Celeste

The Snowball's Chance was Winter Grove's most infamous watering hole. Beloved by students and townspeople alike for its cheap-yet-heavy-handed drinks, it was particularly popular with the college kids for its proximity to campus. And so it was always busy—especially after exams.

Tonight, though, it was the busiest Celeste had ever seen it—not that she came here very often. But by the time they arrived, there was a line out front, hundreds of their classmates braving the icy weather for a chance to get in. Alicia sauntered past them all, dragging Celeste behind her, right up to the front where a bored-looking guy was checking IDs with a handheld blacklight and determining who got through the door. He was older, with a thick gray beard that matched his heavy gray parka with its hood pulled down around his face.

"Hey Gris," Alicia said as she planted herself in front of the door guy.

"Alicia," Gris said, perking up at the sight of her. "Nice to see ya. Having a good night, hon?"

Alicia glanced at Celeste. "Not yet," she said before turning back to Gris with a smile, "but we will be if we can get in." She batted her freshly applied fake lashes at him.

Gris shook his head and chuckled to himself. "Sorry, hon, that nonsense won't work on me. It's packed in there tonight and I can't just let you in 'cause you know Olly."

"Oh, please, Gris?" Alicia whined. "Please? We're having the most terrible night and we really, really need a drink. My friend Celeste just went through a break up!"

"It's a break," Celeste corrected.

As they had gotten ready for their night out, Celeste had done some frantic Googling. According to all the magazines and blogs and listicles, 'taking a break' was different from a 'break up'—a 'break' was temporary. She now clung to that hope.

Maybe Jared will change his mind.

Maybe he will come to his senses in a few days.

Maybe my Christmas could still be saved.

Alicia just elbowed her and gave her a look, like Celeste was supposed to play along with whatever story her friend was spinning. "Look at her! She's, like, so depressed and this will really cheer her up. Pleasey-please?"

"Is that true?" Gris said, looking at Celeste. "Are you depressed?"

"Y-Yeah," Celeste said, though she didn't know what to do with her face to make the statement convincing, even if it was true. She tried her best to arrange her features into something worthy of pity.

It seemed to work. Gris groaned and rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright."

Alicia squealed and gave Gris a hug.

He shrugged her off. "Go on, get in there," he said, waving Alicia on. He turned to Celeste and gave her a sad smile. "And sorry 'bout the breakup, dear."

"Thanks," Celeste mumbled and followed after Alicia.

As they stepped through the doors, the people still waiting in the line cried out in protest.

"Hey!" Gris shouted back. "My door, my decision!"

Any further grumbling was cut off as the door closed behind them.

Alicia paused in the lobby entrance, the small room between the door and the bar itself, where people could stomp off the snow on their shoes and shed their coats. Beyond the second set of doors, Celeste could already hear the roar of the crowd. Alicia busied herself with removing her winter coat and hat, revealing her red tight-fitting, sequined mini dress. She pursed her matching red lips and fluffed her hair before turning to Celeste. She stared her down with her sharply lined eyes.

"Come on, off with the coat!" she said. She didn't even wait for Celeste's response before starting to pull at the sleeves of her parka.

Without her coat, Celeste felt very exposed. Alicia had put her in a matching tight, short dress, only hers was bright green. Celeste barely recognized herself in the lobby mirror. She wrapped her arms around herself.

Celeste had refused Alicia's dress at first—it was not her style—but Alicia had insisted. To Alicia, it was a requirement to be 'properly dressed' for a night out, even if it meant undoing most of her packing to retrieve her best dresses and makeup.

"Oh, none of that," Alicia said, pulling at her friend's folded arms. "You look amazing. Own it!"

"I don't know...." Celeste said, trying to stand up straight. Alicia always looked amazing in stuff like this, but she just felt out of place. "I don't even look like myself."

"Yes, you do—just with more sparkle. You want to make an impression, don't you? When Jared sees you, you need to knock him on his ass."

"If you're sure...."

"Sure? I've never been more sure of anything in my life," Alicia said as she primped and arranged Celeste's hair—like everyone else in the world, it listened to Alicia. "Jared's gonna take one look at you and suddenly regret that break up...."

"Break. We're taking a break," Celeste corrected again.

"Whatever," Alicia said, flicking her hand through the air as if she was fanning the distinction away. "Break up or a break—who cares? All that matters is that he's going to be begging for you to take him back."

Celeste hoped her friend was right.

Alicia stepped back, satisfied with her work. She gave Celeste one last heartening smile and then pushed through the next set of doors, into the bar itself. Celeste meekly followed after.

Inside, the place was roaring. Every table and seat was filled, with people spilling into the spaces between to dance. Thudding remixes of Christmas carols boomed over the sound system, loud enough that people had to yell to be heard over the music.

"Drinks first!" Alicia shouted, taking Celeste's hand and leading her toward the bar.

Fortunately, they spotted two free stools at the far end of the bar. Unfortunately, there were two other people who were already making their way to them. Alicia let go of Celeste's hand and ran ahead to throw herself down on one stool, then sticking out her leg to claim the other. Beaten, the other people grumbled but wandered off.

Alicia beckoned Celeste over.

Celeste sat down on the stool and swivelled around to face the rest of the bar. She scanned the people in the crowd, searching for Jared...

"Jared's not here," she said when she couldn't find him.

"Not yet," Alicia said, looking out over the crowd herself. "But I'm sure he will be soon. Everyone from campus is here."

Celeste pressed her lips together. She wished she could get a table with a view of the door so she could see him when he came in. She could see the door from the bar, but it required her to keep turning her head.

"What will you have?"

Celeste turned away from the mob towards the voice.

A friendly face was grinning back from the other side of the bar. He had on a truly over-the-top Christmas sweater—even by Celeste's standards—and there were strands of bleached blonde hair sticking out of the edges of his Santa hat.

"Hiya, Olly!" Alicia said, leaning over the bar to exchange cheek kisses with him before turning back to Celeste. "Cee, you remember Olly, don't you?"

"Uh..." Celeste said, going bright red.

There was a vague memory of someone that sort of looked like him, but that was from the night of Alicia's 21st birthday, and she had insisted Celeste do shots with her, so everything was a little fuzzy.

"Come on, you must remember him!" Alicia insisted. "We grew up together? He was friends with my brother, Will? Is any of this ringing a bell?"

"Oh, right!" Celeste said as it all clicked together. "You conspired with Alicia to get me to sing Celine Dion for Karaoke!"

"That was indeed me," Olly said, taking a bow for his work. "Anyway, it's nice to see you girls. What brings you in? Celebrating your freedom from classes?"

"Not quite," Alicia said with a dramatic sigh. "This one recently—like, just-a-few-hours-ago recently—had a break up."

"It's a break," Celeste muttered, but they didn't seem to hear her.

"Just before Christmas?" Olly said, his eyes going wide in horror.

"Yep," Alicia said with a nod. "So, as you might expect, we're here to drown our sorrows."

"If that's the case, the first round is on me," Olly offered, giving Celeste an apologetic smile. "What'll you have?"

"What's the cheapest, booziest thing you've got?" Alicia asked.

Booziest? Celeste raised her eyebrows. She wanted to object but stopped herself. She wasn't particularly fond of drinking—she didn't like the loss of control—but maybe that's what she needed tonight... To let go a little.

"The Grinch, definitely," said Olly.

"Then two of those," Alicia ordered. "Plus, two shots of tequila."

"Tequila?" Celeste echoed, eyes going wide. She may have resigned herself to a drink or two, but shots were a different matter. Alicia was always trouble when it came to shots.

Alicia grabbed her wrist and gave her a look. "Trust me. You need this."

Celeste frowned but stayed quiet.

"You got it," Olly said, tapping his hands on the bar top. "Oh, and I have a bit of a holiday surprise for you."

"You do?!" Alicia cried as she smiled wide. "What is it? A present?"

Olly shook his head and just beckoned Alicia to follow him.

"I'll be right back, I promise," Alicia asked as she jumped off her stool. "Watch my spot, will you?" She chased Olly down the length of the bar.

Celeste stayed put and watched. Olly had led Alicia to the very end of the bar, where another guy was busy making drinks. His dark hair was hanging in his eyes and his expression was serious, his strong jaw tight. He was also wearing a gaudy holiday sweater, though he didn't look happy about it. He seemed out of place amongst all the bright, sparkling holiday cheer.

Despite the distance and pounding music, Celeste heard Alicia squeal as she laid eyes on him. She practically climbed over the bar and threw her arms around the other guy's neck.

Celeste guessed she knew him. That wasn't too surprising—Alicia knew everyone—but she wondered how. Maybe he was another friend of her brother Will, like Olly...

The guy peeled Alicia off and smiled. His whole face changed when he smiled. It chased back the shadows and lit him up from within.

After Alicia had climbed back over the bar, they chatted for a bit. Then as she headed back in Celeste's direction, Olly leaned in to tell the guy something and pointed in her direction. The guy looked over, and his gaze fixed on her. Celeste's breath caught. With his sharp cheekbones and deep, dark eyes, he was very handsome. More than handsome, he was hot...

Stop that! Celeste chided herself, turning away. Her face blazed. What was she doing, thinking like that? Broody guys weren't even her type.

And anyway, it didn't matter. She was with Jared. Sort of. Maybe.

It depended on how long this 'break' lasted...

"Damn, this place is packed tonight," Alicia said. She had returned and was studying the crowd as she climbed back onto her stool.

"Who was that?" Celeste asked.

"That?" Alicia said, jabbing her thumb back down the bar where the new guy was standing. "Oh, that's Sterling, he's an old friend. He was close with Olly and my brother. He's in town for a bit. Why?"

"No reason," said Celeste, clearing her throat. She wished she had that drink already. "Just curious."

Alicia raised an eyebrow. "I can introduce you, if you want?"

"No thanks," Celeste said a little too quickly. She cleared her throat again. "Don't you want to go talk to him? I mean, if he's only in town for a little bit...."

"I can talk to him later. For now, I'm supporting my friend," Alicia said, patting her hand. "Now, keep an eye out for a table, will you? I don't want to sit at the bar all night."

"Sure," Celeste agreed, though her gaze trailed away from the crowd, back to the door.

When is Jared going to show?

As she looked around, once again her eye was drawn to the bartender. Sterling. He was now working on two neon-green drinks, probably theirs. He had such great cheekbones...

"Are you kidding me?"

Celeste turned to Alicia, but Alicia was looking at the door to the bar.

Of course, now, in her moment of distraction, was when Jared finally arrived. And he wasn't alone.

He was with friends, all people she had met before. But there was a new face in their group—a girl. Petite and blonde, she followed after them like a golden retriever puppy. Celeste had never seen her before. She wondered if one of Jared's friends got a new girlfriend...

But then the girl grabbed Jared's arm and pressed herself to his side.

No...

He couldn't...

Is that why he...

"Who the hell is that girl?" Alicia cried out next to her, though her voice was drowned out by the blasting Christmas music.

Celeste couldn't respond. She could only watch, eyes frozen wide, as Jared and the girl and the others went to a table and joined the people who were already there. Despite the cold weather, the girl was wearing a crop top and low-cut jeans. Even wearing her own skimpy dress, Celeste suddenly found herself hating the girl for her clothes—for her everything.

"Do you want to go?" Alicia asked.

"I'm not leaving," Celeste told her, her voice trembling. She couldn't tear her eyes away from Jared and the girl, who had now squeezed into the booth beside him. Rage was rushing through her.

"Here's your tequila," Olly half-sang as he dropped two shot glasses, two slices of lime, and a salt shaker in front of them. "My new bartender will be bringing your Grinches over in just a second—"

Without looking away from Jared, Celeste grabbed the shot and downed it. It scorched her throat, but it felt good. The burn of the alcohol matched the heat of her anger. "Two more, please," she coughed, slamming the glass back on the counter. She reached for Alicia's and threw that back, too.

"Uh, is that a good idea?" Olly asked. He looked to Alicia for guidance.

"Why don't you give us a minute?" Alicia said. After Olly left them, she turned to Celeste. "What the hell are you doing?"

"We came here to drink," Celeste said with another cough. "So I'm drinking."

"Yeah, but we came to have a fun drink," Alicia warned. "Not a scary, angry drink."

"Drinking is drinking," Celeste replied, still laser-focused on Jared and the girl. The girl had gotten up to dance to the bass-heavy remix of Carol of the Bells. Celeste could now see the girl had a tattoo of flowers crawling across her flat stomach, down her hip, and disappearing into the low waist of her jeans. "What's the difference?"

"Well fun drinking is dancing all night and thanking the stars that the trash took itself out," Alicia said, glaring over at Jared. "Scary drinking is when you spend all night staring at someone—someone who is so not worth it—while getting wasted and then do something stupid."

"I'm not going to do anything stupid."

"You will if you don't stop staring at them like that," Alicia said, pulling at Celeste's arm.

"Why her, though?" Celeste whined. "She's not his type! Not even close!"

Behind them came a low voice."Two Grinches?"

The promise of more alcohol was finally enough to get her to look away. "Like, just look at her!" Celeste continued, "What does he even see in her? Did you see her tattoo?"

"Remember, Jared is the bag of scum who broke up with you. Don't take your anger out on a girl you don't even know," Alicia said, trying to be the voice of reason.

Only reason was not Celeste's strong suit at this moment. Maybe it was the tequila hitting her system, or maybe it was the betrayal, but the rage, irrational or otherwise, was now overflowing. She couldn't stop herself. "Tattoos are so tacky," she grumbled, reaching for the neon-green drink just in front of her. "Only damaged people get tattoos—"

Her fingers touched skin. The drink was still in the hand of Sterling, the bartender—his tattooed hand. The tattoo, which looked like some kind of branch, trailed over the back of his hand, up his wrist, across his arm, and disappeared into the pushed-up sleeve of his Christmas sweater.

Shocked, Celeste'seyes met his. His eyes were dark and deep, and his just-as-dark brows were raised above them.

Her insult had not been lost on him.

"I-I didn't—" she stuttered. "I didn't mean you—"

"It's fine," he said, his expression going flat. "Enjoy your drinks."

Then he walked off.

"Yikes," Alicia said.

Celeste's cheeks flared red as the realization set in. "Oh my god, he definitely heard that, didn't he?"

"He sure did," Alicia said, wincing.

Celeste wanted to kick herself. She had been so rude, and for what? Because the girl who was currently draped over her boyfriend—ex-boyfriend—had a tattoo? She had just been grasping at stupid reasons to hate the girl, as if all this had been her fault.

Celeste groaned and reached for the neon-green beverage in front of her. Now she had another reason to drink. "Could this night get any worse?"

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