching midnight, Maria and Lyla's phones now receiving service started to blow up. With many missed calls and messages from the guys back home asking about their whereabouts.
Lyla
oi, dumbass, stop blowing up my phone :/
we're fine, calm your tits.
Calum
a'ight, your boyfriend was shitting his pants, control your dog
where are you btw??
Lyla
we're out, nothing to be concerned about.
Calum
cool, well, next time check your phone
Lyla
soz, didn't have service, man
"Guys, they're fine." Calum told the boys, "Lyla just texted."
"How come she only responded to you?" Luke questioned, looking at the unread messages on his home. "She hasn't even looked at mine!"
"Man, Lyla left me on read." Michael sighed, "And so did Maria!" He exclaimed, starting to aggressively text the girl – angry that she left him on read.
"We know they're fine, so let's drop it." Calum shrugged, "Look, they're probably going home now. She told me that it's 'nothing to be concerned about'." He informed, hoping to ease the evident tension in the room.
"Cal has a point," Ashton piped in, "if Lyla says they're fine, then they're fine."
Meanwhile, the girls were well on their way to Downtown L.A. Apparently, Vera has a friend who owns some type of underground bar so that's the place they were headed.
Other than that, Maria looked like a child in the candy store. Looking at all the tall buildings and nightlife in Los Angeles seemed ethereal – now more so than ever considering she was on drugs... literally.
Seeing the world in front of her full of vibrant colours were unbelievable, her vision stunted while she observes the air move and patterns appear in the sky, across the buildings, and on the roads.
Lyla busy staring at her two friends in awe as she could see the colours surrounding their figures. Looking intently at the green and yellow energy engulfing Maria, while magenta radiated off of Vera.
I guess pink was a good hair colour for the girl.
Lyla felt as if she was ascending into another world, that she was no longer a simple human being on earth. In her head, Lyla had escaped her body and is now looking at another aspect of life – one she never imagined seeing.
At that moment in time, all three girls have never felt more grateful that they ditched and got on the next flight to Los Angeles. And Lyla has never felt more content. She couldn't imagine what her night would have been like if they had stayed at Luke's apartment.
The uber arrived at the location, Vera paid, and they all climbed out of the vehicle.
They strolled towards the entrance, skipping past the – still – long line and approaching the bouncer who stood tall at the front.
"Hey!" Vera said quite loudly, "I have the secret passcode to get in," she told holding out her phone and showing the man their entrance ticket.
Vera's friend, Juno, thought it'd it be a better idea to have passcodes and images rather than a long list full of names. Or a codeword that could be easily overheard from bystanders.
The bouncer sighed, moving aside and opening the door for the trio to walk in. Maria nodded her head, saying a quick thank you before rushing inside.
Welcomed by the loud music playing through the speakers and the crowd of people dancing in the open space between the tables and bar. Maria felt the same way Lyla did the first time Mike and Cal had taken them to the club, she was amazed by the dimly lit environment and how familiar it felt.
Tugging on Lyla's arm, Maria latched on to her best friend, "This place is so cool!" Maria admired, "It's like we're living your dreams right now." She said, "It's like a rock bar!"
"I know right," Lyla breathed out, feeling oddly at home – in Los Angeles of all places. "I don't know why though, it's like every other bar."
"Oh! I know, I think it's the vibes." Maria stated, recalling all the past conversations she's had with her friend. "I am getting such positive energy from this place," she claimed.
"Same, and by looking at all these people, I can tell we have nothing to worry about... except men." Lyla joked, causing Maria to burst into giggles.
"Oh my god!" Maria exclaimed, "You and Vera should perform! Play a song! I saw a stage and there were – what are they called? – Instruments!"
"Vera," Lyla said looking over to the girl, "what do you say? Do you think we could Misery Business this bitch?"
"Dead ass, I'm down." Vera matched, "Come, let's go find Juno though – we got to ask."
-
hey!! okay, a lot happened and idk if it makes any sense, but i got inspiration so i wrote... a lot. i removed the third part of the chapter and adding it to next chapter.
also sorry if you don't like how this book is going, i'm pretty sure y'all are wasting your time at this point, lol.
peace bitch
~ anne