Sunshine in my Heart

The lights slowly began to brighten as the last of the credits disappeared off the screen. Mishti’s eyes blinked a couple times as they tried tor readjust to the sudden brightness. She could feel the tingly feeling in her hands indicating they had fallen asleep as she curled them.

She froze realizing that her hand was still in the grasp of Nick’s. She slowly forced herself to look at him. At the moment she looked up, Nick turned her way. A smile appeared on his face as he saw her looking at him.

Mishti snapped out of her trance a couple seconds later. “I kind of need my hand back,” she teased.

Nick laughed but pulled his hand out of hers. Mishti opened her mouth to talk but was quickly interrupted before she could. A hand touched her shoulder causing Mishti to jump and look behind her.

“We’re going to the after party soon,” Emily said as her eyes twinkled mischievously as they darted between Nick and Mishti.

“Oh you’re going to?” Nick asked. Both of them stood up and Mishti grabbed her purse that was lying on the chair.

“I guess we are,” Mishti answered. Emily hadn’t mentioned any after party, but it seemed like they were now going.

Emily nodded. “Yes we are.” She took a hold of Mishti’s arm and began to pull her along with her. “Come on, Mom’s getting antsy.”

Mishti turned to Nick and gave an apologetic smile. “I guess we’ll see you there.” She gave a small wave before she followed Emily.

The two girls made their way through the hordes of people that were all exiting the theater at the same time. Emily was stopped numerous times by fans for her autograph. Mishti enjoyed watching her best friend living her dream and it certainly showed on the glow on Emily’s face that she was enjoying it too.

They finally reached Laura who was talking to who it looked like a couple of other stage moms. As soon as she saw Mishti and Emily, she excused herself and walked over to them.

“Ready to go, girls?” Laura asked as she approached them.

Emily fumbled with her purse for a couple moments before responding. “Is it okay if Mishti and I redo our makeup real quick?”

Laura nodded. “Go ahead. There’s no need to rush. I’m going to talk to Clarissa over there. Just call me when you two are ready to leave.”

Emily didn’t bother responding to her mom and gestured for Mishti to follow her. Mishti attempted to keep up with Emily as she weaved through the crowds of people. Out of breath, Mishti finally caught up to her at the door of ladies restroom.

Both girls pushed the heavy door open and stepped inside the luxurious bathroom. Mishti’s jaw dropped as soon as she did. The bathroom was seemed like it was out of Harrods. Carpet covered the entire front part of the bathroom. Marble sinks were lined up in the middle and the walls on both sides were fully sculpted in mirrors.

“Whoa,” Mishti stated after a couple of seconds. She couldn’t believe something like this even existed.

“I know, isn’t it insane?” Emily asked as she opened her purse.

“Definitely,” Mishti agreed. She copied Emily and set her purse down on the counter. She fished inside the messy bag and looked for her makeup.

Emily leaned closer to the mirror with a eye liner in her hand and began to reapply it on her eyes. “So you and Nick?”

Mishti stopped searching through her purse for her lip gloss and looked up to her best friend. “Hmm?”

Emily turned to her with a grin. “I saw you two during the movie. Was it just me or were you two holding hands?”

She tried to fight back the smile that was creeping onto her face but lost. “Maybe.”

“Are you together now or…” Emily let the words trail at the end. She had a good reason too because just like Emily, Mishti had no idea what her and Nick’s status was at all.

Mishti shook her head. “No we’re not.” She left it at that not wanting to elaborate more. The lip gloss finally came into view in her black hole of a purse and took it out.

Emily hesitated before asking the next question. “Would you say yes to him if he asked you out?”

Mishti stared at her complexion in the mirror as she listened to Emily. She took a deep breath before answering. “Honestly, I don’t know.”

Emily frowned. “But he likes you, and you like him. I don’t see a dilemma here.”

Mishti turned to Emily and leaned against the sink counter. She crossed her arms and blew her bangs away from her eyes. She turned to Emily and gave her a sad smile. “I just don’t want a repeat of last year, Emily.”

“Nick’s not that type of guy, Mishti,” Emily said softly as she shut the clasp on her purse.
Both their heads turned as the door the bathroom opened. Laura stuck her head inside and smiled. “You two ready to go? Everybody is just about leaving to go.”

Mishti glanced at Emily one more time before taking her purse and following Laura. Emily came behind her and squeezed her hand reassuringly saying she understood and followed her mom out also.

They made their way to the entrance of the building and exited. The warm air of the California evening hit them as they stepped outside. Their car was waiting for them right outside the building and they quickly went in.

Laura, Emily and Mishti chatted on the way to the after party as they compared views on the movie. The building wasn’t far away and they reached there about fifteen minutes later.

The sounds of loud music blasting increased as they approached the building. Laura gave their names at the door and they were quickly ushered inside after a glance at Emily.

The music came to its full volume as they made their way inside. Mishti could recognize plenty of people who were at the premiere who were also at the party. Tables were set everywhere for the convenience of people who wanted to relax. She saw off at the end of very back of the party was the dance floor and where it looked like most of the teenagers were hanging out.

Emily and Mishti began walking towards the back. They were occasionally stopped a few times by people who wanted to speak to Emily. Mishti would patiently wait for her before they proceeded.

Mishti’s eyes wandered looking for one specific person in the whole group. She would stop for a few seconds to say hello to some people who Emily introduced her too but kept looking for him.

It took her a few minutes, but she finally found him. He was off to the side with Joe talking to a blonde who when she turned around, Mishti could tell was Chelsea. She stood there next to Emily and watched him.

He seemed slightly bored as his eyes began to travel around the party. It didn’t take long for him to make eye contact with Mishti. As soon as he did, a smile crept up his face. Mishti ducked her head and pretended to be engrossed in whatever conversation Emily was in at the moment. Mishti jumped into the conversation, enjoying herself as she tried to block out the person who was in her mind.

“Hey,” a voice whispered into her ear. Mishti froze as she felt his hot breath float down. Butterflies started to make their way into her stomach as she slowly turned around. She tilted her head up and looked into his eyes.

“Um hey,” Mishti spoke with a slight waver in her voice.

“Enjoying the party?” Nick asked as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

Mishti looked around before answering him. “Not sure yet. We just got here a few minutes ago.”

“Well with me here, it’s going to be a fun party,” Nick smirked.

She rolled her eyes. “If that’s what you think, go right ahead.”

Nick laughed. He turned his head to watch the dance floor that was slowly starting to fill up. He jerked his head to it and asked, “Want to go dance?”

Within a second, Mishti battled with her thoughts of whether to say yes or no. She began to reflect on their conversation with Emily back at the theater and decided to take her chances. She forced a grin on her face. “Sure.”

The beginning of Hollaback Girl started to play as they made their way onto the dance floor. Mishti hadn’t noticed before, but Emily had snuck out already onto the dance floor and was dancing. They reached Joe, Emily, Chelsea, Nicole, and Lucas Till who all were dancing in a group.

Mishti found herself dancing with Nick most of the time as they continually teased each other about their lack of dancing skills. Mishti couldn’t remember the last time she had had so much fun. But it didn’t matter, because she was enjoying herself and didn’t plan for anything to change that.

A few songs passed by before the DJ came back on. “Okay guys, we’re going to slow it down. Guys, grab a girl.” Mishti recognized the beginning notes as Lips of an Angel, one of her all time favorite songs.

Mishti was starting to look for Emily so she could dance with her like she had done at all her other school dances back in Ohio. She was startled to find Nick grab her wrist and force her to look at him.

“Do you want to dance?” he asked hesitatingly. Mishti bit her lip as she took in his words. She looked past his shoulder to see Emily nodding her head vigorously. She looked back at Nick and silently shook her head yes.

His hands made their way to her waist bringing her dangerously close to his body. Robotically, Mishti placed her arms around his neck. She had no choice but to look up at him and stare into his dark orbs.

Her breath was caught in her throat as she looked longer and longer into his eyes. A smile broke out on his face as he watched her. “See? This isn’t so bad now is it? My dancing isn’t too terrible,” Nick teased.

Mishti laughed. “True. You slow dance much better than regular dancing.”

Light conversation played in between the two as they swayed to the music. As much as she hated to admit to herself, she was slightly enjoying herself being this close to Nick. She looked past him to see other couples dancing and found herself looking back at Nick.

She could hear the last minute or so of the song playing and knew the dance was going to end soon. Mishti was about to make a remark, but stopped herself as she found herself in a strong eye connection between her and Nick.

Not able to control her movements, Mishti slowly inched her head upward coming closer and closer to Nick’s face. Her eyes fluttered shut as she could hear Hinder singing the last “Lips of an Angel.”

Nick’s lips brushed her own before pressing down. Her mind was racing so fast that she couldn’t even comprehend what was happening. When her mind finally registered what was happening, memories flashed through her head. Painful memories. Slightly gasping, Mishti pulled back quickly. Nick’s confused face came into her sight as she did so.

“I-I’m sorry.”

Mishti didn’t bother saying anything more as she pulled out of his grasp and began to walk away from him. Halfway off the dance floor, she broke into a slight and run. She pushed her way through hordes of people and didn’t look back.