text: The party was its expected level of seediness. Luke and his I-guess-you-could-call-it girlfriend Lola got there just after one in the morning. The apartment was dingy and dimly lit, Luke was only just able to make out the piles of clothing and garbage thrust to the perimeter of the place in an obvious attempt to straighten up before anyone had arrived. It was stifling hot. The smell was an exacting combination of patchouli, shit weed, mold, and the air freshener attempting to cover it all up. The music was almost inaudible, but it was just some overrated jam band anyway. The host, Jeremy, was in the corner of the living room, his body wrapped in strands of infrared lights. For a party, the room seemed suspiciously quiet. Luke hardly recognized a majority of the people there and he wasn't sure if this was because he really didn't know them or if it was the drugs beginning to warp his ability to attach a face to a name. Lola seemed to know everyone there, mannerism-fucking every guy in the room, even the gay ones, and asserting her dominance over all of the girls. Primal. The room began to breathe with Luke and the light suddenly brightened and the noise intensified. The faces were still unfamiliar. He convinced himself that the voices he heard were actually the thoughts of everyone around him that he suddenly had the ability to hear, each one chastising Luke for acting like he could hold down a girl like Lola. Paranoia. The realization that the girl he associated himself with and actually had feelings for was little more than loose came at the most inconvenient of times. More than anything Luke needed to get out of his head, and in a desparate attempt to get himself together went into the bathroom. He dunked his entire, sweat soaked head into the sink after filling it with frigid water. Solace. He had detached himself so far from the misery of the party that he didn't even reason to listen to what happened on the other side of that bathroom door. Until he opened it to an empty room. Vanished How long was he in there? where is everybody? whos apartment is this? who did he come here with? confusion. The drugs allow him to engross himself into every small detail of this curious, distantly familiar, apartment. The hot fragrant air still complemented the music the way it did before he went in the bathroom. Nostalgia. Luke accepts his personal assingment to figure out what happened while he was gone. The unpretentious venue seemed to be shrinking in on him when he finds himself wishing he could still hear the thoughts of everybody he once knew. Illuminating on the couch, in the center of the room, is an abandoned white and blue blazer and matching bag. His first clue. Lola. The apartment is empty, that was apparent. Luke grabs Lola's belongings and decides to search for her on his way home in hopes to find some answers there. The streets are cold and crisp, a different world from inside the apartment. Suddenly nothing seems familiar is a once mundane town. Detachment. He is starting to think the entire world vanished with the party guests when a truck pulled up beside him. Through a foggy windshield a pitiful glance drops Lukes stomach. It's Jeremy. No words are exchanged while Jeremy helps Luke into his truck. All Luke could do was submit to the help. "I lost Lola. Where did everyone go?" Luke pleads to Jeremy. "You've clearly had a rough night. Why are you carrying that stuff" Jeremy questions pitifully. "i lost Lola" He repeats "She left all her things" The car stops. Jeremy looks at Luke like he has heard the story a million times. "I know" Jeremy confesses as he takes the things off Lukes lap. "Now go inside and get some rest. You cant beat yourself up over it any longer. Its time to move on" Confused, Luke went inside and tried to take the advice but could not sleep. This place suddenly felt like home. He was back inside the apartment where he last saw her but suddenly everything seemed alleviated. There were never any party guests inside, just the haunted thoughts of those he used to know. This apartment was familiar now, filled with all of Lukes things, burried under months worth of garbage and laundry. Bachelor pad. He makes plans to clean up his apartment in the morning and sprawls out on the couch that once was home to her most prized possessions. Luke cant remember the last time he was able to fall asleep without the drugs. Cleansed. "Hey babe, sorry I'm late. Guess who i ran into" He places her old bag over her shoulder while she examines the items inside that she she easily replaced so long ago. "This is going in the trash tho" He throws the outdated blazer on the floor. "I'll get you something better" She smiles and welcomes him home with a kiss. "Oh my God, Jeremy, Where did you find this? I have not even thought about this bag in years. What was i thinking back then? Its hideous!" she says with a smirk. Lola.