𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, shawn mendes

𝟣.𝟦

shawn mendes
17/02/18
8:17pm
new york city, usa

"Names?" The bouncer-like figure standing at the door of the club asks Brian and I impatiently.

"Uh, Shawn Mendes and Brian Craigen." He searches the guest list until he finds our names and ticks them off.

"In there." He moves his head towards where the party obviously was. I have never met Florence Jones before, and neither has Brian. But hey, it's a party with free drinks and tons of hot girls, so I'm definitely not complaining.

We walk forward into the club, the music booming around the huge room. "Remind me why I'm here again?" Brian yells over the music.

"Because I didn't want to come alone and you're a good friend?" He gets distracted by a girl that walks past, clearly not listening to a word I say.

"I can think of way better reasons. And she's walking right over there." He follows her like a lost puppy over to the bar, leaving me standing on the dance floor, alone.

I stand rooted in my spot for a while, my head moving to the music as I wait for him to come back. It becomes apparent in 20 minutes that he's not returning. I move to the bar and order myself a beer, receiving a disapproving look from the bartender. I got the feeling this place wasn't exactly the type of club to order a beer. I reach out to take my drink, my arm bumping into a girl next to me. She turns around, her blonde hair whipping me around the face. "Shawn! Are you enjoying the party?" She slurs loudly over the music. Florence Jones.

"I was, until my friend left me." I reply, taking a swig of my beer and avoiding eye contact.

"Awh, that sucks. You should come dance with us!" She points to a group of girls on the dance floor, only one that I recognise. Make that two, I realise once another turns around. Because one of those girls is the one from the café who I haven't been able to stop thinking about. Elizabeth. "My friend really wants to meet you."

My heart skips a beat. "Uh, oh? Who?"

"You see that one over there?" She points to Elizabeth. "Anyways, come join us. You're not allowed to not have fun at my party."

Before I could protest, in fear of embarrassing myself over my nerves, she grabs me by the wrist and drags me over to the centre of the dance floor. "Look who I brought!" She exclaims.

"Shawn!" the other girl I recognise smiles at me. In places like this, it felt like you knew everyone and everyone knew you, even when you'd never met the person before.

I scramble through my brain to remember her name. It begins with a Z, I know that much. Zara? Zoe? I opt to go with what I know and refer to her as 'Z'. "Hey, Z!"

"You two know each other?" Florence asks, handing out shots. I'll let Z-whatever answer.

"Eh, kinda. I think we met once at an Awards show?"

Zahara Rani. Actress and model. I remember now. Still nothing from Elizabeth. I turn to her.

"And you're Elizabeth, right?"

She laughs, loudly. "You are kidding, right?" I feel my cheeks heat up. Thank god for the low lighting, or else she'd see me turning into a living beetroot. She sees I'm not kidding, and stops laughing. "You're thinking of my mother, Elizabeth Versini. I'm Aurora."

"Hi. I'm- I'm Shawn." She grins,

"I gathered." I smile back, and it feels like the whole party stops. Of course it doesn't, but my hopeless romantic brain makes it feel like it does. Florence hands me a shot and I take it, eager to remove the barrier of awkwardness between Aurora and I. Of course I'd get her name wrong, that's just a typical Shawn thing to do. But Aurora was even more beautiful, more fitting for her.