finally wrote it :,)

"Yes, that'll be eight dollars and thirteen cents." I say as I hand him the drink, he swipes his card through the card reader and I watch it go through.

"Thank you, have a great day." I mumble to him as he walks off, and help the next and last customer before the sun went down.

I begin to close the back door, locking it and doing the same for the front, leaving it while getting into my car.

-

The lit up city is practically blinding me and the cars in front of me not moving an inch even though the light has already turned green as I sat in the traffic.

Is the driver alive?

The car behind me honks, causing the car in front of me to immediately start moving.

Finally.

After the traffic was at standstill for a little less than twenty minutes I'd gotten back to the front of my apartment building.

I park at the designated spot, shutting the door behind me and making sure that it was locked.

I walk through the huge tinted double doors until I encountered the elevator.

I step in and push the '6' button until the doors of the elevator pushed open, I walk in and turn on my phone, mom called a few times.

Few meaning about thirty times.

It's obviously normal for her to be worrying but she just overreacts so much sometimes.

I listen to all the voicemails, some being about a minute long while others were only 20 seconds.

All of them going in detail about eating, staying hydrated, being okay. Those may be basic things but, she worries.

I click on her contact, calling it. She immediately picks up basically yelling through the phone.

"Inez, did you get home safe?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm in the elevator and I'll be there soon."

"I called you so many times."

"Mom, it's like twelve am you should sleep, why are you up?" I ask her, as I gaze at the silver watch on my wrist.

"You should've called back."

"Bye mom, love you." I cut her off in a monotone voice, yawning and slipping it back in the back pocket of my jeans.

The elevator doors slide open, and I reach my floor, catching me off guard. My bag starts slipping off as I slide it back on my shoulder where it originally was.

When I begin to approach the front of my door, I crash into a literal rock hard chest as the person in front of me groans in annoyance.

"Sorry." I mutter, not bothering to look up at who it was.

"Get the fuck out of my way." He demands as he moves past me, pushing me aside intentionally.

Ouch.

"Jerk." I whisper in defense before fixing a few strands of my hair.

I fumble through my bag while walking up to the door, until I reached my keys. I take it out and twist the house key through the keyhole and it snaps open.

In the sight in front of me, I notice my friend Alisha and another guy who I have never seen before, his white button up undone, standing a couple centimeters apart from one another.

"Um." I gulp in uncomfort.

I hear him leave while the door shuts behind me, Alisha fixing her hair. Her cheeks red while she waves him goodbye.

I cross my arms in front of my chest, narrowing my eyes as I look her up and down in concern.

"Care to explain?" I question.

"Come on-" Her expression turns to be a blank one, putting a few strands of her hair behind her ears. "Can we not talk about it?"

"Please, not again."

"Okay, okay but it's valid and it's different. I mean come on!"

"Alisha, I won't talk about it but I'm extremely tired right now and I'm-"

"It won't happen again, Inez I promise." She assures.

I begin locking the front door behind me.

I plop myself down on the couch, throwing off my leather jacket. Leaving on only my cropped white tank top and jeans. Alisha sits next to me, staring back at me through her dark brown eyes.

"What do you want?" I straightforwardly ask.

"Oh, nothing I just wanted to say you look really good today!" She compliments, smiling.

"What do you really want?"

"I just want you to go with me."

"What? I just got back—"

"Come to the bar with me." She requests, taking my hand in her palm, attempting to convince me.

"When?"

"Right now." She says.

"Hell no. Absolutely not." I decline, beginning to get up from the couch but she stops me, grabbing my wrist.

"Please, come on it'll be fun!" She pries, still gripping my hand.

"How so?"

"You need to loosen up, let's go please. I don't want to go alone"

"Fine." I agree after listening to what she said last, putting back on my jacket.

-

We reach the bar's entrance and I glare at the bright red sign that glowed in front of us, until we were met with a long line. They began questioning us for our ids, Alisha taking her's out and stepping in front of me.

I quickly take mine out of my pocket showing him as well, he allows us in and I follow behind. I grip her forearm tightly, making sure I don't get caught up in the midst of the crowd.

The strong scent of alcohol and cigarettes filled my nostrils as we stepped forward to the bar, the red led lights being the only light source to the place.

I hear The Beach by The Neighborhood play in the distance while Alisha pulls me by my arm, we sit down at the bar stools as she grabs some random drink in front of her and drinks it in ease.

"Did you just drink that?" I ask her, furrowing my brows together.

She narrows her eyes to the guy in front of us, asking me to order.

"What would you pretty ladies like?" His harsh british accent speaks from behind the counter, smirking while saying so.

"It's fine we don't need anything." I denied.

"We'll have... a few vodkas." Alisha states, making flirtatious eye contact with a lopsided smile plastered on her face.

"You won't have to pay for them. I'll be right back."

I think I just threw up a little in my mouth, really fucking regret coming here.

"Alisha, what the fuck?"

"It's not that hard to get drinks for free, men are easy."

"Right, so why'd you bring me here again? You know I hate this place, specifically this bar. It's the same damn people every time I come here. Like, name someone in this whole place that's someone I haven't seen in the past few years." I spoke on and on as she rolls her eyes, tired of my rant.

Two guys walk in, they look about the same age as us if not a bit older. One was taller than the other, a couple of drunk girls begin pilling up in front of one of them. The security guard comes from behind pushing them away from him.

"No way." Alisha's lips part as her eyes are glued to the man.

I scan his side profile, ocean blue eyes on his sculpted jawline. Fully inked arms as he was in a black t-shirt which fit him perfectly. He runs his hands through his fluffy dark hair and makes eye contact, eyeing me up and down.

I keep eye contact until he walks off into the entrance of red curtains, the sign that read 'VIP' above it in neon white lights.

I sense Alisha playfully punch my arm, snapping me out of my rollercoaster of thoughts going through my head. Her hands over her mouth, why does she look so shocked?

"What?" I ask her.

She furrows her brows at me in confusion.

"Tell me." I pry.

"You- you don't know who that is?" Her stunned expression confusing me to the core.

"Okay, I don't know who someone is. I don't get what's such a big deal-" I speak to get stopped by Alisha's words.

"Ronan Vernice?" She says as if I'll recall who it is referring to the name.

Vernice, I feel like I've heard that surname somewhere.

"Vernice, meaning someone connected to Theodore Vernice?"

"Mhm, his son." She says, the bartender coming back with a few drinks, still standing there watching us.

"I'm going to go get his autograph." He spoke, setting down the heavy tray full of drinks on the counter in front of us and walking over.

"Good luck Aaron, don't let the fangirls trample all over you!" Alisha yells out, sipping some of the vodka.

"So he's a model?" I asked her.

"Mhm, he's all people have been talking about lately."

Interesting.

I feel the sudden urge to throw up as I blink a couple times, I couldn't tell if it was because of something I ate or the fact that I was here right now.

Normally smells that I couldn't take had this affect on me, however the scent of alcohol was something I'd gotten used to being around, I couldn't tell why I felt this way.

"I'm going to head to the bathroom, okay?" I say, feeling the discomfort arise after I said so.

Alisha nods in approval and I hop off the stool, trying to figure out my way there.

Walking ahead of the bar area, I spot two doorways and find the women's bathroom sign above a door, twisting the handle and going inside.

It's what you'd expect it to look like, a typical club's bathroom. The same red led lights illuminating the room, a girl crying in front of one of the sinks, all the stalls were full too.

My elbows hover over the sink as I turn on the faucet, washing my hands and face continuously for a minute.

I stare at my reflection after turning it off, not even being able to recognize myself.

I appeared tired, not just appeared, I was. I haven't slept for a few days and it's really beginning to be noticeable.

Not that I don't want to sleep, it's just that every attempt fails me.

It's been a problem for a few years now, I can never get more than only two hours of sleep but that's only if I get lucky.

A tall girl walks out of a stall, she was dressed in a black mini skirt and a matching tank that complemented her dark complexion perfectly.

She was really pretty, like the type of person you'd see walk on a runway.

I step into the stall, closing it but not completely, feeling the bitter taste in my mouth as I squat down in front of the toilet and beginning to throw up in the toilet.

I felt a hand pull back my hair but not being able to see who it was, I continued until there was nothing left.

My chest rises up and down and I look up to see the same girl holding my hair back, she looks at me with a concerned look on her face.

I almost loose my balance but she pulls me up so I wasn't facing the tiled floor anymore.

We step out of the stall and she hands me a paper towel, I wipe my hands with it.

"Thank you." I hug her slightly from the side, she seems the only girl in here who isn't blackout drunk.

"It's all good." She says as she hugs me back, her hand resting on my lower back for a few seconds, her voice is sweet and feminine.

"Your name?" I asked.

"Viola, yours?" She returns the question.

"Inez." I smile slightly.

We talked for a bit before she abruptly left, we exchanged numbers as well meaning I could still talk to her.

Stepping out the door, I walk towards the bar again, bumping into someone's chest again.

Why does this keep happening?

Except I glanced up this time to be met with those same blue eyes I was met with earlier, his expression growing more puzzled as seconds went by.

"Watch where you're going." He says before subtly looking over me, his shoulder brushing past mine as he walked past.

I ignore him, not replying. It's not like I had the chance to, finding Alisha again and sitting beside her once again.

-