3
As the door opens we are immediately met with a girl who had short black hair, bangs and her look was completed with a septum piercing. She was wearing black skinny jeans and a black tank top, she opened the door for us while drinking from a red cup alcohol, I guess.
Lana steps inside and her eyes start searching the room I am on her side and I couldn't help but notice that the whole place was covered in smoke, I hope it was from cigarettes not from something stronger. My eyes scan the room the whole place has a 70s style, the walls had unusual colors like red and black, the kitchen was placed on the right side, and the living room was on the left side. Then I understood that this wasn't an apartment but a loft, the whole area was big, but it was so overcrowded that gave the illusion of being smaller than it actually was. A lot of people were sitting in the black sofa that was touching the left and the ones who didn't fit there were sitting forming a circle around. I moved my head to get a better view and saw a small table inside their circle, on the table were placed a few white lines and then it hit me, it was cocaine. I saw a couple boys and girls putting their head on it sniffing some white lines. I turn to my right and notice that on the grey counter that was in the kitchen area, was also numerous cocaine lines between the alcohol that was placed there. Led lights were the only source of light that illuminated this room, the led colors were changing from purple to red every few minutes making my vision dizzy. I felt like throwing up, of course I had smoked a cigarette before but it was nothing compared to what everyone else weas doing here, I felt like I couldn't breathe.
After my vision got used to the whole setting, I noticed that a lot of people were making out some of them almost having sex. Some girls were shirtless without wearing a bra, they seemed so confident and no one was acting strange towards it. Everyone was either drinking, doing drugs or making out there was no in between, many men had kept their hair long and were wearing baggy jeans, some others were wearing what most people would describe as woman's clothes. I didn't have a problem with their clothes quite the opposite actually, I never believed the idea of male and female clothes, that was a social construct. But I was concerned about the number of drugs this place had, if police came we would all be in trouble. Little lies by Fleetwood mac was playing and a few couples where dancing rhythmically to the beat of the song.
Nobody was looking at us but then a guy who was previously sitting on the couch locked eyes with Lana and stand up walking to us. Lana started walking to the living room too and I followed on her side. I was holding my bag and my beige jacket on my hand and I mentally thanked my self for my choice of clothes, I didn't looked so out of place on the outside as I felt on the inside. I didn't stand out from the crowd because my colorful floral dress and my orange sweater matched the rooms vibe.
The guy we were approaching had long dark brown hair almost as long as mine, he was wearing a simple white shirt and black jeans. As he was getting closer I could see his face better, he had a slight stubble but so you could still see he had a square face. He looked like he belonged in a different decade it felt like someone put this guy in a time machine and teleported him to today. He seemed like he belong in the 70s not only appearance wise but his whole vibe was reminding me of the past, a decade that I didn't live and judging by his age he didn't either, cause there was no way he was older than 30 years old.
"Hello Lana, I was starting to think you wouldn't make it" He said to her while enabling her in a hug.
"Hi" She said back to him and her voice was trembling a little bit, I almost laughed because this was the first time seeing her in this condition, usually she is so confident and doesn't give a fuck about other's opinions.
"Who is that friend of yours?" he said while looking at me.
Oh God I hoped he didn't mean that in bad way, he looked like a tough guy. Nonetheless I couldn't really understand what thoughts might be going in his head since his face had a blank facial expression.
"That's my best friend, we go to the same university together" Lana said while looking in his eyes I could tell she was getting more and more nervous around him.
"Hi! I'm Eve DiDonato" I said to him smiling while extending my hand to his.
Instead of taking my hand he hugged me tightly the same way he did to Lana, why everyone so touchy here? is this their thing?. He smelled nicely however I could separate a different smell on him, a weird one that probably was weed.
"Nice to finally meet you Eve. I'm Mitch Rowland" he said while looking in my eyes and Lana hands him the present she bought for him.
"Why finally? has Lana talked to you about me?" I asked him being curious for his answer.
"No" he answered.
I could hear an abrupt sound of laughter coming from the living room after he said that. I could feel my cheeks getting redder as I was getting uncomfortable from embarrassment. The music has changed now to a different song Burning Pile by Mother Mother was playing now.
"We have a professor in the university with the same last name as yours, are you maybe related to him?" I asked him a genuine question in hopes of changing the topic.
"Nope it's just coincidence" He replied to me. "Go girls grab drinks, drugs or anything you want from the kitchen and come to sit down with us" He said to us.
Lana mumbled okay and we stared heading to the kitchen to grab something to drink.
"He is so hot" she said to me while pouring vodka on a red cup.
"He seems like a chill guy I said to her, but you were wrong in the car I have never been to a party like this" I said to her.
While trying to see the drinks that were available in the counter, I finally find Bacardi and pour a big amount of it in my cup, I try to find cola and a lemon juice. After I see what I was looking for, I pour everything in the same cup and a take big sip from it. I hated Bacardi but I had to drink something strong in order to survive tonight. When a bottle would empty someone would immediately replace it with a brand new one, I couldn't help but wonder how much alcohol was in this place.
Lana didn't say anything back but raised her cup to her lips drinking all the liquid she had placed just seconds ago. Oh shit if she continues at this rate she is going to get wasted in matter of minutes. She refills it again with whiskey this time and I see she found her confidence back.
"I'm sorry we can go in an hour if this place makes you feel uncomfortable" She said and I could see in her eyes that she truly meant it.
"Of course not, we just came here" I spoke, I was feeling a little bit uncomfortable but I couldn't say this to her, I don't want to waste her chances with this guy, we came for a specific purpose and I am not leaving my friend here alone, if I left her alone she would feel even worse. On top of all I don't know anyone here personally, so I can't trust to leave alone my friend with complete strangers.
"Are you sure?" She said.
"Yess"
"If you feel the slightest discomfort just tell me and we are out from here" she was looking at me in all seriousness.
"I don't feel uncomfortable" I lied.
"Pinky promise" she said while extending her pinky for me, I laughed
"We are not doing this now, I have already embarrassed myself I don't want to do it again" I replied smiling, thankfully I could find the humorous side of just what happened.
"You didn't say anything embarrassing stop overthinking" She said as she took my hand leading me to the living room, where her love interest was sitting on the floor talking to some random people.
When we approach them, some girls move a little so we can fit with them, we were siting on floor forming a circle, there was many people around us making me claustrophobic. Mitch and his friends were having a conversation while some people were making out in the couch, but the music was loud making hard to understand what they were saying.
He looked at us stopping mid-sentence then he stated talking to Lana and I could see that she was trying to contain herself. I lift my drink to my lips and take a sip this was going to be a fun night.
"Eve! Can't you hear us" Lana said looking a bit frustrated.
"I am sorry what?" oh no they must have said my name but I couldn't listen to them over the loud music.
"Mitch asked you a question" she said to me, perfect. If I didn't made a bad impression before I definitely made now, he must think I am ignoring him.
"I am sorry I couldn't hear you, the music its's so loud" I said back to him.
"it's a party" a guy over the couch said to me looking annoyed. He had long brown hair and a strong jawline, he was wearing a leather jacket and was shirtless from inside, all different kinds of tattoos covered his body. He was definitely attractive and I am sure he knew that judging by his aura. He was sitting on the couch with two women under his arms hugging him, one of those girls that was seated on his right placed a cigarette to his mouth, he grabbed it with his lips and after puffing it, he blew the smoke.
"It's okay Eve, I was asking what you are studying" Mitch said to me giving a genuine smile, when he smiled he didn't looked so threatening.
"I am a psychology major, same as Lana" I said to him. The guy who preciously spoke was uninterested by the whole conversation and was playfully biting the woman on his right in her ear, she must be his girlfriend. She had dreadlocks and beautiful brown skin they looked good as a couple.
"So are you on the same year?" Mitch said.
"Yes we are, this is our last semester if we pass all the classes" Lana replied to him.
"I am sure you guy will do fine, you look like the type of girl who take this stuff seriously" he said. What's that supposed to mean?
"So Eve are you from Italy?" he continued.
"Correct, how did you understand it" I asked Mitch, I was honestly curious on how he put the pieces together so quickly.
"From your last name and also your accent kind of gives it away" right. He was smoking a blunt and after blowing out the smoke he hands it to Lana, she takes it from his hands and brings it to her lips.
"Right, usually people don't realize it because I don't have a thick accent" I said to him.
"I really love your name, it comes from the bible, right?" a guy with short blonde hair and purple eyeshadow in his eye's asks me from across the room, he looked friendly.
"Yes, I am from South Italy and my family is religious so when I was born my grandma wanted to give me this name" I said to him. I instantly get a wave of nostalgia while talking about my grandma I missed her, it's been so long since the last time I saw her.
"That's cool, I always loved the story of Adam and Eve it's one of my favorites from the bible" he said giving me a smile. I can see from the corner of my eyes that Lana was talking to Mitch in close proximity.
"What do you know about the bible" a guy tells him jokingly causing everyone to start laughing,
"shut up" he replies to him
"Eve what are you really doing in this shit hole?" Mitch asks me and suddenly everyone's attention was on me. I felt my blood freeze his question made me anxious and my heart is beating so fast right now.
"Excuse me?"
"what I mean is that Italy is an amazing country what made you leave your place and move to rainy England? Everyone here wants to leave this place." Mitch said to me.
"What are you talking about man? You left U.S and came here two" A guy on his left asks him making some people laugh.
"it's different I left one shit hole to come to another one" He replied while smoking, okay he has a point. My anxiety is now finally coming down and my heartbeat goes to a normal rate.
"I won a scholarship to UCL so that's why I moved here, for now I am planning to finish university, then I'll do a bachelor in the near future" I said to Mitch. It's truth I got scholarship to UCL otherwise I couldn't be able to afford it. My family didn't have the financial resources to pay for my tuition, not in our current state. I said the truth to him but didn't specify the exact reason on why I moved here.
"What kind of psychologist do you plan to be?" Mitch asks me. This is question is one of my top five most hated question, Lana looks at me with a playful smile while winking at me, she knows of course.
"A sexologist" I mumbled back. Some guys in the room stated whistling making loud noise, that's exactly the reason why I feel uncomfortable talking about the major I want to follow, people acted so immature. I see the guy that spoke rudely to before, is now looking at me, he had a very intimidating stare.
"Eve in order to be a sexologist you actually need to have sex" Lana said to teasingly making everyone laugh even harder that before.
Is she fucking serious right now, she must be high to say this "joke" publicly. She knows I am not a virgin and the last year I haven't been active and she always makes jokes about it but usually she does it when it's the two of us. Her behavior is annoying me, she knows the exact reason why I choose to do that. I couldn't help but notice that the man with the long brown hair hasn't stop staring at me, he has made it obvious he didn't like me because he has laughed at me at least two times since I got here. I try not to look at him in hopes to make him look away.
I could see that people who were in the circle started passing the blunt to each other, after smoking they would give it to the person on their left. Lana was talking with Mitch and everyone went back to the conversation they had before, I couldn't help but feel relieved that the room's attention wasn't on me. Suddenly, a redhead girl taps my shoulder, I turn to her seeing she was offering me the blunt, it was my turn now.
"No thanks" I said to her trying to sound as polite as possible, I didn't want to offend her or anyone else by declining her offer. I grab the blunt and pass it the person on my left, drugs weren't my thing. I have smoked one or two cigarettes in my life but I never tried anything heavier. I had bad experiences that made me loathe it, when I see people doing drugs past memories flow to my head making me remember things I try so hard to forget.
"Why don't you do drugs?" The guy with the long hair who was previously staring at me asks.
I froze at his question I didn't expect him to be so blunt, he had a stern expression almost looking frustrated at me. I could tell he didn't care that I didn't do drugs, and his question wasn't coming from a place of genuine interest. He just wanted to make me feel uncomfortable.
"It's not really my thing" I answer back to him, I try to hide my frustration because I didn't' to want play his game. If I talked to him the same tone he did, then I would get caught in his mind game trap.
"You don't like it because you consider it sinful, right?" He stated his observation.
I felt pressured.
His tone is aggressive and I could see people are looking at us waiting for my reaction. This guy is trying to humiliate me in front of everyone, every single person in this party is ether doing drugs or making out, so if I say that I believe drugs are bad then they would immediately dislike me or think I'm a prude.
"Harry drop it" Mitch said to him.
So his name is Harry. His name doesn't match with his vibe, he is rude and arrogant, his behavior screams from afar that he is a narcissist, the two women under his arms look at him like he is God.
"It's fine Mitch we were just having a conversation" Harry said to him.
"if it makes you uncomfortable just say so and I'll drop the topic" he continued looking at me.
Oh God, it feels like he has put me against a wall and I can't find an escape. I can't say that his words made me uncomfortable because that will only feed his ego and it will make me look immature.
"No you didn't" I said back to him as casually as possible while taking a sip for my drip to calm down my nerves. He didn't seem convinced by my answer.
"Drugs are good" the woman that was hugging him on his left side said jumping in the conversation.
She was wearing only her bra and a pair of dark blue cabana jeans, her skin was tan and her hair was dark brown with red stripes. When he heard her words he gabs her by the face to kiss her. I was looking at them surprised, I thought the other girl was his girlfriend because he literally kissed her a few seconds ago. What the hell is this place, is he really dating both of them, no one else is concerned with this sight so I decide to drop it
"Of course baby" He said to her in mid kisses, his hand was touching her cheek covering her whole face. His hands where huge and rings were decorating his fingers, almost every finger had a ring or two except the middle one.
"Well it's illegal for a reason" I mumbled.
I couldn't control myself I was being patient the whole night and this guy was testing my limits. When Harry hears my words he stops kissing her, turning his head to me, his face looked hard and he sends me a death stare.
"What did you just say?" He asks sternly.
I see that Lana is kissing Mitch and thankfully the rest people in the living room are not looking at me, they were busy drinking and doing drugs. Instead of answering his question I raised the red cup to my lips drinking the remaining liquid. Why doesn't he goes back to kissing his girls and leave me alone.
"You should know darling it's not as evil as you think everyone does it, even the politicians who claim it's illegal." Harry said to me with a British accent.
I hate pet names. I understand it's a thing here in London, Lana calls me too but hearing the words darling coming of his lips made my blood boil, he was obviously being sarcastic. Words like that should be used accordingly in my opinion it's nice when people call their partners or friends darling but when they are used in this context it loses it's meaning. If I was dating someone that called everyone darling or love I wouldn't feel special when he would say these words to me.
"Obviously they do it, but the law has been legislated for a specific purpose" I said to him "for example would you let your kid to get on the school bus if you knew the driver has smoked weed?"
He immediately clenches his teeth I can see that he didn't like what I said, his eyes look so dark right now and with his hand he quickly touches his nose, I guess he does this move when he feels discomfort. Most humans when they are exposed to an uncomfortable situation they procced in doing a small action that will relieve their tension, most people don't even realize it, it's a subconscious thing. I turn my attention away from him, I wanted to stop the conversation.
"You know what? You're quite judgmental for a Christian." Harry said looking at me with an indifferent expression.
What the fuck!
What makes him think that he can speak to me like that, he doesn't know me. He literally just met me an HOUR ago. He doesn't know me personally and I don't know him, how can he jump to such quick assumptions about me.
"You are too, you just judged me based on your personal criteria"
"But I am not a Christian" he replied.
Is he serious right now? His leather jacket is open and besides his countless tattoos I can see that he is wearing a cross. The metallic cross was one of the first things I noticed about him because it stands out making contrast with his dark clothes and tattoos.
"Then why are you wearing a cross?" I ask him.
"It's just for style" he laughs looking at me as if I am an idiot.
"That's offensive" I said to him, I see Lana from the corner of my eyes that she is not happy with our exchange, but before he has time to reply someone from the party cuts him mid-sentence.
"Guys can you play a song?"
"Alright" Mitch replies and turns behind him to grab the guitar that was on the ground.
"Babe can you grab the other guitar for me?" Harry speaks to one of the girls that were preciously hugging him.
"Of course!" She stands up and takes the guitar that was touching the wall.
I don't want to sit here to hear him play. More people gather around them, some girls and even boys are staring at Harry with amazement in their eyes, I am gonna gag. This must be his typical fuck boy move that pulls to seduce people. A cocky smile forms in his face indicating he enjoys the attention he is receiving. Yep, definitely a narcissist. Okay he might not be an actual narcissist but this man clearly has a huge ego that he strives to feed.
Lana is looking at Mitch with amazement, she is eager to hear him play. She is definitely whipped for him. Harry and Mitch start to touch some chords in order to tune their guitars, or at least I think they do, I know nothing about guitar and music instruments in general. Before they start playing, I stand up and grab my cup heading to the kitchen. I don't look back at them.
I place my red cup at the kitchen counter, and I look for Bacardi to fill my drink the way I dd before. I don't see the liquid I was looking for and take a vodka bottle instead. I know is bad to mix different drinks, but I am not driving tonight so its fine.
Two different trays filled with brownies caught my attention, they were placed beside the sink and some people were grabbing a piece.
I love chocolate. But I am afraid to eat one of those brownies, I am in a hippie party for Goodness sake, they probably have weed inside them for all I know.
"The right tray has weed, the other one is clear" a girl with dark red hair says to me from the other side of the kitchen.
She might have caught me starring at them.
"Thank you" I said.
I move towards the brownie and grab one without weed to eat.
"You are Eve, right?" She asks me.
"Yeah" I tried to say but my mouth was full with the brownie "Yes" I said again more clearly after swallowing it, it was delicious. She smiled at me.
"What's your name?" I ask her back.
"Jenny, I am Mitch's sister" she extended her hand for me. With my right hand I sake hers while on the right one I was still holding the brownie. She didn't look like her brother but the more I looked at her the more I could she their resemblance. They both have square faces, and their eyes have an identical shape. I think if she dyed her hair brown and if Mitch shaved they would look more like siblings.
"I love your hair color" I said to her while grabbing another bite from the brownie. I genuinely liked it, it matched her complexion making her stand out from the crowd.
"Thank you so much, it would look good on you too."
"Honestly I don't think so. I always admired these kind of hair colors, but I could never try it on my hair, it would look bad on me."
"Nooo, you would look hot" she said to me with a warm smile as she was grabbing her cup brining it to her lips, to drink from it.
"You are too kind, I appreciate you lying to not hurt my feelings" I said jokingly to her.
"No I am not" she said "it was really nice to meet you Eve my boyfriend must be looking for me, I hope I get to see you again"
"Me too!" I replied and she throws her hand around to hug me. These hippies are really touchy but I didn't mind it when it was coming from Jenny.
After she left I finished the last bite of my brownie and go to grab another one. It's been almost three hours since I ate dinner and now I was getting hungry, this will be the last brownie I am eating for tonight, I don't want to be annoying and eat more. If I was seeing someone in a party eating all the food I would get mad too.
I take another bite from my second brownie of the night, it tastes so delicious the chocolate fills my mouth, this was better than an orgasm. I am a slut for chocolate.
"Chocolate is a substitute for sex"
A voice said behind my back making me shiver, it was Harry. He was so close to me so I turn around taking a step back to create some distance between us. Now that we were both standing up I could see his real height, he was tall. Even though I was 5'7 he was almost four inches taller than me. This guy is unbelievable he has some nerve. His words only make me more irritated at him.
"People who are missing sex crave chocolate" he continues.
"Fuck you" I said to him finally mumbling the words that I wanted to say all night.
"Why are you getting defensive foxy?" he says to me, never breaking eye contact.
Foxy? When did this come from? I swear these hippies are weird, but in his case it maybe was the drugs fault. The drugs must have destroyed the left side of his brain that was responsible for logical thinking.
"Why so defensive? maybe I am right after all" he asks sternly at me. His dark eyes stare at mine and only then I notice that his actual eye color is green, it was hard for me to distinct because his pupils where dilated the whole time, probably from the weed.
I leave the kitchen without saying a word to him.
I head to the living room to find Lara but I see that she is missing. Great. Fucking great. Mitch is missing too so they must be somewhere together. I ask one girl in the living room if they have seen her and they say she left only minutes ago, she points me to the direction she went and I walk to hallway to find her. While I was walking the hallway, I see many people making out and touching eachother. Jesus can't they find a room, do they really have to do it publicly. A hand stops me from moving and I turn around.
"Hey Eve" Taylor said to me.
Taylor is one of Lana's friend and was one of the very first people I met when I moved to England.
"It's been a while since I saw you last" She says to me.
"Yeah" I said sounding a bit rude but I didn't have time for a conversation I had to find Lana.
"I didn't expect to see you in this party" Taylor said looking at me from her glasses.
"It was a last-minute thing" I said "Have you seen Lana?"
"Yes she right ther-"
"I'm here" I heard Lana's voice for behind, making me feel immediately relived.
I turn around and a red hickey on her neck caught my attention, her lipstick was also smudged but she still managed to look beautiful, Mitch was by her side.
"Eve I am staying here tonight so when you feel like leaving just tell me and I will drive you back to campus" She said. I should have seen in it coming. I shouldn't be surprised that she is staying overnight.
"It's okay, I will take a taxi or something you don't have to" I appreciated her offer, but I don't want to force her to drive me to the university, I am not a baby. Furthermore, the drive home was 20 minutes so it would take her 40 minutes to come back I didn't want to disturb her, she came here to be with Mitch so I wasn't going to get in the middle of that.
"No are you serious? I told you to come here so I am not leaving you alone in the middle of the night" She said strictly to me, she sounded like a mother. Mitch on the other hand was scratching his neck awkwardly while listening to our conversations.
"No matter what you say I am not letting you drive me" I persisted.
"Do you have your drivers license with you?" She asks me.
"Yes?" I always carry my drivers license and my id in my back.
"Take my car to go home."
"Here" she said as she handing me the keys that were in her pocket before.
"Are you sure?" I ask her. This is the first time she is making that offer.
"Yesss, I already feel guilty for not driving you home take it."
"how are going to get your car?" I replied.
"I will take it tomorrow after the lecture we have" She said.
"Okay, thank you" I said to her and went to hug her.
"Drive safe" She said smiling to me.
"Ok, bye guys"
"Bye" Mitch and Lana said
"Bye Taylor" I said to her.
"See you around"
I was walking in the hallway making my way through the people, I tried not to stumble over anyone but it was hard considering how crowded this place was. I reach the living room area and I see the door that I came inside hours ago.
I turn the knob to open it and before stepping out I look in the room and see Harry sitting in the couch and staring at me while eating a brownie.
I immediately close the door leaving this place. Suddenly I remembered that this place had no lights, so I open the flash on my phone, it was making a poor effort of illuminating the room. As I was walking down the stair in quick movements, I try to not get lost, this place still managed to look scary. I finally reach the doorway and I open it. I felt the cold wind of the night hugging my body making me cold so I choose to put on my jacket.
I cross the road as quickly as possible after checking for any moving cars and I unlock Lana's car. I sit down on the driver's seat and lock the doors for safety, I check the hour and notice it's 3 am, tomorrow I had a class at eight thirty but it was nothing I haven't done before. I have stayed up late many times while the next day I had an early class. I turn the engine on and try to remember the basics of driving, Lana's cars worked with switch, so I try to get use to it. I drive towards the road and make mental note to check if I am on the right side, this was England after all, so I had to drive on my left. When I made sure I had everything under control then it hit me. I remembered what happened tonight and more specifically Harry's arrogant smile came to my mind. I hope I never have to see him again.