The One Who Shot Me - Sequel To Bulletproof Love

“Dylan!” Ashley exclaimed as she plopped down next to me on my hotel bed. My three companions had found a fairly nice (and fairly expensive) hotel overlooking the harbor and its bridge. The windows were large, the bathrooms were fancy, and the beds were comfy. I didn’t want to be bothered.

I opened my eyes, which I had previously been resting, and looked at Ashley’s face. “Yes?” I asked.

“There’s this hot new club they just opened right around the corner and we have to go!” She bounced up and down excitedly next to me on the bed.

“Why, exactly, do we have to go to this nightclub tonight? We’re going to be here for fourteen days!” I responded with an exasperated sigh.

“Yes, but...tonight’s ladies’ night. Girls get in for free. So let’s go, lazy pants!”

“But I’m jet-lagged!” I protested. Unfortunately, my protests were, as always, to no avail.

“Dylan,” Drew said as she walked into the room. She and Ashley had a room that was connected to the one that Jessica and I were sharing. “Stop giving excuses! You need to go out, you know, live it up!”

“How about this?” Jessica walked over to the bed where the rest of us were, holding a skin-tight black dress with one sleeve and matching black ankle-boot wedges.

“Oh my God, Jessica, no. I don’t even know why I packed that thing,” I groaned.

Ashley screeched in excitement. “Oh my goodness! That would be so nice on you!”

“What it would be, is trashy,” I protested. I knew this trip was going to suck.

“Dyl,” Drew sat down on the side were Ashley wasn’t, and put her head on the pillow next to mine. “I don’t care what you say, I know you’re still upset about Tony.” I cringed at the mention of my ex-boyfriend. “We brought you on this vacation to try and free your mind of that. We are going out tonight. You are going to get drunk, and you are going to like it. Tomorrow, we can do whatever it is that you want, even if it only consists of sitting around the hotel sulking. Okay?”

I looked deep into my sister’s eyes before I gave her a response. I hated how straight-forward she was about these things. I didn’t want anyone to acknowledge the fact that I was missing Tony. Hell, at that time, I couldn’t even tell myself that I was missing Tony. But for once, I choked back my pride and responded, “Okay.”

“Can I do your hair, Dylan?” Jessica asked me enthusiastically.

“Can I do makeup?” Ashley chimed in with the same caliber of excitement.

I looked at Drew, who shrugged, then I chuckled a bit (and oh God, did it feel good to laugh, even in the slightest bit), then back at the other two girls. “Why not?”

-------

At 11:30, roughly an hour and a half later, our quartet walked into the club, which was called Abby’s, with a full aura of self-confidence. I felt great. And I think I looked great, too. Jessica had convinced me to get rid of that “dysfunctional ponytail I always wear,” and she’d straightened out my curly brunette locks. The fact that I had been growing out the sides of my head made my straightened hair look like it was cut in layers; the sides reached down to my shoulders, and the rest varied in length from my breast to my waist. The dress I had on wasn’t skimpy or trashy at all; it showed off my best assets.

As for the women I was with, they looked just as great. Ashley was sporting a black pencil skirt and a purple flowy shirt with matching sequined purple pumps. Black and purple smoky eyeshadow grazed her eyelids. Her hair was left long and wavy. Drew wore black skinny jeans, which was even scandalous for her. As for a shirt, she wore a silver strapless top, and simple black wedges adorned her feet. She looked amazing, and I wondered why she didn’t dress this way more often.

Jessica, however, struck me most surprised. Her long legs were covered only by gray shorts, whose waist line was high and covered skin above her belly button. She wore a black tube top, which, before that evening, I had been certain went out of style, but Jessica wore it well. Her blonde hair was pulled up in a long, straight, ponytail, with a bump of volume in the front. Her gray Stilettos made her legs appear to go on for miles, and her simple makeup was stellar.

As soon as we stepped into the club, I knew that things would be pretty excited that night. Loud house music with intimidating bass levels erupted throughout the venue, and an ongoing smoke machine kept the floor a mystery. I did want to dance, but I wanted to people-watch first, just so I could get the vibe of the place.

“Okay so, who wants to dance?” Ashley asked us over the music, failing to read my mind.

“I do!” Drew volunteered. I was honestly surprised.

“Um, I think I want to people-watch first,” I replied, speaking aloud what I was just thinking.

“I’m with Dylan on that one,” Jessica agreed.

Jessica and I split off and walked towards the bar, while Ashley and Drew went off in another direction. “So,” Jessica said once we were seated at the bar. “What do you want to drink?”

“A water will do me just fine, thanks,” I responded shortly, looking at the people in the crowd.

“Dylan!”

“Okay fine! A coke.”
Jessica laughed and rolled her eyes at me. “Excuse me!” she called, summoning the bartender. “Can I get a whiskey and sprite for my friend here?” The guy nodded, and returned a second or two later with the drink Jessica had just ordered for me.

“That’ll be seven dollars,” he told her over the music. She started to take her small change purse out of her clutch to get some cash.

“Jess, I can pay for my own drink,” I chuckled somewhat nervously.

She looked at me as if I were being facetious. “I got it, babe.” She winked at me, then paid, and ordered her own drink. I blinked in confusion. Did she just call me babe?

After our first round of drinks, I started to loosen up a bit. We started to have legitimate conversation, and we even ordered two more rounds of drinks. At this point, I was just a bit tipsy, and I was fully ready to have a good time.

As we were talking, Jess started to lean toward me, but she did it so slowly, that I didn’t even notice what she was doing until we were standing practically chest-to-chest. “You know, you look so beautiful tonight,” she whispered into my ear. The feeling of her breath on the side of my neck and my ear sent shivers up my spine.

I breathed heavily out of excitement (and probable arousal), and I looked at her with wide eyes. I couldn’t even fathom the compliment she’d just given me - she was the one who was looking beautiful that night; I barely even wanted to be there. She was the star of the show that night. Why was she flattering me? The only thing, however, that I was able to actually come out of my mouth from those thoughts, was a tentative “thank you.”

Jessica continued to whisper sweet nothings into my ear, and I let her. I hadn’t thought about women in the slightest since I was about twenty-one years old; I’d kissed a few wild girls at a few wild parties. But that night, I was tipsy, and lonely, and flattered. And despite all of that, she truly was beautiful.

Finally, after what seemed like ages of this game that Jess and I were playing, she looked me deep in my eyes, and leaned in slowly to give me a kiss on my lips. It took forever for her lips to finally reach mine, but when they did, the kiss that was produced was slow and soft, but nice. The kiss was so nice in fact, that it almost made me question my sexuality, which I understood was likely fluid.

Almost.

Just seconds after the kiss ended, my eyes were still closed. I was allowing myself to bask in the feeling of my first kiss in months, and it felt great. But a familiar voice calling my name steered my attention away from the positive vibes that were flowing through my body.

“Damn, Dylan, I didn’t know you liked girls, too!” the voice said.

Still slightly in dream world, I responded aloud with my eyes still closed, more to myself than anyone else. “Neither did I.”

I opened my eyes after that, and standing in front of me was the man to whom the familiar voice belonged; Vic Fuentes.

I blinked hard a few times, just to make sure that this was really Vic, and not an apparition of some sorts that would be the result of my fairly messed-up mind. “Vic?”

“Hell yeah!” he exclaimed.

I stood up from my stool and embraced him tightly. “Oh my goodness! I haven’t seen you in ages! How are you?” We both laughed at the excitement of seeing each other for a while. Vic told me he was doing well, then he looked at Jessica with wonder. “Oh! You remember Jessica, right?”

He raised an eyebrow in her direction. “Um, I don’t think we’ve met before.”

“No? Well um, Vic, Jess; Jess, Vic,” was my quick introduction. “She’s an apprentice at my shop. We’re just friends, I swear.” He gave me a look when I said this that implied he didn’t believe me, but I blew it off.

They went to shake hands. “You’re in Pierce the Veil, right?” she asked for her own clarification.

“Yep.”

“So, Vic. What are you doing here in Sydney?” I asked, genuinely curious about his business there.

“Well,” he began. “We’re releasing our new album this summer, so PTV is touring here to further spread the word.”

I meant to congratulate him on the upcoming release of Pierce the Veil’s new record, but the only thing I was concerned about was the probability of running into Tony. If I could run into Vic, I could run into any of the other members, right? Including Tony. Or Jaime.

“So, where are the rest of you guys?” I asked, more so to give myself closure, rather than to know about the whereabouts of the band members. But who was I kidding, why would he go to a club in a foreign country alone? “Are you all here? Like, in this club?”

“All four of us, plus Elmakias!” Vic responded enthusiastically. “You should come say hi! I’m sure they miss you.”

I looked at Jess, who was obviously worried for me, then I looked back at Vic. “Um, okay, but first I’m gonna step outside first. It’s pretty hot in here.”

Vic nodded in understanding, but Jessica spoke. “Do you need me to come with you?” she asked with concern.

“No, that’s okay,” I said as calmly as possible.
While I walked out of the club, all I could think about was how unprepared I am to see Tony right now. I needed to get some fresh air to find the least bit of tranquility for my nerves. Once I was outside, I leaned against the brick wall of the venue and pulled a cigarette out of my purse. I always try to avoid smoking cigarettes, but I couldn’t transport any weed with me overseas.

I put the cigarette in between my lips and ignited the flame on my lighter before bringing it up to the cigarette while I inhaled. The few puffs I had taken were doing a fairly okay job of calming me down.

I stood there for a minute, smoking my cigarette and marvelling over the clear Australian night skies above me. I heard footsteps behind me, but they failed to break my tranquil.

“Do you have a lighter?” someone asked me. The voice was hoarse, but vaguely familiar.

I ignored the feeling of familiarity while I turned around. “Sure,” I responded, pulling my lighter out of my purse.

I watched the hand of the stranger reach out to grab the lighter from me, but a familiar diamond tattoo on the thumb of this person’s left hand took me by surprise. I looked up at the figure standing above me, and all tranquility I had just been feeling ran away in a panic.

“Tony?”

Notes

woooOOOAAAAAAaaahhh

Cliffhanger ;P