Percy’s Pub was brimming with students enjoying the last week before test season officially started. The entrance of the pub had a small step towards a terrace, where groups of young people were surrounding tables with pizzas and tall glasses of beer. Girls with elaborate hairstyles were sipping cocktails and watching guys walk through the door. Guys were flirting relentlessly and smelled of too much Axe deodorant. It was a typical crazy Ridgemont Wednesday night.
Jesse was feeling apprehensive, but had decided that the only way he could appease Phillip was to go out for an hour. He would feign some or other illness later in the evening, he reasoned, and he could escape to his flat. He walked through the swelling crowd at the entrance into the dim, smoky interior of Percy’s. There were people everywhere; all of the seats were filled with loud, excited groups, cackling and counting down until they all took shots together. The dancefloor had students stacked like sardines, waving their arms around idiotically. Jesse bit his lip and stood against a wall.
“Isn’t this great?” Phillip asked, wearing a tight brown jacket and a blue shirt that accentuated his slender frame. His hair was gelled into place, glistening in the multi-colored lights from the dancefloor.
“It’s okay,” Jesse managed to offer. He had pushed back his blond hair and straightened out all of the curls as best he could, and he wore a tight, striped red t-shirt that showed off his large chest and shoulders. He had been doing pushups since Martin told him he was too skinny.
“Cheer up, Jess,” Phillip said, nudging Jesse with his shoulder. “Look, those people are leaving over there. Go claim the table for us and I’ll get us a drink.”
Jesse sauntered over in his too-tight pants. His eyes darted around, not wanting to see anyone he knew. He waved awkwardly at the group of people leaving their table, and the two girls giggled at him as they left. Jesse sat down in the corner of the booth and tried to remain inconspicuous.
He watched Phillip over at the bar. Phillip was in his element. He was a born socialite, able to talk to anyone like they were the best of friends. He was flirting with the bartender, running his fingers over the bar suggestively. Jesse shook his head and rolled his eyes. For all of Phillip’s flirting, he had been very unlucky in love. He always seemed a bit jealous of Jesse’s relationship with Martin, and Jesse suspected that Phillip secretly enjoyed the fact that Martin had left Jesse for someone else. He shook away the thoughts; Phillip was a good friend to him, and he had been there to support Jesse after Martin dumped him. There was no reason to doubt his loyalty.
A loud cheer came from close to the dancefloor, and Jesse turned to see what all of the commotion was about, furrowing his brow to glance through all of the smoke. There were three people dancing on a table, two guys and a girl. One of the guys was strikingly handsome, his pale blue eyes visible even in the half-light. He had jet-black hair and a mouth that looked incredibly kissable, with thick, luscious lips that he pouted for effect. There was something about the way the guy carried himself that was at once alluring and off-putting. He seemed incredibly arrogant, dancing with his two attractive friends and throwing his shoulders and head from side to side. His shirt was undone down to below his chest, exposing fine, masculine hairs. He wore a pair of tight black jeans and a belt with a large buckle over his flat stomach. As he danced, a chorus of people around the table were cheering him on, and even the bartenders and bouncers didn’t seem to care that he was doing something that was surely against the rules. Jesse stared at him, entranced. He could never be that confident. He would never be comfortable with so many eyes on him.
Phillip came back to the table and said: “We know him! He’s in our Psych class with Prof. Ndlovu, right? Luke… something. He looks so much hotter tonight than he ever does in class!”
Phillip was right. Jesse had noticed Luke before in some of his classes, and this semester they were sharing Psychology. Who wouldn’t notice those handsome features? Luke was always speaking with an affected tone and posh accent in class. He was never afraid to speak up, even if he gave the wrong answer. He was exactly the type of person that Jesse avoided at all costs.
“He’s not that hot,” Jesse lied. “Looks arrogant to me.”
“You must be ill or something because you’re speaking complete nonsense,” Phillip said, and put his hand theatrically on Jesse’s forehead. “You are feeling a bit warm. You might be having hallucinations. You have to be if you don’t think that Luke is the hottest guy in here tonight.” Jesse knew that Phillip was right, but he couldn’t bring himself to admit that he was attracted to someone so confident. Martin was confident too, and look where that had led.
Jesse’s phone suddenly vibrated and he checked to see who it was. Speak of the devil, he thought. Martin had left him another message: I’m thinking of you, handsome. In a year and a half of them dating Martin had never been this attentive to Jesse. Jesse wanted to take it as a sign that Martin had changed, but he was being cautious. He couldn’t allow himself to be taken for a fool again. He looked up to where Luke and his friends were dancing, and saw that Luke was staring directly at him!
Luke wouldn’t break his stare, and gave a small, flirtatious smile with his full lips, raising his eyebrow. Jesse tried to look away, but he could feel Luke’s eyes boring into the side of his face.
Phillip squealed excitedly: “He’s looking at you! What are you going to do? This can’t be happening!”
Jesse looked down at the glass of beer in front of him. “I’m not going to do anything, okay? In fact, I’m feeling a bit weird tonight. Might be a stomach bug…”
“Oh no you don’t!” Phillip exclaimed. “It’s hardly been fifteen minutes and you usually give me at least an hour. You’re staying right where you are!”
Jesse sighed and turned to look at the table where Luke and his friends had been. The chanting had died down. They were not dancing on the table anymore, and Jesse scanned the room to spot them.
“Looking for me?” he heard from right behind his line of sight. There, smiling at him with his eyebrow still raised, was Luke.
Jesse almost jumped out of his skin. He didn’t know what to say, and just stared at Luke dumbfounded. Phillip jumped up and reached out his hand to greet Luke. “I’m Phillip and this is my friend Jesse,” he shouted excitedly. “I need to go and get another drink,” he added, pushing his half-full beer to the side of the table. “Do you mind keeping Jesse company while I go to the bar?”
Luke shook Phillip’s hand and continued to smile at Jesse. “Not at all, Phillip. I’d be happy to spend some time with Jesse.”
Phillip rushed off and left Jesse alone with Luke. Jesse swallowed hard, hoping that his voice wouldn’t betray him. He felt his eyes start to water and his round cheeks were flushed. He wanted to shout at Phillip for leaving him alone with a strange guy, but he calmed himself down by doing his counting exercises. They always seemed to help him when he became panicked.
“I’m Luke Brennan. You’re in my Psychology class, right?” Luke said, sitting down and taking a swig of Phillip’s beer. Jesse winced at the sight, but decided to do his best to ignore it.
“J-J-Jesse M-M-M-M-Montgomery,” Jesse said, and reached out his hand. He wanted to punch himself in the gut.
“Well, Jesse, I’ve noticed you around in class. You’ve got beautiful brown eyes that I couldn’t miss,” Luke said, seeming not to miss a beat at all. He must have had a lot of practice with picking up guys, Jesse thought.
“Thank you,” Jesse said, and looked away. He felt his heartbeat accelerating. He could hear it clearly in his own ears, and was worried that Luke would see how nervous he was.
Luke stood up and walked over to Jesse’s side of the table, sitting down next to him. “I hope you don’t mind,” he said, and put his arm over the back of the seat behind Jesse’s back. “I just can’t hear you too clearly from all the way over there.”
From up close Luke’s eyes were incredible. They seemed to pierce right through Jesse’s defenses, and Jesse could clearly see wh
y every guy was so taken with him. There was something magnetic about Luke, and he could have his way with anyone he wanted. Jesse was determined not to let Luke get the better of him, although he could already feel himself shrinking in Luke’s presence. That type of cockiness is just too much to resist.
Jesse could feel the heat of Luke’s arm behind his back, electricity flowing between them. His shirt was slightly clammy from perspiration, and Luke’s scent was intermingling with his. For a moment, the entire room disappeared and it was only the two of them. Luke reached up to touch Jesse’s hair, pushing a curl behind his ear, and moved in close, his full, inviting lips only inches away from Jesse’s face. Jesse felt his phone vibrating again, but in that moment he didn’t care. He was under some sort of spell, and he was willing to completely capitulate to it.
The spell was broken by Phillip’s jovial squeal as he returned to the table. “Boys, I’m sorry to interrupt the precious moment here, but I just got the bartender’s number! I had to let you know as soon as possible, Jesse,” Phillip said, holding out a piece of paper with one too many digits on it.
Jesse came back to reality very quickly, realizing how foolish he was to almost make out with a guy in a club. He pulled away from Luke. “That’s great, Phillip. I’m glad the night is working out so well for you.”
Without a word Luke stood up and walked straight back to the dancefloor. He turned around when he got there and looked at Jesse again, full of the same confidence he had exuded before, and waved for Jesse to join him on the dancefloor. Jesse was confused, and he could feel his anxiety returning. He shook his head at Luke to indicate that he didn’t want to dance, and Luke gave a small frown before shrugging and finding his friends on the dancefloor.
“What are you doing?” Phillip demanded. “He clearly likes you! I only interrupted because I wanted to talk you through it all before you made a move. You can’t be moving too fast, you know?”
“You did me a favor. He’s nothing but a playboy. I don’t need a guy like him in my life.” Jesse buried himself in his drink. “Let’s get out of here, please.”
Phillip had a stern look on his face and cocked his head to the side, assuming the pose that he always took when he wanted to give Jesse serious advice. “Listen, Jesse, not every guy is like Martin. Not every guy is going to cheat on you. If you can’t open yourself up to something new, you’ll just end up in exactly the same place you’ve always been. I’m not saying that you should do anything stupid, but at least see where things go with this guy. Put yourself out there. The worst that can happen is he’s not the guy for you, or he’s not looking for anything serious, and either way you’ll have a fun night with a hot guy. I’m going to go over and talk to the bartender again and I expect you to go dance with Luke. Okay?”
Jesse reluctantly nodded, biting his lip. He watched Luke and his two friends dancing wildly and enjoying themselves. Phillip got up and walked back to the bar, and Jesse thought about his options. He stood up and his legs took charge. He ended up walking right out of the pub.
Jesse felt his head swirl with confusion and a heaviness descend on his shoulders. He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. He pushed through the wild hordes of students at the exit and finally emerged into the cool autumn air. He took a deep breath in relief and stood watching the street in front of Percy’s Pub. He was disappointed in himself, but glad that he could get out of that place. Why couldn’t he just enjoy the company of an attractive guy like everyone else? Why did his anxiety make him such a klutz? The only guy who ever looked past those things was Martin. Even though Martin didn’t treat him that well, at least he understood that Jesse wasn’t very social and just wanted to spend his time quietly at home. Martin would often go out to bars and clubs without him, and that suited Jesse just fine. Jesse checked his phone and saw the message from Martin that he had ignored earlier: I hope you’re having a good night. Would love to talk to you soon. Jesse wanted to believe that Martin had changed. Martin was the safe, comfortable choice, and Jesse didn’t have time or patience for the drama of dating someone new. Especially not someone who could knock him off his feet the way Luke Brennan could.
Jesse began to walk into the night towards his car, tired and dejected. As he took a step forward, he felt a hand on his shoulder and he heard the words: “And where do you think you’re going?” He turned around to see Luke, pouting playfully. There was no escaping now.
To find out how Jesse and Luke’s story continues, get the full novel at https://getbook.at/allnighters
Breaking the Rules: Ridgemont University Short Read Page 11
