Everything's Changing Now

Four hours later, Stephen and Sophie were in an alley behind a large warehouse-like building. She had changed into cloth booty shorts and a tank top, and Stephen was wearing his usual outfit of jeans and a wife beater. He assured Sophie that this was what guys wore to this club, besides “juiceheads that were secretly gay” who wore polos with popped collars. There was loud techno music sounding through the walls and windows at the top of the brick wall showed neon lights of every hue. Stephen hopped onto the fire escape and held his hand out to help Sophie up.

“Are you sure we can do this?” Sophie nervously questioned.

“We’re fine, don’t worry. Like, I said, I’ve done this before,” Stephen replied with confidence. After he and Sophie were on the balcony-like structure, he led her to a half open window and let her in first. When she climbed down through the window, she discovered they were standing in a bathroom.

“I don’t know how the owners or whoever haven’t noticed how easy it is to sneak in here yet. I’ve known people that have been coming here for five years,” Stephen laughed, continuing to lead Sophie towards the pulsing beats and flashing lights. “I vote we get a little more drunk before we start dancing.”

“I totally agree with that,” Sophie laughed. She didn’t mind making a fool of herself around these people she didn’t know, and she knew Stephen wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

When they got to the bar, Stephen ordered them shots of various types of alcohol, and in less than five minutes Sophie had consumed six of these shots. She waited for Stephen to finish his eighth before pulling him towards the dance floor. As soon as she stopped walking she felt the alcohol hit her and had to hold onto Stephen so she didn’t fall down, laughing as she did so.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have taken that many so fast,” Stephen laughed, trying to steady Sophie.

“Oh well! They’re in me now, nothing I can do about it!” she said, already starting to slur. “C’mon, let’s dance!” Sophie wrapped her arms around Stephen’s neck, more to keep her upright than anything, and began to sway back and forth. Stephen grabbed her waist and moved them further into the mass of bodies.

Not able to tell when one song started and another began, Stephen waited until what seemed like a good amount of time to pull himself and Sophie out of the crowd to get water and go to the bathroom. When they approached the bar, Sophie ordered herself another two shots and when they arrived Stephen downed one himself and had to fight Sophie before she took the other.

“Hey! I’m not even that drunk, I want more!” Sophie fake yelled.

“You need to drink some water first, then you can have as many as you want,” Stephen slurred. He knew that taking that many shots in such a small amount of time was a bad idea, but he pushed his conscience out of his head and took them anyways.

“I have to pee,” Sophie announced, heading for the room the two had entered previously. “Uh, I think I’m going to need your help. At least go in there with me.” Stephen blushed at her request, but didn’t want to be responsible if she hurt herself in the state she was in. “It’s not like you haven’t seen a girl naked before…right?” Sophie was certainly more social and open when she wasn’t sober, and she’d recently found out that she enjoyed putting people in awkward situations.

“Of course I have, it’s just…strange,” Stephen mumbled, continuing into the bathroom.

“Just stand somewhere and I’ll yell if I need help,” Sophie giggled. Stephen turned around awkwardly, he never thought he’d see this side of Sophie, and Sophie never thought this side of her would be let out. Delaney must have rubbed off on her. “Okay I’m done! Guess I didn’t need any help.” Sophie tripped walking over to the sink, and Stephen held her up as she washed her hands. The two stumbled back to the bar and each got a bottle of water; Sophie quickly finished hers then grabbed Stephen’s half-full bottle and chugged the rest of it, shrugging. Stephen laughed then led her back to the dance floor, returning to their previous position. A rare slow song came on and the two moved closer together.

“I’m really glad we came here, I’m having a lot of fun,” Sophie whispered into Stephen’s ear.

“Me too,” he smiled. Sophie gently rested her head on Stephen’s shoulder. This was possibly the happiest she’d been since arriving in Scottsdale, and that was a feat considering how much fun the summer had been so far. It would be a sad day when she and Delaney would have to go home, but Sophie was planning on making the most of her time left here. It’s not like she’d never be able to see her friends again, they were only a two hour drive from Flagstaff, it would just be a lot less convenient than her current situation. She pushed those thoughts out of her head, and continued to enjoy Stephen’s company and the break from fast dancing. As the song ended, Sophie lifted her head and pulled Stephen into a deep kiss.