Evolution of a Man

Chapter Four

By HannahC

"Why am I here again?" I shouted over the music. For the purpose of keeping my promise, I had decided to go out to a club two of my best friends, Brittany and Amanda. But the music was way too loud and these people were way too close for comfort.

"Because you told us you wanted to have a night on the town!" Amanda yelled back at me.

"Yeah, plus you wanted to hook up with some hot guys!" Brittany said as she gave me a hip bump.

"Um no, what I said was that I wanted to have a girls-night out on the town to maybe meet some guys, not "hook up" with some guys." I corrected them. In truth, I was just feeling guilty about not fully living up to my side of the deal. Here it was, the week almost over, and I hadn't really "acted my age". I had attempted going out other nights, but this just wasn't my scene.

"Hey so whatever happened with that cop guy you kept telling me about?" Brittany asked.

"What cop guy? You never told me about a "cop guy"?" Oh here we go. There was a reason I had told Brittany about Mark and not Amanda. Brittany was all about listening and giving advice, where as Amanda was all about gossip. She was like a blood hound, once she got a sniff of a story she might like, she never let it go. There was that and also the fact that I lived with Brittany so she saw me come home every night and she noticed how different I became after I spoke to him.

"It's no big deal. There's just this guy who's been coming to the bar for a while who I happen to flirt with once in a blue moon." I shrugged it off and made it appear as if it was no big deal, that way, hopefully, she would let it go. But no such luck:

"Oh Miss Sarah has been flirting with a guy? That is a big deal. Since when do you flirt?" Her mocking tone almost annoyed me but I knew she was only teasing. "You only dated that guy David all throughout High School but once the two of you broke up… let's just put it this way, you've been through quite a dry spell." She said with a laugh.

"Hey! I'm sorry if I just have higher standards than the two of you!" I teased back.

"Hey, low blow! You know that Amanda is a 'Free Spirit'…" Brittany intervened.

"Oh is that what they call it now? Here I was thinking that she was just a wh…"

"Okay enough out of you Missy!" Amanda said with a laugh. "Anyway, do you see any prospects in here?" She asked, obviously forgetting her earlier questions.

I surveyed the room. I wasn't really all that interested in finding a guy here, but I might as well make it look like I was. Hmmm, there was a cute guy over by the bar that kept checking us out. Should I make an attempt to go talk to him?

Wait! Suddenly I saw a man over in the corner that looked familiar… Is that? No it couldn't be… What would Mark being doing here? Aww Hell, I couldn't get Mark off my mind. Maybe he was right; I needed to live a little. Well, here was my chance because that cute guy from the bar was walking over our way. Time to put up or shut up.

"Hey, how are you ladies doing tonight?" The guy said a little awkwardly. Well, I'll give him an 'A' for effort.

"We're doing pretty good, how about you?" Amanda answered.

"Better since I've been talking to you. What's your name?" Ugh, this guy was so lame. Amanda shoved me a little with her shoulder to remind me to answer.

"Sarah. You?" I asked a little reluctant to give this guy my name.

"My name's Nick. Here, why don't we go get you something to drink." He said grabbing my arm and steering me in the direction of the bar. Um, wait a minute what did this guy think he was doing?

"Hold up." I said stopping him where we were. "Brittany, Amanda! Come on we're going to the bar!" There was no way I was going off with this guy alone. The guy looked a little slighted at my invitation to my friends, but what did he expect? I didn't know him. Brittany and Amanda gave me an odd look, but soon followed anyway.

"So what are you drinking tonight?" He asked me once we got to the bar.

"Oh, I just want a vodka tonic." Nick seemed pleased with my answer and quickly turned to the bartender to order what I asked for.

Just then Brittany grabbed me by the arm and pulled me away so that Nick couldn't hear her. "Do you want us to go off for a while and leave you two alone?" She asked.

"Honestly, no. I just don't feel comfortable being alone with this guy I just met." I told her.

"Girl, come on! You two won't be alone. Look around you, this place is crowded." By this point she seemed exasperated with me. "You need to get out there and give this guy a chance! What's the worst that could happen? You don't like him? No big deal! Just give it a shot, that's all I'm saying. We'll be waiting in the wings if you want to leave."

"Yeah, Sarah! We'll be right here if you need us!" Amanda piped in.

"Fine… But you two stay close by!" I can't believe I am giving into these two.

I turned back to the bar where Nick was waiting with my drink.

"Where are your friends heading off to?" He asked.

"Oh, they just wanted to go dance." I offered as an excuse.

"Oh, well, I can't say that I'm sad about that. I've really wanted to talk to you." He said, handing me my drink and smiling.

"Really? About what?" I said taking the drink from him.

"You. Here, let's head this way and find some place comfortable to sit." He said taking my elbow and pulling me in the direction of the poorly lit seating area. In the back of my mind I knew this probably wasn't the best place to go. But I went anyway and say down at a table with him in the back corner. "There, this is more comfortable. Drink your drink." He told me.

I obliged, but only because I thought the alcohol would make this situation less awkward. The cold drink felt good on my tongue, but something tasted off. I shrugged this off to the fact that it had been a while since I last drank any alcoholic beverage.

"So what is it about me that you would like to talk about?" I asked him.

"Everything sweetheart; Tell me about your life. I want to know everything about your pretty little face." He said.

I laughed at this. I couldn't help, I just felt so… off. Plus that was the stupidest thing I had ever heard. What guy says that to a girl? "I'm sorry, but that was just so cheesy." I told him honestly. Since when was alcohol this fast acting? What was wrong with me?

"It's okay." He said with a laugh. "My pride is easily healed." He smiled, but there was something off about that smile. It seemed kind of predatory.

I turned around and scanned the crowd looking for Amanda or Brittany, but they were nowhere in sight. Was it me or was the room spinning? What was going on? All I knew was that I needed to get out of here and fast.

"Hey, did you see where my friends went?" I asked in my attempt of a normal voice, but I think my fear masked my attempt of that.

"Oh there just over there on the dance floor. No need to bother them anytime soon." He answered in a completely different voice than he had been using before.

"No, I think I need to find them. I just remembered I have something…" But by this point my jaw was starting to feel very heavy and it was hard to speak anymore.

"Shhh don't worry, I got you." He said with a laugh. "I think it's time that we ditched this joint." That being said, he pulled my arm around his shoulders and forced me to stand up and walk. He headed towards the exit, but when the door men gave him a weird look he shrugged them off; "Seems my girl has had too much to drink. I think it's about time I take her home." The men now looked at him as if he were some gentleman looking after his girlfriend, not the sick pervert that he was. It was at this point that I realized what could really happen if I let him take me away and so I tried my hardest to struggle, but it was pretty much hopeless.

"Now stop that. There's no need to cause a scene. You know you want this." He said in the slimiest voice you could imagine. Like Hell I do. I thought.

By now we were in the parking lot, heading to what I assumed was his car. This was my last chance. I had to do something! With all the strength I could muster, I tried to force a scream out of my mouth. But it was no use; the sound that emitted from me was not loud enough to catch anyone's attention.

Then all of a sudden I felt a weight knock Nick down. Had someone heard me? I tried to stand on my own and look around, but there was no strength left in my legs and I fell to the ground. But the strange thing was; the ground didn't hurt so much. This surprised me until I realized that it wasn't the ground I was feeling, but somebody's arms. Someone had caught me before I fell.

I used whatever strength I had left in me to raise my head and look at my rescuer. I was rewarded with the sight of beautiful blue eyes.

"Mark…" I said as my world around me went dark.

Author's Note: And another chapter done! Wo0t! But don't get too excited cause it's the weekend which means I have to work, which means I don't have as much time to write… :'(

Oh! I wanted to note that "Amanda" in this chapter is not the Amanda that is in the movies. I named Sarah's friends after my friends and one of my best friends just happens to be named Amanda. I didn't realize until just now that this may be confusing, but I don't want to go back and change it so you'll just have to deal with it.

Anyway, I hope you all are having a great weekend! Until next time, XOXO ~Hannah