‹ Prequel: Pretty Bird

Pretty Bird; B-Sides

Matthew.

The loud music made the floor vibrate from under Matt Nicholls’ feet as he made his way past the throngs of random partiers. A wide, playful smile shone on his face, the way it usually did when he was surrounded by strangers and booze. He leaned onto the bar’s countertop, motioning to the bartender and yelling over the loud beat coming from the surround sound speakers all around the club, “Two shots of Skyy, mate?”

The bartender, a tall, bald guy with a black t-shirt two sizes too small, nodded in acknowledgement and brought two shot glasses up from under the bar. Matt’s eyes followed the bartender’s hands as he reached through countless half full bottles of alcohol to find the tall, blue bottle of Skyy vodka. With a flick of his skilled wrists, the clear liquid began pouring out of the bottle and into the first shot glass, filling it all the way to the top, alcohol spilling onto the counter’s surface. With another flick of his wrist, he moved the poring stream of alcohol over the next shot glass, filling it to the brim as well. Satisfied, Matt slid a crisp pound note across the bar and took the two full shots in his hands, nodding in thanks to the bartender.

This had been Matt’s simple, go to game plan for years now, especially after his best friend Oli’s wedding a year prior. One thing he was good at besides drumming was being a charmer. It would be rare for a lady to resist his contagious smile and witty jokes, especially when they were already tipsy on the party scene at the club and the shot of straight vodka he always provided. The plan was simple: spot an attractive girl out from the crowd, make friends with her friends, and then offer the shot, along with a genuine smile and smooth one liner. From there, it was all easy. The next thing she knew, she would be offering him an exclusive ‘after hours’ party in her bedroom, an offer he would always accept. Matt Nicholls was not one to be tied down, no matter what his friends and band mates were doing. While he loved his band mate’s girlfriends like sisters, the new life they had chosen was simply not the one for him. He was content with the lifestyle he had been living since the first tour with the band, when they were fresh out of secondary and freshly legal to drink. He lived for his band, his dog, a chihuahua mix named Walter, and his parties.

Like any other night, he spotted her easily, sitting in a booth along the far wall, accompanied by 3 other girls. They were dressed well, with perfectly styled hair and a collection of tall martini glasses sitting on the table in front of them. And, like any other night, one girl stuck out more than her friends. He watched her from the bar, making himself completely inconspicuous among the other people surrounding him. Since she was sitting in the middle of her friends, he couldn’t exactly tell if she was taller or shorter, but she had a face like a china doll, with perfectly rounded cheeks and just the perfect amount of pink tinged blush highlighting her bone structure. Her nose was thin, and rounded perfectly at the tip, and her lips were not too thin or too fat, creating a perfect frame for the amused smiles she was giving her friends as they all laughed and joked. Unlike most of his past ‘conquests’, her face was perfectly made up, making Matt question exactly what he saw in overdone plastic girls he normally picked up in the first place. This girl was going to be a different kind of challenge than the easy pickings he was used to, but he was never one to back down from a healthy break in normalcy.

Convinced he had scoped her out long enough, he took a deep breath, and put his game face on, the wide, contagious smile returning to his lips as he made his way to the booth across the room.

“Hello, loves.” He started cheerily, raising his voice loud over the music. There was always something about him girls could never place that instantly made him the center of attention, as if he was impossible to be ignored.

“Ello.” The girls said almost in unison, smiling up at him expectantly. Matt smiled wider, knowing he had the green light.

“I’m Matt, care to let me join you for a round?”

The girls obliged him, scooting over in the booth, until Matt had enough room to sit next to a girl with dark red hair, and lipstick a few shades too light. “We’re just having cosmopolitans.” She said, her eyes motioning down to the collection of martini glasses.

“Girly drinks.” Matt smiled, allowing himself to charm her as well, even though she was far from the perfect ten sitting next to her, watching him curiously.

“I’m Jena. She said, her eyes quickly motioned around the table. “Next to me is Kelsey, and that’s Michelle, and that’s Nichole.”

‘Kelsey...” He let the information sink into his head as he nodded and smiled to the girls around the table, each of them blushing lightly under the harsh colorful lights in the club.

“So, you from Sheffield?” Jena asked, obviously the louder one in the group.

“Rotherham.” He answered, setting his two full shot glasses on the table. “I live in Sheffield now, though. I got a flat in 3rd District.”

“That’s expensive!” One of the other girls, Michelle or Nichole responded, her eyes growing wide. Matt knew the type, for they were always a dime a dozen. Not wanting to come off as boastful, he shrugged, flashing another smile.

“We’re all from Manchester, actually.” Jena began again, her eyebrows rising. “Kelsey lives in Sheffield, though. We’re visiting her. She’s my cousin.”

“Aye, that’s ace.” He responded, noticing Jena’s accent for the first time that night. “Why the visit?”

“Kelsey’s 20 tomorrow.” Michelle or Nichole said, making Kelsey blush. “Doing some early celebrating.”

“Well, happy birthday, love!” Matt exclaimed, picking up one of the shots off the table. “Care to share a shot with me?”

“Eh…” Kelsey’s blush was obvious even in the darkened lighting, the green pigment in her eyes swirling around her pupil. “I’ve already had plenty to drink.”

“You only live once, dear.” Jena laughed, pushing the drink in front of her cousin. “How many times are you gonna be 20 years old, being offered drinks from charming boys?”

“Yeah, come on Kelsey,” Matt grinned a little wider, liking the way the name rolled off of his tongue. “Celebrate with me.”

“We’ll go get more drinks.” Jena smirked, giving Matt and then Kelsey a wide smile. “Come with me.” She turned to her other friends across the booth. Inside, Matt thanked his luck, getting up from the booth to let Jena out, Michelle and Nichole following. Once they were alone, Matt scooted back into the booth, Kelsey looking up at him nervously.

“Loosen up, love. It’s just a shot.” Matt chuckled, handing the shot to her. She smiled, considerably weaker than Matt.

“I know, it’s just.” She stopped, picking the drink up. “I’m a lightweight.”

Matt laughed, noticing her sway slightly in her seat. “Well if you’re that bad, we don’t have to drink. Will you talk to me instead?”

Kelsey set the drink down, her eyes slanting into a confused glare at the tattooed boy next to her, his smile completely enrapturing.

“You want to talk?” She asked, the skepticism dripping off of her words.

“Well, yeah…” Matt started slow, now realizing he was swimming in unmarked waters. Normally, this would be the point where she would be laughing at his jokes, knocking back shot number two. “If you want, I mean.”

“I know your type, you know.” She smirked, her long, painted white fingernails tapping on the tabletop. “I’m not going to take you home with me.”

The thoughts in Matt’s head came to a crashing halt, even though the look on his face gave no indication that she was undeniably getting to him. “Is that right?” He finally said, the words sounding less confident than his words before.

“Nope. Not in a million years.” She grinned, flipping her platinum blonde hair cut into a bob out of her eyes. “And I won’t have a shot with you either, just in case it makes me change my mind.”

“Well,” Matt started, looking down at the clear alcohol in his shot glass, now feeling like a complete idiot. Maybe bringing drinks and showering girls in compliments and stupid jokes was calculated and cliché.

“Aw, what did you say your name was?” She asked, her thin fingers resting gently on one of his hands. “Matthew?”

“Matt, actually.” He said, the blush now creeping up his cheeks.

“You aren’t used to rejection, are you, Matthew?”

He just looked up at her, the power in the conversation obviously shifting all to her. In his mind, he tried to reason with himself, telling himself that if it was any other girl, he would have taken his shots and left at the point, looking for another target, one that wouldn’t be such a gamble. But, something about the way the color in her eyes seemed to change from darker greens to lighter tones of mint to the way her light blonde haircut perfectly framed her almost perfect bone structure made her magnetic and interesting, something he had never seen in a girl before.

“How about,” She reached down into her purse next to her, pulling out a black cell phone. “I’ll give you my number, and you can call me. And you won’t invite me to a stupid club or a pub, but you’ll take me somewhere nice, where I can get to know you and you won’t have to see me dressed in something so tacky.” She giggled, her eyes glancing down at her outfit, a cut up white t-shirt bearing the words ‘The Rolling Stones’ across the chest, along with their band logo, the large red tongue. It was slightly obscured by the plethora of chunky necklaces around her neck, all in many different colors. Noticing he was examining her outfit, a wave of embarrassment crashing through her. “Jena picked it out.” She explained, the shaky tone in her voice coming back for just a moment.

“I like it.” Matt complimented, giving her his first completely genuine smile of the night. “I don’t think it’s tacky.”

“Well, thank you, Matthew. I don’t think your clothes are tacky either.” She smiled, looking down at his simple navy blue polo, and dark denim jeans clinging to his thighs.

“Matt.” He corrected, giving her a small smile.

“I’ll call you that when we’re friends.” She smiled back, the confidence playing upon her lips.

“So we’re going to be friends?” Matt flirted back, trying to read her facial expressions.

“Well, for now, yeah.” She smirked, her hand still resting on Matt’s. “Who knows what the future holds, right?”

“Right.” Matt said, matching her wide smile. “To the future then?” Matt smiled, raising his hand up in air as if he was holding an imaginary shot glass.

“The future.” She giggled, lifting up the shot of vodka. She pretended to crash it against Matt’s imaginary shot glass before bringing it to her lips and letting the alcohol run down her throat.

“So much for not drinking.” Matt laughed, following her lead and downing his shot as well.

“Well, it’s a complete party foul to let perfectly good alcohol go to waste, isn’t it?”

“Right, right you are.” Matt smiled, looking down at her hand on his. Her touch was smooth, soft, just feeling right on his own skin.

Little did he know at that exact moment, he would never get completely used to her skin on his. It would always remain a sensation that would never get old to him, something he had never experienced with any other girl besides her. Just like she had stated that night in the club, they were friends first, visiting coffee shops and book stores together, Matt even letting her backstage at one of the band’s shows. He knew however, that she was ready to move on to being more when after that very show, she still wanted to give him a hug even though he was completely drenched in sweat and absolutely exhausted. Even as a couple, they were friends first, sharing a multitude of inside jokes and witty one liners back and forth. It was a cute, perfect picture of a couple, of two people who simply enjoyed each other’s company, nothing more and nothing less.
♠ ♠ ♠
My sister's boyfriend's friend has a half chihuahua half jack russell named Walter.

SO, first b-side!
I had to help out Mr. Nicholls in the love department,
he is easily my favorite person in the band :)

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OH! AND.
i have a new OLIVER story, just started it yesterday. Here is the link,
Its called:
Silent Spring.
Check it out!