Leah Presley
The loud ringing of music echoed through my ears, the darkness surrounding me with lights scattering the walls. I could feel the music vibrating through my chest and I couldn't help the smile creep upon my lips at the feeling of being out and about again. The feeling of being in a bar, surrounded by good music and fun people, was a feeling that made me feel so alive.
Jude's hand tugged on mine as Skylar followed after us. The smile on Jude's lips and his excitement of being out again made me happy to see him so happy. My eyes trailed to the stage that had band equipment sat on it, and I figured it was Jude's friend's band that was soon going to play. I felt giddy at the idea of hearing a live band again and I had a feeling it was going to be such a good night.
The atmosphere in the bar had sweaty bodies and loud voices echoing through the walls as people scurried by and danced on the floor. Once I have enough alcohol in my system, I know Skylar and I would be following those same footsteps and would find ourselves dancing our way through the night.
Jude had halted to a stop as I peered over his shoulder, noticing the large group of people he called his "friends" motioning for him to come over by waving their hands. I sighed under my breath, already feeling the annoyance drip through me. He turned his head to look at me, his lips upturned in a small pout, silently begging me to let him go see his friends.
"It'll only be for a little bit, I haven't seen them since last week," He pleaded with his eyes, his voice in a begging tone as I nodded solemnly, understanding that even if I disagreed, he would still go and hang out with them. Skylar had rolled her eyes at him, knowing this was the usual whenever we went out.
"It's fine, I was expecting that to happen anyways," I muttered in annoyance, my eyes falling to the floor to avoid his eye contact. His index finger lifted up my chin as he pressed his lips quickly to mine in a peck, hoping a kiss would fix my stubborn mood.
"I'm sorry, I'll find you, I promise," He promised me with a small smile as I nodded slowly, watching him disappear in the crowd of people to reach his friends. I huffed a deep breath as I felt Skylar lean into me rubbing my shoulders with her soft hand in comfort.
"Fuck this, let's get drinks," She yelled over the music, pulling my body towards her as she dragged me to the bar. I felt the familiar rush of adrenaline go through me at the idea of having alcohol consume me. I needed this, more than ever.
"Can we get 6 shots please?" Skylar ordered towards the bartender as he nodded at her, pouring the liquor. I looked at her with wide eyes with my mouth agape in shock. Skylar laughed loudly, shrugging her shoulders at me. "Got to start the night off strong, right?" I rolled my eyes but quickly laughed along with her, knowing my tolerance wasn't going to be able to handle the three shots all at once, but that was the fun that came with it.
The bartender slid the shot glasses towards us, my eyes boggling at them, feeling the nervous butterflies erupt in my stomach, but I quickly grabbed one, throwing it back. I felt the alcohol burn the back of my throat as I held back the ick of tasting it. Skylar hissed at the taste of the burn in her mouth. We glanced at one another, smirking at each other, knowing this was just the beginning.
We immediately threw back the rest of the shots, our throats on fire from the familiar burn. My body felt like it was ignited with fire from the rush and I surely didn't want to stop here. The buzz was beginning to start and I surely wanted to keep going till my lips felt numb.
"That was... insane," Skylar laughed loudly, her eyes pinching shut as her head fell back. I chuckled along with her, the loud music overpowering our loud voices. I waved the bartender over, as he leaned over the counter, my face getting close to his so he could hear my voice over the loud music playing.
"Can you get us two vodka sprites? Make them strong, also here is my card, just put it on a tab," I smiled widely at him, holding my card in between my two fingers as he took it gingerly, chuckling under his breath and shaking his head back and forth at me. He continued to make the drinks as Skylar and I watched intently, feeling the excitement of it pour through us.
The bartender pushed the drinks towards us as we thanked him, sipping through the black straw, feeling the bitter but sweet taste of the drink enter my mouth. I smiled at the taste, watching Skylar continuously drink hers.
We walked around the bar, smiling at familiar faces and stopping to talk to a few people we knew. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Jude with his friends laughing loudly, chugging the beer in their hands. I held back my eye roll and felt the pang of annoyance rush through me again. I threw the black straw out of my cup as it fell to the floor. I brought the cup to my lips, drinking the rest of my vodka sprite, feeling the buzz inside of me get stronger.
Jude noticed me as he excused himself from his friends, rushing over to me and wrapping his arm around my torso, causing me to flinch at his presence.
"Hey, there you are," He smiled brightly, the whites of his eyes having red streaks through them, knowing he was borderline drunk at this point. I was getting there but I'm sure he had downed multiple drinks with his friends. I shrugged his arm off my torso, spinning around to look at him fully.
"Yeah here I am, but that hasn't mattered to you all night, so you can go back to your friends," I angrily spat at him, turning back around as I heard him sigh from behind me. Skylar glanced over, a smirk on her lips once she realized what I said. This was so normal of him, to always leave me stranded by myself to go hang out with his friends. Obviously, there was nothing wrong with him wanting to spend time with them, but when it happens every time we go out for a fun night, it gets old and tiring.
"I'm sorry baby, you know they always distract me from you..." He trailed off, wrapping his arms around my waist, tugging me towards his chest as I stumbled into him. He started to trail small kisses along my neck, pushing the strap of my tank top off my shoulder, now kissing my shoulder. I shrugged him off and immediately pulled away, annoyance written all over my face as I crushed the cup in my hand and threw it at him in anger.
"Can you knock it off? Kissing me isn't going to make me happy, you're only doing this because you're drunk," I shouted over the loud music as he huffed under his breath in defeat. He slowly entwined his fingers with mine, but this time I didn't pull away. I didn't want to continue being a buzzkill.
"Let me get you a drink then, please?" He pleaded with soft eyes as I nodded my head slowly, looking back at Skylar as she shook her head back and forth at me in disapproval. I gave my shoulder a light shrug back as Jude pulled me towards the bar.
"Can I get a beer?" Jude asked in a loud voice towards the bartender as the bartender nodded back. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, focusing my gaze on Jude.
"A beer? You know I don't like beer," I stated with a small laugh, confused, considering he knows I don't enjoy the taste of beer. Jude shrugged his shoulders, facing his body towards mine as he pulled my body closer to his.
"Yeah I know, but beer is free tonight so," He responded with slurred words, a smirk playing on his lips as I shook my head at him in annoyance. Typical Jude, he hated paying for his drinks. I rolled my eyes as he handed me the beer. I took a small sip from the tap beer and almost gagged. I pinched my nose together, bringing the drink back up to my lips, taking a bigger gulp hoping the taste wouldn't make me nauseous, at this point, I was trying to get as wasted as possible.
Suddenly the lights had simmered down and the bar had gotten dark, my brows furrowed in confusion as I trailed my eyes around the place, noticing the same confused expressions. The music that was playing stopped abruptly but got replaced quickly. Loud music started blaring through the speakers as my eyes quickly turned to the stage, bright lights flashing.
She worked her way through a cheap pack of cigarettes
Hard liquor mixed with a bit of intellect
And all the boys, they were saying they were into it
Such a pretty face, on a pretty neck
My eyes widened at the music, not stopping the smile that was painted on my lips. The loud music echoed throughout the bar and everyone's eyes were on the band that was playing on stage. I looked over to Jude to see him smiling widely with his pearly whites, his eyes crinkled, as he bumped along to the music.
"Is this your friend's band?" I shouted to him over the music as he nodded his head eagerly, the smile never leaving his face. I made eye contact with Skylar across the room, as she also had a smile on her face, her index finger pointing to the stage in shock. I ran over to her quickly as Jude followed me close behind, squeezing ourselves through the bodies jumping up and down to the music.
"Which one is your friend?" Skylar had asked Jude, her index finger still pointing at the band playing on the stage. Jude smiled and pointed towards the lead singer who was currently dancing along the stage, belting out the lyrics to the song.
"That's him, that's Harry," He shouted over the music. I turned my head and squinted my eyes, the blinding lights making it hard to keep my focus on him. He was moving along the stage to the music, and I wasn't sure if it was the alcohol buzzing through me or the lights scattering in different places, but I couldn't make out his face.
Either way, it seemed like he was born to perform. The crowd of people were enchanted by him, moving their bodies to the music, letting the lyrics fill their heads. I was in awe watching how his music had completely changed the aura in the room. The music made me feel euphoric and I couldn't help but lose myself in it.
He had continued to play multiple songs, and with the renewed alcohol in my system, Skylar and I were sloppily dancing, mixing our bodies in with the sea of people. I had lost Jude once again but my mind didn't seem to care, in my alcoholic state nothing really mattered anymore, I was over the moon. My vision was blurred and I was getting the spins but that wasn't changing anything as I latched onto Skylar and she latched onto me.
"Thank you, everyone!" I snapped my head towards the stage once the music died out, noticing a British accent bellow out through the mic, as the bodies on stage disappeared and the lights went dark. I felt my numbed lips turn into a frown, sad that the live band had ended the night. Their music was replaced with the familiar tunes the bar was playing before and I felt my heart sink. I was having way too much fun, but I knew the night wasn't over just yet.
Skylar had dragged me through the crowd of sweaty bodies, as my head was spinning and I was drunkenly smiling to myself. My glossy eyes landed on Jude as I ran up to him latching myself onto him, throwing my arms over his neck as he stood there shocked and hesitant until he realized it was me, his arms wrapping around my waist. He snuggled his head into my head, picking me up quickly as I jumped into him.
"Someone's excited to see me," I heard him slur into my ear as I giggled relentlessly in his arms. I found myself clutching onto him, peppering kisses all over his face. I couldn't find an explanation as to why I was acting the way I was, but it was most likely a result of the alcohol coursing through my veins. I had let go of him as he swiftly leaned into me, attacking my lips with his as he drunkenly kissed me. I could taste the alcohol lingering on his lips as I smiled against him.
"Okay let's not..."I heard Skylar annoyingly say as I giggled pulling away from him, feeling Jude's hand reach for my bum, his fingers pinching it. I felt my cheeks flush with a blush color as I embarrassingly looked away. Skylar's hand latched onto my wrist, pulling me closer to her as I stumbled into her body, laughing to myself quietly at my clumsiness.
"Oh wait, there's my friend! Let me call him over so you guys can finally meet him," Jude bellowed, whistling under his breath, calling over his friend who walked over. My eyes were focused on finding more alcohol to drink, not paying much attention until I heard Skylar whisper into my ear.
"Dude, look at his friend, he's so hot, tell Jude to put me on," Skylar eagerly said into my ear as I furrowed my eyebrows, snapping my head towards the direction of Jude, giving his friend a manly hug. I tilted my head to the side, trying to focus my mind on this guy.
"You guys did amazing on stage, you need to do this more often," I heard Jude tell him over the loud music. I walked over to Jude, wrapping my hand around his forearm leaning into him. I looked up from the floor, and the second I had made eye contact with his friend, my breath hitched in my throat and the drink I was carrying, had swiftly fallen to the floor, the liquid splattering the floor and our shoes.
"I-I'm so sorry, I d-didn't mean to drop that," I stuttered, feeling the flush return back to my drink. I couldn't take my eyes off of the man in front of me.
"Oh that's right sorry, Harry, this is my girlfriend Leah," Jude excitedly said, watching our interaction. My drunk foggy mind couldn't comprehend the person I was looking at. I could notice those green emerald eyes anywhere.
Flashbacks of myself staring at the drawing from time to time before I had met Jude were circling my mind. Constant hopes of wanting to meet this person, meet the person who was supposed to be the love of my life. I had fallen asleep to fascinations of this supposed man and what my life was supposed to be like with him. And now, I was fucking staring at him. This couldn't be real, was I really this drunk?
"Hi, I'm Harry," The man pulled his hand out towards me to shake, but all I could do was stand there frozen. I watched his cheeks indent with the familiar dimples that I remember so clearly, the curled hair slicked back, and the prominent jawline that I imprinted in my mind. And those stupid pretty green eyes he had.
He noticed I wasn't responding and was stuck in my position, watching him in awe. He pulled his hand back towards him, putting his hands behind his back as his eyes trailed towards the floor in embarrassment. Fuck, I'm so stupid, I should have done something, anything.
"Sorry, she had a lot to drink tonight," Jude awkwardly laughed, shooting daggers in my direction. I couldn't keep my eyes off of him and I probably looked insane just staring at him, but my mind was so focused. I would have never thought I would meet him in real life. After a year I had assumed that I was never going to meet this man, that everything the psychic had told me was just bullshit so she can have a pretty bank account.
But no, she was right all along.
The person I was staring at was my supposed soulmate, and the person standing next to me was my boyfriend of one year.
////
pretty please vote and comment! i have so much planned for this story and i hope you guys are just as excited as i am ahhhh!!!!!! also had to include kiwi in the chapter bc that song brings you to another fucking planet i swear