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Chapter One
Daniel
I tightened my tie, staring at my reflection in the mirror. It was my second graduation party since I started attending Berkeley, and I was only a junior. My 5 best friends, Ryder, Guy, Chase, Brad, and Mitch were all free, finally out of college. Guy had been the first one to graduate when I was just a lonely freshman. The other four were getting ready to walk across the stage and head to the think tank that Guy had set up, waiting for everyone to graduate so we could start our tech business. We had been planning from the moment we met each other, and I couldn't wait to be done with school so I could join them. It was almost depressing knowing that I had another year, one that I would be spending alone, considering the guys were pretty much my best friends and the only people I hung out with.
There was a loud banging on my bedroom door, and Guy's voice echoed out. “Bro, what the hell are you doing in there? We're going to be late.”
Leaning over, I opened up the door and looked back at myself in the mirror, buttoning my jacket. Guy leaned against the doorway, wearing the same suit he had worn to his own graduation under his gown, his tie loosely tied, and his hair a wild mess. He was the oldest, and was driving us to the graduation.
“I figured if, by some wild chance the universe is on my side, if I procrastinate long enough, I won't be left here all alone.”
Guy poked out his bottom lip and patted me on the head. “Poor, Daniel, the baby. One more year bro, and you'll be right there with us. Besides, we can't make all the decisions for the business without you so you'll basically have to be on videoconference the entire year. You're gonna get tired of seeing our faces, trust me.”
“I sure as hell hope not. If that's the case, I might wanna rethink going into business with you losers.”
Guy scoffed, pushing my shoulder. “I'm sorry to break it to you, dude, but you are definitely not the main brain of the operation. Come on, let's go cheer these morons on so we can head to the after party.”
The after party.
The only good thing about my friend's leaving was the fact that I was in charge of planning the after party and I had gone above and beyond for these guys. I could still remember going to Guy's party, although I wasn't sure how I still remembered. I had drank so much alcohol that night, I was pretty sure my ancestors didn't remember who they were the next morning. But the damn thing was epic. So, when it came to the fact that I had to plan the party for four of them, and not just Guy, I had my work cut out for me. Each of the guys were different in some way, but we were all definitely going to be in party mode.
Of course, I picked a trendy location, but one that was friendly to bikers. We had frequented a bar right outside of the town limits that was perfect for it. It looked upscale, the parties were amazing at night, and bikers from all over California stopped through there. It satisfied Ryder since he was obsessed with his bike, Mitch who liked to think he was trendy, and Brad and Chase who basically weren't picky in the least. They wouldn't have given a shit if I had put up some picnic tables in the backyard just as long as there was alcohol, girls, and alcohol.
I finished up tying my Chuck Taylors, which I basically wore with everything, and Guy and I headed to the graduation. There were a ton of graduates that year, more than either year before, but we could definitely point out the guys, who had somehow finagled it so that they could sit next to each other, and had painted our soon to be company's name on the top of their graduation caps. INT Coms was the short name that we would go with, standing for Intuitive Communications. Who knew if we'd actually keep that name, but we had gone back and forth for years, and had pretty much stuck with that for the last six months.
Both Guy and I had to keep each other awake during the ceremony, trying not to get lost in the copious amounts of alcohol we had drunk the night before, in preparation for that night, while the signature speaker droned on about the future, and following your dreams, and blah, blah, blah. Most of the people in the audience were pretty chill, elitist types, their families rich, and most of them just clapped appropriately when their student's name was called. But not me and Guy. When the guys took the stage, they lined up together, and they all waited for each other at the end as we roared with excitement from the stands. Like clockwork, the four of them turned toward us, and pointed up, as we put our arms in the air. The other students chuckled, used to our half-witted ridiculousness and rebellious attitudes despite the fact that we were all exceptional students, which at times I was pretty sure pissed off the faculty at school.
Afterwards, we stood outside, waiting for the guys to come out. As they did, they jogged through the crowd like football players at the beginning of a game, cheering, ignoring the fact that their families were there, and headed straight to Guy and I.
We went through the motions of shaking hands and hugging, turning with sweet smiles as their family surrounded us, snapping pictures. Ryder was already wearing his helmet, his graduation cap balanced on top, ready to get the hell out of there. Unfortunately, we all knew that we had to do the family thing before we could do the not meant for family eyes party afterwards. Thankfully, my family wasn't there because I wasn't graduating. I had no plans on going back home for the summer either. I had considered going out to San Diego with the guys but decided to stay in Berkeley. I was taking some extra classes over the summer semester anyway, hoping to be able to jet out of school a semester early in my senior year, if they didn't add anymore requirements for my degree before I left.
“I need a beer so bad that I would drink it in the grocery store aisle,” Mitch said to me, through a fake smile as more pictures were taken.
I chuckled, shifting with everyone to the next camera, talking through my smile as well. “Just a couple more hours, dude. Everything is ready and set up for us. All we gotta do is show up. Pretty much everyone is coming. I thought there'd be multiple parties, but besides the frat houses, everyone caught wind of what we were doing and have decided to make yours theirs.”
Ryder clapped his hands together, rubbing them ecstatically. “You know what that means...”
Chase and Brad answered in unison. “Hot chicks, cold beer, double shots.”
I dipped out of the pictures so the grads could take some together, pointing at all of them as I backed away, nodding my head. As I stood there, chuckling at the different faces the guys made, their parents griping and snipping at them so they could get one serious picture out of everything, I glanced over at a family standing with a graduate across the walkway. I recognized one of the girls, she was a junior like me, and had taken one of my English Lit classes with me. She hugged a guy that looked like he could be her brother, and as she stepped back, another woman came into view. This one though, froze me. She was absolutely gorgeous.
Standing in the fresh summer sunlight, her hair was long and curled, a sandy blonde that rolled down her back in waves. She had glossy pink lips, green eyes, and the most perfect smile. She was wearing a blue flowered sundress and heels, and her body was curvy and toned. I couldn't hear her, but watching her laugh was like slow motion. As she did, her eyes shifted over toward mine and she stared at me for a moment. In my nerdy, college boy angst, I gave her a pretty cheesy grin, immediately freezing, embarrassing myself with the most non smooth flirtation seen outside of a bar in generations. To my surprise though, as they all began to walk away, she gave me a half grin and nodded.
“Earth to Daniel,” Guy said, tapping me hard on the forehead. “Everyone wants to go to the steakhouse. Brad's father made a reservation for all of us. You can ride with me.”
It was hard to tear my eyes away from her, as she walked away, her perfect ass swaying with each step, her short sundress hem threatening to reveal her smooth tanned ass. But when Guy threatened to knock harder, I put up my hand and turned to him, nodding my head. He narrowed his eyes and looked over where I was looking, but she was gone. He looked back at me in confusion. “Get it together, we've got a long night ahead of us.”
“Yes, I'm here. And trust me, I'm more than ready for tonight. In fact, I'm going to make sure that I eat light, but enough to keep me from getting too wasted too fast, drink lots of water at dinner, and pop a couple aspirin before the night even gets started. It's my last big showdown with you guys before you leave, so, it's gonna be a night we talk about for the next 10 years.”
Guy smirked, putting his arm over my shoulder as he pulled me along. “We've taught you well. Passing the torch isn't so scary. You will keep our memory alive.”
I chuckled as we headed to the car, stopping at the door and taking one last look to see if I could spot her again before getting into the passenger seat. But among the sea of graduates, beautiful girls everywhere, guys snapping pictures with their parents, and faculty shaking hands, the beautiful blonde headed girl was nowhere to be found. It was a shame, considering I hadn't been stopped in my tracks like that for a very long time.
She was the kind of girl though that probably stopped a lot of guys in their tracks. I was shocked none of my friends had pointed her out before that point. They were all really absorbed with the excitement of graduation, though, not that I could blame them. When it was my turn I knew the day would be overwhelmingly exciting. I was never really fond of college, but girls like her made all the studying, late nights, and test anxiety well worth it.
Who knew?
Maybe she'd show up at the party. If she did, I was definitely gonna have to work on my greeting. That nerdy ass smile would only work one time, and I had spent it. If not, my focus was on the guys for the night anyway, and I was all ready to kick off the summer the best way I knew how. Going down in a blaze of whiskey shots, pale ales, and stories of parties past.
