Page 58 of Something Real with the Sea Monster
I frown. “Uh no. I want a proper drink.” Before he can protest, I lean across the bar and wave down the bartender. “Gin and soda please, and a Young Henry’s.”
When he hands us our drinks, Jack looks like he wants to say something, but I’m distracted when I catch sight of Saskia following a tall, familiar looking man onto the dance floor. I don’t see his face, but for a moment I wonder.
It couldn’t be, though. Not here.
I take a big gulp of my drink and try to focus on the crowd of people to pick out Brent or Isla. We all got separated, and now it’s just me and Jack. Not that I mind so much.
It’s funny, but I never really missed my Sydney friends while I was in Kraken Cove. And now I’m back in Sydney, I’m reminded why seeing them in small doses feels like the right amount.
I finish my drink and order another.
Jack’s hand closes over mine on the glass. “Hey, maybe you should slow down. You’ve had a lot.”
I round on him. “So? I’m a grown woman. I can make my own choices.”
“I’m not saying you can’t, Tegan, but it’s not much fun for me just watching you do this.”
“Do what?”
He says nothing, just looks at me.
I raise my voice. “What, Jack? God! Maybe you should just go home then and leave me if you don’t know how to have fun.”
“Don’t be stupid.”
I’m about to tell him exactly where he can shove his opinion when the group of dancers dividing me from Saskia parts and I spot her. But it’s not her I’m staring at. It’s the guy she’s with. Mark leans close, whispering something in her ear, and she tips her chin up like she’s going to kiss him.
What the actual fuck?
I lurch onto the dance floor, drink in hand, pushing people aside. I don’t notice Jack follow me until I feel his hand on my arm. “Tegan—”
I look back with a glare and shake him off. I hardly notice the splash of my drink on the floor.
I stride up to Mark and push him roughly. He lets go of Saskia and turns to stare at me. “What the fuck?”
I stare. The face of the man I’m looking into isn’t familiar at all. It’s a stranger.
Saskia steps in front of him. “What is your problem?”
I shake my head. Everything on the edge of my vision is fuzzy, and for a moment I don’t know myself.
I open my mouth to tell Mark to go fuck himself, then remember it’s not him. My vision is swimming. I’m jolted by another dancer who sways into me, knocking my glass onto the floor with a smash. The movement sends a wave of nausea over me, and what comes out isn’t words. It’s vomit.
I open my mouth and vomit all over not-Mark and Saskia and the floor between us.
Saskia screams. People turn to look.
Someone pulls out a phone, and then suddenly everyone has a phone.
I ignore them. “You’re a lying piece of sh—” Unfortunately I don’t make it through the rest of the sentence before another burst of bile rises and spews from my mouth. I hunch forward, clutching my stomach, but my knees hit the hard floor, and I realize I’ve fallen.
The room is spinning.
I can’t see any of my other friends anymore. All I can see is dark figures hiding behind the flashes of their cameras.
This is awful. I need to get out of here.
Now.
