Prince Charming? I Think Not

Limping down the side of the road, I shook my head. This is not how the night was supposed to work out. I didn't plan it this way at all. First of all, I should not be walking down a main road back to school by myself in the middle of the night. 2 am to be exact. I know, I know, it's not the safest idea for a twenty-something year-old girl to be walking alone down a main road at the early hours of the morning. But I had no other option! I wouldn't have worn these shoes if I was planning on walking home. A jacket would have been helpful too. Sometimes I wonder how I get myself into situations like this.

This whole fiasco of a night happened because of a boy. Now that I think about it, I realize boys are the root of most of my problems. But I'm digressing. So a few weeks ago, I was out with some friends and had perhaps one drink too many (okay, maybe it was two too many) and thought it would be a good idea to call Nick, this guy I work with at my summer job. Fortunately, aside from giggling and telling him it had been so long since I'd seen him, I didn't make too much of a fool of myself. Nick told me he'd give me a call the next time he had a party at his place. That should have been a sign telling me to stay away; I only called him when I was drunk and he only called to see me if he was having a party. But being blind to this sign, I happily told my friends about the conversation. They stared at me.

"Anna, he's not your type. You want more than just a one night thing, right? You can do so much better than that," Amanda cautioned. This was yet another sign, but it went unnoticed with me because a Bon Jovi song came on at that moment and I had to get on the dance floor.

Fast forward to this afternoon. It was a typical Saturday afternoon, one which involved a lot of thinking about all the homework I had to get done, but not actually doing any of it. And I wonder why I'm stressed on Sundays! So there I was, perfecting the higher forms of procrastination when I heard my phone ringing. After searching through my purse and finally unearthing my phone from under a pile of laundry, the ringing had stopped and I had a new voice mail.

"Hey girlie, it's Nick. You should pick up your phone. Anyways, I wanted to see what you were up to tonight. I'm having a party at my place, so you should come. Give me a call if you want."

I quickly called up my friend Cate. "Hey, do you want to go to a party with me tonight? Nick called and invited me over to his place and I can't go by myself."

"Of course I'll come with you; I want to meet this kid. And Amanda can see if he's changed at all."

I laughed. "He's not as bad as she makes him out to be!"

"I'll be the judge of that. Well, I'm driving, okay? And you might as well crash here since we've got the breast cancer walk in the morning."

After hanging up with Cate, I threw open my closet doors. I now had to find the perfect outfit. This should be fun. I tried on my first option, a jean skirt and a t-shirt, and promptly took it off as soon as I say myself in the mirror. My summer tan had faded and the skirt made me look like I needed to hit the gym. Oh, this was bad. Nick was used to seeing me in the summer when I was tan and in shape from running after kids all day. I mentally yelled at myself for getting out of shape and tossed a few outfits into a bag so Cate and Amanda could help me choose one. As I packed up my car, I ignored the nagging voice in the back of my mind and began to get excited for the night.