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As we follow the others up to the entrance, I shrug before responding, "Thanks, I'm easily distracted. I was trying to remember if I locked the door before we left." A lie, of course, but she doesn't let on if she catches it.
Crushed is your typical small cocktail bar. It typically serves tapas which are constantly changing as they only serve what they can grow organically outback. It's a millennial hot spot. Overall, the place is not very big.
When you walk in, you notice the bar. It juts out from the back wall cutting directly down the entire restaurant with high-top tables lining the perimeter. I wasn't sure where they were planning to put a live band, and now that we're in the place, I can see that they've opened the passageway to the organic garden, so the band must be outside. Before heading that way, the group follows Ethan and Megan toward the bar for a quick drink.
I'm just sliding up along Ethan's right when I feel a hand gently squeeze my bicep. Before turning towards the movement, I feel hot breath on my ear, followed by Ivy's request for a cosmopolitan.
"How forward of you, asking me to buy you a drink.” I give her a teasing smile but inwardly I can’t help but cringe at her eagerness to get cozy with me. It screams desperate and easy. Don’t get me wrong I’m not against buying a woman a drink but I also don’t care to lead someone on. I have no interest in hooking up with her tonight.
Before leaving she gives me a coy smile and saunters outback with Megan and the other girl whose name, I haven't yet caught. Ethan takes that moment to drill Grant and me about the girls.
"Isn't Megan fucking hot? I knew she mentioned she would be out with her friends, and from the looks of it, Ivy and Kelsey aren't too bad either. You guys are lucky to know me." Grant slaps him on the back, laughing. "Sure, man, you did well this time, but the real story is the way August is checking out Ivy. Maybe you just needed to find the right girl to take your mind off Carson, and I feel you just meant her."
"Don't get me wrong, she is definitely something to look at, but looks aren't everything." These guys clearly can't tell when I'm interested in a girl. If anything, I'm attempting to be obliging, but I'm not interested.
Ethan snorts, "Okay, man, whatever you say, she's someone to have fun with tonight. So, what do you say we clear the cobwebs and get you some action?"
The bartender places our drinks in front of us, saving me from a reply, and we head out back to find the girls.
We step outside and I've noticed the bar has transformed the dormant side of the garden into a stage for the band. Gold lights are running up the trunks of trees surrounding the space, and overhead lanterns have been hung to create a fanciful ambiance. It would be romantic if I were here with the right person. We make our way to the front, where the girls are sitting at a high-top cafe table. The band has already started playing what sounds like smooth jazz ballads. While I'm not against smooth jazz, this isn't really the scene I was expecting, but I'm trying to go with the flow and not be a wet blanket.
If I am going to be subjected to this whimsicality for the remainder of the evening I’m going to need to head back to the bar for a shot or two. I discretely excuse myself and make my exit. As it turns out heading back was more than a great idea. When I step up to order my shot, I run into another one of our college buddies Mike.
"Hey, Mike, who are you here with tonight?" When he turns around I don't miss the mischievous grin on his face.
"August! Man, it's good to see you. I haven't seen you since our marketing final two weeks ago. I'm here with Big Al, but tonight's vibe is not our scene. We're closing out our tab and probably heading down to Smokey's."
"Why do I feel you're up to something tonight?" Mike is known for getting a party started, especially since he usually brings party favors in the form of uppers.
"Maybe I am, but you sure as shit aren't going to catch me wasting my goods here. Come with us."
"I'm here with Ethan and G tonight, but Smokey's definitely sounds more appealing. Let me close out my tab."
After closing out my tab, I follow Mike and Big Al out the front door, not even bothering to say bye to the others. I don't need their glares and disapproval. We came out to have fun tonight, not woo some chicks listening to smooth jazz. The way I see it, Ethan set up a lame meet-up, one he knew I wasn't into, so I give zero fucks about ghosting him.
Gianna
Three
Theweekendwentbyfast as usual. After getting everything unpacked and put away in my room on Friday night, I spent the remainder of Saturday and Sunday helping my family do the same with the rest of the house. Honestly, I didn't mind one bit. I was happy to settle into our new home and decorate. After all, this is supposed to be a fresh start. Therefore, I should be present.
The problem is I can already feel my friends getting disappointed in me. We've hung out every weekend and spent every spare moment together for years. Even if the entire group wasn't together, parts of us always were.
Where I grew up in Arrowhead, there weren't many girls from school who lived where I did. Most of the kids that I rode the bus with every day were guys, so naturally, I bonded with them. That’s how I met Bryce.
In my freshmen year of high school, Bryce would go out of his way to mess with me, whether it had been on the bus or in the hallways at school. I tried my best to ignore him for the longest time because I didn't want the attention. Let’s be clear, he was never being mean to me. If anything, he was overly affectionate, which was off-putting for me. I never wanted to be the center of attention. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I never had the nicest clothes, I wasn't fashion-forward, and I never really fit in. Heck, in middle school, I was bullied for being weird.
So, when high school hit and this guy two grades ahead of me started showering me with non-stop attention as if I were the hottest girl in school my discomfort reached an all-time high. Bryce would come up behind me at my locker, pick me up, slam the locker closed, and run off with me over his shoulder down the hallway. Every time I wished, the floor would swallow me whole right then, never to be seen again. Needless to say, once I got over his antics, we became fast friends.
It wasn't hard to like Bryce. He wasn't bad to look at by any means, your typical skateboarder type rocking Vans on his feet, Dickies over his tight ass, and the standard black hoodie you'd see at any Hot Topic store. With shaggy brown shoulder-length hair, striking brown eyes, and a lean muscular body, he was many girls’ wet dreams. For some reason, I've just never seen him like that. At the end of the day, he's the guy from that Vertical Horizon song “Everything You Want.” That song is Bryce to the tee. He was everything I should’ve wanted but in the end, the feelings just weren’t there for me.
The more I got to know Bryce, the more I got to know his friends, and one caught my eye. Aiden was my secret crush, ok, maybe not so secrete anymore, seeing as how it got harder and harder to hide my infatuation with him over the years.
Aiden was in the same year as Bryce and had a girlfriend for the longest time. That never really bothered me because I figured if he did have any real feelings for me, he eventually wouldn't have a girlfriend anymore. Or at least this is what I told my childish brain at the time. He was mysterious, quiet, and reserved. Always the one standing in the corner at a party or showing up when everyone was leaving. Maybe that's why I was attracted to him. It couldn’t possibly have been his short jet-black hair that was longer on the top and always messily styled to one side, or his perfectly bronzed tan skin. And lord knows it had nothing to do with his inky black eyes accented with an eyebrow piercing above his right eye.
The man was beyond hot, and that was just his face. His body was another story. I swear he was naturally fit because I know he didn't play any sports, so how he was ripped was beyond me. Maybe he went to the gym in his spare time, I don't really know. The guy is an enigma but he’s also my past. It’s time to put away childish things and become a woman. My focus needs to be on my future not chasing a boy that never gave me the time of day.
I'veneverhadaproblem getting up for school. I'm a morning person, so seeing as how it is Monday morning and my first day of work, well, my first day as a full-time employee, I'm up extra early. My outfit has already been picked out. I showered last night, so all I had to do was fix my hair and make-up and walk out the door.
