Page 2 of First Impressions Series

“Oh yeah, he’s back there all right, but not for long,” I tried to be subtle.

A look of disappointment spread across Clara’s face for a moment, thinking he must be leaving. She turned around to look, just in time for Motorcycle Guy to walk up beside her and introduce himself.

“Hi, I’m Cason. Mind if I join you for a drink?” He watched Clara, waiting for her response.

“Sure. I’m Clara, and this is my friend Zia. It’s nice to meet you, Cason.” Clara’s most charming smile returned as we made his acquaintance.

“The pleasure’s all mine,” Cason replied with a slight nod.

I had to admit, Cason was an attractive guy, and j

ust Clara’s type. He was tall, about six feet two, standing a good six inches taller than Clara in the flats she wore tonight. He wore a tight-fitted black t-shirt that showed off his toned body, and of course there were the faded blue jeans that were worn in well and ripped in all the right places. He oozed sex appeal with his dark, messy hair and light-green eyes.

I listened and contributed as little as I could politely get by with, as Clara and Cason started getting to know one another. Then I excused myself saying I had to hit the ladies room to give them a little time alone. I’d be close by if Clara needed me, but it seemed like she was pretty into the conversation and he didn’t give me any creep vibes yet, so I wasn’t too worried about leaving her alone for a while.

Instead of going to the ladies room, I made my way up to the bar counter. Marco and another bartender, a pretty red-head with not much clothing covering her up, were pretty busy tonight as the Book Shelf was filled up to capacity. This was pretty usual for a Saturday night here.

I sat at a stool that opened up as I approached the end of the bar counter, and ordered myself another tall rum and diet coke, single shot. I had never cared for the bitter taste of alcohol or the feeling of losing control of myself being drunk, so I never let myself drink enough to get that way. I’d just drink enough to loosen up a little and enable myself to tolerate the loud music pulsing in my ears. I was usually more of a wine drinker, but this place didn’t exactly have the wine-drinking kind of atmosphere, much less that great of a wine selection.

From this vantage point, I was able to look around and people-watch a little bit. I considered myself lucky that most people were so wrapped up in their own lives that they never noticed people like me watching them, listening to them, making judgments about them.

Lucky for them, I was not a stalker or some kind of murderous psychopath.

Tonight nothing really stuck out for me. Just the same old thing you’d expect to see in a bar on a Saturday night. The more they drank, the louder they got. Girls all dressed up in their skimpy outfits and high heels they’d be stumbling in by the end of the night; guys buying one drink after another for the girls, hoping it would pay off for them before the night was over; several girls at one table apparently out for a girl’s night.

Finally, one table caught my interest. There were three guys, each one appearing abundantly confident. One of the guys seemed to be the pack leader, so to speak, as the other two guys seemed to take their cues from what he said or did. This guy was the most attractive of the three.

His hair was medium brown with light brown, almost caramel colored eyes to match. He wore a long-sleeved white shirt that hugged his lean, muscular upper body, the sleeves pulled casually up his forearm. His dark designer jeans showed off some thighs that undeniably took some work and dedication in the gym. He looked like he could model for Calvin Klein, or maybe he had.

His friends were attractive as well, but neither were quite the caliber of handsome as their pack leader. That guy had what you’d call panty dropper eyes.

What really stood out was how girls kept coming up to their table, as if to pay homage to a celebrity. Girls apparently flocked to these guys without them even having to try. I wondered what that was about, and thought how dumb the girls must be to throw themselves at guys like that.

Didn’t they know they should make the guys chase them? Men usually liked the chase. Not that these guys seemed to mind, as they seemed to ogle and gawk at the lovely specimens walking away, the two sidekicks more so than their leader.

I didn’t have much time to make any sense of their situation that I was secretly observing before I felt my cell phone buzzing in my back pocket. Clara had texted me:

Clara: Where u at? Ready 2 go?

I walked back over to the table I had left Clara and Cason at after paying out my tab. Cason was gone, and Clara stood up, looking as though she was ready to leave somewhere.

“Hey, Zia! Where’d you go? Cason had to leave but he asked me to hang out tomorrow night. Oh my God, isn’t he so hot? Anyway, I don’t really feel like sticking around here for the rest of the night now. Wanna go home and help me pick out what to wear tomorrow?”

How could I argue with an excuse to leave?

“Sure. Let’s go. I’ll see if I can get us a cab outside.”

I noticed on our way out the door that Pack Leader Guy had another girl talking to him, and from the way he leaned in as she spoke, it looked like she was the lucky winner who would go home with him tonight.

Poor fool.

CHAPTER 1: DYLAN

Music pulsed in my ears like the rhythm of an aroused heartbeat as wafts of cigarette smoke infiltrated my lungs. The high of triumph emanated around the crowded room. The Book Shelf patrons loomed around the walkways and hoarded around tables, drinks in hand. This was fairly usual for a Saturday night here, but especially after our team had just won another soccer game earlier that night.

It was a typical bar catering to the college crowd, smoky with dim lighting and big-screen televisions hanging up in the corners. There was also a small stage area for live music that they had now and then, but tonight it was just deafeningly loud music playing over a sound system.

Jonas and Ethan, two guys from the team and my closest friends, insisted that I come out with them tonight. It didn’t take too much convincing, since we were all in a pretty great mood after our big win. No arguments here.

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