His stare toward me did something to me, something I did not know. The colors on the dance floor started changing with the pace of the music, blasting to the ears and exposing bodies rocking to the beats now and then. My body stopped moving as my eyes was kept on this stranger and his eyes. His eyes didn’t leave mine either, I can tell he wasn’t one bit shy about me catching his stares. Matter of fact, it was as if he wanted me to.
If Ginnviani came back, she wouldn’t find me at the same spot with the drinks she kindly went to get. My feet went, without my command, directly toward my suitor and sat right in front of him. It was only when our knees touched that I realized we were mere inches apart from each other.
“Hi,” the stranger greeted.
His eyes seemingly smiled, and I knew I came for his eyes. Those dark caramel eyes that have somehow stopped time and brought clarity to my clouded mind.
“I’m going to blush if you keep staring at me so much,” the stranger laughed, and I heard a little choked of shyness in his beautiful laughter.
“You were the one who started it.”
His eyes widened at the sound of my voice, but then they hooded and he smiled in a way I never thought was sexy on a man’s lips before. “You have a beautiful voice.”
“You have beautiful eyes.”
For a moment, we kept our eyes on each other, not saying anything. Then the stranger reached over his hand to me and said, “My name’s Garen.”
“Abe,” I shook his hand.
“Abe?”
“Short for the most admired but least liked name, Abraham.”
“Abraham’s not least liked.”
“The stats came from Abe’s Life.”
Then Garen laughed again and I decided that I liked his laughter very much. Actually, I liked a lot of things about Garen that I had never found myself liking before. I liked the way he looked at me, the way he talked to me, the way his knees kept its touch with mine. Garen was a different kind of man, a man I had never met before. He brought my interest out so strongly, it made me wanted to leave the club with him and do whatever he desired.
“Was that your girl you were dancing with?” Garen asked as he leaned in closer, his breath smelt of mint and fruits.
“Ginnviani’s a classmate.”
“What school do you go to?”
“Sholam High.”
Garen’s eyes looked at me questioningly, and his knees, I felt, moved slightly away then halted. It took me a second too late to realized about my honesty to him. But for whatever reason keeping Garen from not moving away, I am thankful for it.
“What is a high schooler like you doing here?” his voice changed, it was less sweet. It was like a voice an adult would have toward a troublesome teenager.
“I’m actually a senior,” I said, hoping to have that sweet voice back.
“I thought they check IDs.”
“I’m special.”
He grunted as his eyes shone with amusement, as if they were smiling again, and I was finally relieved a little. I didn’t even know I was panicking.
“That still doesn’t answer my question about what you are doing here for.”
“Do you really want to know?” Garen nodded. I leaned toward him and whispered into his ears, “Is there really a reason for people to come to a club, other than to escape reality?”
“Now,” he turned his face toward mine, our lips less than an inch away, “what reality are you running from?” Although he whispered those words, I could hear them loud and clear.
I stared into his eyes, they weren’t flirtatious anymore. It was a serious question, and I would never answer it to anyone. Yet, I went into honesty mode with him again. “Abe’s Life.”
He also kept his eyes on mine, knowing that I was answering his question with seriousness. The intensity between that small space of less than an inch terrified me. Maybe it was because he was a stranger that I liked awfully too much. Or maybe it was because I was being too honest to a stranger I liked awfully too much. Nonetheless, I got scared, and I push toward him to close the terrifying gap and to touch his lips, to ensured me that this wasn’t a dream. But the feel of his lips never came, he moved away.
“You shouldn’t be coming to places like this,” Garen said, his voice hard now. “Graduate from high school first before you start doing drugs, Abe.” He pulled out his wallet and put down a bill.
Right at the last second, I reached out and grabbed his hand, halting him from his leave. Garen looked at me, there was something in his face that I couldn’t read, but I could tell that a part of it was hurt. Then I held tighter onto his hand and told him my honest thought, “I don’t want you to leave. Please stay and talk with me.”
Garen kept his eyes on mine, but he didn’t say anything back. I knew he was making his decision, but the thought of him leaving and never being able to see him again hurt me.
“Please,” I let go of his hand, “If this is the only time I will ever get to see you, then stay and talk to me. I want to know you.”
The seconds he stood there stood still, and for those seconds, I forgot that we were in the club, I forgot about my friends, I forgot that I was not in the state to make any sort of sober decisions. Yet, I strongly wanted Garen to choose me and sit down again. I was being selfish and truly unfair to him.
“What do you want to know?” Garen asked as he sat down on his seat again. I smiled and unconsciously reached for his hand then held it. He looked at our hands then turned to me. “I shouldn’t be doing this.”
“What do you mean?”
He sighed as he shook his head. “You’re underage.”
“I’m turning 18 in a month,” I looked at our hands. “Is a month a big difference?”
“It is, because you’re not 18 until next month,” Garen’s hand fold itself over mine. The warmth from them made my heart thumped with life. “This is illegal, as of right now.”
“Well,” I looked back into his eyes, those warm and beautiful caramel eyes, “I like you awfully lot, so can we just pretend that it is now December 28.”
“You still can’t be here,” his lips hid a smile. “You’re not 21 yet.”
“December 28 of 2019. My friends are here to celebrate my birthday, and I caught you staring. Then I came over.”
He smiled, “You do look older than your age.”
I smiled. I knew Garen wasn’t going to leave anymore, because his eyes were caught by mine and our fingers are entwined.