Gloria

Lights were flashing, the music was pumping, pumping through the air and the walls and the ground. I felt a little claustrophobic in the club, the people screaming and the boys and girls practically shagging on the dance floor. But they didn’t care, they were having fun.

I hadn’t had fun in a while.

I sighed, looking around. I felt a little lonely; all of my friends were on the dance floor with their girls. And then there was me. Sitting at the bar.
I skimmed through the crowd, until my eyes passed over a very familiar girl. My eyes trained on her, on the familiar face and brown hair.

Gloria.

I still remembered exactly what she had said on the day we split. “It’s all for the best. I’ve got this thing in my mind; it tells me I’m right.”

Well, I had this thing in mine, and it started from the chest.

Ever since the split, I had been that broken record. Out of time. Forcing myself to live, even if I was living… the wrong way.

Heartbroken.

I stared at the drink in my hand, contemplating what to do.

Before I had even made up my mind, I was on my feet, pushing through the crowd, aiming for her. Gloria.

She looked shocked when she saw me. Her friends left to chase a bunch of guys. “Jake,” was all she could say.

I leaned in close to her. I could tell that she still loved me; she knew it; I knew it. I pressed myself against her and felt her heart pounding quickly, and I knew she felt mine, too.

“You wanna cross the line?” I whispered.

She bit her lip.

“Come on. You wanna dance tonight?”

She was still hesitating. I remembered what she had told me that horrible day. “There are certain lines we shouldn’t cross now. I think it’d hurt too much for the both of us if we crossed them.”

“You know, from here, the line’s looking blurry tonight,” I murmured, knowing that she knew what I was talking about. I knew I was over the line, sweet-talking, but I needed to cross over with her.

Gloria nodded, her short brown hair flinging across her face.

We danced.

The lines blurred, and even though I had known very well that lying alone at night had been for the best, it still felt so good, too good, to be crossing those blurred lines.

Gloria.