Built A World of Magic

Vegas. Alexander Gaskarth took me out for a crazy night in Vegas. He spent unnatural amounts on money to get me into clubs, even more money on drinks from fancy bars. Vegas was nothing like I expected. From what I can remember there was more excitement than I ever imagined. The drunks, the fights, the drugs. Vegas was like the dark side of the moon- You think you can see clearly, but then your vision goes so dark that everyone looks like something it isn’t.

I don’t remember how I got here. Last I can recall, Alex was bribing a bartender into pouring me shots. The tender gave him a smirk, glancing at my body. It was very obvious that I wasn’t twenty-one. I barely looked my age as it was. But the tender, oh, he was smooth.

“It’s not against the law for you to buy more shots than your mouth can take at once, boy. If it ends up in her hands just make sure I ain’t lookin’.”

So even though Alex had to pay extra just to get me into these clubs, he always bought an extra shot for me, and eventually five became ten, ten became.. Well, I can’t remember. The bed I woke in was comfortable, but it had a strange smell. That definitely was not my mattress. The sheets, they were comfortable, but they weren’t my vegan sheets. I wish I hadn’t opened my eyes, because that was the worst shock of them all.

My head was spinning, and my heartbeat was so loud I thought it was going to kill me. My throat was dry, and my body was so dehydrated that I was shaking. I gave a grunt, clutching to my stomach. I could faintly taste tequila lingering on my tongue. I was thankful to see that Alex had left me a large bottle of water and a bottle of Advil on the nightstand. I sat up slowly and popped three pills in my mouth, chugging the bottle so quickly it almost made me sick. With a deep breath, I glanced around the room. Alex was sitting on a chair by a near window, with his legs by his chest, wrapped warmly in his arms.

“Alex?” My voice came out hoarse. He looked so sad and confused sitting there by himself. I was going to get up to ask him what was wrong, but something moving in the ‘living room’ caught my eye. “Oh geeze. Is that a monkey?”

“He responds to Marvin. I wouldn’t piss him off, though, I wouldn’t give him my water earlier and he tried to eat my face. Must be hung over from last night.”

“You actually remember last night?”

“No, but the letter says it all.”

“Who sent us a letter?”

“We did. We wrote it last night, knowing we wouldn’t remember today.”

“Uh. Okay? What happened? Who got the monkey drunk? That‘s just cruel.”

“I don’t know. That’s a very smart monkey. He was the… thing, at that.. Place.”

“Alex, if you don’t start speaking clearly, I’m going to get sick. I think I’m still a little drunk from last night. What did we do?” I gave a faint laugh, but when Alex looked at me with strange eyes, I knew we must have done something bad. “Oh, crap. What did we do?”

“Marvin.. He delivered the rings. The rings I spent over five thousand bucks on last night.”

“Rings?”

Alex bit his lip, standing from his seat. He rubbed his hands on his knees and offered me a cheesy grin. When I didn’t respond, he ran a hand through his shaggy, wet hair. Clearly he had showered away mistakes from last night. He gave me a deep sigh and glanced to Marvin.

“Morning, honey,” Alex sarcastically laughed. “You should shower before we hit the road, but please be cautious of the four thousand dollar diamond on your hand. The receipt says it’s non refundable.”

“You mean we’re… ?”

“Married. Yep.” Alex sighed. “Coffee?”