Transylvania has got to be the coolest nightclub I have ever seen. The entrance simulates the front of a haunted house, but it's just a facade, since when you step through the door you find yourself still in the open air. It's an outdoor club, and the fun part is that to actually get into it, you have to walk through a marked trail lined with trees, where people in very realistic and creepy costumes are hiding, waiting for the right moment to jump out from the shadows and scare the shit out of you.
Once you're literally out of the woods, you'll find the dance floor, crammed with people who went all out with their costumes for Halloween night. Transylvania is much larger than the club we visited last night, and the night breeze flows freely since there are no walls to stop it. Bonus since it means less sweat, therefore less sticky bodies pressing against each other. The LED lights coming from the stage shine brightly, mimicking stars, and the crisp night air feels charged with electricity.
"Maddie! Maddie, we need you!" Ashley and Sydney come rushing up to me, kicking sand behind them, and almost making me spill my drink as they grab onto my arm for stability.
"What is it now?" I ask, shaking the liquid off my hand.
"We want to play a game!" Ashley states cheerfully, looking flawless in her nurse costume, even when tipsy.
"Oh, cool," I say, taking a sip of my drink, "What game are we playing?"
"Actually," Ash says in a high pitched voice, "Since you're the only one with a boyfriend, we kind of need you to be like a mediator."
"Nice, we all know the person who has the most fun is always the referee," I say sarcastically.
"Come on!" Syd begs, "We can't play without you," she pouts.
"Fine," I sigh, "What do I need to do?"
"So," Ash starts explaining the rules, "We'll gather up the girls here while you pick one guy, it can be any guy you want. You have to go up to him, ask him his name and memorize his costume. Then you come back, tell us what he's dressed as, and we have to find the guys wearing that specific costume, make out with them, and only then ask for their name. We'll report back to you with the name we got and repeat the process until someone finds the right guy. It's more fun if you choose someone with a generic costume that a lot of people are wearing, then it'll be harder to find that particular guy you picked."
"Sounds easy enough," I shrug.
"Perfect!" Ashley jumps from joy, "You take your pick and we'll meet you back here with the rest of the girls," She says and speeds off with Syd grabbing her by the hand. Looking up at the sky, rolling my head from side to side, I head toward the crowd.
I need some type of strategy, and the way I see it, I have two options. I can either pick someone wearing a popular costume, or someone wearing a very unique one that'll be hard to find, making a real life Where's Waldo out of the game.
A guy in a policeman costume catches my eye due to his monstrous height. He's decently attractive from what I can tell looking at his profile, enough to be of the liking of any of the girls playing the game, so I approach him as casually as I can, tapping him on the shoulder lightly. He turns around and doesn't see me at first, finally noticing me when he lowers his gaze to the ground. He towers over me, making me feel quite intimidated, even more so when he smirks and says "Hey Gorgeous,"
"Hi," I squeak, waving at him as I instinctively take a small step back, "What's your name officer?" I ask, trying my best to not to sound too uncomfortable.
His grin grows wider, "Jacob. What's yours, sweetheart?"
Gross. There's few things more revolting to me than being called pet names by strangers, "You know, I would tell you, but I think I'd rather exercise my right to remain silent, so...Bye Jacob!" I say, turning around and scurrying away.
"He's dressed as a policeman," I inform the girls and send them out on their hunt. After a few minutes of waiting by myself, the girls start coming back to me with names, all of them incorrect except for Syd, who's the first one to get it right, making her the winner of this round.
"Good choice by the way," She says, wiping her smudged lipstick with her thumb, "He was yummy."
The game goes on for a while, I choose a doctor named Luke, a cowboy called Wesley, a zombie named Marco, and James, one out of the twelve guys dressed as Jesus' disciples. As we moved on, most girls just dropped out of the game, opting to stay with the dude they found instead of coming back to claim their victory. So for what we decide is the last round, the only players left are the originals, Syd and Ashley.
I do my round of the dance floor one last time and find a group of familiar faces, which sparks an idea. I grab Jackson by the arm and pull him away from the circle he's dancing in, "Hey Mads, what's up?" he says.
"How many drinks would you say Ty had tonight?" I ask, cutting to the chase.
"I don't know, I lost count," he shrugs and we both look back at Tyler who's spasmodically dancing like a spaghetti noodle in a pot of boiling water, "But I would venture to say, a lot." Jackson concludes.
"Perfect. Thanks Jack!" I say and rush back to the girls.
"He's dressed as one of the Ghostbusters," I say hurriedly and out of breath, bending forward with my hands on my knees. Ashley bolts to the dancefloor immediately to find her target, while Syd takes a different approach. She stands on her tiptoes, scanning over the crowd, looking for what I know is the only guy wearing that specific costume. She stops when she spots a particular platinum blonde beanstalk, turning to me with a raised eyebrow and a playful smirk. I smile at her innocently, "Yeah, you might want to sit this one out," I say.
"You're a sneaky little bitch," Syd smiles, biting her tongue, "I love it."
"Neither of them would've gone for it without being pushed together," I shrug.
"I hate to admit it, but you beat me this time. I hadn't come up with a plan to bring them together yet. But I'm glad you did, Ty needs some action."
"Whoa!" I exclaim as I'm suddenly lifted off the ground by my waist and spun around in fast circles.
"Hi baby," Noah says dragging out the y. He sets me down but still holds me in his arms, placing a ticklish kiss on the crook of my neck which makes a loud 'Mwah' sound.
"Someone's very drunk," I remark and he giggles, which in turn makes me giggle. I love hearing him laugh like that, carelessly, loudly, like a little kid.
"Nice costume, Syd," Noah says from behind me, referring to Sydney's playboy bunny outfit, which consists of a black bodysuit with a fluffy white pom-pom glued to the back, a white collar and cuff set, a bowtie, and a pair of bunny ears.
"Thanks!" She replies with a genuine smile.
"Seriously, you look amazing," Jackson joins in, complimenting my best friend.
"Less talking, more dancing!" Syd says, starting to walk backwards, and we follow her to the dancefloor.
The four of us dance together in a circle. Noah playfully mirrors Syd's movements, which leads to a weird, but very entertaining dance-off. Syd drops down to the floor, swaying her hips seductively on her way back up. "Your turn loverboy!" she points to Noah. There's no way he would go for it sober, but drunk Noah is a completely different person. So channeling his inner stripper he drops down low and imitates her to the best of his ability, making us all erupt in laughter. Sydney gasses him up, pretending to be making money rain on him, and I smile seeing she's finally warming up to Noah.
"I need to pee!" Noah yells in my ear, practically shattering my eardrum.
"I'll go with you," I say, noticing he's having a bit of trouble standing straight. So I link our arms together and escort him towards the bathroom.
I smile as we walk past Tyler and Ashley, the couple tangled up on one of the many benches littering the grounds. "You okay to go alone?" I ask at the door of the men's toilet.
"Why, do you want to hold it for me?" he asks, slurring his words and wearing a goofy grin.
"Just go," I laugh and push him in as he chortles, staggering back.
I lean against the wall, waiting for Noah to come back, closing my eyes, as my exhaustion starts catching up to me from the lack of sleep I got these past few days.
"There's the mystery girl. I've been looking for you all night." I hear someone say and open my eyes to find Jacob standing way too close to me for my liking, a hand resting on the wall behind me, caging me against it. "You still haven't told me your name."
"It's Maddison," I say, flattening myself against the wall, trying to put as much distance between us as I can.
"Well Maddison," I focus on the glossy plastic badge on his police uniform, glinting as it catches the strobing lights, "Anything you say can and will be held against you, so you might as well just say my name right now. Or you can scream it later, it's really your choice," he says leaning in a bit closer. I've about had it with these boys and their sexual innuendos.
"First of all, has that line ever really worked on anyone?" I ask, pressing a finger against his chest and pushing him back, "Second of all, though I'm deeply flattered by the offer," I say sarcastically, "I have a boyfriend.
"I don't see him here," Jacob says looking around.
"He's in the stall," I reply.
"Who's in the stall?" I turn to see Noah stumbling out of the toilet, eyes opened wide, looking a bit coked up.
"I was just telling Jacob here that I was waiting for you, babe" I say.
Noah's eyes dart between Jacob and I. "Ohhhh, I see what's going on here," he says as if he just made the world's greatest discovery. He gets up close to Jacob and says "You've taken a liking to my girl, right?" he asks.
"Look dude I-" Jacob tries to explain himself but Noah cuts him off without acknowledging a word coming out of the guy's mouth.
"Honestly, I don't blame you man," Noah says grabbing my hand and pulling me into his arms protectively, "She's beautiful, as you can see, she's so fucking smart, and so kind." he gushes, stroking my hair and making me blush. "I honestly don't know why she's with me dude. But for some reason she is. Which is great for me, but I guess it sucks for you." Noah ponders with his hand up to his chin, "Anyway, later my guy," he ends the conversation abruptly, catching me off-guard as he picks me up bridal-style and carries me away.
I giggle as Noah tickles the exposed skin on my side, and I look back over his shoulders to see Jacob still standing by the stall, a puzzled look on his face as he stares at us. I smile at him amusedly, waving my fingers goodbye as I'm carried back to the dance floor.