Spencer leans his head down and kisses me briefly. I smile as he pulls away and walks toward Dex and Logan, who are getting into a car that looks like the one that drove us around this morning.
“Have fun,” he says.
“You too.”
The driver closes the door and gets back in his car. There's another black sedan right behind theirs, which I assume is for us.
“So,” I say, turning to Jess, “what do you have planned for tonight?”
“It's a surprise… you'll just have to wait and see.”
I smile and shake my head. I would normally be a little nervous about where Jess is taking us, but right now I feel like I'm floating in the clouds and nothing in the world could bring me down from my high.
The car pulls forward and the driver, the same one who took us around earlier, gets out and opens the rear door. I get in first and Brenda after me. Jess stands outside of the car for a few seconds as she quietly talks to the driver—I guess she's serious about wherever we are going being a surprise. Jess climbs into the car and flashes me a smile… I just shake my head and smile back. I’m sure she can tell how curious I am and it’s obvious she’s enjoying this immensely.
The driver gets back in the car, waits for a small break in the traffic and pulls out. It still makes me nervous every time a car takes us anywhere… it’s hard to imagine how difficult it must be driving on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car. I guess for them it’s normal… our driver would probably feel the same way if he went to America and tried to drive.
“Are you getting nervous yet?” Jess says.
“About where you’re taking us?”
“No… about your wedding.”
I shake my head. I hadn’t even really thought about it… there’s not anything for me to worry about since Spencer has taken care of setting everything up so far.
“Nope… there’s not really anything that could go wrong.”
“Fair enough.”
By the tone of her voice it sounds like Jess was talking about something else. Maybe she meant the whole getting married thing and she was trying to not say it directly because of Brenda being in the car.
I look out the window of the car as we come to a stop in front of what looks like a nightclub. There’s a pretty big line… something I'm not looking forward to. Now I’m really going to wish I brought a jacket. The driver opens the door and Jess gets out first. Brenda is out next and by the time I put my feet on the sidewalk Jess is talking to the burly doorman of the club.
“What’s going on?” I say, talking to her.
“One second.”
She turns back to the doorman.
“Look… trust me… just check the list.”
He looks at me and then turns his attention to the clipboard in his left hand. As he’s looking, I see Jess move her hand out and slip something into the doorman’s free hand. He quickly looks into his hand and then pushes it into his pocket.
“Yeah… now I see your name.”
He pulls the club door open and steps aside. We walk inside and I want to ask Jess what she gave him, but it’s no use because it’s so loud in here that I can barely hear myself think. There’s a packed dance floor in the middle of the club with a stage on the far end. Bright lights of every color shoot across the room and seem to be moving in union with the music. There is a second floor, where people are leaning against the railing and listening to the music.
I think back to the last time I went to a place like this… and it was the night I went dancing with Spencer and a guy, whose name I don’t remember, was hitting on me and Spencer rescued me. It’s a night that I’ll never forget because it was the first time I realized I had feelings for him. It kind of makes me wish he was here right now… but I’m sure Jess is going to do everything within her power to make sure we have a good time.
“Follow me,” Jess says, yelling above the music.
I nod and quickly glance over my shoulder to make sure Brenda is still behind me. We turn to the right and head to the corner of the building. There’s a metal staircase, which we climb. I feel a little relieved when we reach the second floor. The music is still loud, but it appears all the speakers are on the lower level so it’s actually possible to think up here. The real drawback is I can feel the floor shaking… but not in a terribly unsettling way.
Jess points toward an open couch against the wall with a table in front of it.
“I’m going to go get a drink… let’s meet over there.”
I smile and head for the couch as Jess makes her way through the crowd of people around the bar. I sit in the middle of the couch and Brenda sits on my right. Jess appears a few seconds later with three shot glasses in each hand and a huge smile on her face. Oh jeez… this isn’t going to end well. She sets down two shots in front of each of us and sits down on my left.
“To Amy!” Jess says, yelling as she picks up a shot glass.
Brenda picks up one of hers and I sigh as I reach for the one closest to me. We clink the shot glasses and I open my throat to let the liquid flow down as quickly as possible. Ugh… that was a mistake. It burns on the way down and it certainly doesn’t have a pleasant taste.
“To Spencer!”
Jess picks up her second shot and I slowly reach for mine. I don’t really want to drink anymore, but I also don’t want to spoil my own celebration. Here goes nothing. I throw back the second shot, which burns even worse than the first one.
“Whooooo!”
I shake my head as Jess jumps up. She’s crazy, but that’s why I love her.
“You feeling OK?” Brenda says.
“Yeah,” I say, “I… I just need a minute.”
I take a second to try and focus on keeping my breathing even. My whole body feels warm… which is weird because I didn’t feel this way a minute ago.
“Let’s dance,” Jess says, reaching for my hand.
She pulls me off the couch and toward a group of people dancing near the railing. I glance back at Brenda, but she’s smiling at me. I was hoping she would come rescue me, but apparently her and Jess have worked together to concoct this rite of passage for me.
I guess the only thing I can do is try and have a good time. There’s nothing wrong with that.