San Francisco, Lovely

It wreaked of mixtures of various alcohol components and marijuana; it had a distinctive smell, Sami couldn’t possibly think of anything that could mimic the smell of marijuana smoke. It's incomparable to tobacco; yet, the smell of tobacco lingered in the air as well. It felt as if she was at a Frat Party and she didn’t like that one bit. To escape from the hazy room, Sami manoeuvred her way towards the balcony, closing the sliding glass door behind her. The fresh air stung her nose as she was unprepared to inhale the nature around her.

The street lights were lit along the street towards the ocean. Only a few stranglers, or possibly couples, were walking on the paths in the wee hours of the morning. Her pointer and middle fingers dangled the red cup—which was half way full with some sort of mixed drink—over the railing of the balcony. Her yellow and green flashing glow stick hung around her neck like a necklace; it was the only bright object in the immediate area. Sami wondered why she felt so distant from the party: Was she already homesick? Perhaps maybe a little. Was it those goddamn pills? There was a good chance. Did someone slip something in her drink? Doubt it.

As her mind trailed off thinking of the endless possibilities, the glass door behind her slid open silently. With the rim of the cup pressed to his lips, the curly haired boy from early took only a few steps to stand beside Sami. He glanced at her and noticed that her blue eyes were shut but she face turned to stone as if she knew someone had suddenly appeared beside her. Her eyes slowly opened and turned her medium frame towards him.

“It’s nice out.” He breathed out, turning around and leaning his back against the railing. His arms were folded and the red cup hovered before his lips.

“It’s pretty average.” She nodded in agreement.

“I didn’t get to introduce myself early today, I’m Darren.”

Sami acknowledged his introduction instead of brushing him off and being a bitch. She smiled faintly and decided to repay him with her own name: “Sami,” she said plainly. “Call me Sami, or Dukes. Whichever, whatever.”

The male, Darren, pressed his finger to his lips and stared at the short female. “Sami must be a nickname.”

“It is.” She nodded slightly. “It’s short for Samaria. It’s Arabic, if that was going to be you’re next question. And to answer the next question after that, no, I am not Arabian.”

He chuckled sweetly and prompted a smile on his chapped lips. “You must get that question a lot.”

“You have no idea.”

This time, Sami was the one to turn fully and lean her back against the railing. Through the transparent door, the two young adults witness the bubbly blonde friend of Sami lay on the dark wood table in the middle of the room with her shirt raised and a male licking the tequila off of Venna’s stomach. This made Sami curious.

“Who is that guy that keeps going back to Venna for body shots?”

“You mean the tall guy with the crooked smile? That’s Joey; he’s my roommate slash best friend slash one crazy son of a bitch.” He smirked. “He’s been following your little friend around like a fucking puppy all night. Normally, I would say that it’s cute but it’s the creepiest fucking thing I have ever seen.”

This made Sami laugh, genuinely laugh. “Ah!” Darren said with excitement, “So she isn’t made of stone.”

“Who said I was made of stone? I’m not Medusa or anything.”

“Um, Medusa turned people into stone.” Darren corrected the female. “Close, though.”

The girl just rolled her blue eyes and threw her head back which made the rest of her drink burn her throat as it slid into her stomach to further damage her kidneys. Her head rolled to take a mental picture of the male who helped her earlier in the day. She hadn’t really noticed his physical appearance—not that it would help now seeing as how it was dark outside, but his hazel eyes were glistening and seemed to be staring off into space as if he had begun to think of something important to him.

Suddenly, the door snapped open.

There appearance Venna gripping onto the front of a male’s shirt. Her eyes were wide with gentle and she was bouncing on her toes.

“Sami! Look who I found!” Venna shouted and pushed the male forward. Sami squinted her eyes and stepped forward. “It’s that guy from your birthday two years ago!”

“No fucking way!” The new male said with a loud, obxnious laugh. “It’s Lady Irish! Never thought I’d be seenin’ you again!” He looked familiar, too familiar. Sami Dukes couldn’t picture where she had seen him before. “It’s me, Chuck. Remember two years ago at your twentieth birthday party, we had sex in the back lounge of 40/40 Club.”

Darren started choking and the alcohol sprayed from his lips. He stood, wide-eyed, and shook his head. “I’m sorry, you two know each other?” He turned to Sami, “You know my brother?”

“He’s your brother?!”

“No, I’m just pretending he was my brother. It’s not like we look anything a like and don’t have the same last name, same blood, and same parents.”

“Oh. My. God!” Venna pulled the front of Darren’s shirt and dragged him to stand beside Chuck. “They look like twins! I think they’re twins, Dukes! Motherfucking twins!”

“Okay, one,” Darren pushed Venna’s hands away and smoothed out his shirt. “You’re awfully strong for someone that’s as tall as a dwarf. Two, we’re not twins, he’s my older brother. And three, you two had sex?!”

Silence.

“WELL!” Vee clapped her hands together and looked around. “Things just got a little awkward in this area. I’m just going to go back inside and you three came have a threesome or something like that, to relieve this weird tension.” With a quick flash of a smile, Venna ran back inside and screamed something along the lines of ‘Body shots!’ and cheers erupted.

“Is she always like that?” Chuck questioned.

“Occasionally.” Sami shrugged and turned around, staring at some trees.

Chuck nudged Darren ribs, “Did I interrupt something out here? Where you going to get her to have sex with you or something?

“What? No!” Darren hissed and tugged on his brother’s elbow, bringing him to the far end of the balcony. “We were just talking, well, barely. She’s a tough cookie.”

“Nothing you can’t crack, Dare.” The older Criss winked and chuckled lowly.

The younger one shook his head and sipped the last drops of his drink. “Shut up. It’s not like that. Did you really have sex with her?”

He nodded and smirked like a wicked man. “And her little blonde friend too, both delicious, just in case you want to try both.”

“You’re a douche, Chuck.”

Chuck raised his hands in his air to proclaim his so-called innocence and walked backwards towards the doors. “Hey man, don’t hate the player, hate the game.” Darren glared and threw his empty cup at his brother.

As he started to approach Sami again, she turned to face him with a sheepish grin and a crackling laugh. “Awkward, huh?”

“Oh you know.” Darren kicked the air, his hands shoved into his skin-tight jeans. “Just a little bit. Definitely an image in my mind that is quite disturbing at the moment.”

“So you’re picturing me naked?”

“What? Uh, no, just... That came out wrong. I meant—“ Sami moved her hand in front of her face to hid her flushed cheeks and a tiny smile. “I’m sorry. That was inappropriate of me to do so.” She waved off the question and shrugged. “So... What did Chuck mean by Lady Irish?”

“I’m Irish and I’m born on St. Patrick’s day.”

“You lie.” Darren laughed. “Seriously?”

“Fucking serious.”

“And is green your favourite colour?”

“You’d think, eh? No, it’s black.”

Darren stood back and stared at her, his eyes now brown as they seemed to grow tired over time. “Is that why you’re wearing all black and then a glow stick around your neck? How did you even get into the party, there was a strict rule that you have to wear neon colours. I might just have to through you out of my party.”

“Oh damn, just when I thought that I was starting to make a friend.”

Darren looked around and pointed to himself. “Me?”

“I was thinking you, but now I’m thinking this red cup. Too bad for you.”

“Ouch.” Darren pouted. “I got beat by plastic, that’s just sad.”

“Sucks to be you.” She smirked, and ended with a sigh. “I should go though.” Sami crossed the balcony to the door and pushed it open; the smells from before ambushed her senses causing her to nearly choke.

“So soon?” The curly haired boy frowned from behind her. “It’s barely three.”

“I know. But when Vee starts kissing random guys that take shots off her, it’s best to get her away before she regrets anything.”

“You sound like an overprotective mother.”

“I’m not.” Sami looked down to her feet. “I just don’t want anything bad to happen to her, again.”

“Again?” Darren looked down at her. Sami rotated her body and pushed through a small group. “Sami!”

“Vee!” Sami shouted over the pounding music. “Vee, let’s go!” She tugged on her intoxicated friend, breaking her apart from the male that Darren had labelled as ‘one crazy son of a bitch’ also known as Joey.

“Hey! I know you!” His voice broke from his crooked lips. Sami stared up at the abnormally tall male with both eyebrows raised. “You’re that girl that Darren was gushing about earlier.”

“Fantastic.”

“He said that you were mysterious!” Joey’s voice boomed in Sami’s pulling direction of Venna to the doorway. “A mysterious pretentious bitch was his quote.”

Sami turned on her heel, letting Venna stumble into the hallway of the building. Her eyes narrowed at the smirk on the male’s face. “Good one, kid.”

“Hey now, don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just telling you what I heard.”

“And why should I believe someone who’s taken nearly twenty shots off my friend and is slurring his words? And most importantly someone I could careless to word.”

“Yep.” Joey chugged his drink. “Pretentious bitch. Darren sure knows how to pick ‘em.”

“Sami!” Darren pushed through the drunkards and stumbled towards her. “Is everything okay over here?”

“Everything’s fine. I’m a pretentious bitch and all, I got it under control.” She shrugged.

Puzzled, Darren said, “What?” He looked from Joey to Sami, then to Venna who was sitting up against the wall passed out.

“Joey told me what you said about me. Haven’t you ever heard the saying don’t judge a book by its cover?”

“What the hell are you talking about? I didn’t say anything about you.”

Sami snorted and her eyes rolled as an automatic reaction. “Whatever. I don’t need any conflicts in my life right now.” She strode over to Venna, standing her up on her feet and sighing deeply. “I told you this was a bad idea.”

Venna muttered something incoherent and tossed her head to the side.

“Let me help you.”

“I don’t need your help; I don’t need anybody’s help. I got this.” She retorted, shooting a death glare in the direction of Darren. He frowned and ignored her complaints to ‘fuck off’ and such. He propped up Venna as they made their way to the stairs.

“I’ll carry her.” He murmured. Sami didn’t get a chance to protest because Venna was already scooped up into Darren’s perfectly tanned arms. She staggered behind him with her arms crossed tightly and her blues darting into the back of his head.

“I can feel your eyes burning through my skull.” Darren’s voice was monotone. “Just a heads up, it would be a good idea not to listen to people who are drunk; they tend to make up things. Especially Joey. He talks nonsense when he’s had a few too many.”

“Am I supposed to believe you?” Sami opened the door to the apartment and guided Darren to Venna’s room. He set the dazed girl on the bed and promptly there was a bucket next to the bed provided by Sami.

“I would say yes, but then the next inquiry would be if you trust me or not.” He said plainly.

Vee gasped and keeled over the side of the bed. The bacteria releasing from her mouth was clearly ungodly and, more importantly, the most fucking gross think ever to witness ever. Darren face surfaced with worry.

“She’ll be fine.” Sami reached out to touch his arm in order to indicate to leave the room, but she pulled back quickly. “I don’t think I should trust someone that I just met a little over twelve hours ago. For all I know you could be some psychotic son of a bitch, or perhaps some kind of angel that I’m not aware of.”

Darren pulled the bedroom door shut and muffled a laugh with faux cough. “You’re mind is running wild.”

“Sometimes it runs too far.” She replied, pulling out the familiar orange cylinder bottle and tapped it twice against the palm of her hand. Darren watched with careful eyes as she tossed her head back and took the two pills dry. His nerves tingled with curiosity, but a sudden ping reminded him that curiosity killed the bloody cat.

“I should go; I’ve got a party to clear...” For some goddamn stupid unknown reason, he felt nervous. His hand cupped the back of his neck as he stood in the door way. “Before the cops get called and some shit goes down.”

“Mhmm.” Sami yawned and leaned against the door.

“I’ll see you around, perhaps, maybe. I don’t know.” Darren coughed awkwardly and turned on his heel towards the stairs. “For the record—“ Sami jumped as Darren’s voice echoed through the hallway. “You’re not a mysterious pretentious bitch. You’re just mysterious, and I can deal with that.”

Samaria Dukes tilted her head to the side as the boy smiled faintly and disappeared into the stairwell.


“Vee...” Sami poked her head into the almost pitch black bedroom. “I’m going to get my phone; I left it at the party last night.” No response. “Groan or something so I know that you’re alive, please.”

“Fuck...” Venna wheezed. Sami smiled and laughed silently to herself, closing the door.

It was an early morning, barely even nine in the morning but she figured that someone upstairs had to be awake. If not then Sami supposed that she just could return when noon struck. But upon arriving to the apartment above the door was cracked open only slightly and a soft hum from inside indicated that there was someone awake.

’Two kids looking through rosy coloured glass, like fools in love. The summer drugged our senses, filled our eyes with stars...’

The floorboards creaked as soon as Sami stepped inside. Darren’s swerved around and stopped his voice from drifting and blinked at the girl in the foyer of his home.

“I’m sorry.” Sami stammered. “The door was open so I just thought...” She fully glanced at him. He had a black trash bag in one hand and empty cups in the other. “I left my phone here somewhere.”

“It’s fine.” He shrugged. “Mi casa es su casa. And about your phone...” The sentence trailed off as Darren disappeared for only a moment or two and return with the iPhone and placed it in the palm of Sami’s hand. “There’s a bit of alcohol damage but I think that it will survive.”

There was that casual faint smile again pursed upon the lips of Darren Criss. A replied refused to come from Sami as she watched him go back to cleaning the disastrous home. With a sigh and a bit of force, the brunette picked up a trash bag and started filling it with the garbage around the room.

Darren glanced at her sideways. “Let me help you.” Sami said.

“I don’t need your help; I don’t need anybody’s help. I got this.” He retorted in a mocking tone with a small smirk. She laughed hollowly at his surprisingly good re-enactment.

“I didn’t mean to be a bitch to you.”

“Only the best are bitches.” He winked. Sami was taken aback and knitted her brows together. She began to study him again. She knew that she was a mysterious but maybe this newly found male was just as mysterious as her. “Can I show you San Francisco sometime? Maybe we can get on the right foot.”

With a tiny smile, Sami nodded. “I’ll think about it.”

“Holy shit. I think I’ve been run over by a million transporting trucks. My head hurts like a bitch.” Joey entered the living room with his hands pressed to his temples. Then he stopped looking from Darren to a vaguely familiar girl. “Dare, there’s some girl cleaning up and she’s not in a maid’s outfit. I have given up on you, dude.”

“Funny.” Darren rolled his eyes. “That’s Sami, you bitched her out last night while you were overly intoxicated.”

“Shit. Sorry about that, not that I remember it, but sorry!” He apologized and grabbed an mug, filling it with coffee that Darren must have prepared, and then sat on a stool.

“You sing?” Sami’s question was directed towards Darren. “I heard you when I walked in.”

“Does he sing?!” Joey exclaimed. “Oh don’t make me laugh! This guy is like a human iPod, he’s especially good at Disney songs.”

“Joey.” Darren said sternly.

“I’m just saying, man.” Joey snapped his fingers in the direction of Sami. “You should come by the pub one time and here him sing. You’ll be floored!”

“You don’t have to.” Darren shook his head. “Don’t even worry about it.”

“Maybe I will, sometime.” Sami proclaimed. “Shit, I should go check on Venna.”

“Venna?” The hangover boy questioned. “What the hell kind of name is Venna?”

“It’s like Jenna but with a V.” The only female shrugged.

“That’s a pretty stupid name.”

“You’re face is pretty stupid.” A voice from behind Joey shot back. Venna appeared the apartment with a deathly look in her eyes. “Dukes, some of the movers are here with the last of our things. Hey look! It’s the mover boy, hi mover boy!”

“It’s Darren...”

“Right.” Venna smiled. “I’m going to call you mover boy or curly top. You have really curly hair... Did you know that?”

“No, I didn’t... Thanks for informing me.” Plain sarcasm covered Darren’s words.

“Wow.” Joey said loudly and shook his head.

“Come on, Vee. We’ll go to Starbucks.” Sami shoved the garbage back into Joey’s chest. “Thanks for finding my phone.”

“Anytime.” Darren smiled. “Get back to me on that offer sometime?” Sami just nodded and pulled Vee out.

“Offer? What offer? Like a date offer?”

“No, he offered to show me San Francisco.” Sami whispered.

“So it is a date!” Venna clapped excitedly.

“Not a date!”

“... It’s a date.”

Little did Sami know that the orange was peeled and she was already blinded by new appearances and faces.