(4) meanwhile, we party

Being in a bar for the first time, she feels completely foreign, a stranger. It was like Airi just entered a new world of purely drinking and partying. The thought of it makes the excitement build up more and more inside her and she breathes in, taking it all in and bracing herself. She had always pictured bars to be these noisy places where people go to and party loud and hard, like in the movies. A place she wanted to try once and never do again. Ever.

So, when she entered the X Bar she was in for a surprise, it was not as noisy as she thought it would be. The place is spacious with a high ceiling giving the place a refined and modern look. The tables are arranged into rows with the bigger table occupying the back. There was also is a staircase in the middle of the room that descends to the wide platform below. With the party lights centered around the platform, it is probably for people who like to dance and party, she assumes. The stage in the middle of the platform tells her the bar also hosts various shows and programs to keep the party going.

This place seems exactly like a high-strung bar Luke said it was not.

"Guys over here!" a voice calls over to their group, he was raising his hand like answering a question in class. They were seated on the third row closer to the stage, along with the others. Marie beams and runs to them and immediately makes conversation, some of whom she probably has not seen in a while since she hugged them tightly, and they return it with the same feeling.

Marie beckons her and Zoey to her, and introduces them, "guys this is Zoey and Airi, we met them on out first class together." The two of them waved awkwardly and said their hellos and everyone greeted them back, warmly. They seemed like good people, Airi and Zoey thought, although they feel awkward to be introduced to this many people. Luke was not kidding when he said a lot of them went to the same college.

"You're not the only who managed to invite people here," a girl introducing herself as Kat says, gesturing to the two guys beside her, who introduced themselves as Liam and Noah. They gave a short greeting and say they only agreed because they have nothing better to do.

"I tried to invite people too, but none of them agreed," a guy sitting across Noah says. Some agreed with him while the rest admit that they did not even try to invite anyone at all. Kat, from her expression, considers this a huge achievement and begins priding herself on actually managing to invite someone. Although everyone knew it was because she is hot and the guys probably just want a shot with her. Nonetheless, everyone gave their indifferent praises, feigning concern jokingly. Kat frustratingly pouts in response earning a laugh from everyone.

Neil and Luke came to their table, along with a staff at the bar saying that they requested to move the move to a larger one. "It's getting cramped here." Luke grins, pointing his thumb to the wider table on the corner side of the bar, everyone gladly obliged.

The party kicked off after moving tables, with more people coming as the night progresses. Airi was having fun herself, much to her delight. She was chatting it up with Marie, talking about random things and getting to know each other. Luke and Neil were talking with some classmates, saying they tried inviting Nat but he was apparently busy. While Zoey was talking to Liam about the latest news on a local celebrity, calling the actor a bastard for openly cheating like he did, Liam defends the guy jokingly, only to be slammed by Zoey painfully. Noah just silently sits next to Liam, drinking beer as he listened in on them.

Once in a while, Airi feels Noah staring daggers at her as if trying to discern her; it makes her very uncomfortable whenever he does. She wonders if he knows her, or went to the same high school as her. If so, he is most likely aware of the rumors about her and is wary of her. It was not like she was hiding it though. To be honest, if he went to her and just asked her, she would admit it openly; she would rather he do that than being roundabout like this. If she was afraid of being exposed, she would not bother going to a local university where everyone would find her out.

Although meeting Ren here is an entirely different matter.

In contrast with her actions in her old school, she was rather tamed when she transferred. She was a good girl who studied well and got fairly good grades. The teachers trusted her enough and even asks for her help on some cases, despite what they hear about her.

The students are a different matter though, so needless to say, she did not have friends because the girls hated her guts and the guys did not want to be on the receiving end of their burning rage.

Rest assured, I won't do any of those things again, she thought as if he could her monologue. She decided ignoring Noah's stares was the right thing to do and she did so for the entire night, feigning ignorance and focusing on enjoying herself instead, no matter how much it bothered her.

Marie and Airi talked a lot that night and she swears, If she had not known or talked to Marie herself, she wouldn't believe that this girl, actually knew more about fashion than she does. She likes Project Runway and Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows, and other TV shows Airi thinks she has never heard of before in her life. She also likes Korean dramas, but is particularly selective on the shows she watches. She explains that some Korean dramas sometimes try to exaggerate things in general and she isn't a fan of that. Zoey shares her sentiments, turning to her with sparkles in her eyes, as if she had found a comrade who understands her.

Zoey likes korean dramas, and like Marie, she is very particular on the content. She is also the type of person who, if she doesn't like the first episode, drops it like a bomb, and is not ashamed in admitting it. Airi thinks she should be while Marie nods, agreeing with her one hundred percent.

"Really, you guys like Korean dramas?" Liam says, in a patronizing tone.

"Shut up!" Zoey says, "what do you know about dramas, huh?" her voice was getting louder and it was starting to bother Airi a bit. She continues to berate Liam that the others around them are starting to turn their heads as well.

"Zoey, I think you should stop with the drinks..." she turns to Airi and smiles, seemingly back to her old self, "Airi, I'm doing fine. I'm not that drunk. Liam here just annoyed the heck out of me."

"Me? You're the one who—ow, don't pull my ear, don't pull my ear!" he yelps in pain as Zoey tells him to shut his trap. Marie laughs awkwardly while Airi thinks she needs to apologize to Liam for this.

Noah looks away and meets Airi's eyes. They stare at each other for a while, trying to discern the other until he smirks then stares the other way and makes conversation with Liam instead. She is left confused, wondering where that smile came from.