AllFreeNovel
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No one has any idea that we’re watching them. We’re too shadowed, a darkness among all the lights. Our vantage point is spectacular.
My eyes sweep until I have a full picture of the busy, crazy place I’ve stayed away from all my life. I hate crowds. I hate noise.
The Strip is not a place for a person who avoids people.
But here… It’s kind of perfect.
I wish I had my sketchbook.
Alik grabs the blanket and drapes it over me before pulling a bottle of champagne and two glasses from the cooler.
I don’t remind him of my sobriety, don’t dare disrupt the tranquility of the moment. It’s hard to take my eyes off all the people, and I can tell Alik planned this for me. He somehow knew that this would be perfect.
When he hands me the glass, I let the liquid splash on my tongue, my nose scrunching in confusion when I don’t taste the familiar kick of alcohol.
It’s just sparkling juice.
Bringing the glass from my lips, I smile and set it beside me.
“How did you know?” I whisper, picking at a cuticle. My feet dangle freely, gently swaying back and forth to knock into concrete as I lean forward, the ground not seeming so far down now.
“How did I know what?”
“That I would like this.”
Alik runs his hand over my back and takes his time answering. “Lucky guess.”
I turn to him, my heart pounding as I consider saying the words that have been weighing on my mind.
What would he say in return?
He brings his arm away to scratch the back of his neck while lifting one side of his lips. “It was either this or some kind of costume dance they’re having for a convention.”
I can tell he’s joking, but the word dance brings a lot of things to mind.
“I’ve never been to a dance in my life.” I laugh, facing forward. Except, that isn’t true. My mom pushed me to go to my senior prom. Begged me, really. I went stag and sat at a table in the corner all night, staring at my watch. Some boy from my school asked me to dance an hour before my penance was over, and with my mother in my head, I agreed. His friends—really, his date’s friends, a few real mean girls from my high school—took pictures then photoshopped them to make it look like a bucket of blood was falling on my head. I imagine they would’ve actually tried to dump pig’s blood on my head if they hadn’t been afraid I’d truly turn into Carrie and kill them all.
High school was awful. That dance… Awful.
“Me neither,” Alik says. “Well,” he tilts his head. “Unless weddings count. My mother made me dance with her at a couple of weddings.”
I take a sip of juice. “Made you?”
He opens his mouth but hesitates to speak. His eyes glaze like he’s remembering something.
Finally, he closes his mouth and shakes his head. “No… I liked it.” He runs his hand across his jaw as he clicks his tongue. “It’s so strange, I’d completely forgotten about that until now.”He glances at me and drops his hand. “You make me remember random things… It’s weird.”
I try to study his face but can’t quite read him. “Weird … bad?”
He shakes his head. “No, weird good. I… They’re happy memories.”
“Oh.” I bite my lip and turn back to the busy Strip. Neither of us say anything for several minutes while we live inside our heads.
I keep thinking about that dance and that boy. I didn’t even like him. I was just doing it so I could tell my mother I participated, and although I’d had boyfriends and breakups by then, I’d never felt the sting of rejection so strongly until that night.
Alik makes me feel like I want a second chance. He makes me wish I was brave.
I bring out his happy memories. There’s something about me that he keeps coming back for.
