Page 14 of Freshmeet
Shuffling in behind him, I held a hand up in case he fell backwards. We made it to my place without incident, and he plopped down on the couch. I went to the kitchen and got him a glass of water, worried that he wouldn’t make it to the job site in the morning. When I came back out to the living room, he was passed out on the couch, snoring.
Of course.
I covered him up, placing the water and a bottle of ibuprofen on the coffee table next to his head. “Good night, dumbass.”
Heavy rain hit the window as I looked out onto the square. Checking the time, I saw it had somehow been almost an hour since I’d left the party. There was no way Sarah was still waiting for me. I kicked myself for not getting her number. All I could do was pray to the gods of small-town life that I’d run into her and be able to make up for the complete clusterfuck of a night.
THREE
LOCKED IN THE MURDER SHANTY
SARAH
“The rain’s let up. I think it’s time we got you two home.” Britta rocked back on her heels as she looked around the nearly empty Barn. The candlelight cast an eerie glow on the aftermath of the party.
“Come on! We’re finally enjoying one of these parties. Can’t we play one more game?” Olivia mumbled as she slumped over the arm of a stained couch, watching the frat brothers wander around, picking up empty cans and cups before flipping on the overhead lights. “Too bright,” she groaned, throwing her arm over her eyes.
“Why don’t we go home and play on our table?” Rae effortlessly lifted me off the couch. One of the perks of her being so strong was that she easily handled our drunk asses.
“Fiiiine. C’mon, Liv.” I reached down to help Britta get her up.
Instead, Liv pulled me down on top of her and wrapped her arms around me. “I’m gonna miss you, Sarah.”Hiccup. “I don’t wanna go home tomorrow.”
Sitting on her lap, I patted her sweaty, tangled auburn hair. “I’ll miss you too. But you promised to be back for the fourth—” I cupped my mouth and shouted, “Ready to ruuumble!”
Olivia sighed, and we both struggled to stand. “Let’s go home.”
The four of us shuffled out of the Barn and stumbled down the hill. Well, Olivia and I stumbled while Rae and Britta held their hands out, ready to break any falls.
“I can’t believe that dude disappeared on you. Like, who runs away from a guaranteed hookup?” Olivia tripped on a crack in the sidewalk, and Rae grabbed her elbow, hauling her upright. Giggling, Olivia said, “Thank you for saving my face from the concrete, Rae.”
Rae laughed and slung an arm around her shoulder. “No problem. I’m here to catch you when you fall.”
I hooked my arm through Britta’s, laying my head on her shoulder. “It’s just not fair. He was so hot. Like ‘I do manual labor, so these muscles are earned’ hot. Like ‘I can build you a cabin’ hot. The first time I’m down for a quick hookup, and poof!” I fake-cried into Britta’s side, and she patted my back. “Why did he leave?”
“Because most men aren’t worth your time,” Britta cooed, giving me a noisy kiss on the forehead.
That was easy for her to say. Paul worshipped the ground she walked on. He built a freaking bed for her. Now, how we would ever get said bed frame out of Frattic was a mystery for future us to solve.
“Britta’s right. I mean, I have all this—” Olivia gestured to the lower half of her generous pear-shaped body. “And we’ve been together for almost a year, but Michael still can’t get his shit together. It might be time to end things.”
Rae hummed, neither in agreement nor disagreement, just an acknowledgement that she heard. Rae never got deep into relationship talk. Hell, she never got deep into a relationship.
We walked in silence for a block or so, the breeze a welcome relief to the already hot and humid May weather. Despite itbeing a perfect Kirksville night, I couldn’t enjoy it. Rejection gnawed at me, turning what should’ve been the first of many amazing summer nights into a total bust.
I’d never felt that instant connection with anyone before. Yet, there I was, rejected, embarrassed, and going home to an empty bed. Just another attempt at trying to be a normal college kid gone wrong.
Let the spiral commence.
Adding to my anxiety was that, despite being completely hammered, I needed to be up bright and early for my new gig as a camp counselor at Thousand Hills—the first of two jobs required to make enough money to pay rent and eat. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t on my parents’ payroll, and that left me terrified and feeling stupid. I was almost 22 and didn’t even know how to pay my bills. I didn’t have a credit card that wasn’t tied to my parents. I’d never written a check. I’d never?—
“Hey!”
I looked up from the sidewalk, and Paul was jogging up the alleyway in front of Frattic.
“Hey, Babe.” Britta unlinked our arms and threw herself at Paul. She pecked him but pulled back, scrunching her nose. “What the hell is that smell?” She took two big steps back, her arms left wide.
He lifted his shirt to his nose and shrugged. “It was a long day. We replaced the toilet on the main floor and fixed the door. It closes now! Both halves!”
