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Maxine’s POV

“I don’t want to be here,”

“Oh, come on. This is going to be fun,” Kristen said as she dragged me into the nightclub. That was my first time entering into a place like that and the bass of the music gave me goose pimples all over my skin.

The place vibrates, and reeks of alcohol, and the people are dancing and drunk. Kristen looked more excited and started moving her body according to the music.

She is my roommate at the dormitory. We are both art majors, but we’re totally opposite to each other. She’s tall, lean, and outgoing, while I stand five feet two inches, black, petite, and an introvert. She’s everything that I’m not.

It was my childhood dream to pursue art as my career. I got into a prestigious institute and now my dream is coming true. Since I haven’t explored anything other than art, I’m in quest of new things with much hesitation.

“Hey, look at those guys. Shall we join them?” she asks.

“I don’t think so,”

“Okay, you stay here, I’m going,” she left me and went to talk to a bunch of guys. I don’t judge her but she’s wild. Without knowing anyone how can she party with them? Perhaps I’m too scared. I watched her talking to them and she went with one of those guys to dance.

The reason I’m here is to try new things, I’ve been in a shell for almost all my life and now I want to explore this world with my eccentric roommate. She asked me to accompany her and agreed hoping to have a new experience.

I went to the bar and ordered Vodka shots to the cute bartender. This is my first time going to drink. I want to know how the alcohol feels in my system.

With a strange excitement, I drank the vodka shots and felt something weird when the alcohol mingled in my system. I feel like the world is spinning around me. The lights were going out of focus and came back to focus again.

It gives me feelings, I never felt before. When I slowly forget my surroundings while sitting at the bar, the sounds go off and I become dazed. I just want to lie down.

“Are you okay?” a masculine voice startled me.

I looked at my right side to see a handsome male, wearing all black. What’s so peculiar about him is, he’s wearing sunglasses in the nightclub.

“I’m okay,” I said and got conscious of my surroundings.

But the man kept looking at me, I could feel it even though I was not entirely sure.

“You look drunk, how much did you drink?” he asks and the answer is on the bar counter.

“Just two vodka shots,” he chuckled and removed his glasses to reveal his magnetic blue eyes.

I cut off my admiration and had a frown on my face.

“That’s none of your business,” I said.

He smiles.

“Did you come here alone?” he asks. I look at him wondering why he’s so interested in me. I looked closer at his face to see the fresh scar above his left eye which looked like it was going to stay permanent and a bruise on his cheek.

“You got into trouble and got punched in the face?” 

He smiles.

“What’s your name?” he again questioned instead of explaining what happened to his face.

“I told you, it’s none of your business,”

“Hey, Maxine,” Kristen shouted and waved at me when she saw me with a guy.

“Maxine, huh?” he said my name for the first time and I never knew that would be the start of ruining my life.

“Yes, it is,” I frowned.

“Is this your first time in here?” he asks.

“Yes,” I nodded.

I thought I was here to talk to strangers and he looked like an interesting character. Why not talk to him?

“Is that your friend?” he again asked her a question.

“Yes,”

“Why is she with those guys? Do you know them?”

“No, she just went to socialize,”

“Why are you here? Why don’t you go and join them?”

“I’m not like her. I’m a bit shy,” I confessed. I don’t know why I did that. His eyes were looking at her curiously.

“Then what you’re like?” he asks.

“I don’t think you should know those things,” I said.

He again smiled, sipping his drink. “Why not?”

“I don’t know you,”

“You want to know me?”

The way he asks that and the way he’s looking at me, I realize that he expects more than a small talk with her.

“Well, what’s your name?” I ask.

“I’m Thomas,” he answered.

“What happened to your face?”

“I got into a fight?”

“Fight? With who?”

“With my buddies,”

“Are you a gangster or something?”

“Yes, I am,” he said and I looked at him in surprise. I didn’t expect that.

“Now it’s my turn,” he stopped me.

“How old are you?”

“Twenty,”

“Why are you here?” he asks.

“The same reason why everyone is here,”

“To hook up with someone?”

“No,”

“To get drunk?”

“Maybe,”

“Don’t get drunk. It’s not safe to be in here,” he advised.

I smiled. “Why do you care?”

“Because you look like a good girl,”

I smile again at his compliment.

“Yes, that’s true. It’s my first time,”

“I can see that. Are you a student or working?”

“I’m a student. Art major,”

“Art, that’s interesting,” he smiles.

When I was about to ask more questions, Kristen came there and disturbed everything.

“You’re missing out on all the fun,” she dragged me with her.

I looked at Thomas, and he looked the same as me. I didn't want to end the conversation here, but what’s the point of talking?

I went with Kristen to the dance floor.

“That guy looks handsome and weird,”

“No, he’s friendly,”

“You don’t know anything Maxine, you must avoid troublemakers,” she said.

That’s true, Kristen is right as she has much experience. But my gut feeling is telling me that he’s trustable. His eyes were honest and something sparked in it.