The place was quite full, and I imagined that a couple of the people there definitely shouldn’t be holding the drinks they were, but at the same time, it was not exactly my job to judge strangers. So I did what I always did when the music was louder than my thoughts - head towards a place to sit from where I had a decent glimpse of the people in the establishment.

Soon, we found ourselves at a small corner table, with a cocktail menu in front of us. Somehow, despite being tipsy, Jules managed to read through all of it in moments, and make a selection. After the gin tonics, she wanted something sweet, and went with a piña colada. I asked her to just bring me a regular coke, since I wasn’t exactly feeling more alcohol.

Then I leaned back against the soft padding of the corner seating, and closed my eyes a bit. The music blared on just as loudly as before, some obnoxious guy with oversized headphones and an open hoody jacket standing at the DJ console. Whenever I opened my eyes a little, I let them drift through the crowd.

So many teens were out, which was kinda surprising. They would probably have to go to school tomorrow. Well, maybe some of them didn’t exactly care. Actually, some of them might even meet their teachers here.

The thought made me chuckle, and reminded me of the very few times I’d met my own teachers out drinking. It was awkward, embarrassing, and horribly funny each time. One of them even bought all the people I went with a round, calling it a “bribe so we kept his little secret!”

I’m pretty sure he was just joking, but then again, he did genuinely want few people to know which places he went to, so he didn’t have to deal with nosy parents. I bet my mom would have definitely given him a talking to if she knew about it.

Before I got too far into thinking of my parents, Jules brought back the coke I’d asked for, and a glass of water as well. Somehow, she balanced all of it and her own cocktail.

“Here,” she said with a smile. “Thought you might want something more neutral to sip on as well, health-freak.”

“Thanks,” I said, then stuck out my tongue at her. We’d called each other health-freaks for a good while since uni, and it’d stuck. Also, I was definitely a health-freak. Just not an excessive one.

Or so I told myself as I sipped on my coke.

Jules was surveying the crowd as well, now, occasionally pointing out cute guys and gals for me to comment on. I would usually chuckle and playfully tell her off, getting a couple pouts in response.

Bit by bit, the evening ticked by. The DJ mostly played songs I barely knew from the radio, though there were one or two I knew in there. Once, I almost shed a tear for how badly they’d butchered a piece of music I loved dearly. Seriously, who replaced a lovely, calm, slow guitar intro with a heavy drum and bass beat?

Despite it all, I loved it. The atmosphere made it so easy to get lost in and enjoy myself. Jules went to the dancefloor a few times, though I didn’t accompany her. Instead, I spent that time chatting with Cass.

She asked me a little bit about the songs, and I realized she probably didn’t have a very good picture of what music was. Other than the stuff I’d listened to since meeting her, that was.

Of course, I replied to her entirely in my head, since talking to the air would be weird even in a crowded disco-bar like this. I told her a little bit about the history of music, how it developed, and how for some people it’s even a large part of their personalities.

[So you’re saying that by hearing these sounds they make you feel emotions and you can use those to express yourself more vividly than with regular words? Magical…]

Cass almost gasped at the end, and I cracked a light smile at her antics. It was so easy to forget how little she knew about culture and history sometimes, since she often had the answers to things I didn’t get. Maybe we could learn from each other, rather than having it be a one sided street.

‘Can you hear the music, actually?’ I asked her.

[Not quite. I can get an impression of it, from the sensations I get over your thoughts, but I can’t exactly fully perceive the outside world right now,] she explained.

My smile grew a little wider. ‘Alright, alright. Cass, you have my express permission to share my senses for the next ten hours, alright? As much as you’d like.’

There was a long pause before she replied.

[Really?]

Somehow, I could tell her voice was shaking.

‘Really,’ I reassured her. ‘Just take it slow. It’s… very loud in here, lots of things going on. Don’t get lost in it, yes?’

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Another long pause.

[Okay. I’ll try. Thank you, Bell, it means a lot.]

‘Of course. If I can help you deal with it in any way, let me know, yeah?’

[Okay. Yeah. I will. For now, I’ll be… distracted.]

‘I’m sure you will be.’

Something within me changed. The glass underneath my skin twisted, changed, then melded with my skin. There was a momentary pressure in my head, as though my brain was pressing against my skull, and I could feel the blood rushing through my veins.

Then it faded, and the world returned to mostly normal. For a few more seconds, there was a thin milky, blurry veil over my vision, then eventually, that faded, too. My hearing adjusted.

I shook my head, returning to the moment. Cass probably felt that, too. The thought made me smirk. I could probably make her go through a rollercoaster of dizziness now, but I wanted to have her experience things safely.

So I didn’t. Simply took a sip of my coke. The sugar was sweet on my tongue, the carbonation fizzing against my tongue. There was a vibration in the back of my head, a strange kind of link that had me taste the drink a second time over after I’d already swallowed.

Kind of like an echo but for taste. I giggled to myself, knowing the strange resonance came from Cass. There were similar things going on for my hearing and sense of touch soon as well. Even the position of my limbs in space.

Like a mirrored copy of myself was doing all I was doing, just a second later. Since it also applied to my sight, I even saw a faint afterimage of that second layer of sensation, which helped with the dizziness. Truthfully, I was glad I was sitting, and Cass probably was, too.

Slowly, second after second, my ears at least stopped echoing. It felt kind of strange, like a sense that I never knew existed suddenly appeared, then disappeared again. There was some faint inspiration there, but I could not grasp it quite yet.

But regardless, I was happy. If I wasn’t hearing the second layer of audio, that meant Cass was instead. Having disco music be the first kind of music she ever properly heard might not exactly be the greatest introduction to the art, but oh well. She would manage, surely.

Bit by bit, the evening ticked by. The afterimages disappeared from my vision, and my fingers didn’t feel aftershocks from tapping the table anymore. Cass was slowly immersing herself in what it was like to live.

Only then I considered whether it was actually a good idea to expose someone who may never truly receive a body to this kind of stuff. Then I shook my head. It didn’t matter whether it was smart. She deserved to know what living was like.

By the time most of my senses had returned to normal, Julie started pushing her way through the crowd and towards me again. She stumbled at the end, having been forced to squeeze through a tiny gap between people, forcefully widened to let her through via liberal use of her elbows.

I quickly stabilized her by grabbing her shoulder, then pulled her down on the couch beside me. Without hesitation, she leaned against me, letting out a long sigh. She muttered something I couldn’t quite pick out because of the background noise.

Her eyes shut for a few moments as she breathed, using me as a lean instead of the very available seat cushioning. Well, whatever made her feel better, I supposed.

A few breaths later, her eyes fluttered back open, and she sat up straight, turning towards me with a glint in her eyes and a wide smile. “Thanks, Fio!” she said, wrapping me in a hug. I squeezed her back. She often got like that when she was a bit too drunk, and I was already expecting it.

Shortly after, she let go, leaning far back into the cushions, her head tilting back until she was staring at the ceiling with a wide smile on it. “I missed this so much.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What, having a friend to look after you as you get drunk?” I crossed my arms jokingly.

Jules giggled. “Yeaaaa~” she slurred the agreement. “Usually my friends get smashed, too, but today, I get to be walked home by a cutie.”

“Haha, you’re an idiot, Jules,” I laughed. But she did have a point. We should slowly start heading home. Well, once she could properly stand again.

“Drink a sip,” I told her, holding my glass of water up to her face. She stared at it for a few moments, then reached out and took it into both her hands, holding it stably, then taking a few gulps. Despite being drunk, she managed to place it back on the table and take a few more deep breaths.

“Thanks, Fio,” she mumbled, and this time I could hear it despite the roar of the music and crowd around us.

“‘Course, Jules. Just sit for a few minutes, and I’ll take ya home right after,” I said, lightly tousling her hair. She stuck her tongue out at me, but still leaned back, sinking into the cushions. I saw her slowly sway side to side with the music, so I knew she wasn’t sleeping.

Over a few more minutes, I finished my drinks, turned down one more guy who asked for my number, and let Cass enjoy the music. Eventually, I tapped Julie’s sides. “Come on there, ya sack of potatoes, get up.”

She grumbled at me, more an indistinct sound than a string of words, but still shifted off the seat and onto her legs. I could see that she was feeling sleepy, but we would still have to make it to her place. Luckily, she also lived nearby. Closer to here than the baseball bar at least.

I interlocked my arm with hers, then started shoving my way towards the exit. People were still slowly trickling in, but with some more liberal usage of my elbows, I managed to get past everyone. Outside I checked whether I still had everything with me, and luckily, it was all present.

“Missing anything, Jules?” I asked.

“Whaaa?” she asked, turning towards me.

I rolled my eyes. “Your things Jules. Got your phone and wallet? Earphones? Anything else you took?”

She stared at me for a few more moments, then fingered through her purse. She flashed me a smile. “All there!”

I held her gaze for a few moments, then sighed, shook my head, and ran my hand through her purse as well. I felt her phone, a small charging case for earbuds, which I checked was full, a good few bits of makeup, some lip balm, and an emergency pack of pads. Seems like everything was still there. At least the vital parts.

“Alright Jules,” I said, starting to head down the road, “let’s get you home.”