Noises

I love Megan - I really do, but not when she sets me up on a blind date, for a pointless night in a local bar. ‘Calamity’ is all that ran through my head as I was getting dressed in our apartment, and, also, why I had even agreed to do this.

Oh, yes, that’s it. Because I was so depressing when I was just shuffling about behind the two lovebirds. You know, because I must be so disgusting that no other boy would even go near me. Apart from Josh and the other odd few, but I think that boy is mentally deficient, anyway. Well, maybe.

When I was dressed, I didn’t hurry out of the house like I should’ve done. Megan had set this whole thing up for six, and it was already ten past, but, still, I sat in the kitchen and nervously tapped the surface of the table with my fingertips. I was only worried, though, about how we he would look, how he would act, if he, too, was mentally deficient - stuff like that. Seriously, Megan just doesn’t think these things through.

I could be dead by the end of tonight.

I pursed my lips, unimpressed with my own thoughts, and let out a frustrated sigh, standing up and grabbing my bag, pulling it onto my shoulder. When I left, I made sure to read over the text Megan had sent me from her shift at the bookstore, giving me instructions of where to go. Apparently, I had only been to this bar once or twice, and she wasn’t going to risk me getting lost.

When I got there, I awkwardly shuffled towards a man that was leaning against the pub outside, and he seemed to be clad in skinny jeans, military boots, a plain, white, v-neck shirt and a black leather jacket. When I got closer, I smiled at him, timidly, and sent him a small wave, feeling quite self-conscious. If I had known how good-looking he was going to be, then I probably wouldn’t have worn something so tight-fitting and flirty, almost. His hair was a chocolaty brown, falling over both his eyes, but he briefly nudged his fringe out of his way so he could, as it seemed, take a good look at me.

“You must be Hollie.” he started, extending his hand out to me. Once I took it, I nodded, and I found myself blushing when he kissed my knuckles, softly. “I’m Ben.”

I smiled, sliding my hand out of his and bringing it back to hold my bag strap. “Nice to meet you.” I murmured, glancing at the pub. There was loud music coming from inside, and I was dying to get in there, just for the warmth.

It seemed that Ben had noticed how eager I looked, as he smiled, sliding his hand into mine again and pushing the door open. Once we walked inside, I had a small sense that there were a few pairs of eyes on me, but I just focused on the bar. He lead us to it, and we sat, ordering drinks and joking about.

I was surprised, actually; usually, like with Joshua, I was not so open to boys, but this one was different. He was easier to talk to, and unlike Francesweechi, he wasn’t as cocky, or rude. I could feel my cheeks turning pink at some of the things he said, and I even giggled. My legs were swinging back and forth, and my straw was bending in between my fingers as I listened to his attempts at making me laugh, which, might I add, worked. It was so unusual for me, but, there you go.

It probably hadn’t been fifteen minutes when I twirled my bar stool, slightly, giving the boys behind us a double-take. I briefly held up my finger to Ben, as if to tell him I’d be one moment, stood up, and then grinned. Considering they were associated with Joshua, I was surprisingly happy to see them; they hadn’t annoyed me, and it appeared that the singer wasn’t even present.

“Hey, guys!” I squealed, wrapping my arms around both their necks, kissing both their cheeks. They both returned the embrace, too, which was lovely. “How are you?”

Max shrugged. A grin that matched Matt’s was showing. “We’re alright. Came here for a little celebration, I s’pose.” he nodded.

I raised my eyebrows with a small smile at this, and instantly, for some reason, I began wondering where the hell that singer actually was. It was quite weird, actually, that when I least expected, or whenever I wasn’t in the mood to be around him, I ended up kind of wanting to at least see his face. So, without really thinking, I licked over my lips and tilted my head. “Where’s Josh, then?”

Max frowned and turned his head, a smirk on his face as he looked behind him. With his arms, he reached behind him and grabbed someone’s shoulders, firmly, and magically seemed to pull the one, the only, Joshua Franceschi, out of thin air. “He’s here!” he exclaimed, happily, shoving him towards me.

I took a step backwards before he could touch me, though, and sat on the barstool again. Ben was trying to politely lean away from us, probably to give us some privacy, whilst sipping his drink. I took my own drink and sipped some of it through the straw, just like I had when me and Joshua first met. Thinking of that, I remembered how attractive I had thought the singer was. And, he still is attractive, but just annoying. “Hey,” I smiled, forcing it a little wider. “You okay?”

Just then, a few quite a few expressions run across his face, until he began to smile. He nodded. “Don’t I get a cuddle and a kiss, then?” he grinned. “After I spent all that money on you the other night in the arcade - no consideration for my wallet in the slightest.” he then smirked, and suddenly, I felt like slapping those rosy cheeks of his.

However, I kept my smile up and stood, smoothing out my dress. I wrapped my arms around him, pretending to have forgotten about the kiss he was supposedly expecting to land on his cheek, and pulled away after a second or two, sitting back down. Nothing was said, then, and Matt and Max began to whistle, awkwardly, as the bartender placed a few pints of lager on a tray.

Most probably sensing the awkwardness, Joshua reached forward and snatched his pint, so quickly that he spilt a little, and I subtly moved my legs towards Ben’s, as if worried that he’d somehow spill his beverage on me. Then, he glanced around and licked over his lips, opening his mouth to speak as Max began to whine. It seemed that Helyer knew what was about to be said, and I was just sat, waiting for him to leave. Now that I had seen him, I felt as though his company was long overdue, and was eagerly wanting him to just disappear. I don’t even know why, either. I reckon he’s probably the sweetest boy, but I just don’t do well with little annoyances like himself.

“See you later.” the singer muttered, then walked, swiftly, away from us. Following his actions, Matt and Max said their quick goodbye’s to me, and left, too, leaving me to blink, contently, after them.

I turned, then, and put my drink on the bar, sipping it through the straw as Ben leaned back in towards me, letting out a quiet laugh. I rolled my eyes and began laughing after I swallowed my drink.

“Who was that?” Ben asked me, looking at me through his eyelashes.

I licked over my lips and looked at him, shaking my head. “It’s just some boys I know. But, let’s not talk about them, yeah?” I grinned, and it was straight after that when we both began joking around again. It seemed so easy for him to entertain me, without trying to make a fool out of himself, and this continued for a good, solid few minutes, before the music changed to something of Pendulum, and my head began bopping around in time with the beat.

However, as my head was getting into the music, I noticed that Joshua had stood up with his arm-candy, who seemed too fake for my liking, and had lead her to the wooden dance floor, where, already, there were young adults dancing with each other as if it was some full-on nightclub. And, although I was here with Ben, I immediately felt quite jealous of the cow that he had brought along with him. It was evident I was, as well, because I could feel myself glaring at the two of them as they began grinding against each other.

After a minute of just staring at them, I turned, and smiled sweetly at Benjamin, putting my drink on the counter. I then stared at him, the same smile on my face as I waited for him to understand.

He blinked, though, several times, before the look of realisation dawned on his face. “Hollie,” he chuckled, holding out his hand. “Would you care to dance?”

My smile widened into a grin, and I took his hand, standing up. “Love to.” I told him, walking out onto the dance floor, with Ben following behind. I weaved in between couples, until we were in the centre, and almost bumping hips and shoulders with Joshua and his woman of the hour.

I felt quite sly, actually. The lights were flickering, the music was loud, and the bodies surrounding us were sweating, already, which was quite gross, considering it was just a pub. But, all the same, it was some good fun - even if I was just doing this, for some odd reason, to get at Josh. Why, I don’t know; I wasn’t supposed to even like him, much.

But, I felt Ben’s hands on my hips, and I began to smirk. The two of us were jumping around and, in general, going mental. Well, that was until my arm smacked the blonde, that was occupied with Josh, in the face.

She stumbled, and then began to glare at me, shoving my shoulders. I stumbled, this time, into a couple, and both Ben and Josh stopped dancing, along with most of the people around us.

“Do you fucking mind?” I snapped, glaring at her. The song had stopped now, and what with my yell, the DJ had glanced over and kept the music off altogether. Joshua’s expression fell into fear, and he bit his lip, glancing at Ben, who looked at the singer and bit his lip, too.

“You hit me in the head!” the blonde yelled back, waving her arms to emphasize. She obviously had no idea of what ‘having a good time’ meant.

“Because I was dancing - better than what you were doing.” I retorted, my cheeks red. This woman was already annoying me, and she hadn’t said much.

“You actual emo!” she then snapped, shoving my shoulders again. “Just because I’m blonde, far more better looking and a much more experienced dancer, doesn’t mean you have to hit me in the head.”

My glare deepened, and I leaned into her. “Call me an ‘emo’ one more time, and I’ll kick you so hard in the cunt, your mum will feel it.” I retorted, and it surprised me that no one had said anything about what I had thrown at her; it was, after all, from Misfits, which is just another point to why I’m so cold hearted. I never socialise.

Just then, Josh made a shocked squeal, and he reached forward, wrapping his fingers around my wrist and pulling me, forcefully, out of the crowd. I frowned at this, but I had no other option than to follow him, so I didn’t try to pull away from his grasp; it was too strong, anyway. He pushed the door open that had a toilet sign on it, and we stood in the corridor, the ladies and gents’ toilets at the bottom of hallway we stood in. Once the door closed, completely, he dropped my wrist and rubbed his face.

“Hollie, what was that?” he snapped, turning his head to glare at me.

I spluttered at this, and held a hand to my chest. “I was dancing, Josh!” I cried, staring at him with a frown. “I hit her by accident, and the bitch decided to shove me. If she’s gunna shove me, she’d better be prepared to get shoved back.” I spat. “I’m not taking any shit from her.”

“You could’ve just left it - Jesus!” the singer yelled, running a hand through his hair, seemingly frustrated. “You could’ve hurt her!”

“I could’ve hurt her?” I asked, immediately, my voice dangerously low. I sounded so hurt, and I was, a little. My expression told him I was hurt, too. “Josh, how could you say that to me? You’ve been calling me non stop for days, now, and you come here with someone you don’t even know!” my voice had began to pick up, just slightly, although my eyebrows were still furrowed - my eyes were still sad. “You’re the one who’s going to hurt her; you won’t even know her name by tomorrow!”

Joshua didn’t say anything in reply to this, and instead, he just stared at me, his eyes softening. In the long silence, I let out a small breath - though, suddenly, the singer had placed one hand on my shoulder, pushing me back against the wall. Then, with his other hand, he wrapped it around the back of my neck, his fingers in my hair, and he had the cheek to press his lips against mine, gently.

I stood in shock at this, my eyes wide, my cheeks burning and my heart beating faster than ever. Not only was the kiss completely different to what I could’ve ever imagined, but he ‘supposedly’ cared about that blondie out there, and I had met a boy that I actually liked tonight.

So, although the kiss was surprisingly the best kiss I’d ever been given in years, I squirmed, and shoved his chest. He stumbled back and stared at me in disbelief.

“You complete dick!” I screamed, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “Stop it, Josh - just, stop it!” I cried, then pushed his chest, lightly, as I stormed down the hallway, running a hand through my hair. I liked Ben, not him. Right? Ugh, this was so confusing!

“You alright?” Ben hurried, holding onto my hand as I walked back into the pub. The music had already began playing again, and he had obviously been waiting by for me. I just nodded, and pulled him out of the pub altogether. He lead us to his car, and without a word, he drove us to his. I had briefly sent Megan a text, telling her where I would be, but I told her nothing about what just happened with Josh; she’d probably castrate the boy.

The rest of the journey was made in complete silence, with Ben’s eyes on the road and mine staring out the window. I couldn’t have liked that kiss too much, right? I liked Ben. I was sure of it.