Nightshade: A SimLit | Chapter 56: Letting Loose

Tiffany tapped her fingers against her desk, zoning out the teacher's voice and focusing instead on her racing thoughts. They were all of the boy sitting across the classroom; she thought of him every moment of the day. Orion was stuck in her head and she couldn't get him out, no matter how hard she tried.

She glanced over at him as he anxiously twiddled his thumbs, hardly paying attention to the lesson and staring instead at the stark white of his desk. He was awkward, shy, constantly nervous. Why did she want a nobody like him? She didn't understand it, but she wanted him. No, it was beyond wanting. It was craving. She'd already decided that he would be hers, and as the bell rang, she took her chance.

The classroom quickly emptied, and as he slipped out of the classroom, she followed closely behind him. For a moment, she couldn't find the right words. But why couldn't she? This was something she had done countless times. Finally, she caught his attention before he left through the front doors and her chance slipped through her fingers. "Orion!"

As he turned and approached her, she crossed her arms and leaned against the locker that was behind her. 'Play it cool,' she thought.

"Yeah?" Orion smiled as he came to a stop and studied her expression carefully. He could tell she was up to something...

"So, uh, I was wondering... if you wanted to hang out again?" Tiffany asked. "I mean... as in... going... out. Tonight. Be at my house at ten o'clock sharp."

Before he had the chance to answer, she briskly walked away and disappeared through the double doors leading out of the school. He watched with his mouth agape and a blush spreading across his face. 'Did Tiffany... just ask me on a date?'

---

Later that night, the taxi drove away as the two of them approached their destination. Tiffany had refused to tell him where they were going when he got to her house, instead shoving him into the vehicle and grinning mischievously the entire way there. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he gazed at the aggressive-looking man near the door and heard the blaring music from inside, getting the sinking feeling that they shouldn't be here...

"Tiffany?" Orion began, his anxiety evident in his voice. "Where exactly is this?"

"This? It's a nightclub." Tiffany's mischievous grin returned. "Don't worry about getting past the bouncer. I'll get us in."

"But aren't we too young for... this kind of stuff?" Orion rubbed his arm and looked away. "I'm not sure this is a good idea..."

She frowned. "Whatever. It'll be lots of fun, you'll see!" With that, she walked ahead of him.

As Tiffany confidently approached the bouncer, there was an extra sway in her hip and power in her stance. "Good evening, handsome," she smirked.

Orion's eyes widened. 'What is she doing!?'

"Flattery will get you nowhere," was the bouncer's deadpan reply. "Show me a valid ID to prove you're over the age of twenty-one, and I'll gladly let you in."

Tiffany scowled. "Don't I look that old to you?"

The bouncer narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "No."

She simply rolled her eyes and handed him two cards. 'I knew fake identification would come in handy.'

After staring at them for a few moments, he nodded and stepped away from the door. "Enjoy yourselves."

Tiffany flashed Orion a grin and proceeded to the door as he followed cautiously behind her. As soon as he was inside, the smell of alcohol and smoke overwhelmed his nostrils, mixing with musky cologne and sultry perfumes...

Only when she noticed he'd stopped in the doorway did she pause and turn toward him. "Aren't you coming?

Orion frowned and averted his gaze. "I-I don't know. I really think we shouldn't--"

He locked up, unable to finish his sentence as she clasped his hand in hers. Their eyes met, and she lit up in a cheerful smile, something genuine that he hadn't ever seen from her.

"Orion, come on!" Taking a few steps backward, she began to pull him deeper into the club. "I promise you'll have fun! Just try letting loose for once..."

He couldn't help smiling at her as he stumbled forward, not having much choice other than to follow her. "O-Okay," he said, still unable to shake the nervousness. "I'll try it..."

She smiled wider. "That's the spirit."

Somehow, he couldn't unlock his eyes from hers, and he blushed as he realized just how beautiful she looked tonight...

The chaos inside of the nightclub finally came into view, and Tiffany found herself having to practically drag Orion behind her. He clung to her arm, clearly shaken up by the loud, thundering noise and crowd of people. 

She perched on the edge of a bar stool and held onto his hand reassuringly. "You really don't have to be nervous here. This is a place where you forget all about your problems... after a drink or two."

"A d-drink?" Orion frowned. "Tiffany..."

"Relax, no one will find out," Tiffany sighed.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm not drinking! And neither should you. What if you get drunk and something bad happens?"

She shook her head in annoyance. "You're too good to be true, you know that? Fine. I'll order something boring for you and I'll drink whatever I want. No one tells me what to do. Especially not boys," she grinned and approached the bartender.

"Tiffany, wait," he muttered, but she didn't listen.

Orion could only watch as she ordered their drinks and motioned for him to come and sit down. Hesitantly, he took a seat on the bar stool beside of hers and sighed. "I-I'm not trying to tell you what to do. I'm just concerned... aren't friends supposed to look out for each other?"

A smile tugged at the corners Tiffany's lips. "Yeah, I guess so."

Silence fell between them until, finally, the bartender placed their drinks on the countertop in front of them and walked away to attend to other clients. It was the first time that they felt alone, even though there was anything but loneliness around them. Orion gazed at the drink fizzing in his glass. Bubbles slowly rose to the top, and he frowned a little. Before he could say a word, Tiffany spoke.

"It's just a sparkling drink, don't worry," she said. 

"What about yours?" He glanced at the rich, purple beverage in the slightly fancier wine glass that she had picked up in preparation to take a sip. "Is it..."

Tiffany nodded. "I'll be just as wasted as everyone else here after a few refills."

Orion looked away and instead picked up his glass to taste the drink. It burned his throat as he swallowed, causing his eyes to water. The sensation was unpleasant, but it tasted sweet and fruity, so he continued drinking. 

He didn't notice the cloudiness in his mind until he couldn't bring himself to care. A few refills and a conversation later, he was blissfully unaware of his intoxication, and a goofy grin was plastered across his face.

"So, what should we do now?" Tiffany slurred as she took a deep gulp of her third glass of booze. She ignored the queasy feeling that had started to overcome her and swallowed the rest of it eagerly. She had tasted this before, maybe had a glass full once or twice at parties her friends threw... but she'd never let herself get to this point. Not that she cared anymore.

Orion propped his face against his hand and grinned wider. "Hey, let's dance," he giggled.

Her face fell. "Dance? I don't--"

He didn't let her finish and hopped to his feet, tugging her to the dance floor with great enthusiasm.

"Please?" His eyes were irresistibly pleading, and she felt herself melting at his sweet smile. The feeling of his hand holding onto hers was suddenly more pleasant than last time. She internally blamed her drunkenness and looked away. "I don't dance..."

He just laughed. "I don't really know how either, but..."

"No, I mean, I..." Her words were slow, stumbling over one another as she struggled to make sense of her foggy mind. "I could dance if I wanted to, but I don't." Tiffany sounded irritable, but it didn't deter him.

"Just try letting loose for once." 

Taken aback by her own words being used against her, she sighed. "Fine. But only if I get to dance with the real you."

"The real me?" He tilted his head and laughed awkwardly. "I am the real me..."

"No, you're fake," she insisted, her intended meaning becoming lost. "I told you to let loose, right? Nobody would notice if you just decided to be yourself. They're as plastered as we are."

When Orion realized what she was saying, he should have questioned it. Deep down, he knew there should have been hesitation. But it's as if all his worries were far gone, and the same pink light as Tiffany had seen before engulfed him once again...

When it faded, her eyes met his. They were entrancing, drawing her in...

"Better?" His voice was soft, smooth, like fine silk that she ached to feel underneath her fingers. 

"Yes," she replied as her eyes wandered down to his lips. "But I don't want to dance anymore..."

His gaze followed hers downward, and she leaned dangerously close. He spoke shyly, his quiet voice barely a whisper. "Then... what do you want to do?"

Everything was a blur as her lips crashed against his. He felt her firm grip on his wrists, the warmth of her body pressing against his own... but he was frozen, unsure of what to feel, unsure if he even could feel. Slowly, what was left of his senses began to return, and he leaned into the kiss. Maybe it was just his fuzzy mind, maybe it was what he really wanted to do...

Gently, he pulled his arms away from her and instead placed a hand on her cheek, deepening the kiss as he pulled her closer. The kiss turned sloppy and desperate, like it could be their last one. Maybe it would be. What did they really feel? Would they even remember this in the morning?

 Neither of them knew the answer.

---

Tiffany had never been more thankful that it was a weekend.

As rays of sunlight began to creep into her window, she attempted to drag herself out of bed, but her hangover was far too severe for her to even consider going further. Defeated, she found her thoughts wandering to last night. Should she have slipped him the alcohol? It went as intended. He was so carefree. But certainly he'd realized what she had done by now, and strangely, the thought that he wouldn't forgive her was worrisome. She didn't really believe she did anything wrong, but if Orion did... 

She pushed the thoughts out of her mind and silently hoped Onyx and Amelia wouldn't find out about this. She closed her eyes, fading back into a deep sleep.

-----

Orion spent the morning in tears, not from the misery of nausea or the intense headache, but from the pain in his heart. The only person that he could trust had broken his trust. The mangled pieces of last night had returned to his mind. The alcohol that she slipped him, the danger that she put him in by convincing him to be undisguised, the kiss...

Perhaps the worst pain of all was that, somewhere deep down, he wanted to kiss her again.