nina semen. • it was a night for breaking out. big hair, black...

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it was a night for breaking out. big hair, black eyeliner, glassy lip gloss. sheer tank, black leggings, and platform pumps, glittering with rhinestones. wearing 5” heels to a house club probably wasn’t the smartest idea, but i didn’t care. they were cheap, i’d toss them off if i needed to later; i had flip flops in my car.

it was packed; you’d have thought it was the only place open that night. i stuffed my i.d. and cash into my bra and it disappeared - one of the great things about being top heavy. bass vibrated the floor. my friend screamed excitedly, grabbed my hand and dragged me through the crowd, to the bar. she yelled her order to the bartender. i didn’t want anything yet. turning around and leaning back against the counter i surveyed the dance floor.

men and women, bouncing collectively in the dark, lines of blue and green light streaking over them rapidly. the music seemed to get louder, filled my ears. i couldn’t remember what anything else sounded like. my friend downed her shot, and bumped her hip into mine, smiling and saying something to me that i pretended to hear. shaking her blonde hair around wildly she hopped up and down and i laughed. she was so alive.

i noticed behind her a man, standing against the bar holding a tall glass, looking at the ground, nodding slightly to the beat. he wore a hoodie pulled down over his face, dark jeans and white sneakers that glowed a faint purple under the black lights. he cut his eyes towards me, head still tilted down, an eyebrow raised. lines forming in his forehead, his jaw was clenched. he looked angry, but he wasn’t: his eyes were soft. he looked as if he were going to smile at me, but he didn’t, only looked away.

disappointed, i slapped my friend playfully on the arm and nodded towards the dance floor. she waggled her brows, locked her arm in mine and we went over, her pushing her way to the middle, where she liked to be. she lifted her hair up off of her neck, dress rising so high that you could just make out where here ass and thighs met. i danced with her, closing my eyes, smiling from the inside out. i loved this fucking song.

then there were hands on my hips, a warm body against my back. i opened my eyes, spun around. it was the guy from the bar. hood still up but not as far over his face, he looked as intense as before but one side of his full mouth was pulled up into a dimpled half smile. hands still in place, he moved with me, eyes boring into mine. i couldn’t tell what color they were in the darkness, blue maybe. i didn’t really care; they were beautiful.

the song slowed, so did we, me winding my lower body against him. i raised my arms, rested them on his shoulders and he pushed his hood back, lifting my hands up. i placed my palms on the back of head and he dug his fingers deeper into the small of my back. he looked down at my navel as we danced, leaning back with his hips pushed forward.

the song reached another crescendo and i spun around. moving his hands around to the front of my abdomen, he lowered his face into the bend of my shoulder; warm air making my skin tingle. we danced like that, my friend beside us dancing with some guy, until the song blended into a different one.

when it did, he turned me around. he was smiling completely, eyes crinkled into slits, the cleft of his stubbled chin more pronounced. one of his front teeth jutted down farther than the other. it was cute. he leaned down and kissed my cheek, i closed my eyes and he held his lips against my face for a few moments. after they’d left my skin i opened my eyes, just in time to see him turn and disappear into the mass of bodies.