The next 9 months were the most amazing moments of my life. Jones and I got closer and Robbie and I… we were head over heels for each other.
"So how are you and Robbie doing?" Jones asks me one day.
"We're doing pretty well. It's just… there's a lot up in the air right now…" I partially explain.
"What do you mean?" Jones asks me.
"We start junior year in 2 weeks... This is where reality starts to set in. The people you grew up with are going to leave. We're all going to go to college. Yea, we may have another couple years for a last hoorah, but we all know what is going to happen after that. Our best friends are going to leave. The people we care about we may never see again. And I think that's bothering Robbie." I explain.
"How do you feel about it?" He questions.
"I knew from the beginning it was going to happen. It's just how life goes. We meet people, we become great friends, then they leave and we're heartbroken. But soon enough we get over it and we meet new people. They aren't as good as the first but they help us move on. Then they leave too. And it hurts even more because it reminds us that in the end that we're all alone." I sigh.
"Ok…? Not doing too well with that… So you need to get out and have some fun. Got it… What do you want to do?" He asks me with a chuckle.
"I want this weirdness between Robbie and I to stop." I explain.
"Then you need to talk to him. Relationships are all about communication." He tells me.
I just say quiet and look out the back door window. It was gorgeous out about 80 degrees and 0% humidity. It was bright and sunny and just perfect.
"Why don't we go out to the pool?"He was referring to my in ground pool in the back yard. It was shaped like a squished oval in the center.
"You don't have your suit." I say.
"Yea I do. Remember I left it here a last month? You said you were going to keep it here in one of your drawers."
"Oh yea… Ok… sure." I say.
"Why are you so down? Come on, cheer up?" He says going to reach for my head. I grab his hand before he can touch me.
"Stop!" I yell at him.
"I was just going to ruffle your hair… sometimes it makes you smile…" He slowly moves his hand away.
I look down at me feet. "Sorry…"
"You need to get out and have some fun… I've got a buddy who can hook us up with some fake ID's. You and I… we're going to NightLife tonight. Go start getting ready."
"But—" I start.
He cuts me off. "No buts."
"Fine." I say walking up the stairs to get in the shower.
"Yea I thought so!" Jones shouts up the stairs at me.
The music was booming. I could hear it from a block away. We ended up parking about a block away because the club and something next store were the most popular places around here. Jones and I get out of the car and I quickly fix my hair before we're on our way.
"So your name is the same, Caterina Valentine. Your 22. Ok?" He says.
"Yep. Got it. Let's go."
"Are you going to say anything longer than 2 words tonight?" He asks sarcastically.
"Maybe after I've had a couple drinks…" I give a small smile.
"Hey… What's that I see? Is that a smile?!" He ruffles my hair.
I smile more as he does that. He was right, it does make me smile. "Maybe…"
"That's what I like to see. I love it when you smile." Jones looks down at his feet. "Sorry…"
"Well if it's any consolation… I like it when you smile too… but in a best friend way." I chuckle.
"I need to be honest about something Cat. My entire life, ever since I've know you, I've liked you. And I promise I'm not going to be selfish. You and Robbie… you two belong together and I'm not going to get in the way. I just needed to get that off my chest."
"Well thanks for being honest." I smile showing him it's not that big of a deal. A lot of people have liked me and I trust that he won't make a move. "But… why?"
We start to walk towards the club as he explains. "You're beautiful. You're kind. You're true. You don't care what people think about you. You won't change for anyone. You're you and your amazing. Robbie is one hell of a guy and frankly… he;s the only person I know who deserves someone like you." He smiles sticks his hands in his pockets and looks at his feet.
"Don't get nervous. Jones you my best friend. I trust you. Let's just have some fun tonight and we'll talk more about this tomorrow." I say as we walk up to the short line.
We finally get up to the front of the line and the bouncer looks at us. "ID's please."
"Yea sure." I grab mine out of my bag and Jones pulls out his wallet. The bouncer looks them over. He nods.
"You look young…"
"Yea I get that a lot. But hey by the time I'm 30 that will be a complement." I chuckle and the bouncer smiles.
"Ok go on in." He says opening the rope.
Jones and I put our IDs back and go in. The music was booming and I could feel my heart pound to the rhythm. Everything inside was light up electric blue. There were black lights that made your cloths look blue and purple. People were carrying around drinks that glowed red, blue, green, and purple. Everything was colorful.
"So you want to go get a drink?" He shouts to me but I could hardly hear him over the music.
"Sure." I say loudly. He nods and grabs my hand. We start to push through the crowd. We finally get to the back of the club which has an open door leading out to the patio. We walk through the door and towards the bar. I wasn't as loud out here. It was nice. The patio was walled off but with an open top and the breeze was coming through. The bar was in the middle. It was a large rectangle with stools surrounding it.
"So what do I get?" I ask him. I've never been to a club.
"Well definitely not iced tea."
"Why not iced tea?" I ask him.
"Because they'll give you a Long Island Iced Tea… That's vodka, tequilla, rum, gin, triple sec and coke. There's also a Blue Long island which is the same thing but instead of the coke and triple sec they put in Curacao and Sweet and Sour mix. Those will knock you on your ass!" He chuckles.
"Oh. Then what should I get?"
"Kamikaze or a Gin and Tonic. If you like mint, go for a Mimosa." He explains.
"Should I be scared you know all of this? And I assume were taking a cab home?" He smiles when I say this.
"No. And yes, I'm not driving, not even after one drink, not after what happened with your Dad." I have a quick flashback to the day after my dad died. There was an article I the news paper about it. He was hit head on by a drunk driver. I remember reading part of the article before my mom saw and took it away from me. She said that I didn't need to read that, and that it would make me sad. I knew what had happened. Jones was the one to comfort me when it happened and we both swore we wouldn't drink and drive.
"Yea…" I say as the bartender walks over to us.
"What could I get you?" The woman asks.
"Jack and Coke." Jones says raising his hand a little bit.
"Iced Tea." I say bluntly. I was too depressed lately… I needed something to get me going.
"Are you sure about that miss?" The woman asks me.
"Yea. I'll be fine." I say with a chuckle. The woman nods and smiles.
Jones looks over at me with a confused look on his face. "I've been too down lately. I need to pipe up a bit… have some fun. And if getting drunk off my ass is how I have to do it, then I will."
"Well getting drunk off your ass isn't the only way to do it… I mean there are many… MANY other ways. I mean coming here should be enough. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes!" I say trying to get him to stand down.
"Ok fine." Jones says smiling and shaking his head. "You're going to regret it in the morning."
"As will you." I say back.
The woman brings over the drinks. "Take a sip." Jones tells me.
I grab the glass which was filled to the brim with a strong blue liquid with glowing blue ice cubes. "Why's it blue?"
"The Curacao is blue. It makes it blue. Take a sip." He says laughing.
"You take a sip." I say kind of scared.
"Ok fine." He takes the drink and takes a normal sizes sip. After he swallows it I can see the burn it sends down your throat, on his face. "That's strong…Your turn." He says swallowing again.
"Ok…" I take the drink from him and take a small sip. A burning sensation runs down my throat as I swallow it but after the 3rd sip it starts to get easier.
"So…?" He asks.
"It's good. Really good… just really strong too…" I chuckle.
"Well by the time you finish that… I'll get to see the drunk Cat." He laughs taking a sip of his drink.
"One drink won't kill me."
"On Blue Long Island will." He says finishing his drink.
After about 7 minutes I'm down to my last sip. The ditzness starts and I start to get very giggly.
"You want to go dance?" Jones looks at me.
"Why are you asking me all the questions?" I smile a little bit.
"Because tonight is your night." He says taking my hand again and pulling my back into the booming music.
We walk over on to the dance floor. We dance in silence for a little bit before we talk.
"You're pretty good at this!" I giggle flirtatiously.
"Thanks? I guess you are too." I continue to laugh a little bit.
After about 10 more minutes of dancing and random talking I stop and pull Jones off the dance floor. He looks at me waiting for me to talk. "I want another drink. Come on." I say pulling him back to the bar.
"Another… you're drunk." He says.
"Nope. Just a little buzzed." I giggle a little bit more. "Let's go!" I drag him all the way to the bar and make him sit down.
"What'll it be?" There was a new bar tender. This time it was a guy. He looked to be about 25 and gorgeous.
"Hello gorgeous…" I say under my breath. Jones looks over at me and chuckles.
"Let's get her a—" I interrupt him.
"Shots!" I say. The bartender laughs and looks at Jones.
"Whatever the woman wants." Jones says.
"Tequila. Don't care what kind. Just tequila." I giggle at the word.
The bartender turns around and walks to the alcohol. I turn to Jones. "Tequila… that's funny." He says.
"I know right! It's fun to say." Jones starts cracking up.
"What's so funny?" I ask laughing with him.
"You are DRUNK!" He cries.
"No I already told you… I am buzzed. When I start slurring my words and getting dizzy… then I'm drunk." I explain.
"Oh… my bad…" He laughs more.
The bartender brings two shot glasses and a bottle of tequila. He pours the yellowish brown liquid into the shot glasses and nods. I grab mine and Jones takes his.
"You ready?" I ask him. He nods.
"So what… are we racing?" He laughs.
"No…" I say confused.
"Go." He says and we both nock them back.
"Again." I say bluntly.
"You're lucky I'm paying." He chuckles flagging over the bartender.
"You're paying… What a gentlemen…" I laugh.
"You're so giggly… It's cute…" He says as we both nock back the second shot.
After about 3 more hours of drinking and dancing we call it a night. We walk out the door and stand on the side of the street.
"Thanks! That was a blassst." I giggle at the last word.
"Now your drunk." He states.
"Yes. Yes I am..." I burst into laughter.
Jones stares at me laughing because we both were drunk and we both knew it. "Why do you have to be such a good guy… I mean for god sake you love me but you won't make a move! Most guys would die doing that but you… you're just you… your perfect in every way…"I say stepping closer to him.
"Cat… your drunk… You don't really feel this… you're with Robbie, remember?" He says to me but never moves back. He had the chance to stop this but he didn't.
"Do you really care? Nobody we know is here… Who's looking…?" I say stepping closer and closer until we're inches away from each other. "You know you want to…"
"Cat..." He says before I cut him off by grabbing his head and pulling him in for a kiss. His lips were warm and I could feel his anxiety. He went with it for a good few second before realizing what was really happening. He pulls back quickly.
"Cat! You're drunk… it's not going to happen." He says. The tears well up in my eyes. One falls down my cheek.
"Why? Am I not good enough for you?!" I cry.
"No… Cat, you're perfect. But we can't do this. Just the other day you told me you were in love with Robbie. Now you kissed me. I know what's going on. You're upset. You're confused. But this isn't the way to fix it. Getting drunk and being reckless by kissing me and flirting with a bartender… that's not how you fix it. You talk to him. I'm here for you Cat. No matter what. And I'm not going anywhere… But you can't do this. No matter how much it hurts… you're his, not mine. I had my chance. Promise me that in the morning you're going to talk to him. You're going to tell him what happened tonight…"
I look down at the ground knowing I screwed up. "Ok… I'm sorry."
"Yea I know you are…" He says wrapping his arms around me and hugging me.
Once we're in the cab I pull out my phone and text Robbie.
We need to talk in the morning… I screwed up and I need to talk to you. –Cat
I never got a response.
I had to do a lot of research for this chapter… and by research I mean call my dad into my room and ask him what's in that? And what's in that?
Only at the end did he look at me and say, "Wait why are you asking me this?"
Well yea… looks like taking that Blue Long Island was a bad idea for Cat… She is quiet a fun drunk… At least for Jones she is.
Well Review… and yes you can yell at me for doing that… but all stories need a conflict. So Review-away!
And don't EVER drink and drive… even if it means calling your parents to come pick you up. Getting in trouble is so much better than taking a life.