My eyes are drooping and falling closed as I dance. I haven't done drugs in a long time, so the ecstasy is hitting me hard, making my heart race.
I hadn't meant to take it, really. And I probably shouldn't have. The mark on my wrist warns me that my life is about to change, and I try to ignore it, but it's starting to pulse, and I swear I can feel it burning my skin. I scratch it roughly, dragging my nails over the flesh to distract myself from the burning/itching/whatever it is, until four red lines appear on the pale canvas. I don't look, though.
My hands fall to my best friend's hips, pulling her back as she grinds against me.
"Ruby," I laugh, when she rests her hands on mine and squeezes them, moving her ass harder against my crotch.
I'm suddenly grateful that I'm not a guy, because as much as I hate it, if I was, my hard-on would be pressing into her ass right now. As it is, she doesn't have to know she's making me wet. She'd probably kill me. Then again, she started this.
I've never told Ruby about my clock. I keep it covered, preferring not to share the date and time that fate would bring me to my soul mate with anyone. We never really talk about it. She's never shared her time either. I haven't told her that tonight is supposedly the night. That, even though I'm quickly losing track of time, I know it's coming soon. Any minute now, actually.
My head jerks down, and I pull my hands away, looking down at my wrist, even though my clock is covered with a thick bracelet.
She turns around almost instantly.
"What's the matter?" she asks, a look of concern on her face.
She's drunk, but not high. She agreed to play babysitter tonight to let me trip, since I haven't since before I started my senior year in college. She likes to party pretty much every weekend, so she wasn't upset when I asked her to take a break to do me a solid. I didn't tell her that I was falling back into old habits because of my own fear and terror about what tonight might bring.
I shake my head and pull away from her, turning and pushing myself through the crowd, over towards the bar. The room is spinning, but I make it and manage to order two shots of Crown Royal. I down them quickly, trying my hardest to drown out my nerves. When I look down at my wrist though, pulling the bracelet back to check the countdown, my heart thumps hard in my chest, nearly seizing up as I read the display.
1:02. 1:01. 1:00. 0:59.
I think I'm going to throw up, but I don't. Instead, I quickly order another shot. But when I turn around, tiny glass in hand, I slam directly into two girls and the alcohol splashes over the sides. Some of it spills on both of them, and my mouth drops. I'm horrified. Embarrassed. Terrified.
And they're both gorgeous.
"What the fuck is your problem?" one of them snaps. "God."
The other one looks at me sympathetically as I mutter a sincere, "I'm sorry."
"It's alright, love. Just an accident," she says.
The older girl is still glaring at me, unrelenting.
"Just get out of the way," she hisses.
I can tell I'm blushing, but when I look over at the younger brunette, my green eyes locking with her bright blue ones, she offers up a gentle smile and touches my arm.
"Here," she starts. "Let me order you another drink."
"What?!" the older one growls. "She just-"
"Regina. It was an accident."
"Whatever. Just get this clumsy klutz out of my face before I slap her."
Still smiling, the blue-eyed beauty gently pulls me toward the bar, but when she sees me stumbling drunkenly behind her, she turns to me and says, "Maybe I shouldn't get you another drink."
"I'm fine," I slur, forcing myself to smile.
She can tell it's fake, but she's still smiling anyway as she wipes the small amount of liquid off her collarbone. God, she's gorgeous. Then, I remember my clock and look down. The numbers are red now, instead of blue.
0:00.
My stomach drops as I look back up at the woman in front of me, who is standing a little too close. But this… She's…
I try to clear my head, try to shake free of the fog in my mind, but the drugs are making me restless, and I can't be still. Suddenly, I want to turn and run. I know I can't, though. At least, not from her. The clock doesn't lie.
It's surreal, thinking I've finally met my soul mate. All I can think is, She's perfect. And she is. Her dark hair and bright eyes make my heart sputter.
Just when I think I'm going to pass out, she asks, "Do you want to dance?" I don't respond – I'm too high to think straight; I took too much – so she adds, "Can you, even? Maybe you should sit."
I shake my head vigorously and gather enough courage to reach out for her hand. Again, she smiles at me, and I find myself smiling back. Then, I scan the room for Ruby, who I find grinding on some random guy we don't know. I laugh and shake my head, then turn my blurry gaze back to the woman in front of me, who is still holding my hand.
"I'm Belle," she tells me.
"Emma."
I hate that I look the way I do right now: a hot, sweaty mess. I've been dancing hard for the past two hours, but I'm not exhausted yet. Not even tired, really. I'm still eager to move my body, and it doesn't help that hers is so fucking alluring. When I turn my head to glance around again, I notice the girl's friend – Regina, apparently – glaring at us. I roll my eyes and look back at Belle again.
"Don't be shy," she says softly, but loud enough for me to hear over the music, her breath warm on my ear. "Come here."
I let her pull me closer, until our hips are almost touching. Almost. The swaying of her hips is intoxicating. She's so graceful, her movements controlled, but natural and smooth at the same time. We dance like that for a while. I'm scared to touch her, but she puts her hands on my waist, and that's it. It's all over for me.
I'm sure I'm in love then, staring back at her as I fall into her eyes.
When she says, "I know you're high," my muscles tense, and I start to panic.
What if-
Then, she asks, "How's the trip?"
My mouth falls open, a little shocked that she seems fine with the fact that I'm tripping.
"You can't think straight, can you?" Belle giggles, sliding her hands up my sides and finally pressing her hips against mine.
She sways them a few times, teasing me, until I shake my head in confirmation of what she'd asked. She's right. I'm in a daze, and all I can feel is the rush flowing through my body, pushing me closer to her, even though I'm terrified. Finally, I brave my next move, and I rest my hands on her hips.
The beat of the music changes, and she seems to like it, as she's getting closer to me with every note that plays heavily through the speakers in the club. Just as she starts to turn around, my best friend appears beside me.
"Yo. What's up?" she asks, her brow slightly furrowed.
Clearly, she's annoyed.
"I, uh…" I start, fumbling over the words.
I'm still in a fog, and the rush of the ecstasy is still pumping through me, making me care less and less about everything around me and more and more about the pressure of Belle's hips against mine. I'm finding it hard to give a shit that she's irritated with me for ditching her, but I decide to try to explain anyway. I'm a nice guy.
"Emma?"
"Um. I, uh… I spilled a drink on her."
"So she decided to fuck you with clothes on, on the dance floor?"
What the fuck? Is she jealous? I mean, I know Ruby likes attention, but really? Besides, Ruby had been doing far more to me than Belle was.
"Ruby, go," I slur.
She rolls her eyes, huffing, "Fine," and walking away to find another toy.
This leaves me to turn my attention back to Belle, and I start wondering what she's thinking. Of course, if my clock was counting down to meeting her, hers must have been the same. Is she disappointed? I don't exactly see myself as attractive. Maybe she's feeling let down. Everyone gets their hopes up that their soul mate will be perfect: attractive, sexy, smart, funny… good in bed. No one gets all of that. No one.
Except, here she is, laughing in front of me as she pulls me closer again.
"What?" I ask, confused by her laughter.
"She's a piece of work," Belle replies. I smile and nod, and she adds, "But she's hot. I can see why you'd be with her."
"What? I'm not… We're not… together. She's just a friend. We've known each other for a long time."
Belle raises an eyebrow and presses her thumbs into my hips. I can't help it; my eyes fall closed as she moves against me, her hips swaying. Like Ruby, she knows exactly how to move to turn me on, and soon, she's turning around, backing her ass against my crotch.
"Fuck," I breathe, not loud enough for her to hear, as I grip her hips and hold her against me.
She's perfect, I'm thinking, overwhelmed by the rush of the drugs and her body overwhelming me at the same time.
It doesn't take long to break my bliss, though, as Regina walks over to us and announces, "We're leaving."
"Regina," Belle counters firmly. "I'm not-"
"Let's go."
She looks at me and sighs as Regina grabs her hand. When she feels her companion start to tug on her, she jerks away and continues looking at me, making me freeze.
"Can I get your number?"
"What?" I ask dumbly, staring. But what did I expect her to say? If her clock really matched mine – which it had to – then it was really unlikely that she'd let me just walk away. "Sorry. Yeah. Of course."
I'm still stumbling when I walk, but I manage to get back to the bar and ask the bartender for a pen. I hand her a napkin with my number on it and smile.
I almost say something cheesy, like 'Call me,' but I don't. Thankfully, I'm not high enough to blurt out everything I'm thinking. When I look at her friend, she's still glaring at me, but when I look back at Belle, she's smiling. Before she walks away, she leans in and kisses my cheek, saying nothing as she leaves.
It doesn't take long for Ruby to find me sitting at the bar, watching everyone else as I remain in a daze.
"Hey," she says, sitting down next to me. "What was that about? I was waiting for you."
"You were perfectly fine grinding on Mr. Muscles over there."
"Are you jealous or something?"
I shake my head and sigh, lifting my arm and pushing my bracelet up enough to show her my clock.
0.00.
"Oh. Shit," Ruby says. "Wow."
I nod.
"Her friend was pretty hot too. I shoulda hit that up."
"Oh, my God. Stop," I laugh. "She was a total bitch."
Ruby shrugs and tells me, "You know I like 'em like that."
Ruby hasn't really ever worried about her soul mate. We don't talk about that, but we definitely talk about her one-night stands, and all of her sexual partners. Me, I've never had one. I decided young to wait for my soul mate, figuring that anyone else was a waste of time. Ruby's outlook was to make the best of a boring situation while you can. Have as much fun as you can while you're waiting for your Prince or Princess Charming.
"You got her number, right?"
I shake my head.
"What?!"
"I gave her mine."
"Oh. Alright then. Okay."
"You think she'll call?"
"What?"
"Do you think she'll actually call me?"
"Why wouldn't she, if you're soul mates?"
"I don't know. Maybe my clock's fucked up or something. She's too hot for me."
"You know that never happens. No one's clock is fucked up. It's in your DNA. You're born with it." I pause, so she adds, "She'll call. You're beautiful, Em. Always have been."
My head falls to her shoulder. Thankfully, I'm starting to come down from the high. It's not enough to clear my mind, though. In fact, it makes it worse. Now that I'm thinking more clearly, I'm panicked. What if I mess it up? What if I lose my soul mate? Ruby senses my panic and kisses my cheek.
"Come on, babe. Let's go."