The club was teeming with people, the thick masses of people making Lilianna feel compressed and slightly short of breath. How was she supposed to spot Ash in this?
Lilianna surveyed the crowds, trying to get a feel for where Ash may be hanging out. As she did, she began to sing along softly with the wailing chorus piercing her ears. The music was dark and filled with sick guitar riffs and had a steady, hard bass beat. It sunk deep into Lilianna's bones and it was as if the music was giving a voice to all the pain and hurt she had suffered this past week.
As Lilianna gazed out at the club, she realized it would be next to impossible to find Ash from where she was standing. The colorful, pulsating lights made everyone's movements seem clipped and disjointed, and Lilianna couldn't get a good look at anyone's face. Her head started to spin, and she grasped Darci's arm for support.
"We'll find him," Darci assured her. "I think maybe we should split up though. We'll cover more ground that way."
"Good idea," Lilianna agreed. "Text me if you find him."
"You check the dance floor and I'll check the bar." Darci took off, leaving Lilianna alone.
Lilianna nodded, a steely resolve settling in her usually warm brown eyes. She pushed her way past a group of giggling, raven haired beauties. They gave her a dirty look as her shoulder roughly bumped against one of them, sloshing her drink all along her front.
Lilianna was getting desperate. She had so far seen no sign of Ash. It was as if the big, lumbering cat had disappeared when she needed him most.
He must be here somewhere, she rationalized to herself. He seemed like a regular.
She reached the end of the wooden dance floor and stopped short. Well, he isn't over here anyways, she thought wearily. Maybe Darci had found him?
She turned around and started to push her way back across the dance floor. The bodies gyrating to the music jostled her and she lost her balance. She stumbled backwards, expecting to end up sprawled on the floor. She didn't. Something caught her.
She turned slowly to face her savior. She noticed he was wearing ripped jeans and an old faded band tee shirt. She skimmed her gaze up to his face, wanting to thank him and move on to continue her search for Ash.
Then something happened as she looked into those clear, sensual green eyes. Fiery tingles shot through her arms where he touched her, melting her insides in a smoldering fire and burning away all thoughts of Ash. Lilianna vaguely registered that she was no longer in the club. Her body was, but her soul had dissolved into another realm. It was only the two of them and it was as if the whole world had disappeared under their feet. She could feel a force sucking her mind and soul into his, meshing them together, coaxing both of them to reveal all their secrets. She could feel this boy's soul vibrating against her own. She sensed his despair and angst. There was electricity humming through her body and they were swathed in smoky, silver fog. Lilianna had never felt more alive.
She had also never felt more terrified or exposed. She had shadows and dark crevices buried deep inside her, secrets that she had worked hard to keep hidden. This boy was penetrating her soul. He had leaped head first into it, plunging into her blackest fears and memories. His soul engulfed her and she could sense his compassion and understanding. You're not invisible, she heard him whisper.
Lilianna tried to push him out. Who did he think he was, barging in and prying open all of her secrets and rifling through them as if they belonged to him? She yanked her arms out of his grasp, and the world reappeared. Lilianna shook her head, clearing out the remainder of the silver fog, and melted back into the crowd before he could say anything.
She pushed her way through the masses of people, while simultaneously checking her phone for texts from Darci. Nothing.
Lilianna felt her throat choke up and helpless tears streamed down her flushed cheeks. Where was he?
Her tears blurred her vision as she glanced distractedly at the bar, wishing more than anything that she had never stepped into this club last Friday.
Suddenly her eyes cleared, and her sniffling stopped. Ash. He was lounging in a stool at the bar with a sly grin on his face. He smoothly handed a drink to a pretty red head wearing a short dark blue dress and fishnets. Her lips turned up in a coy smile as she murmured something that made Ash laugh warmly.
Lilianna approached the couple, trying to inject a sense of authority and confidence in her stride as she advanced upon them. She stopped abruptly in front of them. Ash ignored her presence, his hands tracing little circles on the red head's arm. Lilianna cleared her throat noisily and tapped the table. Ash glanced up at her, his brown eyes clearly annoyed at having his date interrupted.
"Hello there," he said, his voice seemingly calm and cool. Lilianna could tell he wasn't pleased to see her, though.
She got straight to the point. "What happened last Friday? I can't remember anything."
"Did someone have a little too much to drink?" Ash joked lightly. The red head chortled and tried to turn Ash's head back to face her.
"I don't drink," Lilianna said flatly, demanding that his attention stay on her. "Especially not with strange boys I meet in clubs."
"Well, what do you think happened?" Ash taunted her, leaning forward until his glimmering eyes were only in inch away. Lilianna blinked and realized that she had been wrong about their color. They were actually a stormy green.
She narrowed her eyes, "I remember dancing. Then nothing."
"That's pretty much all that happened." Ash dismissed, turning back to the red head with an apologetic look on his face that said, I'm sorry this girl won't leave us alone.
Lilianna fumed. So he just thought he could dismiss her that easy, did he? Well he didn't know who he was dealing with!
"Excuse me!" She demanded, forcing him to turn back around and face her. "Can I talk to you in private?"
Ash raised his eyebrows and grimaced. "Why?"
"You know why," she accused, prodding him aggressively in the chest. "I need answers."
"I always hate this part," he muttered under his breath, but obliged to her request. He excused himself from the pretty red head with a promise of returning swiftly.
"What's up?" He casually grabbed a drink from a passing server's tray and drained it. It was some odd smelling red stuff. It looked disgusting.
"Don't you 'what's up' me!" Lilianna snapped. "Tell me right now what happened between us! I need to know. . did we . . . I mean . . . you know. . ." she trailed off, her anger fading into panic and desperateness.
"Sex?" Ash said bluntly. Lilianna nodded weakly.
"No," Ash said. "The most we did was kiss."
"Really?" Lilianna hoped he wasn't so cruel as to lie about it. "You're telling the truth?"
Ash, for the first time since he met her, lost his cocky grin. "Yes. You're much too young anyways."
"I look about as old as you are," Lilianna said uncertainly.
"It's a little different for me," Ash said vaguely.
"How do I know I can trust you?"
"Well, first of all, you can't," Ash corrected. "It's very rare I don't lie. But I like you Lilianna, and I assure you that nothing happened last Friday."
Lilianna measured him up. He didn't avert his gaze, but held her eyes. "I believe you," she said softly.
He turned to go, but Lilianna stopped him by gently tugging on his hand. He swiveled around and cocked an eyebrow. "What?"
"Thank you," Lilianna mouthed, and she saw him flash a small smile before he let go of her hand and returned to the bar.
It was only later, after Lilianna was lying in her bed, that she realized she had forgotten to ask Ash about the strange marks on her neck. She ran her finger over them tentatively. They had all but disappeared now; all that remained was a tiny bump. She shrugged and rolled over, pulling her covers up to her chin. They were probably nothing anyway.