Millie's P.O.V.:
Music blared all around me, the familiar tunes thumping and causing vibrations through my body. They could stand to lower the volume a little bit though. Not everyone needs to go deaf thank you.
I glanced over to a sleazeball that had girls swooning around him as he laughed a raucous laugh. I nearly scoffed at the sight of him, sipping on my cola that the bartender luckily had.
Who would have thought that a school like this existed? A school where you have to be good at getting people to kiss you or go for a tumble in the hay.
Weird to say the least. Regardless, I didn't have much choice with my choice of education.
My parents didn't have enough money to send me to school when I was younger, and I was determined to take care of them with getting a job myself.
Only problem, people don't want to hire you if you don't have qualifications. So this school was advertised to me by one of my friends, Leia. She said you apparently didn't need money to get into the school nor anything else.
You just had to get enough points in a single week to stay. You didn't even have to gather them alone, you were put into dorm rooms and that was called your clan.
And so, I was here. At the bar in the middle of the weird campus of their's, drinking cola and looking around at people that confused me more and more.
But, I dunno. If that creepy guy sitting there with the girls around him is the only way, then I'm not really sure about this school at all.
On the other side of the room, on the stage, some guys were trying to set up a drum kit and some guitars. Maybe they were going to play music instead of letting some random girls drool over them.
One of them had jet black hair, the fringe making him look like a stereotypical emo. The ear piercings seemed to complete the stereotype. Despite those things, he seemed to ooze a confident attitude, making him look very attractive.
He had three other band mates, one on guitar, another on the bass and the final one slamming away on the drums behind them all.
The drummer had light brown hair, it curled upwards in a kind of weird hairstyle. He seemed to be speaking in a another language to some guy off the stage. It sounded Swedish, maybe Finnish. He had a adorable look to him, despite the fact he was dressed very maturely.
The guitarist had lots of tattoos over his arms, and spiky hair that sprung up in some random directions. Wow, he really looked like what a punk would be described. The illusion was shattered for a moment when a girl shrieked at him and he responded with a kind greeting through his microphone in addition to a smile. He came across as very suave and well mannered, reminding me not to judge a book by it's cover.
The bassist seemed to be the cutest, having a kind face with slight stubble and short hair that was styled to one side of his head. Some random girl yelled something up to him, but I couldn't hear what was said. The bassist turned a shade of red, responding with something calm but a little flustered. I guess the best description of him would be adorkable.
A sign that hung above the stage suddenly seemed to announce the band members names.
DRUMMER- ROOMIE
BASSIST- ROBERTIDK
GUITARIST- AMASIC
SINGER- NATEWANTSTOBATTLE
Who calls their child Roomie? The poor bassist had a name that seemed like his parents gave up halfway in naming him. And what the hell was the singer called?
I hoped to all god that they were stage names instead of their real names up there.
The music that had been blaring stopped, being replaced with the sounds of hundreds of girls squealing and shrieking. My mom would have called them screaming banshees.
Unlike at concerts, they did actually die down, allowing the band to begin on their first number of that time.
I found my eyes drawn away for a moment despite the slightly too loud rock music, seeing a guy on his own across from the room from me.
He was quite handsome, a well grown into face with styled dark brown hair. He seemed lost in thought, despite the fact he was looking in my general direction.
When he noticed me, he flashed me a smile and a nod. I nodded in response, to let him know I had truly seen him.
He seemed to take this as a good sign, standing up from the seat he originally was in.
He was wearing a deep maroon shirt that clung to him, showing off his powerful shoulders and pecs. I wont lie, some abs where showing as well.
He looked amazing as he took long and strong powerful strides with his legs, his jeans showing off his legs muscles just like his shirt did. Is everyone that went to this school hot?
Well, not as hot as this guy.
He neared me, leaning against the bar and sitting on the bar stool next to me. He waved vaguely over to the bartender, who came over to him the moment he noticed the waving.
"The usual? Cherry coketail?" the bartender said, grabbing a glass from underneath the counter.
"Nah, I feel like something different" He said, pointing over the bartender's shoulder. "Can you hand me the menu?"
The bartender obliged, handing the flyer over to him and moving away to serve another customer who had also waved over to him.
He turned back over to me, opening the flyer and peering through. He raised his eyes to me after a couple of seconds, twisting the flyer slightly to allow me to see.
"Wanna order a drink? That coke you have is nowhere near the best this place has to offer"
"Oh, I don't drink alcohol"
"Don't worry, these are mocktails" He said, handing the flyer fully over to me. "Not a drop of alcohol near them"
I hummed, looking over the flyer. I occasionally shot a glance over to the man beside me, him usually looking at me with a small confident smile on his face.
"So, do I get to ask your name only after I get a drink here?" I asked, unsure how to talk to him without stumbling over my own words.
He chuckled, leaning further against the bar.
"Sorry, I guess I'm sorta used to everyone knowing my name" He said, drumming his fingers on his leg. "I'm Anthony, Anthony Padilla"
"I'm Millie" I said, holding out my hand for a handshake. He looked at it a bit shocked, almost as though he wasn't used to it being a way of greeting someone, but shook it after a small while. "I was told about this school by a friend of mine"
"Oh yeah? What's their name? I might know them"
"Leia"
"Hmm, doesn't sound like someone I know" Anthony said, rubbing the short stubble on his chin thoughtfully. "Oh well, I don't know everyone in the world"
I could hear the bartender coming back, while Anthony dug around in his pocket with his left hand.
"I'll take a Luscious Lou" Anthony mumbled, still trying to get the money out of his wallet. "How about you?"
"Oh, uh" I fumbled, quickly scanning my eyes over the drinks until I found one that looked not that expensive. "Do you still have the drink called Watermelon Cooler?"
"Sure do" the bartender smiled. "I assume you want the non-alcoholic version"
"Oh, sorry" I said apologizing quickly, searching around for my wallet for the money" "I didn't realize it was both a mocktail and a cocktail"
"No problem" the bartender said, tipping some of the ingredients to one of our drinks into a mixer. "The L.L. will be five dollars while the Watermelon will be six"
Shoot. I only had four dollars on me at the moment. I hoped to god and back that the drink he was mixing wasn't mine.
Anthony seemed to understand my predicament, handing over a single coin with a ten dollar note.
"I-
"Thanks Kevin"
"No problem Ant"
"Dude, what have I told you about that nickname?"
Kevin flashed a cheeky smile with tongue poking out for a brief moment, causing Anthony to chuckle at him and the situation, before Kevin moved over to another part of the bar for other ingredients. That, or he was leaving to allow me and Anthony some alone time.
That would make sense mind you, seeing as that might be Anthony's angle. That was the point of this school after all.
I suddenly felt very self conscious about my white jumper, my black sweat pants, pretty much everything. I was nowhere near beautiful enough, right?
Maybe Anthony thought I looked "easy". It felt a little bit rude if that was what he thought.
But, maybe he doesn't actually judge by looks. But then again a lot of people do regardless of what they say.
And-
"So, what do you think of the place so far?" asked Anthony, sipping lightly on his drink that had been slid over to him by Kevin. "Bad? I wouldn't blame you, the jocks are running rampant lately"
I hummed to myself, thinking about the question in earnest. I couldn't really afford to be picky with going here, literally all the other schools in this area cost money.
I assumed that the "jock" was the sleazeball that was still busy draping his arms weirdly around as many girls as he could. He even squeezed some girls breast, causing her to squeal weirdly. Why would women like guys like him?
Maybe it was the confidence that does it?
"The band is pretty cool" I said, nodding my head over to the mentioned people. "They're kinda cute"
Anthony's smile faltered for a brief moment as he looked over to them. I was about to ask what was wrong, when my drink got slid over to me.
I took it and cupped it the same way I would hold tea, mostly cause I was afraid to drop it. I peered over at Anthony, who was looking at the band with a slightly sad look on his face.
"Yeah, they're rising up in popularity alright" Anthony said, sighing softly. "If only I could say the same about us"
I wasn't sure how to take that. Was he saying that his clan had fallen behind in the times? I couldn't really imagine that myself, but I guess assuming his clan was working well simply due to him was probably not a good idea.
"Well, thanks for the drink regardless" I said, bowing my head slightly in a way of saying thanks. "Sorry for you having to pay for me"
"No problem" Anthony said, turning back to me with a smile reformed on his face. "Besides, I was planning on buying you a drink regardless"
"What?! You've got be to joking!" I said laughing nervously. "There's no way you think I'm pretty enough for that..."
"Why not? I thought you were beautiful in the way you acted"
"Wha? In how I acted?"
"Yeah, you didn't act all stuck up like some women but you pushed yourself to come here despite the fact you look nervous as all hell"
He knew from a single glance that I was nervous? Geez, he was good at his job.
"So, is this the part where you do a smooth pick up line and try to take me home?"
He choked on the last part of his drink, it almost dribbling down his chin. He seemed to laugh as he took a serviette from nearby to wipe his chin and mouth.
Oh god, I messed up big time now. Why did I say that?!
"Well, aren't you forward? Unfortunately, any person we have romantic affiliation with outside of the school are not counted towards points" Anthony said, smirking at me with a eyebrow raised and his smirk causing butterflies to swim around my stomach.
My cheeks flushed a deep shade of red, possibly becoming the same colour as my hair. I was so embarrassed with making that mistake! God spare me from whatever weird thing I am going to say next.
"Then again, I did consider going on a date with you regardless of if you went to the school or not" Anthony answered, throwing the now dirty serviette into a nearby bin. "But I wasn't thinking that far ahead yet"
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" I said, covering my cheeks in embarrassment. "I am so bad at talking to people plus I'm not used to people buying me drinks and I'm no good at reading people and-
"Hey, easy there" Anthony said, placing a hand calmly on my shoulder to try and ease my tension. "I was just teasing you"
I took a deep breath in, kicking myself even more mentally for freaking out on the guy. I was doing such a bad job at being cool and smooth.
The music calmed down, the band announcing that they were going to take a break so their vocal cords wouldn't break or something similar.
The thumping music didn't return, leaving us all with our own thoughts and actions.
Anthony still had his hand on my shoulder and only now did I notice that his face was closer to my face than he was when he was sitting beside me. He seemed transfixed on my eyes, and looked intently at me.
My breathing got uneven, and I tried to decide whether it was better to focus on making that better or to ask him to move his hand. Would that be rude?
God, why did I have to get nervous when people touched me?
"Uh-
"Oh! Sorry, forgot I was a bit close there" Anthony said, releasing his hold on my shoulder and left my personal bubble. "So, do you know any of the clans? Plan to join any?"
"Oh, I don't really know any of the people who go here, so..."
I trailed off, not sure how to finish the sentence. Was I simply supposed to pick a random clan? What if I ended up picking the clan with that jock? Or what if I ended up with someone worse?
Wait, was that even possible? Of course it could, who am I kidding.
"Well, this might sound like a weird idea" Anthony said, sliding the now empty glass of his back down the bar to Kevin. "But do you want to check out my clan?"
"Really? You'd want me?" I asked, looking at him with a slightly shocked look.
"Yeah, I wouldn't want anyone else" Anthony said nodding his head confidently. "Come around to take a look, I insist"
"Thanks, I appreciate this a lot"
"No problem at all" Anthony said, his genuine smile causing me to smile in turn. "But don't you want to drink your drink first?"
"Oh, right, of course"
I drank away at the drink, taking in the smile and view of Anthony, who had a blissful smile on his face. Like he had just had the best day in a long while.
"Oh! This drink is delicious!"
"I know right?"
(Please feel free to check out any of the names mentioned in this chapter (Except for Millie of course). They are all youtubers who could use some love :D)
