Love At First Glance.
Chapter One: This Beat Is Sick.
The music blared out of the taxi's speakers as the man swerved out of an incoming truck's way, making May fall against her, crushing her against the seat. Corinna watched, open- mouthed, as the taxi-driver sped up, racing through the streets with an alarming pace of speed.
"Could you go any faster?" she shouted over the music, which was a heavy mixture of Indian beats and singing. She chuckled at the sarcasm of her voice, shaking her head.
The man whirled around, his black beanie pulled over his eyes. "Faster?" he asked, shouting, bushy eyebrows rising on his forehead, disappearing under his beanie. Corinna nodded, smiling softly, biting her lip nervously. "Sure!"
"No! Wait!" she was slammed against the thankfully-locked door once again, May laughing drunkenly on top of her. Corinna sighed, pushing blonde strands of hair out of her eyes. God, when would the torture end? "Not that fast!"
The taxi pulled into a free space ten minutes later, May stumbling out onto the street, her hands clumsily fumbling for money in her open purse. Corinna groaned, pulling a wad of money out of her pocket, and handing through the open window to the taxi driver, who accepted it gratefully. He sped away from the curb, loud Indian music blaring from the taxi.
Corinna grabbed May's arm, looping it through hers. "One more club," she told her, looking into her stumbling friend's brown eyes. May smiled, nodding her head slowly, before taking a faltering step towards the bright lights of the club, fluorescent signs reading out "Echo." Corinna shook her head, leading May into the crowded fray.
They reached the bouncers, two black men in equally as black suits, sunglasses covering their eyes. One of them smiled at Corinna, and pulled the red velvet rope away from its clip, leaving the walkway clear. Grumblings and groans came from the crowd as they walked through, May waving her hand royally at them, giggling drunkenly, her eyes gazed over.
"Rinna!" May shouted into her ear, giggling, brightness in her eyes, and a beam on her lips. Her eyes took in the club, floating around. "Look, there's the bar!" She began to walk towards it, stumbling on her too-tall heels.
Corinna followed her. "Don't you think you've had enough?" she grumbled, watching as May bent over the counter, her eyelashes fluttering at the bartender, who smiled back.
Sometimes, when she got too drunk, her best friend could be some what of a whore.
It came with her personality.
Five minutes later, May was on her second drink, slurping loudly through the red straw. Corinna had taken a seat next to her, and was swirling her straw around absent-mindedly, the ice in her glass having melted down into a liquid. May grinned around her straw, teetering excitedly on her stool, her legs dangling, black heels lying forgotten on the floor. Lips still wrapped around the straw, she waved the bartender over, smiling up at him.
Corinna sighed, handing her empty glass over, which the bartender took gratefully, dumping it in the bubbling sink behind him. She placed her head in her hand, shaking it roughly.
Rummaging through her slight pocket in her skirt, she dumped her phone on the counter, turning it on. The open bars of her starting up music jingled at her, May now on her third red alcoholic drink. A time flashed up at her, 1:24. Corinna sighed, placing her phone back in her pocket.
She had a meeting in the morning, one that she wasn't even a little bit prepared for. Her boss was going to kill her.
Still, she had reasons for being out this late on a Thursday night; no Friday morning, she corrected herself, brains cells whirling overtime. Exhaustion would take over soon, but right now, May really needed her.
She had met May in kindergarten, when the brunette had stolen her favorite doll from the play box. A mischievous beam on her lips, her two front teeth missing, May had offered her, her own doll instead, claiming that she should have the blonde one and her, the brunette. They needed opposites, she claimed, a grin dancing on her lips.
From that day on, they had been best friends.
There had been a few boys in that class, Corinna remembered, a Harvey something, and a something Williams. The one that stood out in her mind the most though, was ditsy-bitsy little Lukie. The boy had been the constant terror in her first few years of "big" school, until he had thankfully moved away, far enough so she didn't have to see him on the weekends.
They had teased him about his name mercilessly, that she recalled. He had teased her about hers, her full name unfortunately being Corinna Giselle De Luca. Giselle came from her late grandmother, while Corinna was unfortunately passed down from her also deceased auntie, who she had never heard from or seen in her life, only attending her funeral because her name had been brought up mistakenly in the will. At that funeral, there had been a fight between Corinna and her Italian cousin, Maria, all because Corinna had wrongly been willed a vase, for god's sakes!
May bumped her out of her thoughts with a sharp prod with her elbow into Corinna's ribs. "Oww," she groaned, tiredly rubbing the spot. "Why'd you do that?" May giggled, brushing long brown hair away from her face, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Let's go dance!" she exclaimed, hopping off of her stool, her little black dress barely covering her butt. Corinna followed, sighing, her eyes flittering around the still-crowded dance floor. Loud dance music was pumping out of the speakers, and bodies moved together, seamlessly on the floor, pushed together.
May immediately latched onto a black-haired boy, pulling him away from his friend. Dipping low, her body shaking softly to the beat, she smiled up at him, a giggle escaping her mouth a moment later. Corinna groaned, taking a seat on the blue scattered chairs around the floor.
A moment later, someone came up to join her, their feet clattering on the floor. "Hey," they said, pulling over a seat, plonking their behind in it. A laugh came from their mouth a moment later, a laugh that filled her heart with warmth. "Sorry, I forgot to ask. I'm so rude sometimes. Can I sit here?"
Corinna plastered a smile to her tired mouth, turning to face the stranger. The words of welcome died in her throat, her breathing hitching. Sweat ran down her forehead, and her eyes gazed over. The man kept on smiling at her, although somewhat nervously.
He was gorgeous.
Everything about him seemed to be a dream. She could barely breathe, let alone muster the words that had so helpfully dried up in her hoarse throat. The man, this stranger had stopped smiling, and seemed to be frozen, like time itself.
What was she doing? Gasping for air, she pushed sweaty hair away from her face, teeth chattering together as if she were cold, even though her skin felt boiling to the touch. Corinna was stuck in a complete and utter state of shock.
She had seen this man before. She had to have seen him, maybe a stolen glance across the street; or maybe just the back of him as he walked away. The piercing, dark-blue eyes were too farmiler, and seemed to gaze a hole through her soul, her feelings thrown out for all to see. How could he be so farmiler, but yet such a stranger?
"Hello," she spluttered out, lowering her gaze to the floor, nervously biting her lip.
The man smiled, and extended a hand. "I'm Johnny," he said, hand floating in mid-air. Corinna blushed, before reaching out and roughly shaking it.
"Corinna," she mumbled out, tucking wavy strands of blonde hair behind her ears nervously, glancing up to meet his eyes.
"Pleasure to meet you," he finished off, a grin playing on his lips. She bit her lower lip, drawing blood to the surface. Blue eyes studied his form carefully. Dark-blond hair was spiked up on his head, drawing attention to his sparkling grey eyes. His tongue darted out to lick his chapped lips, soothing the redness.
She almost fainted, fanning herself with a hand.
Laughter bubbled up in her throat, escaping her mouth hurriedly, her eyes breaking her gaze to stare absent-mindedly out on the dance-floor. She watched May move on, hips swishing in her black dress, discarding her previous conquest, the man standing dumbfounded, his mouth open in disbelief. Her heels clacked on the floor, as she ran a hand down a man's chest, smiling up at him.
Johnny followed her gaze, biting his lips softly as he watched her double up in laughter at her friend's actions. She turned to smile at him, grinning widely as he smiled back, laughter escaping his mouth as he watched May.
Whoever this man was, it was definitely turning into a night to remember.
"Get away from her!" Who was that? Gods, her head hurt. The pain was worse than a hundred hangovers, and she could barely summon the strength to open her eyes to see what was going on.
"Who are you to tell me what to do?" a man barked, his footsteps clunking on the floor. She groaned softly, licking her lips. She tasted blood.
"Get away from her," the first man repeated, lowering his voice. Her eyes fluttered partially open, and she struggled to capture an image before her head swam and she slammed them shut again.
"No," the second man said. Laughter came to his mouth, bubbling out. "I don't think I will, Loukas."
"Don't call that," the first man warned; his voice as soft as a whisper. It rang in her ears, making its way into her mind. Who was he? If only she could open her eyes?
She pulled her hand up, wincing at the pain the simple gesture brought. What had happened? Why was she lying on the floor of some abandoned alley, bleeding from the leg, and in so much pain she couldn't even open her eyes for more than a second without being on the verge of blacking out?
"That's not who I am anymore," he finished off, walking forward. The wind rustled into the alley, making her shiver.
The second man laughed once more. "Why did you give it all up? Huh? You could have had everything."
Her mind flashed softly, and her heart leaped up into her throat. Where was May? Had the man gotten to her, as well? Why wasn't she here? She wanted to wail out, to sob loudly, to scream that it wasn't fair, that she didn't deserve this. She was a good girl, for the most part. She didn't swear as much as people she knew, she was rarely drunk, and she had been a straight-B's student in high-school! Why was this happening to her?
She forced herself to not think about what would happen if her rescuer lost, and the second man won. He had to win, for her. She wasn't meant to die here, without actually saying her final goodbyes, without knowing whether or not she actually passed university.
A deep breath was taken into her lungs, in an attempt to calm herself down.
She wasn't going to die.
With that thought in mind, she blacked out, hand slumping to hit the floor.