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When the four girls walked into the local bar, they were met with a pretty full crowd and some loud rock music.
“Is it always like this?” Ema yelled towards her friends.
“No,” one of them, Emilie, shouted back. “I don’t know what’s going on right now but let’s just go to the bar. Follow my lead!”
The girls held hands and made their way towards the bar.
Today was Ema’s 17th birthday and her new European friends decided that they should all go out to a bar that night. She relented because she couldn’t deny she’d been curious about how she would react to alcohol. Just for her birthday, she thought the night before, she would let herself try out as much alcohol as she liked. For science. But now that she’s here, she was feeling as nervous as ever.
“4 Stella’s, please,” Emilie told the bartender.
The bartender eyed them and asked for their ID’s. The other 3 pulled theirs out quickly and effortlessly, while Ema fumbled around in her bag for it before finally showing the bartender.
“It’s her first time at a bar and trying a beer!” another friend, Stefanie, playfully pointed at Ema.
Ema was horrified, but the bartender just greeted her happy birthday as he handed back her ID. The bartender expertly opened 4 bottles of Stella Artois and handed it to the girls.
“Cheers and happy birthday!” the girls yelled and held their bottles high.
Ema took a pretty big swig out of her beer. She coughed a little and made a face. “This doesn’t really taste good, does it?”
Lien, Ema’s prettiest friend who always made Ema stutter when she stood too close, laughed and shrugged. “You learn to like it. Plus this tastes better than any American beer.”
Ema nodded and took another drink. If Lien liked this, then she’ll like it, too. “What’s going on right now, anyway?” Ema asked, gesturing to the stage in the back of the bar.
Arrest me, baby
Lock me up, baby
13 years of hard time… for love
Ema and the girls could see a band playing a rock song. A blonde man was scream-singing into the mic and playing guitar. She didn’t like what she was hearing at all.
“This sucks,” she said to Lien simply.
Lien laughed. “I agree.”
Stefanie and Emilie’s faces lit up in recognition. “Holy shit this is that hot new song right now!”
Ema was confused. “What song?”
Either she was too quiet or the two didn’t care about her question, but now Stefanie and Emilie were screaming. “Oh my god, they’re as hot as everyone says! Okay, you two stay here, we’re going to the front!”
And they ran off, leaving Lien and Ema alone.
“Who the fuck?” Ema asked Lien.
Lien stared at the blonde guy and the band a little longer as they finished the song. She seemed to be remembering who these people are.
Before she could say anything, the blonde dude said, “I’m Klavier Gavin and we’re the Gavinners! Danke so much for your support on our single, ‘13 Years Hard Time For Love.’ And shoutout to Valentijn, our bassist and native to this little town in Belgium.”
The crowd cheered loudest at that. The five boys climbed off the stage and instantly a good chunk of them swarmed one of the guys, presumably the one named Valentijn.
“Ah, right, it’s this new band from Germany that released a song and it went viral overnight for some reason. Apparently because they’re cute or something,” Lien said. She then put on a wicked smile. “Take a drink for every guy you find ugly.”
Ema, on an impulse, chugged her entire beer. “And that’s that.” She then let out an enormous burp. She covered her mouth shamefully.
Lien laughed and chugged her whole beer, too. She also let out an enormous burp. The two girls giggled mischievously.
“No way that you find all of us ugly,” a voice said behind them.
They whipped around to find the lead singer himself leaning against the bar. Klavier Gavin. He had some dark sunglasses on and had an easy smile on his face.
For some reason, the beer was now starting to hit. Ema was feeling fuzzy as she stared at this strange blonde boy. He was tall and his tight-fitting clothes were attractive to her, somehow. He seemed like he was about the same age as her or maybe a year younger. Klavier pushed his sunglasses down and peered at her over them. His blue eyes made her feel fuzzy. Or maybe it was the beer?
“Impressive that you chugged that Stella, though. Can I buy you another drink, fraulein?” Klavier asked.
Ema looked over at Lien uncertainly. Lien nodded and nudged Ema a little closer to Klavier.
“Yeah, sure. Just get me whatever you’re drinking,” Ema said, pointing at the bottle of Beck’s he was drinking.
Klavier nodded and waited for the bartender to come to him. As the two stood next to each other waiting for that beer, Ema felt a stronger wave of fuzziness overtake her—it must be the rest of the beer that she chugged. So the amount of alcohol you consume in a given moment correlates to how quickly and how much you feel drunk. She found that she quite liked it.
The bartender gave her the Beck’s bottle and she took a drink.
“Oh god this tastes worse than Stella,” Ema exclaimed.
Klavier just laughed.
“It’s my birthday today and this is my first time drinking,” Ema said. She didn’t know why she just admitted that. This must be the effect of alcohol.
“Oh, ja? Well happy birthday, fraulein,” he said coolly.
Ema suddenly noticed that he seemed a little too cool, like he was trying really hard to put on an act right now. It annoyed her a little.
With the beer blocking her overthinking, she suddenly pulled at his dumb “G” necklace to get his face down to her level. She said into his ear, “By the way, you’re really cute actually.”
Klavier shot back up, turned red, and ran out of the bar.
Ema stared dumbly at the entrance of the bar. What happened? Why did she do that? Why did he run out?
Lien walked over to Ema and asked, “What the fuck happened? I thought you guys were vibing.”
Ema continued to stare at the entrance. “I told him he was cute. And then he literally ran away.”
Ema wondered if maybe she shouldn’t have pulled at his necklace.
~
Klavier was standing outside covering his mouth and blushing like mad. He then started frantically searching his pockets for a cigarette.
One of his bandmates, Daryan, stepped outside.
“There you are, dude, where did you—” Daryan stopped talking when he saw Klavier’s face properly.
“Dude, you’re red as a tomato. What happened to that girl you were talking to inside?”
“Don’t… don’t worry about it.”
Even though the girl may have been tipsy and probably was bolder than she usually is, that was the first time a girl ever did that to him. He would never be able to forget her.
