A New Beginning

The club’s music blared loudly as I made my way back from the bathroom. I felt eyes on me as I shoved past people crowding the bar. Yeah, I was a tad underage, but my brother didn’t care I was here. Weird, huh? He doesn’t want me around guys who will take advantage of me, so he brings me to a club! Ha, I love my brother.

“Hey baby, come on over here!”

“Fuck off.” I roared to the highly inebriated man to my right.

I guess I should have known that I might get unwanted attention tonight. Thinking that if I looked a bit older, no one would ever guess that I was just barely eighteen. I was wearing dark denim skinny jeans that fit my body perfectly. Putting aside my Vans for the night, I had slipped on a pair of black, patent leather, peek toe heels. Before I had come out here to California, I went shopping and had purchased many tops for nights such as these. Tonight I had chosen a sleeveless top with a sweeping neckline. The deep green color really brought out the light brown of my eyes. I had straightened my hair so that is was super sleek and edgy. I’m not too good at make-up so I just applied a thick layer of purple eyeliner and clear lip-gloss. Needless to say that Jimmy had a hard time containing his excitement when he saw me. Then again, all the guys took extra care with their looks tonight and my thoughts were mainly on Jimmy. He actually wore eyeliner tonight and ran a comb through his hair more then once. It had been hard for me to keep up the “friend” act with him looking so good. Finding the VIP booth, the guys were in the same positions that they had been fifteen minutes ago. All of them were getting pretty smashed at this point and not paying much attention to their surroundings. Jimmy was sitting at the edge of the booth watching me grow nearer. I sidled up next to Jimmy who instinctively wrapped his arm around my waist. My muscles tensed up, but they soon relaxed when I realized that none of the guys had noticed. As I watched the guys drink more, I felt a tinge of pain in my side that made me gasp.

“JIMMY!”

Looking down I saw that Jimmy’s teeth were still attached to a bit of skin on my hips. He innocently looked up at me as if he wasn’t aware of what the matter was.

“Ut aya?” he said with his teeth still clamped down on me.

“Don’t ‘What Layla’ me, release my skin, it’s starting to hurt.” I pouted.

Unclenching his jaw, he placed a quick kiss on the teeth marks I now had on my side.

“I’m sorry baby, but you just look so yummy tonight. Here, let me make it up to you.” Jimmy proposed as he stumbled up from the table. “Let’s go shake our booties, well, I want to watch you shake it, but I’ll be with you anyway.”

I laughed at his attempt to stand next to me. He clearly was in no state to be doing any rhythmic moving.

“Jimmy, you’re too drunk to dance right now.”

He furrowed his brows in aggression.

“I am never too drunk to dance with my woman.” He shouted.

Fearing that one of the guys might hear something from our conversation, I pulled Jimmy out on the dance floor despite what was just said. I directed Jimmy to the middle of the crowd just as Dragula came on over the speakers. Before I could do anything Jimmy already had his hands on my ass. For being hammered, Jimmy had pretty good rhythm. One of my arms reached up and found its home on the back of his neck and the other took a place near his belt buckle. Every time a strong bass beat would boom through the club I would shift my hips into Jimmy. After doing this for a while, Jimmy’s hands became very grabby. I nibbled on the skin covering his collarbone, earning a lighthearted growl from him. He placed his lips on mine as the song came to an end.

“Let me get one last drink from the bar and then we’ll go home.” He said against my lips.

I nodded lightly, as my head was in still up in space from the dancing. Receiving a little smirk from Jimmy before he left, I turned around and went back to the guys. Shots were still being thrown down when I sat in the booth. It seemed that Brian and Zacky were having a competition while Johnny and Matt watched. Brian wore a crooked smile on his face and carelessly let random thoughts fly. Zacky, on the other hand, still had some determination in him, probably because he is a little chubbier then Brian, therefore, more bodyweight to absorb the alcohol. I was zoning in on their drinking but an outburst from Matt and Johnny drew my attention to them.

“Oh yeah! He learned from the best. Yes he did!” Johnny cheered

“Shit, Jimmy’s going to have a fun night.” Matt laughed.

Intrigued by what they were saying, I spun around in my seat and followed their gaze. I squinted my eyes a bit because the flashing lights blurred my vision. No wonder I was having a hard time finding Jimmy. You’d have a difficult time finding your ‘boyfriend’ if a redheaded slut was stuck to his face. I’m not sure what I felt as I watched Jimmy’s tongue go in her mouth. All my emotions were running at full force. Anger, sadness, confusion, and fright. My body had gone numb and I felt tears work their way out. The cheering from Matt and Johnny must have gotten his attention because he pulled away from the woman and glanced over in our direction. Jimmy had this lost expression on his face as he stared at his two friends and then his eyes caught mine. He instantly realized what was happening and he violently pushed the girl away from him, but it was useless. The damage had been done and I ran away. I didn’t know where I was going but my path was aimed towards the main doors. The fresh air hit me in relief. Tears were pouring down my face as I ran down the street. I ran for a good mile before my legs caved in. Catching my breath for a moment, I looked at my surroundings. This was the middle of Huntington and I had lived here for less then two weeks. There was no way I could get home by myself. I continued crying on the old staircase where I had fallen. How could Jimmy do this to me? True, we weren’t really together, but the way he talked and acted he made it seem as if we were. Why didn’t I follow my brother’s rules and not get attached to a guy? The sad thing was, I knew I loved him when I saw him at the bar. I was completely and utterly in love with the man who obviously didn’t feel the same way about me. My sobs grew louder as I thought more about Jimmy. Footsteps were approaching me and I wiped my eyes to gain a more normal composure. Through bloodshot eyes I saw a girl kneel next to me and watch me with concern. She had long dark hair and a tan complexion.

“Hun, why are you crying?” she asked with so much sympathy in her voice.

“I watched my heart burst into flames in a club.” I said bluntly, no emotion at all.

Her face fell and she embraced me in a hug. I didn’t even know this person, but I was already telling her my feelings and letting her comfort me. This was a good sign in my mind. Not since I became friends with Lexi have I let another girl act as a friend to me. I just always surrounded myself with guys because they didn’t carry as much drama. Well, this was my thought before tonight obviously. The mystery girl helped me off the hard cement and began walking with me.

“Umm, can I ask who you are?” I questioned, trying not to sound rude.

“Right, my name, duh! I’m Yvonne, and yes, I naturally just roam the streets at 1:00 am. Now it’s my turn to ask what your name is.” She laughed.

“Layla Townsend, or Seward, I’m not sure at this point, it’s a long story.” I said.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Layla. Can I ask what you plan on doing now?”

I sighed as she asked me this. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. There was no way that I was going to go back to the club, that’s for sure. Hopefully the guys would be too drunk to notice that I was missing.

“I would love to go home, but I’m not quite sure where it is.” I awkwardly laughed. “You wouldn’t happen to know the area around the pier and little boutique that sells baby clothes would you?”

“If you’re talking about the area of housing right next to the lonely strip of beach, then yes, I actually know that area. I’d be glad to help you.” She offered warmly.

The walk home was more enjoyable then I thought it was going to be, considering that Yvonne was a total stranger still. I found that we shared many things in common. We had our crazy tendencies, a flare for odd colored clothing items, and an overall desire for more in life. She was fine with me being younger then her because apparently she had the maturity level of a teenager and I with one of a person in their mid-twenties. Yvonne just happened to be the same age as Johnny, which reminded me of him. He couldn’t get mad at me for talking to Yvonne. He said no boys. As far as I could see, Yvonne was definitely a woman. Thirty minutes later, I found myself staring at the face of the house. Turning to Yvonne I gave her a grateful smile. If she hadn’t found me I’d probably still be crying on the steps of that building. I guess a smile wasn’t enough for her since she came at me with her arms wide. Her hug was filled with kindness showing me how caring of a person she really was.

“Layla, it was awesome to meet you. If you ever need me, you have my number; so don’t be afraid to call.”

That said, she turned on her heel and walked down the street we had just come from. I watched her until I couldn’t see her anymore, which was quite a long time since she had been wearing zebra striped pants that weren’t hard to miss. Searching for the key to the door, I finally discovered it under a little plastic gnome near the door. I found this quite humorous, even though my happiness had long since passed. I walked into my room and removed all the things that I wore to the club. Things I had worn for Jimmy. All I wanted to do was make him proud to have a girl like me on his arm. I guess it wasn’t enough. Before going to sleep, I locked my bedroom door and placed a chair behind the doorknob to my bathroom since that lock didn’t work. My emotions would just have to be stomached until I could find someone to share my pain with. No one knew about Jimmy’s betrayal, so the guys would act like nothing was the matter. The last thing that I remember before losing consciousness was the fact that I still loved Jimmy.