[@JulienJaden]

The bass reverberated through every floor of the house, Nadine’s head idly bouncing along with the beat. She eyed her friends Carrie and Sam anxiously, the two of them mingling over the noise that swallowed up Nadine’s attention. She was trying to suck down the pressure by drinking gin and juice, hoping the open bar at this birthday party would let her escape the social unease. The bitter taste of cranberry made her purpled painted lips pucker against her teeth. “Carrie, I think I need to—“ right when she reached out, a man stumbled head first into her, pinning Nadine back against the kitchen counter. The weight was thrown off long enough for the slim girl to evade a projectile wave of vomit. The smell alone filling the sink made Nadine pull her friends out into the foyer at the base of the stairs.

“Listen, I can’t take this, I need some fresh air.” They argued back and forth about how cold outside it was, Nadine deciding to head out alone for a few minutes while they meandered within the party. Deprived of hesitation, she threw herself out the front door. The burst of music behind Nadine was quickly sealed shut in an attempt to evade the commotion. On the porch it felt like she was taking her first real breath in the last hour of being there.

Under the full moon everything glimmered in a blue, opulent atmosphere. Every overwhelming detail to Nadine was left inside of the two-story house, and from the driveway she could only make out the faint ricochet of the beat and the folks inside howling and dancing. Out on the three acres of property, nobody could be disturbed by the antics going on, they were just past the outskirts of town. She trudged slowly up the slope in her laced-up boots, wearily gazing off into the distance at a line of tree that began a forest on the end of the backyard.

Finding a spot to hide wasn’t hard in between the cars. The lot was full of them, droves of student vehicles had lined up at the end of gravel driveway. Nadine’s hands fumbled in the pockets of her jeans and studded leather jacket, discovering the remains of a blunt and a shiny zippo. Its front held an engraved heretic whose forked tongue taunted the owner of the lighter. Flipping the top open the flame lit the end of her roll and inhaling the hit was an earnest action on Nadine’s part. The smoke came so heavy from her nostrils, coiling through the jewelry of her septum piercing. Having a moment alone made her greedily suck on the blunt, this being the first opportune time to smoke since finals. December had brought a dry amount of cold weather, but snow had yet to fall on their hometown. A chill crept up the nape of her neck, under the leather collar she felt her flesh pimpling with goose bumps. It churn dup no motivation  to be inside, however, Nadine needed to take a moment to relinquish her anxiety. She pinned herself against a hatchback coupe, staring up into the abyss that no city light obscured from sight. The stars were an abundance of glittering webs, encircling the moon’s own brilliance. Devoid of clouds the sky opened up out to her peripheral vision from this angle, a perfect sight to cherish while her inner tension gradually let go.

When she quietly began to return down the slope, Nadine was no longer encroached by the sight of so many people, so many bodies, steaming up the windows and colliding against each other inside. Smokers lingered outside, whining over the midnight weather but the bite of December only excited her now. Trickling in with some more new comers, Nadine pushed a lock of long thin hair back behind her gauged ears. She absently clawed the tiger’s eye stone stretching the hole of her ear, filed claws clinking against the 20mm plug. Twisting her fingers through her naturally auburn hair, the music flooded her senses and the noise washed over her. But now Nadine felt immune, a tunnel of haze bringing a lighthearted demeanor as she searched the party for another drink...