"Pills." He clarified with a weak smile, but it was a sad attempt at one nevertheless. I wasn't sure just what to say.
I decided that he probably didn't want me to ask any more questions, that it probably was enough that he'd felt close enough to me in this short time to tell me this, therefore this time, I wouldn't push— no, I wouldn't take this too far.
"That's a hell of a medical bill every month." I chuckled, and his eyes brightened with a glimmer of relief, perhaps? Of understanding.
"Free medical care." He corrected me as if I were stupid not to know, and we made our way back down the Eiffel Tower to meet our friends at the Velvet Room.
The Velvet Room was a secret, invitation-only nightclub down an alley on Clairemont Drive. Hues of Red and pink light flashed before our eyes the second the two burly-looking security guards let us in, loud music filled the room, and people were dancing and drinking at every glance. Keomi waved at us from their table, and we made our way over to them. Merilla was perched on Genevieve's lap laughing hysterically at God knows what while Fabian and Keomi sipped from their colourful drinks.
"Did you have fun seeing that boring old thing?" Fabian laughed, and I playfully shoved his shoulder,
"Don't be such an ass about it, Fabes!" Keomi yelled over the music, but she laughed too anyways.
"Armani seems to have taken quite the appeal to bad things," River remarked with a sly, almost phantom-like movement.
"St Kathrine's does that, even to the best of us!" Merilla chimed, then proceeded to order a round of tequila shots.
I'd never really drank alcohol back home in Jacksonville, sure I'd had the occasional glass of wine under the watchful eyes of my parents at Christmas dinner parties, or a sip from mama's glass when she wasn't looking, but never out on my own, and most certainly never this much.
"Armani, do you drink?" Keomi asked, placing a hand on my shoulder and leaning closer so she could hear me.
At first, I debated my answer. Maybe tonight wasn't the night for all this, maybe things were getting a little bit out of hand, but then I realized there's never a bad time to try something new. It's better now than never. And that's the only reason at which I replied,
"Yeah, of course!" I agreed, and she clapped her hands joyously,
"This is going to be a fun night..." Fabian foreshadowed, swirling his glass of scotch on the rocks.
When the waitress arrived, full red pouty lips, drinks in hand, and an impossible-looking black corset on, everyone cheered, everyone except River, of course. He was sprawled out in a leather lounge chair at the head of our table with a dark grin playing on his lips.Daringme, challenging me, condescending me.
"One, two, three!" Genevieve called out, and everyone downed two shots each. My gaze was still locked on River.
"You don't have to, you know?" He informed me,
“What if I want to?” I chided, and he raised an eyebrow,
“You look like a deer in headlights right now.” He scoffed before I mustered up the courage and drank both shots, my throat burning, and head spinning.
"Have it your way." He shrugged, then proceeded to talk to Fabian about how it's been so long since they'd all gone out together.
“That was more your choice than ours RK,” Fabian responded with a smile, but there was sadness behind his eyes. After a few minutes, or was it more? I decided to order another drink, a vodka martini. It was actually delicious and made my head feel fuzzy, and made me just a little bit more daring.
"Armani, when I first met you, I thought you were a homeschooled jungle freak-" Genevieve began, but Merilla immediately smacked her on the shoulder,
"You're a really mean drunk Genè, Jesus-" She began, but I interrupted her,
"A mean drunk who quotes mean girls," I added,
"I didn’t mean it like that. Let me finish!" Gene said, standing up and downing her glass, "But you're not all that bad. I'm just sad, very sad because I keep remembering things I swore to forget."
"We all do," Fabian added, glancing at River, who immediately stood up and made his way towards the bar stand.
"What's his problem?" I asked, "Oh yeah, that's right, he'scomplicatedor whatever."
"Do you want to know a secret Armani, you clueless....clueless little thing?" Gene asked, leaning over Merilla so she and I could be face to face.
"What?" I asked as I felt the alcohol begin to take effect,
"River's sad too, perhaps most of all, but he's just a whole lot better at hiding that shit, tu comprends?"
