My sixteen year old cousins were set on making me go clubbing with them, even before I made it to Germany. They had it all worked out. We would “pre-game,” I taught them this term, before heading to one of the oldest clubs in Europe, the Hohe in Bunde.
It was 19:00 on Saturday night when Thijs asked me to go with him to the grocery store, the Penny, to buy booze. Even though the legal drinking age in Germany is 16, teens are not allowed to buy hard liquor until they are 18 years old. His friend Finn came too. Finn was not much of a talker, that is until he had a few drinks I soon found out.
We sit in Thijs’ room drinking beer and playing shot roulette with the bottle of white rum we picked up at the Penny. When I decided I may as well look the part when we go to the club, so I left to change. I wore dark, tight skinny jeans over a lingerie body suit, with a chiffon top, that would eventually be out of the picture. And on my feet, high-heeled boots. I definitely looked the part now.
It was just after 22:00 when we made our way to Bunde. Outside the club some of my cousin’s friends were waiting for us. I soon found myself jogging after them across the street and down this wooded path. All of a sudden alcohol bottles flew past me and into the brush and fallen leaves to my left. They were hiding the beer and alcohol they had brought with them to the club for later.
We made our way back up towards the club in the dark. We waited in line to have our vaccine passports and ID’s checked. Apart from the checking of the passports, this was one of the most normal nights I’ve had since the beginning of the pandemic. No one wore masks, and everyone danced, hugged and kissed each other without a second thought. Myself included…
We checked our jackets before heading upstairs to the pub above the club. There were now at least ten of us when we plunked ourselves down in a large corner booth. The pub was pretty cool, dimly lit with dark wood accents and fairy lights. As the group decided on what to order, I ordered a round of tequila shots for all of us. They thought I was cool before, and now I could do no wrong. I had them wrapped around my pinky finger.
At home I am certainly not “cool,” but here, with these teens, I definitely was. There’s a first for everything I suppose. I listened as Thijs retold stories I had told him, and they looked back at me with pure amazement. Boy, did it feel good to be cool.
Eventually the group decided it would be a good idea to head back downstairs to the club. They hoped more people had arrived by then. Two adorable girls latched on to me and giggled as they told me that they want either Finn or my cousin to kiss them tonight. Not only was I cool, but now I was looked to for my advice and matchmaking skills. The girls didn’t let me out of their sight all night, making sure I went to the bathroom with them and went outside for smoke and hidden alcohol breaks.
During one of these smoke breaks, I was standing outside the club smoking a cigarette when tall, dark and handsome walked up, and began to speak to me in German. Now my German is okay and I could understand some of what he was saying, but before I could respond, Finn jumped in explaining that I was visiting from Canada. Tall, dark and handsome looked at me up and down and smiled. I mean, I did look good, you could basically see my tits through my lingerie bodysuit, my nipple piercings twinkling at the very least.
The music that played was a mix between English and German songs, and it was so entertaining hearing and watching everyone sing along to songs that we would never play in a club in Canada. Somehow tall, dark and handsome was always directly in front of me across the dance floor, even whilst it rotated. We made eye contact more times than I can count over the next few hours. While in my little dancing circle, Finn and one of the girls were getting very cozy. I whispered to Finn that maybe he should just go for it, but he was too chickenshit to make any real move. So naturally, I decided to show them all how easy it was.
I made my way through the crowd, making eye contact with tall dark and handsome as I moved towards him. The song the DJ was playing was none other than “Breaking Free” from the High School Musical soundtrack. Didn’t Troy and Gabriella meet in some sort of club too, at a ski resort? I guess I am finally getting my HSM moment. Ten year old me would be so excited.
I grabbed tall, dark and handsome’s hand and spun myself around. His hands found my waist and we danced around together for a few minutes before I reached up and asked his age, can’t be too careful. He was over the age of 21, so that worked for me. I looked back, making sure Thijs and Finn were watching me, and then I planted one on tall, dark and handsome. And boy, did he take this as an invitation…
We danced until the wee hours of the morning. I finally left the club with my cousin at 5:00am. And no, I did not get a name or number from tall, dark and handsome, and I am completely happy with my decision. Maybe we’ll meet again, maybe we won’t.
Back at the house, I spent the next three hours drinking beer and smoking hookah with Thijs and a couple of his friends. I told them more about myself than I probably should have, but when you’re far away from home it’s even easier to be honest. I was also shocked that I could still be awake, but the jet lag really fucked me up to begin with.
All in all I think this will be a fun few months. I’m free to be whoever I want to be. Even myself.
Just A Small Town Girl 