"𝐶𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜, 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑦, 𝑖 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑚𝑦 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢"
_______________________________
❀Loreleia ❀
TODAY WAS HELL. LITERALLY. Working in a bar that's open both night and day is....exhausting to say the least. My friend Chloe and I were the only ones working tonight and the only good thing about that was, that it was less lonely. I don't want to remember why I picked up the double shift; the lack of sleep's been the real negative part of this job. But I then remembered why I needed this.
Tuition. I know it seems cliché, but I needed the money to stay in school. I know I wouldn't have to worry about tuition if I just chose the major my parents wanted: Medicine. I didn't despise doctors or the thought of becoming one, but my heart leaned towards my current major. English.
I know people expect you to be rigorous as an English major; expecting you to always have a list of books to read, wanting an ideal job. Not me. My parents refused to pay for my tuition when I refused the major they picked for me. Currently, I'm a bartender at the local bar. Whenever I'm not studying, I'm working or sleeping. Fun.
As I push my nearly lifeless body toward the bar, I can't help but laugh at Chloe, sitting on the bar, her legs dangling down as she read a magazine: E! news. Isn't that magazine that Zoey told me about?
Zoey is my best friend in the entire world. you might recognize her: Zoey Deutch. Yeah. I know what you're probably thinking: I'm probably using Zoey for fame, but on the contrary, it's the complete opposite.
I met Zoey when I was 5, and we were instantly joined at the hip. When we were younger, we would talk about our aspirations and dreams. Zoey always dreamed of being an actress, Her mom is a well-known actress and her father was a director so her dream wasn't as unrealistic as mine. For me, I dreamed of singing. I loved singing and songwriting; how you could paste your feelings onto paper, in poems, with your soul. I never chased my dream. Zoey was ambitious, and unlike her, I was cowardly.
Zoey told me about how E! news was a very invasive and biased magazine, and I don't doubt her because she has been on it once with false information about her. So now here I am, in a poorly lit bar watching Chloe devour the information inside the magazine. A few minutes later, she got a call and told me she had to go. Great. I am handling the bar all alone. I guess it's fine, there's only a young couple and a few older men playing darts.
Just before I was gonna wallow in self-disgust, I heard the bell on top of the door ring. My shoulders dropped when I heard it, not wanting any more company. Sucking in a large breath, I plaster a fake smile and face the guy. He was no more than 5'11" and he had a nice build. He had hazel eyes, that connected with mine; small pieces of brown hair interrupting the shared gaze. He was a good mix of hot and cute, and his energy instantly connected with mine, making the night somewhat tolerable.
"Hi." He spoke softly. His eyes drifted around the room, inspecting everything and everyone's movements, but not once locking his eyes with mine again.
"Hey, what can I get you?" I responded to him, giving him not another gaze, wiping away at the chipped, polished wood of the bar counter.
"Uhm...Suprise me. Something strong." He stammered, fiddling his thumbs, still not looking at me. "Okay, a 'drowning my sorrows' or 'let's get shitfaced and party' strong?" I responded with a chuckle.
I earned a smile from him and he looked up at me. He seemed to await a reaction or face of realization, but I honestly didn't know or care about who he was before he walked into the bar.
"Both I guess." He replied, cracking a laugh as well. After I made him a drink, strong like he asked, He grabbed the glass and downed the drink after 2 minutes. Something was on his mind and I knew from personal experience, that suffocating the thought wouldn't make it go away.
"I know I'm not a psych major, but you look like something got you down," I spoke placing my elbows on the counter, and waiting for his response.
"Nothing you could help me with," he whined before he signaled for another drink. "Well if you need anything, just lemme know. I'll be a friend if you need one." I spoke with a sympathetic smile.
He continued the same drinking pattern until it was obvious he was drunk. He was sitting at the bar, staring into nothingness, laughing. Yes—laughing. I looked at him weirdly and all I got was more laughter, causing him to fall out of his seat.
"Are you okay?" I asked worryingly, tending to him. "Yeah, I think I am..." He looked at my nametag and continued "Rory." He smiled responding groggily.
"Pretty name for a pretty girl. y'know I-" He paused in thought. My cheeks burned with a hinted blush. A moment passed and he laughed, "I forgot what I was saying."
"I figured." I chuckled holding my hand out for him to get up. He grabs it a stumbles back after standing straight.
"Come on, the bars closed. lemme get my stuff. I'll walk you out." I laughed nervously worried he might run into ongoing traffic for fun. His disoriented self responds. "I don't remember where I live." he shrugs.
I ask him for his phone, to see if he had used a GPS to get here, and fortunately, there was a route to a home she assumed was his. It's only 15 minutes away.
"Come on soldier, ill take you home." I laugh dragging his heavy body to my car. After arriving at the house, I noticed it was petite and homely, and it had its lights on.
I knocked on the door only to see two girls, one younger, and one more mature, opening the door. "Excuse me?" They looked at me confused as I spoke, but I continued.
"Do you have like a family member with like brown hair, brown eyes, male, and-" Their eyes widened. Assuming I was some stalker, they scolded me.
"Why do you want to know if I do?" The younger one said sharply. "Oh uhm, because he's wasted, passed out, and laying in my car," I said pointing to my car.
The older woman's eyes widened and she groaned as they followed me to the car. I could tell she was worried, she was more nervous than the other one so I assume she is his mother. Wait. I don't even know this guy's name. curiosity struck me, but I didn't have time to process it before I got dragged out of my thoughts.
"Oh god, how much did he drink?" The older woman asked. "A lot, I tried to stop him, but if I did, it would be bad for business," I said jokingly. They looked at me weirdly, expecting an explanation.
"I was the bartender closing up tonight. I asked him if he can get home, and he said he forgot where he lives." She explains, their eyes relax and they open the car door.
"It's funny, I don't even know his name and yet I'm here." I laugh, trying to break the tension.
"You don't know his name?" The younger one said.
"I don't know any of you guys," I say calmly and they stare at me examining my every move, just like he did in the bar.
"Does the last name O'Brien ring any bells?" The younger one said again. The other woman swatted her and cursed "Julia!" well now I know her name. I still didn't understand what Julia was asking so I just shook my head.
"Is it supposed to?" I said nonchalantly. They looked at each other then at me. "That's Dylan O'Brien. AKA my brother." Julia said. I looked back as she told me his name, not recognizing the TV personality.
"Cool, well it's nice to put a name to a face. look-" I said ripping a paper from my purse and grabbing a pen. I swiftly wrote my phone number down and handed it to the older woman. "This is my number if any of you need anything, but I don't know your names, so before I go can I get your names?" I said fast, realizing it's half past midnight and I have class tomorrow.
"I'm Lisa, This is Julia" The older woman signaled. "Call me Jules" She corrected.
"I'm Loreleia but you can call me Rory" I smiled softly at both of them. "Alright Rory, we'll take Dylan, and you take care," Lisa said smiling.
"Alright bye." I waved after they took the unconscious man from my backseat. I started my ignition. Bust. Again. Won't work again. God damn battery. Am I going to ask them to give my car a jumpstart? Yes, I suppose I am, and I will regret it every second. I walked back up to the front porch of the small estate and knocked. To my surprise, they answered. again.
☀︎︎᯽☀︎︎᯽☀︎︎