Nova's eyes lingered on me, until somebody walked up to her. She tore her gaze from me as she greeted the person in front of her. And the nausea instantly came back.
My stomach started turning as the thoughts came flooding back into my head. I tried to shake them away but the nausea didnt go away.
I quickly slid out of the circular booth and made my way to the bar.
I needed a drink right now.
Once I got to the bar and sat on one of the stools, trying to push away the sickness I felt.
"What can I get for you tonight?" The bartender asked me, while wiping out a glass.
"Two shots of anything please." I said putting my arm on the counter and leaning on my hand.
"Alright, I'll get that out soon." The woman suited in white said, walking down the bar.
I was fighting the urge to turn around and look at Nova, I just couldn't stand to see her with that girl. I don't know why.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw somebody sit at the stool next to me. I ignored the observation as the bartender came back to where I was.
"Do you want to know what's in these?" She asked as she set the two shots in front of me.
"No thanks." I said, grabbing the shot glass and quickly throwing back the burning liquid. I quickly swallowed the shot as I squeezed my eyes closed.
"Rough night?" The voice next to me suddenly spoke. I glanced next to me and saw a man looking directly at me. I wasn't in the mood for interacting with some random man at the bar.
"Sure." I said irritatedly, grabbing the second shot and throwing it back. The second one went down better than the first. I set the empty shot glass back on the counter and got up from the stool.
I walked away from the bar to a different section of the area I was in. In this section there were people dancing and music blaring on the dancefloor. I assumed this section was for partying since the other one was a bit more formal.
"Champagne?" A woman holding a tray with drink flutes asked me.
"Yes please." I said grabbing 2 flutes off of the tray. I quickly drank the first flute and put it back on the silver plate before I made my way to the heated dance floor. While walking toward the group of raging bodies and thick air, I quickly threw back the second flute and set it on some random table.
The music suddenly stopped as the DJ's voice came over the loudspeaker.
"The next song was by popular request, I need to hear everybody in here though if you're trying to hear what it is."
And shortly after screams, from all throughout the dance floor rang throughout the room.
I went deeper into the colored room near the crowd and waited for the DJ to start the song.
As soon as the first few seconds of the song played the crowd started screaming.
I started moving to the beat along with everyone else until I heard a loud voice next to me. I slowly turned around continuing to move as my eyes met the woman next to me. Her face was tinted by the strobe lights in the section.
"Dance with me?" The woman called over the music. I nodded in response and began dancing with her as the music continued.
Halfway through the song I turned around and started dancing against her, keeping my back against her front, i moved with the music until I felt her arm snake around my waist, keeping me in place as we continued to dance. I was definitely feeling the alcohol now.
Still rocking to the music I peered out of the dance room to the section i was previously in and my eyes instantly met Novas.
She was standing in the middle of the floor keeping her gaze on me. And as she continued to stare the dancing died down and I think people were starting to notice Nova.
"Excuse me, I'm sorry." I said to the mysterious woman and started to walk out, I pushed through the few people continuing to dance until I made my way out of the dance section entirely. And as soon as I did I noticed Nova was gone.
I walked over to the bartender from earlier and sat down on the stool once again.
"Can I have two shots of anything again please?" I asked, getting comfortable in the stool.
"Yes but I was informed to not give you anything else after these 2." She said while grabbing 2 shot glasses.
I instantly furrowed my brows, "What why?"
"Not sure, I was just given the order." She said pouring the mystery liquid into the first glass.
It had to be Nova.
Soon enough the bartender gave me my last 2 shots and I quickly drank them, setting them back on the table as i held my head in my hands.
I was so going to regret this in the morning.
I was way past tipsy at this point.
I stared at the bar counter trying to regain my composure as my vision started becoming blurry.
After recollecting my thoughts, my mind quickly went back to Nova, I wonder where she went. She was probably out somewhere with her girlfriend. I rolled my eyes just thinking about them together.
"You left pretty fast earlier." The familiar voice said to me.
I turned around and saw the man who was talking to me at the bar earlier. I internally sighed as I mustered up the strength to respond.
"Yeah." I said turning back in front of me trying to ignore the fact that he's here. My body instantly jolted as I felt his hand grab my exposed thigh.
"Who are you here with?" He asked turning his stool to face me. My mind was running on one frame per second right now.
"...What?" I asked him as my voice grew weak, I hated feeling like this.
"Im sorry, I actually should of asked who you wanted to leave with." He said slowly trailing his hand up my thigh.
My blood instantly ran cold knowing that no one was here to save me this time. Without any explanation I stood up from the stool and began walking toward somebody in the crowd, Noah said anyone will tell me where section 1C is, i was just hoping i could get there fast enough.
I wasnt able to get three steps away from the bar before he roughly grabbed my wrist and turned me around.
"You never answered my question." He said pulling me closer and leaning down into my ear.
I watched as he was suddenly jerked away from me, and fell onto the wood floor. I was completely confused as to what happened until I saw Nova enter my field of view.
"Mariah are you oka-"
"What the fuck is your problem?" The man said as he was rising back onto his feet.
"Lets get you out of here okay?" Nova said, grabbing my hand and beginning to lead me out of the section we were in.
Her hand was quickly yanked from mine and I turned my head. The guy grabbed Nova by her shoulders and pushed her against the wall.
People on both the dance floor and in the area we were in, were staring the whole situation and I didn't know what to do.
Nova immediately shoved him off of her and began making her way back to me, still not saying a word to him.
"Who do you think you are?" The man said, walking toward Nova.
"Can you walk? How many drinks did you have?" Nova said looking down at me with her brows furrowed, completely ignoring his remark.
"I'll walk you out, we can go home okay?" She said, wrapping her arm around my waist to help me out the club. I was instantly met with the smell of fresh cologne she had on, and the scent wrapped around me like a blanket.
We were halfway out of the section when I noticed the guy started approaching us once again.
But this time when he got to us he threw a punch at Nova.
But before I could react I noticed her reaching in her waistband and I heard faint click.
I instantly put the pieces together.
I quickly reached down to her wrist and grabbed it, halting her actions.
"Nova please." I whispered, furrowing my brows at her as she kept her hand in the same place.
She looked between my eyes as she kept my stare.
Until her eyes left mine, and landed on something behind me. I turned around following her line of sight until I saw Noah.
"What the fuck is going on in here?" He said walking toward us.
I dropped my eyes down to her hand which was now at her side. And I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding.
"Get security to escort him out." She said continuing to hold my waist as we walked toward the section exit.
There were a bunch of guards rushing into the area as me and Nova walked into the main club. As we walked through, the music stopped and everyone halted their dancing, looking at us as we passed by.
There were even a few whispers when we walked by some people. As we made it into the brick hallway from earlier Nova suddenly spoke.
"Are you okay?" She said turning to face me.
I lazily hummed in response, the liquor was definitely getting to me again since the adrenaline from the moment was wearing off.
"I don't feel good," I admitted. It felt like everything was catching up to me at once.
"Is it okay if I take you home?" Nova asked opening the door at the end of the hallway. My face was soon met with the cool breeze from the cold night air.
I shook my head in response and continued walking with Nova until I noticed the familiar car.
When we approached it, Nova opened the passenger door, and quickly helped me in the car.
As soon as I sat down I rested my head against the seat, closing my eyes.
"Mariah,"
I slowly opened my eyes and I noticed we were at a red light. How far did she get? I looked out of the tinted window and noticed the too familiar street near us.
"Oh hey I live down there," I said smiling, I honestly didn't know what I was smiling for.
"Do you actually?" Nova asked.
"Mhm, I remember because I was there yesterday, and the week before that, and the week before that and tha-"
"Do you want me to take you there?" She asked turning down the street.
"Take me there for what?" I asked raising a brow.
"It's closer than the estate and if you're not feeling good then it's more convenient." she explained, "Which one of these is yours?" She asked slowly driving down the street.
"Hmm, maybe the one I live in." I said and I couldn't help but chuckle.
"This is serious Mariah." Nova said looking over to me.
"You're serious all the time, I don't understand how that girl could date you." I said rolling my eyes.
"I'm not dating any girl."
"Uh, yes you are."
I was confused when Nova pulled the car over and put it in park.
"Mariah, which one of these do you live in?" She asked keeping her tone firm.
I blinked a few times before responding,"The brick one." I told her keeping my expression entirely serious.
I started bursting out laughing as I noticed Novas face fall after I told her that. I continued laughing until Nova got out of the car.
The door next to me glided open as she unbuckled my seatbelt and held her hands out.
"Show me, Mariah." She said looking down at me, and everything about it was so attractive. My stomach twirled at the words but not in a bad way.
I grabbed her hands as she lightly tugged me out of the car and began walking me down the street.
"It's this one." I told her as we were getting closer to the brick building. She glanced over toward the building and walked me up the stairs into the lobby.
We walked through the lobby and went up the flights of stairs until we made it to my apartment door.
I bent down to slide my finger under the door until I felt the key graze my fingers. I yanked the key from under the door and stood back up. I did the same trick Ramona taught me and the door cracked open.
I walked inside as Nova closed the door behind her.
I made my way to the couch and laid down.
"Mariah,"
I hummed in response as I closed my eyes.
"Mariah," Nova said to me again.
But this time I didn't have the strength to respond.