In Another Life

102

He looked over to me, smiled, then winked, before starting the car. "Alright ladies, time for some fun!" It didn't take us too long to get to the Devil's Rose. The next town over was bigger than my town but still small. I was surprised to see so many cars parked in the parking lot tonight. Usually everyone is just going to the bars, leaving this place to those of us that didn't quite fit in with the rest of the town. It looked like a warehouse on the outside, except it was painted black with artwork on the outside of it. In the middle of the massive black wall, stood a red devil holding a red rose. It was a beautiful rose, only the inside was turning black. I liked it because I felt like I could relate to it. Strong and normal to the outside world, hiding what was really on the inside. "This...looks interesting," Colby said, peering at the building through the windshield. I almost laughed at the apprehensive look on his face. I was just so used to him being confident, and being comfortable with his surroundings most of the time. That could have been because he was with his friends, but this was outside of what he was used to now. "You'll have fun," I replied, smiling at him. "Promise." We got out of the car, and walked over to where a black light was placed over the entrance. After showing our ID's, they allowed us through, into the main room of the building. The music blared, the beat thrumming through my body, as I watched others out on the dance floor. There was a red glow over the entire room, instead of the usual flashing color lights that you would find in a club. It was mixed with a black lights that were placed on the ceiling and walls in various spots. The whole effect was pretty amazing. We spotted Sarah, Kenzie and the guys out on the dance and waved at them, before walking to the bar. "Hey, can I get a couple of Pink Starburst shots, and then I'll have a Starburst Martini please," I told the lady behind the bar. "Sure honey," she replied, glancing at Colby, who was holding my hand, then winked at me. Denise ordered a couple of shots herself, then went with a Dragon berry Kamikaze mixed drink. Colby looked at us, and smiled, shaking his head. "Always with the weird ass drinks huh?" he said, before placing his own order. "Can I just get a bottled water please?" I cocked my eyebrow at him. "A water?" I asked. He smirked at me, one corner of his mouth turning up. "Yea, I'm driving T. Can't drink. Gotta make sure your pretty little ass gets home safe." I blushed a little, and rolled my eyes. He was right, he shouldn't drink but..."One drink won't hurt you, especially if you drink it slow. I want you to have fun too. We can always call a taxi, if we need too." "A taxi? You don't have Uber?" I laughed and shook my head. "No, Uber hasn't made their way out here yet. I'm pretty sure they do that a few towns over, but no one around here does it. Hell, the only reason I said a taxi is because there is a small cab business in this town. Nothing in my town, and it'll probably cost a lot for them to take us back to the apartment, but that's our only choices." He shook his head. "No, it's not. I'm not going to drink. It's fine. I'll have fun just by being with you. I don't need to drink. It's fine, I promise." I chewed my lip, watching his face. He just smiled at me softly, and squeezed my hand. The bartender placed my shots in front of me, so I shrugged. "If you say so," I replied, before hitting the shots back to back. The loved these shots, because they really did taste like pink starburst, even though they left the familiar liquor burn in my chest. Colby kind of curled his lip watching me. "Are those actually good?" he asked. I nodded, my head feeling a little fuzzy already. The shots were strong. "Yeah, they are. Here, sip it, just so you can taste it." He took the shot glass from me, and took a tiny sip, his eyes going wide with shock. "Oh damn. You can get drunk easy on these. You can't even taste the alcohol." I nodded and smiled. "I know. That's why I love them." I turned up my last one, then took my drink that the bartender had placed down. Denise had thrown her shots back as well, and had her drink in hand. Lisa, the bartender, held out a bottled water to Colby. "Here ya go, handsome. Don't go to hard with it," she joked, winking at him. He gave her his famous wide grin, and I saw her own smile falter a little, her face going slack. Yeah, that was the effect he had on me too Lisa. "I'll go easy, thanks," he replied, taking the water from her. We found a table and set our drinks down. "I'm gonna hit the dance floor," Denise said, already wiggling her hips to the beat of the music. "You guys coming?" Colby looked at me, waiting for me to answer. "Um, we'll be out there soon. Gonna just sit here for a few minutes," I replied, feeling like he wanted to just talk or something for a minute. She nodded, and made her way over to our friends, wiggling her butt up against Derek, making Sarah laugh. Kenzie was dancing with Shawn, and Sarah with Justin. I noticed how he kept glancing over to me and Colby, so I gave him a small wave. He gave me a sad smile, waved back, then looked away. I really hoped that our friendship could survive this. I hadn't known him long, but I cared immensely for him. I sighed, and sat down at the table, next to Colby. "This place is pretty cool. I like it," he said, looking around at all the of the people. They were about as Emo as you could get in a place like this. Not quite as outlandish in their clothing choices, as this town would think of the ones in LA, but odd enough to get judged.