✔ DRUNK words, SOBER thoughts ✖ hemmings au

04. Shutterbug Encounters

LUKE.

 Post-alcohol munchies were inevitable. Each time was a different craving and I always felt like an emotional, pregnant woman. When my friends showed up at my house unexpectedly after not answering their calls, they kidnapped me for Sunday seafood. I didn't oppose of course. Pier Pressure was my favorite place and with my phone still missing, this would give me a chance to figure out who this Shutterbug was.

Easy said and easier done.

She came to the table when Jake Hanson needed a refill. Tanned skin, almond shaped eyes, long, deep red hair, she approached the table with a big smile. I'd seen her before in the halls at school and even here at the restaurant. She introduced herself as Ari and explained that she'd be taking over for Jasey - the girlfriend of Sean Leone who threw the party that provided the hangover-inducing liquids. As Jake was about to order dessert, he was interrupted when 3 guys walked passed and distracted Ari.

"Shutterbug!" the Asian boy called out. He and the other two boys that followed were also people I've seen roam the halls at our school.

My head suddenly shot up and I became aware of the words that came out of the boy's mouth. I stared at Ari as she turned her attention back to the table and immediately I asked,

"Are you Shutterbug?" She seemed taken aback, surprised that I had asked.

"Uhh yea," Ari turned around pointing to the designs on the back of her shirt.

07. Shutterbug.

Identical to the shirt that was currently sitting in the laundry basket at home. Identical to the shirt that I had woken up in. Identical to the shirt that apparently belonged to her: the girl that drove my drunk-ass home and took care of me in my vulnerable state.

Ari turned back around to face me, "it's a photography thing."

There was an odd silence as I stared at her, trying to recollect some kind of memory from last night. It just wasn't coming to me.

"So anyway," Ari began, "a refill on Coke and anything else for you guys?"

"Can we get the blondie platter? With the ice cream," Jake spoke, a little annoyed.

"Alright, we'll have that out for you soon," Ari smiled, turning on her heel.

"Dude what the hell was that?" Jake asked the moment Ari disappeared to another table. "And what the hell is a Shutterbug?"

I didn't know what to say. How was I supposed to explain that I woke up in her shirt and that she possibly had my phone? How could I tell the people sitting at this table that Ari took care of me after they, my so called friends, let me galavant by myself while I was drunk out of my mind? I couldn't even tell these people that I didn't like alcohol, that I was more down for chill evenings than crazy parties. Hell, I don't think I could even tell them my favorite color without receiving judgment. There was no freaking way I could admit that Ari had somehow made me feel like my true self, because status quo wouldn't let it happen.

"I don't know," I lied, "I thought I heard it somewhere else before."

"She's a loser," Katie pipped up from next to me. "She's some kind of Avril Lavigne-hipster wannabe. Always hanging out with these other punks over here."

Katie gestured towards the booth behind us where Ari's friends sat. The 3 guys definitely had a style different from the majority of Percival Shores. Ripped skinny jeans, flannels, singlets, bandanas, Vans. It was a nice change from the Sperrys and Polos that notoriously ran this town.

"They look like delinquents," Katie sneered.

"I don't know, they seem alright," I shrugged.

Did I really just say that out loud?