I let out a loud sigh and glanced at Callie, who was looking at me expectantly. Callie and Zoey seemed to be the type of girls who would be there for me no matter what I had done in my past, but I wasn’t quite ready to spill all of that just yet. “Let’s not get into that tonight. Tonight we’re going out to have a kick ass time and you don’t need to hear my sob story.” Changing the subject, I pointed to the pink mess on my chair. “What exactly is all of that for?”
“Oh,” she clapped her hands and began rifling through the pile, “just a few of my choices for the night. I was hoping you could help me decide.” She held up two different dresses in front of her, and I pointed to the one on the right as she moved onto the next two. “You can borrow something if you want.”
“No, that’s all right. I’m good.” I didn’t mind pink but not that much pink. We spent the next hour getting dressed and helping each other fix our hair. Zoey came in just as we were finishing up in a pair of skinny jeans and an emerald top that was backless. It went perfectly with her creamy skin, and she grinned when she saw us.
“I’m so glad Callie finally found a primping buddy,” she said as she ran her fingers through her wavy hair that she had just left down like usual. Callie and I, on the other hand, had taken turns on each other’s hair. My flat iron had transformed Callie’s curls, and I now had curls running through mine, just skimming my bare shoulders.
We headed out of the dorms, choosing to walk so we didn’t have to worry about a DD. Callie and Zoey had both turned twenty-one over the summer, so they promised to supply me with drinks throughout the night. I really wasn’t too worried about it, I didn’t need to get smashed and end up doing something stupid like I normally did when I drank.
“There’s Drew,” Callie stood on her tiptoes, pointing to a back table where a stocky looking football player-type stood, nervously tapping his knee as he scanned the packed bar back and forth with his eyes.
A relieved looking smile lit up his face as soon as he saw Callie skip towards him and I could tell they had a really good connection. Callie flung herself into his arms which earned her a surprised chuckle from Drew for her over enthusiasm, and she pulled back to introduce us. “These are my roommates, Zoey and Della. This is Drew.”
I smiled at the way she said Drew, like she was caressing his name as she said it. I could tell how into him she was. “Nice to meet you,” Drew replied, never releasing Callie’s hand as we all sat down around the high-top table. “Callie’s told me all about both of you. Can I get everyone something to drink?”
“A beer for me would be good,” Zoey instantly replied, twirling a curl around her finger as her eyes wandered. “Me too.”
Drew left pretty reluctantly and headed towards the bar that wrapped around one side of the pub. “So, have you seen Nash yet?” Callie asked, leaning into me without ever taking her eyes off of Drew.
“No,” I glanced at my phone seeing that it was just a little past nine and figured he would show up sooner or later, at least I was hoping. “Not a big deal if he doesn’t.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Zoey replied with a snort. “Mariah doesn’t let him out of her sight very often. I still can’t believe he actually talked to you, let alone made plans with you.”
“Whatever.” I smiled at Drew as he sat glasses in front of all of us and a full pitcher of beer. I took a slight sip before setting it back down and running my fingers across the rim. Beer really wasn’t my thing; normally I tended to go for the harder liquor.
Zoey and I made small talk between ourselves while Callie and Drew talked quietly together like they were in their own little bubble. I really had no clue why Callie had needed us here for support, but I was having fun.
“Hey.” I jumped when I felt a set of hands dig into my hips and turned around to find an amused looking Nash standing behind me. “That was so not funny. You scared the shit out of me.”
“I know,” he smirked, pulling his hat on backwards as he sat down next to me. “One thing that hasn’t changed. It’s so easy to do, I just couldn’t help myself.” He grabbed the glass in front of me and took a big gulp before setting it back down.
“Help yourself,” I commented dryly as I took in his laid back appearance. He had a form fitting black t-shirt on with the name of some band that clung to his body nicely and a pair of faded jeans that hung low on his hips. A pair of black Converse that looked to be the exact same pair he wore when we were younger, except for probably a few sizes bigger now, completed his casual outfit and I suddenly felt overdressed. Why did I take so much time getting ready for tonight again?
“Sorry, I hit the gym before I headed over here and then ran home to change real quickly. I promise to refill that for you.”
“No problem,” I replied with a shake of my head. “It’s been sitting there almost all night anyway. I’m glad you could make it though, you could have called if you didn’t have time to stop by.”