It's been a long time comin'

“Ari!” Nia yelled, “Hey ARI!” She yelled again. Ariana kept walking, bopping her head to the beat that only she could hear. Nia ran to catch up with her, and tapped her on the shoulder. Ariana took one head phone out of her ear, "WHAT!?" she yelled, oblivious to the fact that she was ridiculously loud. Nia laughed and then remembered what she was about to say.“Hey Loser.” She said out of breath, “What are you about to go do?”

“I dunno, I was thinking about heading to the Library and finishing my English paper.” Ariana said with feigned innocence. Nia rolled her eyes, “Screw that, we’re going to get fuucked up.” Ariana laughed and pulled out her phone, paused and said, “Aight, I just have to call Pete and tell him I’m not coming.” Nia raised an eyebrow questioningly, “Pete? Sketchy Drunk Pete?” she asked. “Uh, I guess if you want to put it like that, he’s kinda legit.” Nia chuckled and walked towards the parking lot. She was the only one of them with a car, since she got a parking pass from one of her teammates. “Fuck that,” Nia said, “If we’re gonna drink, we need a driver.” They both thought for a minute, and then said in unison “Let’s call Vanessa!”

Two hours later the three of them were at a local bar that turned a blind eye to the lovely underage college students who attracted a rather sizable crowd. Nia and Ariana had a couple of drinks, and hadn’t even dropped a dollar thanks to a group of drooling boys who were simply “watching the game.” Vanessa sat at the bar staring at her glass of soda and brooded over James again. “Ness!” Nia giggled, “That boy over there is staring at you!” In their tipsy state, Ariana and Nia’s were about as subtle as two freight trains and a tractor-trailer as they pointed and eyed the young man staring at Vanessa. Vanessa didn’t even look up but just kept staring at her glass. “Ness, did you hear Nia? He’s like intensely staring at you.” Vanessa sighed, “So,” Ariana huffed and went back to her drink, but Nia started fiercely poking Vanessa’s shoulder. “Nessie! Oh my god he’s fucking cute and he’s coming over here!” The young man stood up and started to walk to the bar. He was about 6’2”, well built, and tan. He looked he just jumped out of an Abercrombie poster, except he actually had found some clothes to wear, which he filled out quite nicely. He had piercing green eyes, lush lips, and a captivating smile to boot.

Mr. Abercrombie sat down on the stool next to Vanessa but she didn’t even look up. He tried to make conversation, “Hey, your name is Vanessa right?” She turned her head, looking for the first time at the gorgeous man in front of her with a puzzled look on her face. “Yes, how did you know that?” Nia and Ariana giggled behind her and started whispering. “Well you’re in my Calc class, and I just notice every time the professor calls your name.” Vanessa smiled, she had to admit it was a pretty good pick up line, but it was a pick up line all the same. “Oh that’s nice,” she curtly responded. Nia grabbed her arm and pulled her aside. “Why did you just do that?” She whispered not so quietly, “He’s cute, he’s nice, you should jump on that.” Vanessa groaned, “I’m not jumping on anything.” Disgusted, Nia went back to talking to Ariana, she couldn’t stand it when Vanessa always got the attention and always gave it away.

He tried to start a conversation again, “So what are you?” he asked. “I’m a girl,” Vanessa deadpanned. He chuckled at her sarcasm and said, “No, I mean what’s your classification?” Vanessa gave a rare smile and said, “I’m a freshman, how about you?” The young man perked up, excited that she was actually asking him a question for a change. “I’m a sophomore, who’s just really bad at math.” Vanessa giggled quietly and said “Oh, that’s unfortunate.” She started to look at his face, it was warm and his smile was very inviting. He didn’t look that creepy or skeezy for a guy she'd met at a bar.

“Well, now you know my name, but I don’t know yours.” She started to open up just a little. “My name is Anthony.” He said, flashing her another gleaming smile then glanced at her drink. “Hmm, a rum and coke?” he guessed. “Naw,” she said sheepishly, “Just a Coke. I’m not really a drinker” She was a little embarrassed to admit that as a college student, she still didn’t drink. “Really! That’s a shame…” He trailed off. Her hopes for him were dying quickly, she sighed and focused back on her coke. “Because, there’s no point in buying you another one when you already have free refills.” Although his joke was beyond cheesy it made her laugh,

“Yeah, I guess not” she chuckled. He leaned over towards her and spoke softly in almost a whisper “Well since I can’t have the pleasure of buying you a drink tonight, could I at least take you out for one that I can actually pay for? Maybe some coffee?” At this moment Vanessa was thanking the gods that the giggle twins had taken their act to the bathroom and weren’t shamelessly eavesdropping on their conversation. She took a deep breath, as if she were about to take a dive into deep water, “I would really like that.”

Vanessa left the time and the date up to him, and wrote her number on a plain white cocktail napkin. She always felt that writing down her number was more important than putting it in someone’s phone. Writing it down meant the guy had to keep the napkin and think about her to call, instead of rolling through his electronic rolodex after parties trying to see who was best for a booty call. It seemed to work, she got a lot less drunk dials than her friends.

By the time Ariana and Nia got back, Anthony and his friends had headed home, and she was again sitting at the bar alone, staring at her drink. “Hey, where’d cute boy go?” Nia asked, “Shit, and his hot friends are gone too!” Ariana groaned. She looked around the room, sighed and finally said, “C’mon there is no point in staying here any longer it’s empty.” Vanessa walked the girls to the car and drove them back to campus. Inside she was excited and jumpy, but she wanted to keep Anthony to herself, although she loved them, her friends had quite a way of ruining things.

Notes: So I wrote this a little while ago, and I just ya know found it and thought it was pretty fun. There's a first part to it, but it's too familiar for me to share. The excessive use of expletives is natural for the characters, ooh reminds me...Characters. This is me trying to not be embarrassed of my writing.

Vanessa: All around good girl, kinda based of Adriana Colbert + Jurnee Smollett. always thinking deeply about life and turning her petty problems into dramatic events. (oh so I guess there's a bit of me in there too)
Ariana: Friend of Vanessa's. Easygoing freewheeling one of the bunch, Does whatever she pleases and doesn't ask anyone for permission. She has the loudest mouth but the warmest personality.
Nia: Athletic one of the group, she intimidates most people standing at a massive 6’2, but she's really a gentle giant with the girlest tendencies.
James: Vanessa's Ex?
Anthony: Does not and never will exist in real life...I think I made him too perfect