I don't know why
I've got it so bad…

I'm out of control.
Tryin to hide my head in a hole.
There's something about you I've gotta know.
Before we go to far,

I wanna know...
I wanna Know...
I wanna know...
What I wanna know is
Are...Are you the One...
Are you the One...
Are you the One..
Are You The...

Are You The One, The Presets


The line at Room 42 was out the door and snaking down the street. I stared in amazement. I had never seen so many beautiful people in one place. Next to some of those girls, I looked as out of place as a pit bull in a beauty pageant. I scooted closer to Lucas to make up for it. He looked good enough for the both of us – clearly he was my ticket to credibility.

He looked down at me as I scooted so close I bumped into him, and raised an eyebrow. I turned red. "Sorry."

He just took my hand.

I mentally shook my head. The boy was just so weird. Although - I definitely wasn't complaining. I let him lead me up the street, past the snaking line of beautiful people and right up to the door. Behind us, a couple of fake blondes gave gasps of irritation.

"Yo, Barbie. Do you not see the line?"

I turned around to face them. "Are you talking to me?" I asked incredulously.

One of them placed her hand on her bony, jutting hip. "Yeah I'm talking to you. There's a line. We've been waiting here almost an hour, so who the fuck do you think you are that you can just push in?"

I cocked my head to the side. "Well ladies, clearly I'm someone. Because I, unlike you, don't have the time to stand in a club line for an hour."

I pasted a sympathetic smile onto my face. "I'm on the list. And a word of advice girls – take your shitty attitudes and tangerine skin and fuck off. Next time, try being nicer to the people who matter. Because nobody here cares what you think."

Beside me, Lucas looked like he was in shock. Claire and Hayden weren't even listening. My rants - although I didn't consider myself a raving lunatic - were frequent enough for them not to bat an eyelid. The guys in line behind the tangerine queens however, were laughing so hard I though they'd choke.

One of the girls spun around and smacked one of them on the arm.

"Ow"! He gasped through his laughter. "What the fuck was that for? Just chill out bitch."

The two girls looked genuinely embarrassed then, and I felt a bit bad. I honestly hadn't set out to be such a bitch to them. They'd just got my back up with their nasty attitude, and a lot of the time I can't help what comes out of my mouth.

Lucas pulled on my hand. "Come on Sasha."

I took one last guilty glance at the tangerines and let him lead me past the hugely terrifying Samoan on the door and into the club. Before we'd even walked down the stairs, I could hear The Presets blaring loud enough to make my teeth rattle. After four thousand dollars worth of dental work, I just hoped they wouldn't rattle out of my head. Lucas turned to me just as I was pushing on my teeth to make sure they weren't loose.

He looked at me strangely. "What are you doing?"

"Oh! Um…nothing. I just thought I had something in my teeth."

"Ok then. Um, do you want something to drink?"

I nodded.

Lucas pushed his way to the bar, using his considerable size to send waif thin, couture-clad girls flying everywhere. I followed along in his wake, arriving at his side just in time to see him greet the bar tender with a grin and a complicated boy handshake. "Jase! What's going on man?"

"Lu! I didn't think you were going to show tonight!"

Lucas nodded. "Yeah, I bought some friends with me." He reached an arm out and pulled me to him, bumping yet another tangerine blonde girl out of the way. She swore in annoyance, sent me a dirty look and stomped off.

I was amazed. I mean, I know it's winter and all, but what's with the tangerine skin? No one is tanned in winter really, so who do they think they're kidding?

"…Sasha?"

I snapped back. "Huh?"

Lucas and the bartender Jase were both staring at me.

"Sasha, this is my mate Jase. Jase, this is Sasha."

Jase shook my hand and smiled. "How you doing Sasha?"

I smiled back at him. "Good, thanks."

"Can I get you a drink?"

"Yeah, that would be great."

"Ok, I'll mix you up something. You like fruity or milky?"

"Um, fruity."

"Ok. Be right back."

"Jase is one of the best bartenders I've ever seen. He's won a heap of awards and shit," Lucas told me, nodding towards the back of the bar where Jase was collecting an array of bottles. "Watch him."

I watched him. He was good. Spinning bottles, collecting glasses and throwing them over his head, pouring four bottles at once and throwing lime into the air. He grabbed another glass, clapped it over the end of the cocktail shaker and went nuts. When he was done, he grabbed the biggest martini glass I'd ever seen and poured the bright red mixture into it, then pushed it across the bar to me.

"Madam."

I just laughed. "Holy shit."

Lucas grinned. "Told you he was good."

Jase waved us away in mock embarrassment. "Lucas, stop it."

"You should see this guy pour a beer," he said to me. "Ain't no one in this fair town who can get the head to sit like Lucas here."

I grinned and took a sip of the cocktail.

Jase raised an eyebrow at me. "Good?"

I nodded. "Fuck yeah."

"Good. It's called a Sasha. I named it after you."

I grinned at him. "Thanks Jase!"

He laughed. "I'd love to stay and chat ladies, but I've got to serve the rest of these people. Lu,"

He and Lucas slapped hands again. "Catch you round bro."

"Thanks for the drink!" I called after his retreating back.

"Is it that good?" Lucas asked me.

I narrowed my eyes. "Yeah. Why?"

He grinned. "Are you going to share it?"

I scowled. "No, go find your own!"

"Sasha." Lucas grabbed the straw from me and stuck it in his own mouth. He kept his eyes on me, green sparkling with mirth, as he drained half the glass.

"Lucas!"

Lucas stood back and laughed. I glared at my near-empty glass.

"Now you owe me another one. It's called a Sasha, not a Lucas. Get your own."

Lucas rolled his eyes and put his hand on the back of my neck, turning me away from the bar. "You can have as many cocktails as you want, later. We should go find the others. Chris has booked us a booth."

"Who's Chris?" I asked in interest as we crossed the crowded floor, looking for Claire, Hayden and Dante.

"My boss. He's the one who put us on the door."

"Oh sweet."

We found Claire and Hayden over by the second bar, on the far side of the room. Room 42 was an old converted warehouse, with a big, main bar where Jase was working, which ran the length of the back wall, a huge dance floor, and clusters of couches and tables around the edges. VIP booths ran the length of the left wall. The second bar was in the right hand corner.

"Where's Dante?" I asked by way of greeting.

"Over there, chatting up some poor girl already," Claire replied. "Ooh. What's that?"

"It's a Sasha," I replied, handing her the glass so she could try it.

Hayden looked repulsed. "Someone named a drink after you? Why would they do that? As if you needed your head inflated anymore."

I glared at him. "Nice to see you found two matching shoes tonight Hayden."

He laughed.

Lucas looked a little overwhelmed. "Chris has booked us a booth. Want to sit down?"

Claire nodded. "Yeah. Totally."

"I'll go get Dante," I offered.

"Ok, well, it's the booth third from the end there," Lucas told me, pointing.

"Ok."

I crossed the floor again, this time looking for Dante. I found him, over against the wall near the bathrooms, smooth talking some poor red-headed girl who couldn't have been a day over 18.

"Dante."

He spun around. "Hey Sash. What's up?"

"Lucas has got us a booth. You want to sit down?"

"Yeah, totally. Do you reckon it would be cool if…um…" Dante was lost.

"Kaitlin…" the girl supplied, not looking the least bit offended Dante had forgotten her name.

"Right, Kaitlin, sat with us Sash?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I guess that would be cool."

"Awesome!" the girl looked so impressed. "A private booth at Room 42! My friends will fucking freak out! Just let me tell them, and I'll be right back."

Dante and I watched her scamper away.

"I'd forgotten what a big gap there is between 18 and 19," Dante said with a grin.

"Because you're so old, at a whole 21."

"I'm older than her."

"Ok true."

"Plus she seems a young 18, don't you think?"

"Careful Dant," I warned him. "You're hading into paedophile territory."

Dante just laughed. "So, what's going on with you and Lucas?"

"Nothing, why?"

Dante rolled his eyes. "No offence, but like, no one believes that."

Then it was my turn to roll my eyes.

"Whatever Dante. Lucas is like, totally off limits. He couldn't give of a stronger 'unavailable' vibe if he tried. Even if I liked him. Which I don't."

Dante just laughed.

"Whatever."

When we arrived at the booth, Kaitlin - and three of her friends in tow, who I hadn't remembered inviting, Lucas had already been to the bar again.

"Sash, slide in here," he commanded.

I was more than happy to oblige, after seeing Kaitlin's little friends eyeballing him.

I sat next to him, and Dante sat next to me, which left Kaitlin and her friends to take up one edge, and Claire and Hayden to take up the other.

Lucas slid another one of Jase's cocktails in front of me. It was even bigger than the last one.

"Are you trying to get me drunk?" I asked sceptically. He just grinned at me, and took a swig from the bottle of Cooper's in his hand.

"What is that?" one of Kaitlin's friends asked me, leaning forward and staring at the giant red concoction in front of me.

"Oh, um, it's a drink that one of the bar guys made for me."

Hayden snorted. "He even named it after her."

The girl's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head. "He named it after you?"

"Um, well yeah. He's a friend of Lucas's. It's really good. Do you want to try some?"

I passed the glass to her. She took a sip.

"That's really good!"

"Do you girls want one? I can go get more," Lucas offered, amused.

Kaitlin and her friends glanced at each other. "Yeah!"

Lucas smiled and slid over Claire and Hayden and out of the booth. I went back to work demolishing the giant drink in front of me.

By the time Lucas came back with a whole tray of the drinks, mine was gone. He looked at me in disbelief.

"Sasha! Did you drink that whole thing?"

I grinned at him, feeling pretty fucking good about myself. "Yep."

He eyed me warily. "Do you want another one?"

"Um, yes!"

I took another drink from him. He gave one each to Kaitlin and her friends, one to Claire and one to Dante. Dante's was accompanied by a sly -

"Poof."

Dante glared at Lucas. "Get fucked."

Claire, Hayden and I laughed uproariously.

"A real man drinks beer, am I right brother?" Lucas asked Hayden, clinking his bottle against Hayden's.

"Fuck yeah."

Lucas headed back to the bar again. Claire looked at me, widening her eyes and smiling slyly.

I rolled my eyes. I knew what they were all trying to do. Get me to hook up with Lucas. And he was totally hot, don't get me wrong. But I hardly knew him, and we had been getting along so well, I didn't want anything to ruin that.

And although he still wasn't forthcoming, he'd spoken to me more tonight than ever before, and the more I got to know about him – the more I liked him.

Lucas arrived back from the bar and sat down next to me, with fresh beers for himself and Hayden. Hayden was already pretty drunk, and raring to dance. The thing that's wrong with Hayden dancing, is that Hayden is 6'5, lanky with very long limbs, and entirely too exuberant. Usually when Hayden dances, people get hurt. It's hilarious to watch when you're out of the way, but I can sympathise with other people. He almost broke my nose once, trying to waltz with me.

"Babe, just wait a little while," Claire begged him. "There's still too many people out there."

"Claire, I'm not a fucking maniac. I am capable of being around other people."

"I know Hayden, but seriously, remember two weeks ago at The Family?"

The Family was another club in The Valley. Hayden had almost been punched in the face, because he knocked some guys drink out of his hand while he had been trying to do the sprinkler on the dance floor.

I laughed into my drink, entirely too drunk and finding everything very funny. Lucas glanced at me, amused.

"Are you ok?"

I giggled. "Fine."

Dante raised an eyebrow. "Someone is wasted."

I shook my head. "I'm not."

"Whatever Trevor."

"Hey Dante…"

"What?"

"…" I struggled to think of a witty retort.

"Fuck off."

He snorted and shook his head.

"Want to dance?" he asked Kaitlin, who put down her drink and nodded enthusiastically. On the other side of the table, Claire had finally given into Hayden and they followed Kaitlin and Dante out onto the floor. Kaitlin's friends had pissed off, which just left me and Lucas at the table.

The room was starting to spin, so I put my head back against the seat.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, I'm just…why the fuck is this headrest so hard?"

Lucas gave a low laugh. "Here."

He spread his arm out along the back of the sofa and let me lean against the crook of his arm. "Better?"

I smiled at him. "Yeah, thanks."

We sat in silence for a little while. Me sobering up, Lucas sipping his beer and watching the crowd.

"So, Dante said you've just come back from London?" I finally asked, sitting up a little straighter.

"Yep."

"That must have been awesome."

Lucas shifted a little. "Yeah. It was ok."

I could tell, by the flat tone of his voice that he didn't want to talk about it. But me being so nosey, I pushed.

"You don't sound that excited."

"I broke up with my girlfriend of three years just before I came home."

"But you've only been home…"

"Three weeks. Yeah. We've been broken up for a month now."

"Oh. Um, what happened? If you don't mind me asking?"

"We'd been together since high school. She was the reason I went over there in the first place. But…I dunno. She fucked me up. I was never good enough for her. She would always pick at me, belittle me, try to change me."

"Oh."

"It's probably for the best that she's gone."

He didn't sound like he thought it was for the best.

Silence. Awkward silence. My least, least, favourite kind of silence.

"I'm going to the bar. Do you want anything?" I asked, standing up suddenly. He looked up at me.

"Another beer would be good."

I just nodded and scurried away.

When in doubt, just drink more.

The night didn't really get any better from there. I severely regretted bringing up Lucas's girlfriend. He just shut down again – the sullen look came back and he stopped talking. The others all came back to the table, thankfully. They were all in fantastic spirits, and luckily no one seemed to notice Lucas and I sitting in stony silence. About three we decided to head home. Since Lucas's big confession, I'd taken it upon myself to drink even more. I'd lost count of how many drinks I'd had, and he didn't seem so worried about keeping an eye on me anymore.

I got irritated with him. Talk about moody. I know he'd just had his heart broken, but seriously. He didn't need to take it out on us… it wasn't my fault…

Drunken logic is the best.

The six of us – including Kaitlin – spilled out onto the street at 3:15 and tried to hail a cab. I stumbled on my heels. Lucas reached out and grabbed me before I fell, but he didn't say anything. I was a little hurt by his indifference. I'd thought we were on the road to becoming friends. But if he could change so quickly, I wasn't sure I wanted to be his friend anymore.

Sulkily, I jerked away from his hand and climbed clumsily into the cab, collapsing next to Claire who just laughed and fell on top of me.

I must have passed out on the way home, because the next thing I knew, I was in Dante's old bed in the spare bedroom back at the boys house. My jeans and heels were on the floor next to me. Head pounding, I lifted the sheet and confirmed that somehow I'd been stripped down to my undies and my flimsy camisole top. I didn't remember anything about the ride home from the club, let alone getting back to the house, undressing and getting into bed.

I felt sick. Groaning, I lifted myself off the bed and crossed the hall to go throw up in Dante's bathroom. After throwing up three times, I felt marginally better, although still like I wanted to die. I sat on the cool tile floor in the surprisingly clean bathroom and rested my head against the shower door.

"Are you ok?" a deep voice asked from the doorway. My head snapped up.

"You scared me," I muttered.

"Do you need me to get you anything? Want a Gatorade or something? Some aspirin?"

I shook my head, although I was dying for both those things. I didn't want either of them from him.

"You were pretty out of it last night."

"I know."

He got the message and nodded. "Ok then. I'm gunna go now, but I'll see you around Sasha."

"See ya."

It was only after he'd gone that I realised who it was who must have undressed me and put me to bed last night.

"Fuck."