A/N:
pleaaaase remember to play the song when I tell you to! It'll help you feel the vibe, ya know?
***
"Absolutely-fucking-not!!!" I hear Olivia scream through face-time.
"Why not? You're the birthday girl, not me," I defend myself, fiddling with the outfit in my hands.
"Exactly, that's why I'm not letting you wear fucking jeans and a tank top! There's no way we're looking plain!" I hear her scold me again.
She's been my best friend for more than 3 years now and always keeps me in line, I guess. We met at a movie premiere, where she was the lead role, and I was responsible for the film's background music. We hit it off that night and we've been friends ever since then.
"C'mon, Liv, you know I can't wear dresses," I whine, feeling less and less excited about going out.
"I'm not asking you to wear a dress, idiot, wear something hot," she says in a suggesting tone.
I've only got 20 minutes to get ready and I feel like I'm going crazy. I scan over my closet, going over a few shelves containing thrifted clothes, then glance over the hanging pants and jackets, finally spotting a pair of loose leather pants and a white one-strap top with a diagonal cut on one side. Good enough, right?
"How about this?" I pull out the outfit and flip the camera to show it to her.
"Yes!!! It's going to look so amazing on you! Only you could pull it off, honestly," she says enthusiastically. If I've learned one thing about Liv, it's that she'll always hype you up, no matter what.
"Alright I'm wearing this, where are you anyway?" I ask smiling while shoving away the big pile of clothes further into my closet. I'll organize it one day, I swear.
"I'm already on my way with Nate," she turns the camera to show him driving.
Ah, Nate, her boyfriend. I don't really like him, but if she's happy, I'm happy.
"OHHH WE'RE GETTING WASTED TONIGHT!!! I already drank a few glasses of wine, so drink a couple shots before you leave!" she says eagerly, her voice getting cut off a few times from the poor connection.
"Alright, I'll go get ready, and meet you all there," I chuckle before hanging up.
Since the club isn't far away from my apartment, I'll be walking there with Landon who lives nearby me. I change into the outfit, pairing it with black heels, and decide to leave my hair in its dark, natural curls. I'm way too lazy to style it anyway. I put on a pretty dark eye-shadow, accenting my eyes, then cover my lips with a beige lip gloss matching my lip color. Finally, I throw on a single gold necklace around my neck, putting on small golden hoops, and a few rings on my fingers. I text Landon I'm ready, after checking myself out in the mirror for a bit.
~~~
After meeting Landon and taking a few shots on the way, we finally reach the club that has huge neon-purple glowing letters "LOTUS" hanging from the wall beside the door.
We tell our names to the muscular guards knowing they'll let us in since we're on the guestlist that Olivia gave them. We make our way through the entrance to the VIP lounge, feeling already feverish from the few shots. Damn, I sometimes almost forget that Liv is considered a celebrity.
The whole space is glowing in purple lights, it's also quite foggy here, probably from the fog machines somewhere around. I look up to the ceiling and see a crowd of lights shining so bright, almost looking like small stars. I can literally feel the music beat's heavy vibrations radiating through my bones.
Wow, this place is insane.
I've been to the VIP lounge a few times before, but I can't say anything special about it, besides the fact that it's a bit less packed than the regular club side.
While I'm observing the club, Landon has already gone after a tray of shots, leaving me alone in search for someone I know.
"Bitch, finally, c'mon!" Olivia shouts over the loud music, grabbing my wrist and pulling me aside to meet her other friends.
"Chloe, Liz, Lauren, and a few others are here too!" Liv says referring to her other friends. I never really got close to them, but since they're important to Liv, I'm neutral with them.
"I also invited some people you might not know, but they're coming soon," she shouts over the music, pulling me further in the lounge, reaching the leather booth chairs next to a table full of alcohol. I say hello to her other friends, sliding in the booth after Liv.
Landon comes back with a tray of about 10 tequila shots in one hand, a bowl full of lime wedges in the other, handing each shot to other people around the table.
"C'mon, let's get wasteddddd!" he exclaims, downing two consecutive shots, chasing it with the lime. We all do the same, emptying the whole tray.
After a while, I've drunk pretty much half the tequila bottle and smoked a joint. It honestly takes a lot for me to get really drunk, so now I'm tipsy, being in a joyful and relaxed mood, but I bet after a few more drinks I'll be on the floor.
*play the song now for better vibes*
I recognize a reverb, slowed version of 'Close' by Nick Jonas and Tove Lo playing, so I get up, bopping my head along the beat.
"Let's goooo, losers!!!" I cheer, starting to pull everybody up, already moving along the music.
"Y'all go ahead, I and Nate will join you in a bit," Olivia shouts over the music. I grab her other friends, all of us going into the crowd, belting out the lyrics. It honestly sounds like a choir of cats came on the dance floor, but I don't really care.
"Cause space is just a word made up by someone who's afraid to get too..."
I'm now standing back to back with Liv's friend Lauren, both of us now swaying our hips to the beat, yelling out the lyrics. I lift my hands up, circling my wrists around, then bringing them down, dragging my fingers over my chest, sliding them over my stomach, feeling like on top of the world.
"Close, ooh
Oh, so close, ooh
I want you close, ooh"
Then I close my eyes, totally freeing myself, and lower down a bit, throwing my head back, smiling a bit.
"Oh, I want you close, and close ain't close enough, no"
I open my eyes to see everyone enjoying their time, the star-like lights above our heads flashing to the beat, creating a glimmer on our sweaty bodies, the neon shade of purple radiating on everyone's faces, the smoke machine going off once again.
"Cause if I want you, and I want you, babe
Ain't going backwards, won't ask for space
Cause space was just a word made up by someone who's afraid to get too... close"
After a while, the song slowly comes to an end, and we all make our way back to the booth, the air still foggy around us.
I see Olivia making herself a drink; vodka and orange juice. I immediately stop her from drinking it, taking the glass out of her hand.
"Liv, didn't you drink wine earlier?" I question her, totally out of breath from the dancing.
"Yes?" she says, squinting her eyes, trying to get back her glass in my hand, but I just pull it further away from her.
"Well don't you know what happens when you mix drinks, idiot? Especially vodka and wine," I yell over the music, almost laughing at her.
"Uh, I actua-"
"Also, don't you remember what happened the last time we drank screwdrivers?" I shout over the music, chuckling, referring to the night we drank a bunch of vodka and orange juice shots. Spent the night sleeping in the bathroom, near the toilet. Eh, not my proudest moment.
"What happened?" a new, unknown voice, what sounds like an Irish accent chimes in our conversation.
I turn my head and squint my eyes, glancing through the foggy air, to see a dark-haired man with sharp blue eyes, sitting in the opposite leather chair. He's wearing a white short sleeve dress shirt, the first three buttons unbuttoned, with a black tank underneath, styled with brown plaid pants on the bottom.
"Oh, this is the friend I was talking about coming later," Olivia explains, standing up, "Niall," she addresses him, "meet my best, best friend, Amber," the girl says proudly, pointing at me.
"Pleasure to meet you," I say, still out of breath, shaking his hand politely.
"Pleasure's all mine... ooh! I also brought a friend with me," Niall informs, pointing to a familiar man with the same deep green eyes I saw earlier today, the same fingers with chipped nail polish wrapped around a glass of whiskey.
He's wearing a black dress shirt, a few top buttons opened, paired with black skinny jeans, and are those chelsea boots?
His curls are all over the place and it looks like he's trying to hide the smirk by curling his lips, at the same time looking kinda shy.
Harry fucking Styles.
***
and so it begins!
remember it's only the beginning! please don't give up on me!
it may seem like a filler chapter, but I hinted at some stuff important to the story ;)
LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!
love yaa