9: Evening of Disappointment

A/N: I was struck by some inspiration yesterday and wrote more, so I thought I would give you another chapter. Please let me know what you think of this project! It's something of a departure from what I usually do, and I really want the feedback, even if you think I should abandon this project entirely. Best wishes and happy reading to you!

DRAKE POV

“Xander, we’s never gonna agree on music. You know that. Let it go,” Callum interrupts Xander’s oral thesis on the merits of metal and hard rock over punk and EDM.

“Please,” Angel adds, pouting slightly at Xander. She seems like the type he’d normally go for—pale, goth makeup, sleek black hair in an Ariana Grande-style ponytail, hourglass figure—except that she’s a vampire, no question. I can smell the blood she’s drinking, and she’s the only one at this table whose heartbeat I can’t hear faintly under the incessant music and bar noise. “As fascinating as your points are, I think it’d be best if we judged the bands for ourselves tonight. And I would love to hear more from you about Columbus. You’ve been here longer than I have, and you seem to be men of taste.”

I’m honestly surprised she included Callum and me in that. Since Effie left to check on their other friend, the conversation has been mostly between Angel and Xander.

“The music scene’s one of the best things about the city, though,” Xander protests.

“We’ve had some pretty good food, since we came to town. Lots of variety,” Callum offers. I barely avoid facepalming in frustration. What’s a vampire want with food?

“What about entertainment?” Angel asks, one eyebrow arched quizzically. “Are there places to go for fun on the odd night when you’re just not feeling a bar concert?”

Xander scoffs, like he thinks she might be making fun of him. Though her expression is earnest, I can’t help feeling like that might actually be the case, at least a little bit.

“There’s a few barcades around,” I say quickly, hoping to avoid Xander starting another argument about concerts. “Bars with arcade games, board games, that sort of deal.”

“And there’s places that do escape rooms,” Callum adds, clearly on the same page as me.

“Escape rooms? Really? Fascinating,” Angel remarks, seeming thoroughly amused by the idea. “What about…shopping?”

“There’s a few major shopping centers. Polaris and Easton are the best, I think,” I reply.

“Ooooo, are we going shopping tomorrow?” Effie asks excitedly as she slides back into her seat next to Angel.

“Maybe,” Angel smiles. “The gentlemen were just filling me in on the local entertainment.”

“Bout damn time we found some of that. Feels like all we’ve done since we came to this city is study.”

“How’s your friend?” I inquire. I wasn’t expecting Effie to come back alone.

“She’s…better than she was. She said she’ll come join us in a bit, after she makes another phone call. It wouldn’t have taken so long, but there were some really drunk girls in the bathroom, and we ended up helping them cuz Nikki’s too nice for her own good.”

“Are you sure you shouldn’t have stayed with her?” Angel questions, brow furrowing in concern.

“I’m not going to be much help convincing her great-aunt to send her parents money. But we don’t need to be airing Nikki’s family business here, either. I’m sure these gentlemen aren’t interested in that. Did the band change while I was away?”

“Yes, actually. I’m glad someone noticed,” Xander answers. “What do you think of them?”

“Better than the last group, I think, by a long shot. Still not the headliner, though, I assume?”

“Got a while yet for that,” Callum affirms.

“Not so long now. These guys are pretty good,” Xander argues. “You’re all right, Effie.”

She sends him a charming grin in reply. With her waves of blonde hair and toned muscles, she’s about as far from his usual preferred aesthetic as it gets, but who am I to judge? She and Angel are both gorgeous, and Effie at least has a heartbeat, but neither one of them has really struck me as potential mate material, and no other ladies in the room have caught my eye, either. I guess it’s just another evening of disappointment.

I must have sighed out loud, because Callum’s elbow catches me in the ribs.

“Whatever’s got you down, you best put it on the back burner, before Xander notices,” he warns me, his voice low.

“It’s just that they got him started on music again,” I mutter.

“Yeah, I know. Won’t be long before they get bored with that. Patience.”

“You see anyone else might be worth talking to?” I start scanning the crowd of concert-goers, hoping to find an affirmative answer to my own question.

“Not yet, but the night is young.”

“Most people who were coming here for the concert would be here already, I would think….” The rest of my thoughts die in my throat as my eyes fall on a woman about my age in a leather jacket and distressed charcoal skinnies. Holy shit. Now there’s someone else worth talking to. Vibrant green eyes stand out from her light brown skin. Her face and figure are flawlessly beautiful, but it’s the way she moves that’s most captivating: lithe and liquid, yet powerful. She glides through the crowd towards our table with ease; the dancing concert-goers and harried wait staff are no obstacles to her.

“Nikki!” Effie exclaims, bouncing back out of her chair to hug this emerald-eyed stunner. “Did you get it sorted?”

“I think so. I never know where I stand with Aunt Talia,” Nikki replies smoothly. Her voice might actually be sexier than the way she moves, which I didn’t think was possible. “I see you’ve made friends while I’ve been handling a family crisis.”

“Angel will introduce you while I find you a chair.”

“Nikki, meet Xander, Callum, and Drake,” Angel obliges, gesturing to each of us in turn. “Gentlemen, this is the elusive Nikki we’ve been referencing all evening.”

“Don’t believe anything she’s told you about me, except that I’ve spent the better part of the past hour on the phone with irksome relatives,” Nikki says immediately, a twinkle of mirth in her eyes. I can’t get over how green they are. Vegetation elemental, maybe? She’s probably not human, if she’s hanging out with a vampire. And she’s no lycan, either. Which is really too bad.

“I think that’s all she’s told us about you, other than that you’re in Columbus for grad school,” Callum replies, somewhat confused. I want to say something to her, anything, but I can’t seem to remember how to do that.

“Oh, well, perhaps I spoke too soon. That bit is also true.”

“Well, it wasn’t easy, but I wrangled a chair from those metal-heads,” Effie announces as she returns. “Quick, sit down before they notice it’s missing.”

“Thank you. What all have I missed?”

“Some great music,” Xander answers immediately.

“Trust me, even in the bathroom on the phone, I couldn’t miss that. They’ve all been quite loud. Were you here for the first act? Because they were decidedly less than great.”

“I think we got here partway through the second band’s set,” Callum supplies. Talking still seems to be beyond my reach. She’s gonna think I’m a weirdo.

“Consider yourselves fortunate.”

“The guys were just filling us in on entertainment options in the area, in case we ever have another night off from studying,” Angel tells Nikki, seeming to sense that Xander has not taken kindly to Nikki’s last remark; he was actually very annoyed that we missed the opening act while we were looking for somewhere to park.

“Seems like a long shot, but I’ll bite. What would you most recommend, Drake?”

I can’t breathe. Her eyes seem to be staring straight into my soul. Come on, say something.

“Uh…I guess that depends on what you like to do. When you’re not studying,” I answer falteringly.

“So far they’ve suggested barcades, escape rooms, shopping….” Angel lists.

“Perhaps something a little more…active, or extreme,” Nikki muses.

“What, like axe throwing?” I blurt out, then immediately regret it. She’s never gonna go for something like that. Why would you even mention it? An ad for an axe-throwing bar appeared in our mailbox a couple days ago. Damn you, random access memory!

To my surprise, Nikki’s eyes light up, and Angel and Effie seem similarly intrigued. “That sounds promising.”

“There are archery ranges, too, if that’s something that appeals to you,” Callum adds.

“Definitely.”

“And shooting ranges,” Xander contributes.

“Excellent,” Effie grins to her friends, who seem equally excited.

“Really? Wild. Most girls we’ve run into here haven’t, uh, shared your interest in that sort of thing,” Callum remarks. He’s suddenly skeptical of them, and I want to smack him for it. After all this time of searching, maybe I’ve finally found her.

“Hasn’t anyone ever taught you not to judge a book by its cover?” Nikki replies, smirking slightly. Damn, she’s hot.

“Whoa, hey, I ain’t judgin’. Just surprised.”

“If you’re down for more surprises, maybe we could all hit one of those places up together,” Effie suggests brightly. “We’re still learning our way around town. It’d be great to have company.”

“Yeah, sure. This weekend?” I ask, hardly able to believe my luck. An excuse to see her again.

Nikki, Angel, and Effie exchange glances.

“Should work for us. We can adjust our usual studying schedule,” Angel answers while the other two nod. “Saturday. Name the time and place.”

“We’ll have to do a bit of research,” Callum hedges. “Maybe we can text about it this week?”

“Well played, sir,” Effie smiles as she scribbles some digits onto a napkin and slides it across the table to him. I wish I’d thought of that. For his part, Callum seems fairly surprised by this outcome.

“Uh, great. Thanks.”

“Go ahead and text me and I’ll save your number.”

“Oh shit,” Nikki mutters, pulling her phone out of her pocket. “I have to take this, and I’d rather die than go back in that bathroom with the drunk girls commenting on my conversation. I’ll be outside.”

“Do you want… I mean, is it safe for you to go alone? Outside, in this part of town?” I ask clumsily as she starts to move away.

“I’ll be fine. But thank you. Enjoy the music,” she smiles, but it’s forced. Does that have to do with me or whoever’s calling her?

“All right, thank you so much for being such a dope audience,” the frontman of the band that’s been playing shouts into his microphone, forcing my attention away from Nikki for a second. “That’s it for us tonight, but check out our merch table over in that corner, and stick around for the main event…SLEEEEEEPERRRRRRRRS AWAKE!”

When I look back, she’s gone, vanished without a trace into the crowd.