Where the hell are my pants?

I hunted around the room, desperately trying to find the jeans I had been wearing at the club the night before. I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror, and wished I hadn't. My hair was a tangled mess of dark brown curls, and my mascara was smeared around my eyes. I looked like I had been in a fight, instead of what I had really been doing.

The guy whose room I was in snorted loudly. I quickly looked over at him, and prayed to any and all gods that he wouldn't wake up before I could leave. He turned over, and went back to snoring lightly. I breathed a sigh of relief, and finally located the bottom half of my clothing.

I quietly exited his bedroom, and realized I needed to pee really badly. I decided a quick stop in his bathroom couldn't hurt. I looked around, trying to remember anything about the lay-out of his house and failing. I started opening random doors in the hallway, trying to find it.

"Closet, laundry room -" I muttered as I shut each door, "oh, bathroom! ..Oops."

"Uh, yes, this would be the bathroom," the dark-haired guy currently using it awkwardly told me.

"Oh, God, sorry!" I hurriedly shut my eyes and the door.

He finished and emerged. "Your turn."

"I'm really sorry, Jim- uh, Jared- um..." This would be a lot less terrible-sounding if I could remember the guy's damn name...

"Jamie?" He smirked at me.

"Right. Jamie didn't tell me he had a roommate."

"Yeah, he usually doesn't tell girls. It would sort of put you off, wouldn't it?"

"Uh, I guess so." Oh, great, I'm just another one of what's-his-name's conquests to this guy. "So... I'm gonna go now."

"I thought you had to use the bathroom?"

"Pretty sure escaping from this fucking awkward situation is a lot more important to me than my kidney health at this point in my life."

"Alright, well... See you around."

"Sure." Hopefully not.

--

I got on the bus down the street from their house, paid my dollar-sixty fare, and headed right for the back. It was pretty clear I wasn't the only girl using this bus as a mode of transportation for her Sunday morning walk of shame. I really hoped this bus was going to my dorm, but I was too hung over to worry about it all that much, so I just laid across the three seats at the back and dozed off.

Some chick I vaguely recognized as living in my building woke me up outside the dorm. She had clearly had a rougher night than me. I thanked her, and then offered her some of my Advil. She dry-swallowed a couple, and we got off the bus.

As soon as I got into my room, I said good morning to Michelle, my roommate and best friend, and immediately went to bed.

I woke up to somebody knocking on our door. I looked at the clock; it was six at night and Michelle was gone.

"Just a minute!" I yelled. I quickly pulled my hair into a pony tail and wiped off what was left of my makeup. I opened the door, saying, "Hey, what's - oh, it's you. Hi."

What's-his-name's roommate stood in front of me. "Wow, nice greeting."

"Sorry, I'm just sort of surprised to see you here, guy-I-don't-know." That's an understatement.

"..So, are you gonna invite me in or what?"

"Right. Come in, I guess." I opened the door wider and stepped back.

"Yeah, strangely I don't feel all that welcome," he grinned, but followed me into the small dorm room.

He sat down on my roommate's bed, and I sat on my own.

"Um, so, to what do I owe this pleasure...?" Any time you want to tell me your name, feel free.

"Oh, you kind of left your purse at my apartment, so I thought I'd bring it to you. I creeped on your driver's license, and it told me your address, and then I just asked around a little. I figured you probably wouldn't remember how to get back to my place." He smirked at me.

"Shut up." Douche.

"I was actually looking for something more like, 'thank you'?"

"Thanks. But I actually have some more sleep to catch up on, so..." I got up, and he followed my lead.

"Right, sure. See you around." I let him out and shut the door behind him. What a weird kid. Jesus.

--

I got off of the bus at my economics class the next morning, still cursing the evil that was tequila. I chose a nearly-isolated seat in the middle of the hall, hoping to get a chance to space out and maybe sleep a little. No such luck. I heard someone slide into the seat next to me, greeting me with a cheery, 'Hello!'. God, I really hate morning people.

"I trust the rest of your weekend was uneventful compared to your Saturday night and Sunday morning?"

"Uh." No way. There is no fucking way this guy is in my econ. When I looked, though, his occupation of the seat next to me begged to differ. "Yeah. No offense, but... what're you doing here?"

He gave me a funny look. "I'm in this class..."

"Since when?"

"January fifth. I believe it was a Wednesday..." What a smart-ass.

"Oh."

"Wow, you really had no clue who I was before Sunday, did you?"

"Nope, should I've?"

He shook his head, laughing. "I guess not. So, Callie Hunter, you don't even know my name?"

"No, why do you know mine?" Creepy...

"Driver's license, remember?" He winked at me. I sighed.

"You're odd. By the way, I had sort of planned on napping during this class." I put my head down on my desk and hoped he would take the hint.

"I always seem to end up talking to when you've just woken up, or are about to go to sleep," he said thoughtfully, then added, "Or both."

I made a non-committal noise. He seemed to get a clue, and pretty much shut up, and I fell asleep for the rest of the lecture.

--

I woke up to someone shaking my arm and calling my name.

"Leave me alone, I'm sleeping." I waved them off.

"Well, okay, but don't you have another class to get to?" I was awake now.

"Oh, shit!" I opened my eyes and what's-his-name's roommate's head was next to my face. "Thanks for waking me up." I quickly grabbed my stuff and hurried towards my next class.

He followed me. "I can give you a ride, if you want."

"No, it's fine, I'm just going to -" I stopped. Where am I going? "Wait. It's Monday, right?"

"For the next thirteen hours or so."

"In that case, this was my only class today." I felt relieved.

"Well, do you want to go to my place or for coffee or something then?" Oh God. Of course. Just because I slept with your friend, doesn't automatically mean I'm going to sleep with you, buddy.

"Uh, sorry, but I think my roommate's waiting for me..."

He looked completely shocked for a second, but he quickly wiped the expression off of his face. "Oh, well... Okay, another time, I guess."

"Yeah, maybe." I waved and started towards the bus stop. I paused and turned back. "Hey, do you think I could borrow your notes from this class?"

"Yeah, it must've been hard to listen to the lecture with all that sleeping you were busy doing." He grinned at me. I glared back. "Sure, I guess." He dug through his bag and pulled out a notebook labelled with the class name.

"Great, thanks. I'll get this back to you tomorrow." I rushed towards the bus that would drop me off in front of my dorm before he could try to make any more plans with me.

--

Michelle was still in bed when I got home, in her pyjamas and propped up on a few pillows. She was reading her big psychology textbook and eating a bowl of soup.

"How come you're not at your lecture?" I asked, dropping my stuff on my desk.

"I wasn't feeling very well this morning, so Paul talked me into skipping class." She smiled warmly. Right on cue, Michelle's boyfriend came into the room and sat down next to her on her bed.

"Hey, Callie," he greeted me.

"Hey, Paul. You should probably tell your girlfriend that she doesn't actually have to read the whole psych book to make up for missing one lecture."

"Believe me, I've tried." He grinned at her.

"Shut up, guys. Is it so wrong that I like to keep up with my classes?"

"Of course not, honey," he told her somewhat condescendingly, patting her on the hand.

"You're a jerk." She smacked him on the shoulder. "So, Callie, did you sleep through economics again?"

"Of course! But I'm being responsible: I borrowed some random guy's notes to copy from."

"You stole notes from a guy you don't know?" She raised an eyebrow at me.

"It's that guy that brought me my purse the other day, while you were out."

"Oh, right."

I pulled out his notebook and my economics binder. "Hey, I officially know his name!"

"And?"

I squinted at the name, trying to read the messy printing. "Daniel... Patterson."

"The Daniel Patterson?" Paul asked excitedly.

"There's a 'the Daniel Patterson'?" I replied incredulously.

"Yeah! You know, starting quarterback, captain of the football team, all that."

"Never heard of him." I shrugged. "Although that would explain his getting-laid expectation..."

"He has a getting-laid expectation?" Michelle looked confused. "What, in exchange for lending you his notes?"

"No, he's just been sort of bugging me lately."

"Is he being handsy? Do I need to kick some ass?" Paul put on his best tough face.

"Okay, number one: only you would say 'handsy'. And number two -" I laughed loudly, "- no offense Paul, but I really can't see you kicking the captain of the football team's ass."

He crossed his arms over his chest, looking disappointed. "What, you don't think I'm manly enough?"

"Oh, sweetie, I think you're very manly and strong." Michelle hugged him.

I pretended to barf in their general direction. They didn't notice, or ignored me.

"We were just going to watch a movie on my laptop. Want to join us?"

"No thanks, I think I'm just going to go down to the commons and copy these notes. I'll see you guys later, okay?"

"All right. Want to hit the lights on your way out?"

I did as Michelle had asked, and watched as she and Paul snuggled up on her bed to choose what to watch. I quietly shut the door behind me. Stupid, cute couples in love. I sighed, and went to go finish up my homework.

--

I looked around my economics lecture hall for Daniel. When I didn't see him, I went to sit in the same place I had yesterday, assuming he would figure it out. I had just put all my stuff down when I saw somebody take the seat next to me out of my peripheral.

"Hey, Callie." He smiled at me.

"Hi, Daniel." I handed him his book.

"Oh, so you know my name now. How'd you find out? Were you asking around about me?" He waggled his eyebrows at me.

"It's on the front of your notebook, dumbass." I took out a pen and started doodling on the inside of my binder.

"By the way, I'd rather you call me Danny. Those cute pet names you have for me -"

"What, dumbass?" I laughed. "That's not a pet name, that's just the truth."

"Well, I think you're starting to make the other girls jealous. And as for Daniel, it just sounds too cold for a passionate relationship like ours."

"Whatever you say, Daniel."

He laughed. "I like 'em -"

"If you finish that sentence with 'feisty'," I interrupted, "I will probably have to kill you."

"Oh, come on, I know you want me." He winked at me.

I finally turned to look at him, and calmly said, "You're right, I want you – to fall off of a cliff. Look, just because you're captain of the football team or whatever, don't expect me to care."

He stared at me, clearly surprised. "Oh, so you mean I can't just coast on that? I have to have a legitimate personality, and be nice and funny, and all that crap girls like?" he joked.

"Yeah, and that's just if you want to be my friend." I turned back towards the front, trying to listen to the professor – admittedly for, basically, the first time in the history of my class attendance.

"You really don't let a guy catch a break, do you?"

"Nope, so you might as well give up now."

"Nah." He grinned. "I've never really been a quitter."

"Maybe you should start," I mumbled under my breath.

--

"Shit, shit, shit!" I tried to pack up my stuff quickly, but swore as my binder slipped out of my hands and exploded when it hit the ground, shooting my econ notes everywhere. I dropped to my knees, trying to stuff everything into my bag haphazardly.

"Uh, are you okay?" Daniel asked, but didn't make any move to help.

"Look, I'm about to be really late for my next lecture, okay? I don't have time to talk," I replied irritatedly.

"I can give you a ride to class, if you want." He swung his key chain around his finger.

"Um." I checked the time on my cell phone. Shiiiit. "I guess so." Stupid, desperate need to get to bio.

"Cool." He smiled widely. Calm down, dude. I'm accepting a ride from you, not a date. "My car's this way."

He led me out towards the student parking lot.

"Right there." He pointed to a bright yellow car and unlocked it with his Command Start.

"Okay."

"That's it?" He deflated a bit.

"What do mean? It's a car, wow. Am I supposed to be excited or something?"

"Uh. I guess not..."

As I walked past the back end, I tried to sneakily read the car brand. Oops. I insulted his Jaguar. Oh well, whatever. It's kind of ugly. I don't get the appeal.

"Which building are you going to?" he asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"W. P. Thompson."

"Oh, you're taking biology this semester?"

"Yep."

"Cool." Cue the awkward silence. "So..."

"So."

For the rest of the ride, he tried to engage me in conversation, and I kept shutting him down. Admittedly, I felt a little bad – the guy might've just been trying to be polite – but I didn't want to be nice to him now and be accused of 'leading him on' later. Besides, he didn't really strike me as the polite type.

--

After what seemed like a painfully long ride, I finally rushed into my bio class. All the good seats - the ones really far in the back - were taken, so I ended up nearer to the front, between a girl in thick glasses who was ferociously scribbling something in a notebook, even though the professor hadn't started talking, and a guy who was organizing all of his notes in order of the date he had written them. Oh, God. I'm in nerd land.

I pulled out my binder, deciding to be responsible about my classes for once and actually take notes. Shit. No pen. It's probably on the floor of my econ lecture hall right about now.

The girl kind of scared me, so I asked the guy instead.

"Hey." I tapped him on the arm. "Can I borrow a pen, please?" I smiled at him.

"Oh, yeah, for sure." He blushed a little, and whipped out two pens. "Blue or green?"

"Well, the green's really tempting, but blue's a classic." I thought about it. "Blue."

He nodded. "Good, I was going to make you take that one anyway. I like green."

I laughed. "Why even offer then?"

He shrugged, smiling at me. "I figured it was the polite thing to do."

"Your parents must be so proud."

"Oh, yes. Offering my favourite pen to a girl in my biology class is the best thing I've done so far in my life."

"You set the bar pretty high for everyone else."

"Yeah, my kid brother lives in my shadow. He's got big shoes to fill."

"Clearly."

The girl next to me cleared her throat loudly and looked at us meaningfully.

"Look what you did now," I whispered. "You got me in trouble with the class librarian!"

"I'm really sorry," he told me in mock earnest.

"I'm Callie." I smiled, holding out my hand.

"Luke." He shook it.

"Could you two please be quiet?" Apparently coughing and glaring couldn't fully convey her meaning.

We laughed, but shut up.

I packed up to leave after class, crumpling up my full-page doodles – taking notes hadn't gone so well.

"Oh, here's your pen back," I handed it to him, "but I'm just gonna borrow it tomorrow, not gonna lie."

"You can keep it." He waved me off. "It's your very late Christmas present."

"Wow, it's perfect! How did you know? It's exactly what I always wanted!" I smirked at him.

"I just know you that well." He shrugged proudly.

I laughed and said goodbye. Outside the building, I got onto the bus that stopped in front of my dorm.

--

When I got back to my room, it was empty. I texted Michelle to ask her where she was, and she told me she was with Paul in his room and invited me to join them. I walked over and knocked loudly.

"Hey." Paul's semi-creepy, stoner roommate Joel answered the door. He always stared at my boobs while he was talking to me. Not okay.

"Hi, Joel," I said in monotone. "What's up?"

"The tent in my pants when I saw you." He winked at me.

"Ew, Joel." I pushed past him into the room. "Michelle!"

"Yeah?" she replied from her place on Paul's lap.

"Long story short, I let Daniel give me a ride to class," I shuddered violently, "and met a really nice guy in my bio class. His name is Luke, and he –"

"Wait, wait, wait," Paul interrupted. "You got to ride in Daniel Patterson's Jaguar?"

Michelle and I looked at him disgustedly. "You're such a guy," I told him.

"That was so not the important part of that story. Dish on the cute guy from bio!" Michelle smiled warmly at me.

"Well, he's super funny, and kind of dorky, and blushes."

"Babe, you're killing me over here," Joel moaned. "I mean, I know you're just trying to make me jealous, but do you have to talk about other guys so much?"

"Shut up, Joel," Michelle and I said in unison. Michelle continued, "But what about Daniel?"

"What about him?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, please. As if you don't think he's hot."

"He's definitely not my type."

"What, attractive? You barely know the guy!"

"And I really don't want to get to know him. He's a jackass."

"What are you basing this opinion on? Your total interaction with him adds up to about twenty minutes."

"By the way, did you know he's supposed to go pro?" Paul chimed in. "You could marry into money and then lend some to your very best friends!" He smiled cheekily at me.

"Yeah! Sounds like a plan to me!" Michelle grinned at me.

"Paul, don't encourage her."

"Yeah, man. Besides, if Callie's looking for money, she could always marry me. I'm loaded." Joel pulled three five dollar bills out of his pocket.

"Joel, you never have money."

"That's only because I spend it all on pot. I'd quit for you." He winked at me.

"Oh, God. Okay, this is all I can take. I'll see you guys later." I let myself out of their room and headed back to mine.

Then I saw him. Can this guy please get a life?

Daniel was in the hallway of my dorm, banging on my door. How long has this kid been standing there?

"No matter how long you knock, nobody's going to answer."

He turned, spotted me, and smiled widely. "Hi, Callie."

"You know," I told him, "this whole stalking-me-thing is really getting kind of old. I mean, I don't know what other girls have told you, but it's not attractive. It's just straight up creepy."

"I usually don't have to stalk girls. They follow me around."

I made a disbelieving noise. "Sure." I lightly pushed him out of the way and stuck my key in the doorknob. "Look, is there anything in particular you wanted?"

"Yeah. Do you want to do something tonight?"

"Sorry, I'm busy."

His face fell. "Oh. Well, tomorrow, then? Or the night after?"

"Busy."

"Wow. If you're not careful, I'm going to think you don't like me or something."

"You act like this is a new thing for you."

"It kind of is," he replied honestly.

"You better get used to it." I edged my way into my room. "See you in class." I shut the door in his face.

--

"Awh, that's so cute!" Michelle said when I told her later.

"No, it's not. It's terrifying. And you really need to stop saying good things about him."

"Okay, fine. Anyways, I have bigger news than your stalker."

"Why did you let me talk then? Tell me!"

"Well, okay, but I might be totally and completely mistaken about this. I mean, I could be reading the signs all wrong, and –"

"Just tell me already!" I yelled in frustration.

"I think –" She paused to take a deep breath. "I think Paul's going to ask me to marry him!"

Okay, normally I'm not the squealing type. I usually don't get excited over stuff girls squeal about, so it doesn't really come up. This was definitely squeal-worthy, though.

"Oh, my God, Michelle!" I hugged her.

"It's not official or anything," she laughed.

"I better be the first person you tell when it does happen, okay?" I pulled her in for another hug.

"Obviously. Besides, I'm kind of worried about telling my parents..."

Michelle's parents were old-school Chinese. Her mom refused to learn English, even though they had immigrated to Saskatchewan before Michelle was born. Her dad had only taught himself so he could get a job. They were very traditional, and were clear in their wishes for Michelle: that she'd meet a nice – preferably rich – Asian boy and settle down with him. Paul, whose parents escaped the Congo just before he was born and had almost no money to their name, was basically the exact opposite of their expectations.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine." I hope so, anyways.

--

I sighed when Daniel inevitably slid into the desk next to me. I had picked a spot off to the side and near the front, hoping he wouldn't be able to find me. Obviously my attempt at a devious plan hadn't worked.

"Hey, Callie."

"Hi," I answered curtly.

"So, have you reconsidered my offer yet?"

"Nope."

"Oh, come on. I'll take you wherever you want. How about the school play? You're a classy kind of girl, right?"

"As surprising as it may be, watching amateur actors fail at attempting to do justice to classic Shakespeare really isn't my thing."

"Well, I've got tickets to that Dark Bridges Film thing at the Broadway Theatre. They're showing a couple of old horror movies from the 80's this weekend."

How the fuck did this kid know I love old horror movies? "...Which ones?"

"I don't know, 'The Curtain' and 'Crocodile' or something."

I stared at him. "'Crocodile'?" Suddenly it hit me. "You mean 'Alligator'?"

"Yeah, that's it!"

"Oh, my God. I love that movie!"

"Really?" He grinned smugly at me and raised an eyebrow.

Shit. Did I just admit that to him? "Um, yeah."

"So, what do you think?"

I really want to see that movie. "Well..."

"Fine, we'll compromise. Just as friends?"

I sighed. "Just as friends. Pinky-swear on it."

"How old are you?" he laughed.

"Fine, I'll take that as 'as soon as we're alone I'm going to try to rape you'. So, never mind then." I turned away from him and opened my textbook to a random page, pretending to read.

"Okay, okay, we can pinky-swear on it!" He stuck his out little finger, and I shook it with mine.

I nodded. "That's better. And even though we're going as friends, you still have to pick me up, and pay for it, since I'm doing you a huge favour here."

He chuckled softly, but stopped when he realized I was serious. "That's fine with me."

"Okay. You can pick me up at seven on Saturday. You obviously remember where my dorm is, what with the stalking incident."

"I wasn't stalking you. But, yes, I do."

"Sure."

--

Deep breath, and back into nerd land I go.

"Hey, Callie." Luke smiled at me.

"Hey, Luke." I returned the smile. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"I did not lose your pen!" I pulled it out as proof.

"Congratulations. Small steps towards responsibility, now that you've hit university."

"Hey." I shrugged. "I'm pretty proud."

"If you guys are just going to talk, can you please go sit somewhere else?" Oh, shit, she's back.

"Revenge of the class librarian," I whispered.

Luke laughed, and led me towards the back. "Come on."

"If I fall asleep back here, you better wake me up. I really can't afford to sleep through this class."

"Scout's honour." He put one hand over his heart, grinning. "So, any fun plans for this weekend?"

"Not really. Probably hanging out with my roommate. Oh, and I'm going to a film festival on Saturday." Yeah, maybe I shouldn't mention who I'm going with. I really don't need rumours going around that I'm dating Mr. 'I'm A Football Hero, Bow Down to Me'.

"Sounds like a good time!" He looked at me seriously. "I wanted to-" He cut himself off when the professor started to talk. He smiled like, 'what can you do?' and shrugged.

"We'll talk later," I whispered. He nodded, and we took out our bio notes.

--

I looked over at Luke while we were packing up after class. "Hey, what were you gonna ask me before?"

"Oh." He blushed. "Uh, it was nothing. It doesn't matter."

"Okay, then," I replied, looking at him suspiciously. Yeah, sure. Bud, you're the worst liar ever. "See you next class, I guess."

"Yeah, see you!" He hurried out of the auditorium.

Wow, if I didn't know better, I'd swear this guy had something against me.

--

"Okay, wait. You're going on a date with him now? I thought you didn't like him!" Michelle was genuinely confused.

"I don't!" I was getting frustrated.

"...then why are you going on a date with him?" I flopped onto my bed and sighed.

"It's not a date. It's one friend using another friend – well, enemy, actually – for his tickets to a film festival."

"You're a great person."

"Hey, I'm doing this kid a favour. I should get a fucking charitable donation tax deduction for this."

"Face it, Cal, you've got a type. Assholes just do it for you." Michelle sat cross-legged on her bed across from me.

"I do not have a type. And if I did, it definitely wouldn't be something that applies to Daniel."

"Well, then, explain your taste in guys."

"Maybe I'm retarded."

"That's very possible."

"You're my best friend. Don't you have anything nicer to say than 'yes, you're retarded'?"

"I just call 'em like I see 'em." She shrugged and picked up her chem textbook from the end table beside her bed. "Wanna have an intense study sesh?"

"Okay, number one," I sat up, staring hard at her, "never say 'sesh' ever again. You are not a skateboarder."

Michelle waved me off. "Number two?"

"When have I ever willingly studied in my life?"

"When I offered to pay for a reward pizza."

I smiled, jumped up, and grabbed my binders, highlighters, and textbooks. "Let's get studying!"

--

I quickly ran a brush through my hair and fixed my bangs. Stupid, goddamn guy, making me feel like I need to make myself look presentable for him. I checked out my outfit one last time in the full length mirror between my desk and my bed. Michelle watched me with frustration from her bed, where she was laying on her stomach, re-reading a book for her English Lit class.

Michelle sighed and turned to the next page in 'The Canterbury Tales'. "You look fine, okay?"

"Are you sure?" I paused, then added, "Not that it matters."

"Exactly. Why do you care so much?" Her reflection looked up fromher book to raise an eyebrow at me and smirk.

"It's not about him. I just..." I adjusted my neon green t-shirt. "I like to look good in front of members of the opposite sex, no matter how much I hate them."

"So, this is just one of your many psychological issues, and has nothing to do with you having any sort of fondness for the guy you're going out with tonight," she clarified.

"Precisely." I turned to face her and put my hands on my hips. "So, here's the deal. Please, please do not talk to him. I really don't want you to be infected by his... obnoxiousness."

"I really don't think being a cocky jock is contagious."

"Still."

"You better introduce him to me, though."

Somebody knocked loudly on the door. I jumped a bit, and Michelle laughed. "Nervous much?"

"Shut up." I opened the door for Daniel. "Hey."

"Hey," he replied, grinning as he looked me up and down. "I like it."

Shit. I knew I shouldn't have worn a skirt. "Uh, yeah. Thanks. So, should we..?"

"Hello," called Michelle. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Daniel looked at me questioningly. I opened the door wider and backed away so he could see where the voice had come from.

"This is my roommate, Michelle." She waved.

"Hi, Michelle. I'm Daniel."

"I know who you are," she replied matter-of-factly.

He looked at me and grinned. "You've been talking about me?"

"No," I said bluntly. "Her boyfriend has."

"Well, actually –" Michelle began.

"You know what, we should get going," I interrupted, pushing Daniel out into the hallway. "Goodbye."

"Have fun, you crazy kids!" she called just before I slammed the door shut. I'm going to kill her later.

--

We got into his bright yellow car, and he sped off towards the theatre. I looked through his stack of CD's so we wouldn't have to make conversation.

"Really? This is a ridiculous amount of John Mayer."

"I like him, okay?"

I sighed and tossed it aside. "Your other music better redeem you, otherwise I'm making you turn this car around."

He glanced nervously at the next CD in my hand. "Well, you might not want to look at that one, then."

I stared at it, and a picture of Justin Beiber looked smugly back at me. "No, there is no way you can be serious right now."

"Oh, come on, you can't judge me on two artists out of my whole repertoire."

"When it's pretty much the two biggest douchebags in music, I think I can."

"Hold on." He dug through his pile of CD's, and popped one in before I could see it.

I recognized the first song, and it surprised me. "'Dookie'. You know Green Day?"

He nodded. "I love them. I saw them in concert a couple years ago, and it was amazing."

"Hmm." Wow, I never would've figured him for an old school Green Day fan. "I'd actually love to see them live; I think it would be awesome."

He looked at me and smiled widely. "Maybe we can go see them together some time. Like, on an actual date."

I glanced at him quickly. Just give it up already, kid. "Or we could not and say we didn't." I rolled my eyes and turned up the music, singing along loudly.

--

We pulled up to the Broadway Theatre and he cut the engine. I got out quickly and basically ran for the shelter of the darkness indoors. If I see anyone I know, I will literally hide in this car.

We went inside and found seats without any acquaintance sightings. Before the lights dimmed, I turned to him and muttered, "Just so you know: if you pull the fake-yawn-and-stretch –"

"Please, do you really think I would use a corny old move like that on a classy girl like you?" he interrupted, winking at me.

I gave him my most threatening look, and continued, "Be that as it may... If any part of you touches any part of me, it better be a body part you're not so fond of, because you will lose it."

He grinned and put his hands up. "I promise. We did pinky-swear, after all."

I just sighed and turned to face the front, rolling my eyes. It really felt like that was all I ever did when I was around him. Idiot.

The second movie ended, and I felt a mixture of surprise and relief. Other than a few awkward moments of eye contact when I looked over to make sure he wasn't staring at my boobs or something, Danny – no, Daniel; I am not on a nickname basis with this kid – had been a perfect gentleman. He even opened my door for me before I got back into his car.

He walked me back to my dorm room, and stood there as I stared at him, wondering what he wanted.

"Well..." I began, trying to fill the space, "I actually had fun tonight."

He smiled widely. "See? I told you. I'm not such a bad guy once you get to know me."

I raised my eyebrows. "That's debatable."

He laughed. "So I guess that means you don't want to go on a real date, then, huh?"

I put my hand on my hip and spoke slowly and clearly. "Look, Daniel. This may come as a huge shock to you, but I honestly and truly do not see you as dating material. Okay?"

"If that's true," he said teasingly, "then this won't mean anything to you."

This kid's so fucking cocky! He leaned closer, his warm breath on my skin. His lips brushed against mine; they were surprisingly soft. My lips better not be chapped. Suddenly, I realized what I was doing. My eyes popped open, and I stepped back until I was flat against my door, and shoved him away from me. His eyes opened, and then widened when he saw my expression.

"You. Pinky. Promised," I told him through gritted teeth.

"You're so cute when you're mad."

I held back the urge to hit him, and instead went into my room, slamming the door in his face.

Michelle sat up in bed. "What's all the noise about? How'd the 'friend date' go?"

"I fucking hate him – I knew he was going to do this."

"That good, hey?"

"He's just a big, dumb football player who thinks he's hot shit. Which he's not. He's not even that good-looking!"

"Honey, I've seen football players – he is not just a football player. He is a Greek god."

I glared at her. "Thanks for all of your help. I mean, just face it: there is no such thing as a genuinely nice, single guy in this world anymore."

"Don't say that!" Michelle admonished me. "Every time a girl loses faith in humanity, a decent boy somewhere drops dead."

"I do believe in mankind, I do, I do," I replied sarcastically.

I told Michelle I'd be right back, and left for the bathroom so I could clean up before bed and hopefully calm down.

Suddenly, something jumped out at me. I screamed loudly, then almost punched that something in the face.

"Daniel, would you get the fuck out of here, you creepy stalker?" I whispered with as much venom as I could manage.

"Look, you can't tell me that kiss didn't mean anything to you." He tried to take my hand.

I slapped it away. "Yeah, I can: that kiss didn't mean anything to me, except to prove, once again, that you are an arrogant jackass."

"What do I have to do to show you that I'm an okay guy? Do you want me to serenade you? Because I will." He got down on one knee, and opened his mouth wide. I quickly put my hand over it.

"Jesus, shut up! You're gonna wake up my whole floor."

"You have to agree to go on a real date with me, or else I'm gonna sing. Believe me, it won't be pretty."

"You wouldn't dare." I crossed my arms.

"Wanna bet?" He winked and began belting out lyrics. "I can't take my eyes off of you, I know you feel the same way too..."

"Oh, my God," I interrupted. "Did you just serenade me with High School Musical? We are never going on a date." With that, I practically ran back to my room and locked the door, leaving him on the floor, looking like I'd killed his puppy or something.

"Okay, seriously." Now Michelle looked worried. "What is going on?"

"That conceited prick kissed me," I hissed, "and then thought singing a horrible, corny song from a horrible, corny movie would somehow make it better."

"Wow." She stared at me. "Well... you're absolutely sure you don't have any feelings for him?"

"Yes!" Don't yell at her, it's not her fault he's an utter douche. I sat on my bed and tried to let my anger subside enough to explain. "Look. He's cocky and self-centred, which I'm really not into. Besides, for all I know, he's using all the same lines on a million other girls. I don't want to end up liking him and then feel stupid and used later."

Michelle thought about what I said for a minute, then replied, "So, what you're really saying is, you don't want to get hurt." It wasn't a question.

I nodded and then let myself fall back onto my pillows. "You know, some days I really hate life."

"I'm with you, sister."

I winced. "Do we need to have another talk about what you are and aren't allowed to say in my presence? Just because you're dating a black guy, it doesn't make you black."

"Does marrying a black guy count?" She smiled widely, and I jumped off of my bed, reaching for her left hand.

"He did not!" The small diamond ring on her fourth finger argued the opposite.

"He did." Michelle was so happy, she was practically glowing.

"Please tell me this just happened so I don't feel like so much of an asshole."

"It just happened. After you and Dan-" she caught my expression at the mention of his name and cut herself off, "- you and the jackass left, I got bored, so I called Paul to ask him if he wanted to hang out. He said yeah, and that he had some important news for me, so he asked if we could meet at that restaurant down by the corner where we had our first kiss. We had dinner, and I asked what his important news was, and he said that he had made a huge decision: that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. He got down on one knee, and asked if I felt the same. Long story short, now I get to wear a pretty diamond ring for the rest of my life." Her smile took up her entire face, make her look even more Asian than normal.

"It's beautiful. You're beautiful. I'm so happy for you guys!" I squeezed her tightly, and then asked slowly, "When are you going to tell your parents?"

She released me and shook her head sadly. "I have no clue. I'm sort of putting it off until I'm ready for the soul-crushing ache of their disappointment."

"Don't even worry about it. Once they see how happy you two are, they'll realize he's the best thing for you." I paused, and remembered my brief interactions with her parents. "Or, you know, you guys could always elope."

--

On Monday morning, I walked into my economics lecture hall hesitantly. I certainly wasn't looking forward to more time with Dumbass the Doucheboy, but I wasn't quite ready to make the sacrifice of sitting front row centre.

I figured I would just sit in my usual seat and tell him to piss off when and if the time came. It came more quickly then I had planned on.

"Callie!" His voice echoed through the room towards me from his spot a couple of rows back.

I flipped him off without turning around, and took my seat, claiming the spots on either side of me by stacking my binders and notebooks on them.

"Hey, I think you mistook me for someone else." I could hear the smirk in his voice, but I refused to look up. Doesn't this moron ever give up? "Oh, and I see you've misplaced some of your stuff. Here you are, no need to thank me." He picked up all of my things from the nearby seats and placed them on my desk. I made eye contact with him for a minute to shoot him a harsh glare, and concentrate on wishing him a slow, painful death.

He took his usual spot beside me, and I sighed irritatedly. He just laughed, and took his notebook out of his bag.

"So, I realize you hate me right about now," he said, the smug tone leaving his voice, "but I just wanted to tell you that I do honestly like you."

I broke my silence to stare him down and ask, "Why? What is it about me that you like? You barely know me!"

He looked startled for a second, and then answered slowly, "Well. You're funny, in a mean and sarcastic kind of way – I say that in the best way possible. I've seen you around, and you can be nice when you want to be, to people other than me. Also you actually have an IQ above ten, which isn't a trait a lot of girls like you have."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "'Girls like me'?"

His smirk was back as he looked me up and down. "You know – hot."

I crossed my arms and sighed again. You almost had me for a second. Nice try, bud.

"What is it going to take for you to ever be nice to me?" he asked, only half-joking.

"A lobotomy, maybe." I was completely serious. "Although, even the remaining part of my brain might still have enough sense to hate you."

"I'll play doctor with you," he said, winking, "but brain surgery wasn't quite what I had in mind..."

I rolled my eyes and went back to ignoring him.

Throughout the class, he switched between sincerity and pick up lines about a hundred times. By the end, I was pretty sure I had now heard his entire romantic repertoire, and it wasn't that impressive.

--

Outside the building, I opened my umbrella, trying to protect myself from the downpour of rain. I didn't give a flying fuck if he was soaked through and got hypothermia: there was no way he was sharing the umbrella with me.

He grabbed my arm and spoke earnestly. "Look, at least let me give you a ride home."

I thought about the twenty minutes between now and when I could get onto my bus, and the five minute walk to the dorm afterwards. Just as I was about to cave, a bleached blonde, fake-boobed girl came out of the building behind us.

"Oh, my God, it's Daniel Patterson!" she squealed. She jumped up and down, screeching. If I hadn't been holding my umbrella, I would've covered my ears.

"Hi," he replied. "Always nice to meet a fan."

"Oh, my God," she said again. Is that this girl's catch phrase or something? "Can I have your autograph, please?" Oh, fuck. Have some dignity, for Christ's sake. He does not need a bigger ego.

"Sure, do you have a piece of paper or something?"

"No." She pouted for a minute, and then brightened. "I have a permanent marker, though!" She pulled a black Sharpie out of her back pocket and handed it to him. Who carries shit like that around in their pants..? She turned around, lifted up the bottom edge of her shirt, and bent over.

"Go ahead, sign right there!" She pointed to a spot just above where her thong was showing. "It'll be like my own, personal Daniel Patterson tramp stamp!" She giggled obnoxiously. Could you be a bigger slut?

I just stood there in shock, watching in shock. He quickly signed her lower back and returned her marker. "There you go."

She giggled again, and uncapped the Sharpie, writing seven numbers on his hand. "Call me!" She quickly dashed off in the direction of the parking lot before he could say anything.

He turned to me with his mouth hanging open. I gave him a disgusted look and headed for my bus stop, leaving him standing in the rain, speechless, drenched, and alone.

--

I left my soaking umbrella in a corner of the room and threw my wet outer clothes onto the floor before crawling into bed. I knew Michelle would be pissed about the mess, but at this point, I was beyond caring. I sat in bed, silently seething to myself and thinking about the best way to explain the situation to Michelle. Then, I began fantasizing about different, creative ways to kill and / or castrate Daniel.

When Michelle finally got back from her Psych class, she took one look at me and knew something was wrong.

"What happened?" she asked, the concern obvious in her voice.

I mumbled something about 'fake boobs' and 'tramp stamp'. She looked bewildered and somewhat amused, until I finally just said, "Daniel."

Her expression darkened. "You should probably explain what happened with him and that plastic skank before he winds up dead."

"I'm actually all right with him being dead." I smiled fondly, conjuring up more death scenes starring my least-favourite football player.

Michelle joined me on my bed, rubbing my back, and I explained the autographing episode.

"Did he say he would call her?"

"Well. Not exactly. But he didn't tell her to fuck off either."

"True. He didn't exactly blow you off or anything, though. Why do you think this is actually bothering you so much?"

I thought about her words. Oh no, oh no, please God no...

"Michelle, I have something extremely problematic to tell you."

"Which is?"

"I think... I think I like Danny." Fuck, and we're back to nicknames. This is pathetic.

"No kidding, sweetie."

"You knew?" I thought I was keeping it pretty secret, considering I didn't even know...

"Even Paul knows, and bless his heart, he's not the most observant individual."

"Well, shit. Why am I always the last to know these things?"

"Probably because you're the most in denial about these things." She does have a point.

After more girl talk (which I'm not a fan of under the best circumstances, let alone when I'm forced into it by my psychiatrist-wannabe of a best friend) and some junk food, Michelle fell asleep around eleven.

I sat up awake, and watched the minutes tick by on the clock. I cannot believe this. He should not have this much control over my brain! There was nothing for me to do except think about everything. My mind was not a fun place to be right then.

--

Finally, just after three, I sighed loudly in frustration and got out of bed. Well, I guess there's only one thing to do...

I quickly showered and got dressed. I thought about doing my hair, but decided he didn't deserve it anyways.

I didn't need the umbrella anymore, as it turned out. I was glad I had left it in my room.

I checked the bus schedule at the stop nearest to my building, and tried to remember which one I had taken from his house the day that we awkwardly met. Time and tequila had erased basically all of my memories of that day and the previous night, so I decided I had no choice to call Paul and ask him if he had any clue where the Daniel Patterson lived, what with his ridiculous man-crush.

"Hello?" Paul answered groggily. "Callie? Is something wrong?" I could hear the panic in his voice. "Is Michelle okay? Are you?"

"We're both fine. I'm sorry to wake you up, but I was just wondering..." I exhaled slowly. Fuck my life. "You wouldn't happen to know where Daniel Patterson lives, would you?"

"Yeah," he answered hesitantly. "But, look, when you get arrested for breaking and entering or vandalism or whatever you're planning, don't mention my name, okay?"

I laughed. "Deal."

He told me the area, and I looked for it on the bus schedule. When I figured out which number I needed to take, I thanked him and apologized.

"Don't worry about it. Who really needs sleep, anyways? That's for wusses." He paused, and I knew he was carefully considering his next words. "And, Cal? Good luck."

I smiled. "Thanks."

I hung up, and waited for the bus to come. Only five more minutes... I better not chicken out.

I spotted the yellow Jaguar in the driveway and took a couple of deep breaths before I walked up to the door.

Fuck. What if his roommate answered? I probably should've thought this through a little bit more. It was too late to turn back now.

I rang the doorbell and waited expectantly, rocking back and forth on the balls of my feet; I was one big bundle of nervous energy. I heard a crash, and a muffled 'Fuck!'.

Finally, the door opened, and Daniel stood before me, only wearing pyjama pants with the batman symbol. He looked extremely confused, and kept blinking at me, without saying a word.

"Batman pyjamas. Sexy!" I laughed. He looked down, then back at me, and just kept blinking.

"You are aware that normal people are asleep right now, yeah?" His voice was hoarse with sleep, and his dark hair stuck up on one side. God, he's so hot. Wait, no! Shut up, shut up, shut up.

"I know it's four AM, but I couldn't sleep. ...So, are you gonna invite me in or not?"

He smirked at me, finally seeming to wake up a bit. He opened the door wider and stepped back, letting me in. He led me to the kitchen, and started to make coffee. "So, you just felt like making a super early morning visit, or what?"

I rolled my eyes as I took a seat at their small table. "No, I did actually have a point."

He leaned against the counter, and ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, but before you start telling me that I'm a total asshole and you're here to serve me a restraining order, I would just like to say, that I haven't called her, and I don't plan on calling her. I found her kind of gross, to be honest. And, granted, I probably shouldn't have signed her ass, but I didn't want to be rude."

I made a noise to show my disdain, and raised an eyebrow at him, crossing my arms.

"All right, it wasn't about politeness. It's just... It's not like I'm always getting asked for autographs and stuff. It was cool, to have somebody think I'm famous enough to want me to sign my name for them. But it still probably wasn't the right choice."

"Probably not," I agreed.

"Now, what did you want to say?" He straightened up, looking like he was preparing for the worst.

I sighed and stood, pacing the small room. "Look, here's the thing: most people at this school think you're hot shit (including yourself). From the time I met you I was in the, admittedly small, minority that basically thought you were a pompous prick. I still think you're arrogant, and cheesy, and you know way too many pick up lines to be a normal, good person. But you also have a great sense of humour, and you can be nice – and real – when you want to be." I stopped and turned to face him. "Basically, you're just confusing as fuck."

He looked sincerely bewildered. "Why?"

"Well, most of the time you irritate the hell out of me. But then, sometimes, I just want to kiss you." Shit, did I just say that?

His face broke into a huge smile, and he quickly crossed the kitchen.

His hand rested against my cheek, and I closed my eyes. Maybe this is a bad idea... His lips touched mine, as soft as I had remembered. At least I put on chap stick this time. I put my arms around his neck as his hands went to my hips. I was pressed against him, hard, and our tongues met in my mouth.

I felt him pushing me, guiding me to walk back towards where he had been standing earlier. The sharp corner dug into my butt, and I wondered what he was planning to do. He quickly lifted me up onto the counter, our mouths breaking apart.

"I'm not irritating you right now, am I?" He grinned, before putting his mouth to my neck, biting me softly.

"Not too much." I wrapped my legs around his waist, and locked my ankles together behind him. I ran my hands up and down his stomach, feeling his muscles. His laughter vibrated onto my throat, and I pulled his head away from me.

"What?" I asked in an accusing tone.

"Nothing. I just never figured you for a secret ab fetishist," he chuckled.

"Shut up."

His mouth found mine again, and his hands crept underneath my t-shirt. He rubbed his hands over my upper back, and I deepened the kiss. His hands found the clasp of my bra, and just as he was about to undo it, my phone began to ring loudly. I pulled away from him and took my phone out of my jeans pocket.

"Hello?" I answered breathlessly.

"Callie!" Michelle sounded like she was going to cry with relief. "Where are you? I woke up and you weren't here. Paul said you called to ask about directions to Danny's, but that was an hour and a half ago, and nobody's heard from you since!"

"Yeah," I replied sheepishly, "about that..."

"Wait." She sounded shocked now. "Are you still there?"

"Um. I'll be home right away, okay? Love you!" I quickly hung up. Danny looked disappointed.

"But, I thought..." He put on a puppy dog face.

"Sorry. We can, uh, finish this later though, okay? Michelle sounded pretty freaked." I gave him a quick peck before untangling myself from him and hopping down from the counter. "Also, I'm probably not going to show up to econ today, so feel free to take notes for me." I found a pen in their living room, and wrote my number on his hand. "Call me. But please don't sign my ass."

I let myself out of his house, and found the bus that would take me home to my most likely disapproving roommate and my bed, where hopefully I could sleep for a little while, now that everything was dealt with.

--

No such luck.

"What happened?" the usually quiet Michelle nearly shouted at me when I walked through the door.

"Well. I couldn't sleep, so I went over to talk to him. We talked, we made out a bit, and now I'm back." I shrugged. "No big deal."

She looked stunned. "So, what, you guys are together?"

"Not officially. If he wants to do the boyfriend / girlfriend thing I'm sure he'll tell me, and if he doesn't, whatever, that's fine too."

"Oh, come on. You can't act like you're not excited!"

I smiled slowly. "...Maybe a little bit."

Michelle hugged me, then asked, "So, I take it you're not going to class today?"

"I'm going to bio because I sort of have to, since otherwise I might fail. But I'm sleeping this morning."

"See you later, Mrs. Patterson!" She laughed as I threw a pillow at her on her way out the door.

--

That afternoon, I yawned widely from my seat in bio. Luke smiled in my direction.

"Have a good weekend?"

I studied him for a second, trying to figure out if he was hinting at something or being sincere. If Daniel told anyone about what happened last night, he's fucking dead. As if I want to spend the rest of the semester as 'Daniel Patterson's girlfriend'.

"It was okay," I replied cautiously. "What about yours? Did you do anything fun?"

"Only if writing an entire essay for advanced Lit in under forty-eight hours is your idea of a good time."

"Ouch. Welcome to the Procrastinator Club. I'm a long-time member."

"Yeah, yeah – we can do the introductions later," he grinned.

I rolled my eyes at the lame joke, but felt myself smile anyways.

"Oh, how was the film festival? I heard it was amazing."

The smile slid off my face. "Yeah, it was pretty good... So, you know some people that were there?" Oh, God. Please don't let them have seen me with Danny...

He nodded. "My best friend took his girlfriend." He glanced at me embarrassedly, and quickly looked away. "There was probably a lot of the couples there, right?"

I gaped at him. Fuck my life. "Probably. Not that I would know from personal experience, or anything. Because I wasn't there on a date. Nope. No dates for me." I wanted to hit myself. Shit, fuck, ass.

Luke just stared back at me. I sighed. I have done way too much truth-telling in the past twelve hours.

"Okay, so I might've been there with..," I clenched my teeth and looked away, "Daniel Patterson."

"Oh," said Luke quietly. "I see."

"But it honestly wasn't a date!" I continued quickly.

His expression brightened. "Cool."

The professor started talking; I pulled out my bio binder and his pen, and tried to take notes. I really need to start sitting by less distracting people in my classes.

--

I saw his bright yellow car parked outside the building, and looked around nervously. At least wait until Luke's gone to come over here. The last thing I need is for him to think I'm a huge liar.

"Hey, isn't that..." Luke's voice trailed off as he caught sight of the hideous Jaguar.

"Uh. Yeah. That's Daniel's car. I don't know what he's doing here." Being a moron, most likely.

"Oh. Well... I should probably go." He took off at a jog across the parking lot. Fuck.

I sighed, and headed towards the car. Daniel stepped out and grinned at me.

"I came to pick you up!" He seemed pretty pleased with himself. "I thought I would be a gentleman. And we didn't get to, you know..." He wiggled his eyebrows, "finish that extremely interesting conversation we were having last night."

I flipped him off, and smiled sweetly. "I'm a bit more interested in the extremely interesting notes you took for me today."

"Hey, I have those too. They're in the passenger seat, if you want them."

I laughed. "You sound like one of the creepy pedophiles that try to abduct small children. 'Oh, if you just get in my van, I'll give some candy!'"

"Are you trying to tell me you like to role play?" He winked, and I smacked him, but got in. "Your place or mine?"

"Excuse me," I replied, pretending to be offended. "What kind of girl do you think I am?"

"Well, considering I only met you because you slept with my roommate..."

"Let it go." I glared, and he put up his hands.

"Alright, fine. Should I just drop you off at your dorm, then?"

"Yeah." I dug through his backpack to find his notebook. "And I'll just keep this until tonight, when you pick me up to take me to a fancy restaurant."

"Oh, I see how it is. You're using me for my money and notes!"

"Wow, you sure catch on fast." I smiled at him.

He popped in another Green Day CD, and we pulled out of the parking lot.

--

I hopped out of his car when he pulled up to my building.

"See you later!" I called, slamming the door.

Michelle said hi to me from her seat in front of the desk. "I saw the expensive-looking car from the window. I take it everything's still going okay?"

I nodded. "Except I think Luke hates me now."

She gave me a confused look. "What? Why?"

"I may or may not have told him that I went with Daniel to the film festival, but that it wasn't a date."

"And by 'may or may not', you, of course, mean that you did."

"Duh. Anyways, when we were leaving class, he saw that Daniel had come to pick me up and took off running, basically."

"Oh, wow."

"Yeah, I feel sort of bad. But I shouldn't, should I?"

She shook her head. "You don't owe him anything."

"I guess not." I sat down on the end of my bed heavily, finding my binder and Daniel's notebook so I could get everything copied before tonight.

"You took his notes again?" Michelle laughed.

"Of course. What else is he good for?"

"You tell me." She licked her lips suggestively, and I threw a pen at her face. "Ow!"

"You deserved it." I looked around, then sighed. "Now give me that pen back, it's the only one I have."

"Fine." She tossed it back, and it hit me on the nose.

"Hey!" I shook my finger at her disapprovingly. "You could've taken my eye out, you know!"

"Oh, sure, but it doesn't matter when it's my eye."

"Of course not." I winked, and then added, "Speaking of things that belong to you, how's Paul? I feel like I haven't seen him in forever."

"He's good." She got that doe-eyed look on her face, and I saw her automatically glance down to the ring on her finger. I snapped my fingers to bring her back to reality. "Sorry." She blushed. "You should come out with us tonight!"

Shit. I was hoping to not have to admit this until later. "Yeah, I actually have plans... with Daniel."

She grinned, with an evil look in her eye. "A double date? That's a great idea!"

"I definitely was not suggesting that!" This is a terrible idea.

"Oh, come on, Callie. I only got to meet the guy for three seconds, and Paul never has." She pouted her lips. "You know he would love to meet Daniel." She paused, then smiled again. "Consider it our wedding gift."

"As if I was going to get you guys a wedding gift." I rolled my eyes.

"You do sort of owe him - you woke the poor guy up at three in the morning so you could creep on Daniel."

I looked at her. Not that fucking puppy dog look again. Shit. "Fine. But this means you never get to bring that shit up again."

"Yay!" She jumped up and hug me. "I'll call Paul."

"Are you sure I shouldn't? After all, I owe him," I replied sarcastically.

She ignored me and grabbed her phone.

"I'll see you in a bit, I'm gonna go shower." I grabbed my stuff, and headed for the bathroom.

I quickly pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialled Daniel's number.

"What's up? Couldn't wait until tonight?" I could hear his smugness over the phone.

"Very funny. I just thought you'd like to know that our intimate dinner has become a small party."

"Wow, you're already introducing me to your parents? I'm touched. And a tiny bit creeped out."

"No, it's my roommate and her fiancé." I thought about the two of them. "So, yeah, sort of my parents."

"Okay, I'll change the reservation. Do you want me to pick you guys up?"

I smiled at the thought of Paul getting to ride in the Jaguar. "Yes, please."

"Alright, I'll see you tonight!"

"Bye." I hung up, and headed for the bathroom.

--

I ran my mousse-covered hands through my hair, crunching my curls, and then smoothed my hands over my bangs. I turned to Michelle. She finished putting on her eyeliner, and we inspected each other, agreeing we looked great.

Paul shook his head at us. "Girls are weird." He knotted his tie, and adjusted his suit jacket. "Well? How do I look?"

Michelle tried to keep her giggles under control, while I out-right laughed. Michelle shushed me and told him, "You look amazing, sweetie."

"But good enough for Daniel Patterson?" The genuine worry in his voice set both of us off again.

There was a knock at the door, and Paul was the one to jump this time.

I pulled it open to see Daniel.

"Hey." He gave me a wide smile.

"Hi." I grinned back at him for a minute, before Michelle noisily cleared her throat behind me. I stepped back and waved him into my room.

"Daniel, this is my roommate Michelle Huang and her fiancé, Paul Adoula. Michelle, Paul, this is Daniel Patterson." He shook both of their hands, and said a quick hello. Paul looked stunned into silence. I grabbed Daniel's notebook off of my desk and handed it to him quickly before asking, "Should we go?"

Daniel took my hand and let me out to his car. He opened the passenger door for me, gesturing for me to get in, but I shook my head.

"This is Paul's dream car. Do you mind if he rides in the front?"

Daniel laughed. "Sure."

I pulled Michelle into the backseat with me, and tried not to wrinkle my mini dress. We watched Paul climb in carefully, looking around the car with an awkward level of reverence. He stroked his seat, and asked as Daniel climbed in, "Is this leather?"

"Yeah," he replied, grinning widely.

"This is a 2009 XKR, right? How have you kept it from cracking?"

"Well, I clean and condition it about once every two or three months." No wonder my lack of enthusiasm killed his pride. He's one of those guys.

"Anyways." I turned to Michelle and rolled my eyes. She giggled.

"Do you know where we're going?" she asked me curiously.

"Not a clue. I told him 'somewhere fancy', and that's all I know." I leaned up between the front seats and poked Daniel. "Hey, where are we going?"

He turned to me and winked. "That's for me to know, and you to find out!" I sat back and sighed loudly; he laughed. "Patience is a virtue, you know."

"Not one of hers," mumbled Michelle. I smacked her lightly.

We pulled up to the restaurant, and I squinted at the sign before raising my eyebrows in surprise. "The Victorian?" I shared a look with Michelle that clearly said, 'Well, la dee da.'

Paul and Daniel got out, changed sides, and helped their respective dates out of the car. Daniel pulled me out by the hand and grinned at me. "Well, you did say fancy."

"As long as you're paying, I'm cool." I shrugged.

He laughed. "Well, of course. After all, you're doing me a huge favour by even going out with me, right?"

I nodded. "Exactly."

Paul and Michelle joined us, and we walked into the restaurant.

"Hello," the hostess said, greeting all of us, but looking at Daniel appraisingly. I folded my arms over my chest and frowned. Daniel smiled at her politely. "Table for four?"

"I actually have a reservation, under Patterson."

"Of course, Mr. Patterson. You can follow me." She grabbed four menus and looked back at him over her shoulder, trying way too hard. She led us through the dining area to a booth not too far from her stand. We sat down and thanked her, but before she left she added to Daniel, "If you need anything, don't be afraid to come and ask me personally." I half-expected her to wink at him. What the fuck am I, invisible? Stupid slut.

Michelle tried her best not to laugh at my facial expression, which probably showed exactly what I was thinking. Daniel and Paul noticed her muffled giggles, and looked towards where she was staring.

"What?" I asked irritatedly. "I don't like skanks."

Daniel squeezed my hand and smirked. Fuck you, you arrogant jerk.

The waitress did a quick double-take when she saw him. Oh, fantastic. And the fun continues... Her smiled nearly took up her whole face, showing off her extreme need for braces. "I'm Katherine," she offered, only to my date.

I coughed expectantly.

She blinked, and then looked at the rest of us. "What can I get you guys to drink?" She pulled out a notepad and a pen.

I crossed my legs, and thought about it for a second. In the silence, Michelle asked for water, and Paul seconded her request.

"What do you have on draught?" I asked.

"Sam's, Keith's –"

"I'll have a pint of Keith's, please," I interrupted, pulling out my ID.

Daniel's eyebrows almost touched his hairline, and he grinned, ordering the same. "I didn't really picture you as a beer-drinker."

I was surprised. "Really?"

"I kinda figured it was either the hard stuff or nothing with you."

"She'll drink anything," chimed in Michelle. "She's what we like to call an alcoholic."

"Shut up," I told her good-naturedly.

Fucking Katherine was back a lot faster than I would've expected with our drinks. She gave Daniel his first. Of course.

"Did you guys know what you were going to order?"

I realized I hadn't even looked at the menu yet. Everybody else agreed that they were ready, though. "Uhh. I'm going last, then."

"Okay," she replied dismissively. "What're you going to have, honey?" She was so fucking clearly undressing him with her eyes. Pathetic much? Take your crooked-ass teeth somewhere else, honey.

I quickly scanned the menu, and, after everyone else had gone, ordered the first thing that looked good. I felt a little bad – it was pretty expensive. So was everything here, though. And I deserve it after having to put up with all this shit. Seriously. Are they trying to convince themselves I'm his sister or something?

I gave the waitress a dirty look as she walked away. Daniel saw, and put his hand on my leg. He leaned over to speak quietly in my ear.

"I'm really liking this whole jealousy thing you've got going on." I could hear the smugness in his voice.

"I'm not jealous," I insisted. Everyone else at the table burst out laughing. I crossed my arms and looked down, glaring at the table. Fuck my life. "I hate all of you."

Michelle reached across the table to pat me on the arm, saying, "But I love you!", and Daniel kissed me on the cheek.

I unfolded my arms and started absent-mindedly spinning my knife on the napkin; I took drink from my beer. It started to get awkwardly quiet, so I grabbed Michelle's arm and announced that we needed to use the bathroom.

"What if they don't have anything to talk about while we're gone?" She looked back worriedly.

I shushed her and told her to listen.

"You know what I don't get?" Daniel began.

"Why girls have to go to the washroom in groups?" responded Paul.

"Believe me, what those two don't understand about girls could fill multiple encyclopaedias. I think they're good for a conversation topic," I told her, leading her towards the signs that read 'Gentlemen' and 'Ladies'.

Michelle hopped up onto a dry part of the counter while I found an empty stall.

"Did you actually need to go pee, or did you just want to get away from the guys?" she called.

"A little of both," I replied. Maybe I shouldn't have left them alone though... What if Slutty Katherine comes back? I shook my head and came out to wash my hands. Wow, I really need to get it together.

She looked at me, then said, "You're thinking about the waitress, aren't you?"

I sighed. "And this is why I hate having you as a best friend."

She smiled. "Don't worry about it. She was ugly anyways. Besides, did you see those teeth?"

"And this is why I love having you as a best friend."

When we got back to the table, Paul was saying, "And the whole high heels thing. Don't they just make their feet hurt?"

Michelle slid in next to him and told him, "Yes, but I also feel like less of a midget next to you."

That was probably for the best. Their height difference was pretty ridiculous. Then again, so was the difference between me and Daniel, so I couldn't really judge.

I took a couple more sips of my beer, and wrinkled my nose at its temperature. Might as well get it over with. As I tipped the glass back, I heard Daniel start to quietly chant, "Chug, chug, chug!"

I glared at him the best I could around the glass. I finished it, and licked my lips. He chuckled.

"See, just like I thought: classy!" I flipped him off.

The waitress came back to check on us. More like to check out Daniel. ...Jesus, I'm bitter. She looked at my empty cup in surprise, then asked, "Did you want another one?"

Just because her tone of voice pissed me off, I told her yes. She looked around the table, asking if anyone needed anything else, and her eyes lingered on Daniel for way too long. When they told her no, she left to get me another drink.

After my second beer – which I didn't drink quite as fast, but still faster than I probably should've – I ordered a stronger drink. Maybe a tequila sunrise? Oh, wait, God, no tequila. That leads to bad things. I chose a Long Island Iced Tea. That's safe, right?

I was on my second when our food came.

"Who had the ravioli?" I nodded, but she clearly wasn't paying any attention to me, so I waved my hand in the air. "Oh." She looked down her nose at me before setting my plate in front of me. Bitch.

Somehow, miraculously, she couldn't remember anybody's order except for Daniel's.

"And I know this is yours." She flashed that huge, crooked smile at him again, and put his plate down. "Did you need anything else?"

"Actually," I said loudly, shaking my drink, "Can I get another one of these?"

She glanced at me for a second, before looking back at him. "Sure. Is that it?" She was basically drooling all over him.

She finally left, and we started to eat, making small talk about the food, classes, and (minus my involvement) how much I was going to drink before the night was over. It's not my fault I'm stressed and there's booze available.

Fucking Katherine actually cut me off, right before she brought us our cheque.

"I hate her," I said, slurring slightly. "She's.. She's a.. She sucks."

Everyone else laughed, and I glared. Daniel and Paul both pulled out their wallets and reached for the slip of paper. In typical male fashion, he and Paul started to argue over who would pay for the meal, until Michelle and I intervened.

"Daniel has to pay! Otherwise I wouldn't have got so much!" I told Paul loudly.

"Besides," added Michelle, "if this turns into a fist fight, I don't know that you could win, sweetie." She patted him on the arm.

Daniel smiled and went to go pay, while the rest of us gathered our stuff. I'm not gonna fall, I'm not gonna fall... I held onto Michelle, just to make sure. We made it to the front of the restaurant, and Daniel took my arm, telling Michelle he would take over.

When we got out to the car, I heard him apologize to Paul and ask if he would sit in the back. Paul agreed, and I was helped into the passenger seat after Michelle and Paul got in.

"If you puke in this car, I'll never forgive you." Paul shook his head, and I turned to him.

"Nice to know.. you're more worried about this dumb car," I spat, "than me!"

Daniel touched my leg comfortingly, but grinned. I was feeling kind of dizzy, so I leaned back against the head rest.

"You know," I told him, "I didn't like those other girls looking at you like that."

He smirked. "I know."

"Don't make that face at me!" I wagged my finger at him. "I like you, but I don't like that face." I frowned, and he smiled at me again.

"I like you, too."

"Awh, how cute!" said Michelle in a high-pitched voice.

I turned around and gave her the dirtiest look I could. "That wasn't nice."

We pulled up in front of the dorm, and Daniel helped me out of the car.

"I can walk you to your room, if you want," he offered.

"It's okay," Michelle replied, giving her arm to me. "I'll take good care of her."

He looked at me for a second before saying, "All right." He went around to the driver's side of the car, then added, "Don't forget to drink lots of water!"

"Yeah, yeah." I waved him off, and Michelle led me back to our room and my soft bed.

--

I opened my eyes, squinting against the sun from the window. I concentrated on my head. Nope, no headache. Thank God. I sighed and stretched, then checked the clock. Shit. Apparently I missed econ again. Michelle was gone, and her bed was made.

I got up and grabbed a towel, heading for the bathroom.

When I got back, I had a missed call from Michelle, and a text from her that said, "Come to Paul's." I put on a tank top and my pyjama shorts and quickly threw my hair in a ponytail, then left for her fiancé's dorm room.

Hoping that Joel wasn't home, and that I wasn't going to walk in on anything I shouldn't, I just knocked and went in. I found Michelle cuddling with Paul on his bed, and I could tell she had been crying. I sat down across from them on Joel's bed (ew).

"What's the matter?" I asked her, bracing myself.

She took in a deep, stuttering breath before she answered. "I called my parents after class to tell them about... you know."

Oh, no. "And?" If they elope, I'm still coming to the wedding.

A huge smile broke out across her face. "They couldn't be happier for me."

I was glad, but kind of confused. "What? I mean, that's awesome, but... What?"

"This lovely, beautiful man," she stroked Paul's arm, like I might not know who she was talking about, "called my dad before he even proposed to tell them how much he loved me and wanted their approval."

I hugged them both. "Jesus, kid, you scared the shit out of me!" I smacked her. "Don't ever do that again!"

"Sorry." Her smile got even bigger, if that was possible. "I think I know a way that I can make it up to you though. You wouldn't want to be my maid of honour, by any chance?"

I squealed. If I squeal this much over other people's weddings, what am I going to do about mine? "Duh!"

"Well, now that I can stop living in fear and actually plan my wedding -" she pretended to give Paul a dirty look, "- I have to start thinking about a dress, and cake, and who to invite, and where to have it..." She paused. "This is going to be a lot of work." She gave me her infamous puppy dog look. "But I have a best friend that I know would love to help me out."

I sighed in mock exasperation. "Fine. But I get to do taste tests when we pick out the cake!"

She hugged me again. "Deal!"

My phone started to vibrate, so I pulled it out of my pocket and checked the caller ID. It was a number I didn't recognize, but I answered anyways.

"Hello?" I made a confused face at Paul and Michelle.

"Hey," Daniel replied. "Are you fully recovered?"

I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn't see it. "I'm fine, thank you very much. How can I help you?"

"Well, if you're fine, I was thinking that we could go out this afternoon."

"Fine, but I'm not drinking this time. I can't miss another lecture."

"Well, I could take you to an AA meeting if you want."

"You're so funny."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a very sarcastic person?"

"Now that I think about it, basically every person I've ever talked to in my life."

"I kinda figured." He laughed. "By the way, I took more stellar notes, so you can continue to use me for them."

I paused. "I don't think it still counts as 'using you' if you offer them to me."

"Hey, it's not my fault you've got me wrapped around your finger."

"Okay, cheese ball. Are you picking me up?"

"Yep. Be ready in an hour."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see when we get there."

I sighed. "Alright."

"I'll see you in a bit."

I said goodbye and hung up.

"You guys are going out again today?" Michelle asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Shut up." I gave both her and Paul one last hug. "I'll see you guys later, okay?"

I went back to my room to finish getting ready. I put on some make up, fixed my ponytail, and changed into jeans and a t-shirt.

I snagged a book off of Michelle's shelf to read while I waited, but I only got a couple of pages in before I heard a knock at my door.

I pulled it open and Daniel greeted me with a quick, open-mouthed kiss. "Hello to you too," I said in surprise.

He grinned. "By the way, we don't have to go anywhere if you don't want to. We can just stay here..."

I hit him on the shoulder. "I'm good. Let's get going."

"You can't blame a guy for trying!"

"Yes, I can," I disagreed as I closed the door behind us.

We went out to his car, and I got in on the passenger side. He took me across the University Bridge, and we ended up in the parking lot of a dental office. I turned to him and glared.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Just follow me," he instructed. We got out, and he grabbed something with a blanket wrapped around it from his trunk. We ran across the street, and tried not to get killed by oncoming cars.

He led me to a spot beside the river, and laid out the blanket, unwrapping a picnic basket from inside, setting it on the outside edge.

"You really are being a cheese ball today."

"Just try and tell me you don't like the corny version of me."

"It depends what kind of food you packed," I told him, peeking inside of it.

He started pulling things out; a container of coleslaw, potato and macaroni salad, and fried chicken. I stared at all of it incredulously for a second.

"You loser. Did you just put KFC in different containers?"

He looked embarrassed. "Well, did you want food I made, or food that's edible?"

I snuck a kiss on his cheek. "Definitely edible."

We ate pretty quick, and I did my best not to get grease on myself or his blanket. Mostly I just wiped my hands on the grass.

I pointed at a spot on Danny's face. "You've got macaroni on your mouth."

He started to lick it off, and then attempted to look seductive. "Why don't you get it off for me?"

Fine, we can play this game. "Okay." I reached over and brushed it off, and he looked disappointed.

"Not quite what I meant."

"I sort of guessed that, you horndog." I smiled at him innocently.

He got an evil look on his face, and suddenly tackled me to the blanket, crushing his mouth to mine. He kept his weight off of me (mostly), putting his arms on either side of me.

When he let me up for air, I laughed breathlessly. "You're such a football player."

"What can I say?" He shrugged. "It's in my blood."

"So is a lot of cholesterol, after that food." I stuck my hand between us and patted his chest. "Do me a solid: don't have a heart attack. Even though my kissing skills might almost cause one."

He raised an eyebrow at me and smirked. Oh, shit, I was right – cocky jock is contagious.

"Speaking of your kissing skills," he began, and I giggled. "Since we're both such amazing kissers, and hilarious, and oh so modest..." I waited expectantly for him to finish while he swallowed nervously. "Maybe we should make this thing, you know – official?"

I answered by kissing him again and wrapping my arms around his neck.

He pulled away. "Wait. That's a yes, right?"

"Yes, you dumbass." I rolled my eyes. "Can we make out now?"

"Definitely!" he replied excitedly, and pulled me on top of him.

--

He dropped me off outside of biology with a promise to call me later, and I hurried into the building. If I'm late, he's dead. I looked around the lecture hall, spotted Luke, and slid into the open seat beside him with a sigh of relief. The professor hadn't started talking yet.

I pulled out my bio notes and the pen Luke had given me.

"Hey." I smiled.

"Hi," He didn't look up. Oh shit, this is going to be awkward.

"Look, Luke..." I trailed off, trying to think of how to explain what he had seen besides, 'Yes, I've given in to the girl stereotype of feeling the need to date the school quarterback. But it's different for me, I swear!'

"No, it's fine," he told me quickly, finally making eye contact. He smiled back, but it looked really forced. "I'm happy for you."

I turned almost completely sideways in my seat and put one of my hands on his arm. "Don't be. I mean... Okay, I think you're a great guy, and I'm really glad we're friends. I don't want that –" I waved towards the door, "to mess up this." I gestured between us.

"No, I get that. Seriously, I'm okay: as long as you're happy, I'm good."

I just looked at him for a second, trying to judge his level of sincerity. Of course he's being sincere. He's always fucking sincere. "Well. I'm happy."

"Then everything's great." He gave me another fake grin, and I resisted the urge to cringe.

"Yeah. Great," I replied quietly, as the professor started to talk, effectively ending the conversation.

--

After class, I thought about bussing it over to Daniel's. I was feeling kind of bad, and I wanted to hang out with someone, but I wasn't sure if Michelle would be home yet, or if she'd be in the land of white lace.

She had been spending a lot of time with Paul, trying to finish preparing everything for their wedding. Now that she had the 'go ahead' from her parents, she wanted to get married by the end of the month. She's so pregnant. I felt guilty that I hadn't really been helping that much, so I decided to go back to the room instead.

"Hey," I greeted her a little while later. "How's it going?"

"Good," Michelle answered, but she looked upset.

"What's the matter?"

She threw down a million different types of cards. "Wedding invitations! They're so stupid! They all start to look basically the same, but I have to pick one kind, and then decide who gets to come and who doesn't, and then handwrite everyone's names and addresses, and just..." She let out a small scream of frustration.

I sat down on my bed and patted a spot beside me, and she joined me. "Look, let's make this easy." I picked a card up off of the floor at random and held it out to her. "How's this one?"

She wrinkled her nose. "It's kind of ugly."

"Fine." I threw it behind us, and picked up a different one. "This one?"

She shook her head and pretended to barf. I kept repeating the action until finally she said, "You know what? I actually like that one."

Thank God, fuck. "Alright, there you go." I ripped a piece of paper out of Daniel's notebook – note to self: copy those! "Now. Who do you for sure want to come?"

She started listing people off while counting on her fingers. "My parents, his parents, you, Joel, his sisters..."

I took down everyone's names as she said them, until we had a list of about a hundred. "Okay, is that everyone?"

She nodded. "Everyone that's getting an invitation. But," she winked at me and nudged me with her elbow, "you can bring a certain someone if you want."

"Shut up." I put his name down on the list, signing him up for an actual invite. Michelle looked confused. "To make sure he comes," I explained. "Paul would love us forever if he showed up."

"Are you implying that my future husband doesn't already love me forever?" she joked.

I raised an eyebrow at her and rubbed her tummy. "Don't you mean your future baby daddy?"

"I hate you. I'm not pregnant!"

"Sure. You know, now that I think about it, I haven't seen you drink in a while..."

She sighed in exasperation. "You've almost never seen me drink – I'm a good girl!"

"Obviously not that good," I retorted, "since you're pregnant."

She glared at me and started to clean up the sample cards that were scattered all over the floor. "If you start that rumour, I will kill you."

I smiled sweetly. "Now, would I do that?"

"Yes, you would!" I heard my phone start to vibrate on the nightstand and I grabbed it.

"Well, I promise not to... until after you guys are married." I grinned at her, and looked at the screen. Why the hell is Joel calling me?

"Hello?"

"Um, yeah, hey Cal." This conversation is going to be stoner-ific.

"Yes, Joel?"

"I have something to.. I mean... You're not going to like it, but – but you gotta know."

Please don't confess you're undying love to me. ...Again. He was uncomfortably honest when he was high."What is it, Joel?"

"Okay, so I was in our room, right? And I was like, 'Hey, I'm hungry', so I was going to go to Fudd Ruckers, but then I thought, I just want popcorn! And the stupid guy wouldn't let me into the theatre unless I bought a ticket, and I really wanted popcorn, so I bought a ticket and then got popcorn, and I already had the ticket, right? So I went into the theatre. That popcorn was so good, man." He also had a tendency to ramble about food.

"Does this story have a point?"

"Oh! Oh, yeah! Okay, so I'm in the theatre, and who do I see but that guy, Daniel whoever. And he's mackin' on some girl. And I'm like, that must be Callie! So I go over to say hi, but then it wasn't you. But then the movie ended and they left, so now I called you."

I couldn't talk for a second. "Uh, Joel? I'll talk to you later." I hung up, turned to Michelle, and exploded. "That motherfucker! I knew this would happen! Well, that's what I get for ever trusting anyone. That fucking prick!"

Her eyes widened and she put up her hands. "Okay, what's going on?"

"That fucking dick of a quarterback was making out with some other girl at the movies and Joel saw them." I ran my hand through my hair. "Fucker!"

"Okay, but at this point in the afternoon, Joel's probably completely stoned, right? What if he made a mistake?"

I looked at her. "Joel's a million times more observant when he's high."

"That's true." She nodded grimly. "Well, what are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna go kick his ass."

During the bus ride, I tried to make sure I didn't cool down. That fucking jerk. Making me trust him just to fuck me over. By far the biggest douchebag I've ever dated.

When I passed his car on the way to his front door, I resisted the urge pull a Carrie Underwood or something. I don't really want a 'psycho girl' reputation.

Instead of ringing the bell, I just knocked loudly. He answered the door quickly, and smiled when he saw me, stepping back to let me in.

"Couldn't stay away, I see." He winked, and I slapped him. "What the hell?"

I gritted my teeth. "Paul's roommate fucking saw you."

"Saw me what?" He pretended to have no clue but I was talking about, but a flash of panic crossed his face.

"Fucking some girl's face with your tongue at the movie theatre!"

"I – I can kind of.. sort of.. explain – ish. Shit."

"Who was it? It was that fucking plastic blonde bimbo, wasn't it?"

He sighed. "No." He scratched his neck embarrassedly. "It was the hostess from the restaurant."

"You motherfucker!" I shoved him as hard as I could, but he didn't give me the satisfaction of stumbling or even moving very much. "From now on, you stay the fuck away from me, got it?" I headed for the door.

"Look, Cal," he said desperately. "I'm just not used to this whole 'exclusive' thing. I'll get better at it, I promise!"

Just before I walked out, I yelled back, "Fuck you – I deserve better than you trying not to cheat on me!" I slammed the door behind me, and ran towards the bus stop, hoping (but a small part of me also not hoping) that he wouldn't follow me.

He didn't.

--

"So I said, 'Fuck you, I deserve better than that', and then I punched him in the mouth." I finished telling Michelle the story back in our room, trying to add some shock value.

"No, you didn't." Michelle did look shocked.

"Okay, no, I didn't," I admitted. "But I wanted to, and that's what counts!"

She laughed and gave me a hug. "I'll take him off of the guest list."

I sighed. "No, that would break Paul's little heart. Besides, he deserves to see me looking beautiful as the maid of honour, and there with another guy." I quickly turned to her and added, "Please don't do that thing that brides do where they choose hideous dresses for the bridesmaids."

She put her hand over her heart. "I swear I won't." We sat in silence for a minute, and then she asked, "Who are you going to bring instead?"

I just grinned.

--

I sat down in econ, and steeled myself. I dug through my stuff for my binder, and found it – along with Daniel's notebook. He's not fucking getting that back.

I couldn't stop myself from looking around for him, but when we made eye contact, I shot him a look that clearly stated, 'If you value your balls you will stay away from me.' He sat down a few rows away.

I sighed and got more comfortable in my desk, resolving (again) to actually do something useful in this class.

--

After my first (and probably last) productive economics lecture, I walked across campus to the bio building.

"Hey," said Luke softly when I took my usual seat beside him. "Are you okay?"

I blinked. Seriously? It spread that fast? "Yeah, I'm fine. How'd you know?"

"My roommate is friends with his roommate, and knew that we're friends," he explained.

"Oh. Well, no, I'm actually awesome." I took a deep breath. "Speaking of awesome things, my roommate's getting married in a couple of weeks. I was wondering if you might want to go with me?"

"Like," he blushed, "as your date?"

I laughed. "Yes, as my date."

"Well then yes!" he replied excitedly. He cleared his throat, and tried again, more casually. "I mean, sure." He grinned at me, and I smiled back.

--

The weeks up until the wedding went by really fast. My mark went up in economics, since I didn't have an arrogant asshole to distract me, and it also went up in biology, after I admitted to Luke that I might not pass and he started tutoring me.

I hadn't talked to Daniel at all since our fight, and I preferred it that way. I half expected him to ask for his notebook back from me, and then try and sweet talk his way out of this mess. He didn't though, and respected my 'I need space' glares.

Actually, after about half a week, he stopped even looking over at me. In class, he just listened to the prof, and whenever I saw him around campus, he was always with that stupid hostess.

Not that I cared at this point. Luke and I hung out nearly every day, when I wasn't helping with the wedding plans. Michelle kept asking when we were going to hook up, and I told her that I didn't know or care. He was a good friend, and that was all that mattered. Although, he was pretty goddamn cute, and I definitely wouldn't be opposed to him making a move; but if he wanted to take it slow, that was fine with me.

But I mean, come on: slow is fine, but this is molasses-in-winter slow.

--

Michelle adjusted her veil for about the seventh time in five minutes. "Are you sure it looks fine?" She stared at herself critically in the full-length mirror, turning from side to side.

"You look beautiful," I told her honestly, hugging her tightly. "Oops." I smoothed the white satin. "I didn't mean to mess up your dress."

She and her mother had a quick conversation in Cantonese that I didn't understand at all, so I just smiled politely until they were finished and her mom left to take her seat in the front row of the church.

"Okay." She took a couple of deep breaths. "I think I'm ready."

I squeezed her hand, and went to take my place at the front of the bridesmaid procession, ahead of Paul's sisters and one of Michelle's childhood friends.

I led the way down the aisle, arm in arm with Joel, Paul's best man. I winked at Luke as I passed him, and he blushed, but smiled widely.

Joel and I parted at the front of the church, and I waited as the rest of the bridesmaids filed down. Paul's sisters looked beautiful; the deep purple of the dresses we wore looked amazing against their dark skin.

The wedding march came on, and everyone's heads turned towards the back, trying to catch a glimpse of Michelle.

She really did look gorgeous. We had picked out her dress together, and it suited her perfectly: modest, but stunning. I looked at Paul, and he was staring at her like he couldn't believe how lucky he was.

Just as I was starting to feel sad (well, happy for them, obviously, but sad for myself), Luke caught my eye and gave me a huge grin and a thumbs up. Fine, I'll be happy for myself too, you jerk.

Michelle and Paul said their vows, and the priest pronounced them Mr. and Mrs. Adoula.

Everyone clapped, and the newlyweds led everyone out of the church and towards where the reception would be held – a hotel down the street.

In typical Michelle and Paul fashion, they just walked there. I turned to Luke and shrugged, then linked arms with him and followed the couple.

--

They had booked the ballroom, and it was absolutely awesome. There were a bunch of tables set up, and a huge dance floor in the middle. Luke and I took our seats at the head table, and Michelle passed me with a glass of champagne, making sure I noticed that she drank it.

"It's probably sparkling juice," I stage-whispered to Luke. Michelle huffed and found her seat, pretending to ignore me. Luke just laughed.

The only people that were supposed to make toasts were Paul's mom and Michelle's dad. However, every single family member (and Joel, of course) insisted on talking for at least five minutes. The first few were funny, but by the time the sixth toast started, everyone was getting restless, bored, and hungry.

"Can I go home now?" Luke whispered.

"No! As my friend, you have to stay and suffer with me."

"Fine." He put his hand on the table like he was giving me a thumbs up. "Thumb wrestle me, then."

I giggled and stuck my hand in his. We both tried to pretend like we were paying attention to whoever was talking while we played. I pinned his thumb, and declared victory.

"No way, I'm the thumb wrestling king!" He looked genuinely surprised.

"Apparently not." I patted him on the head, and he frowned. I squeezed his hand and told him, "There's nothing to be ashamed of. I grew up in a neighbourhood with a lot of boys my age."

"It's not that - don't you know how this works? You're supposed to let me win to preserve my masculine pride," he joked.

"Oh, whatever." I waved my hand at him. "Guys have too much pride anyways."

We laughed, and a woman on the other side of me shushed us.

"It's just like old times," I said in a quieter voice.

He nodded, and pretended to take notes on the toast. I smiled, and we turned towards the speaker.

--

After everyone (and yes, almost everyone spoke) finished saying their piece, we had all been fed, and the mushy stuff was over, Luke and I hit the dance floor. I had personally picked out most of the songs, so I didn't want to spend too much time at our table.

Whenever a slow song came on, though, we found our seats. Dear God, what is this, junior high?

Just as we sat down, I spotted Daniel for the first time all night. As if he brought that fucking slut with him. Luke saw my face, and followed my line of sight to the douche.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked me, putting a hand on my leg.

"Yeah," I sighed, looking away. When I glanced back, though, Daniel was looking at me. And walking towards me. And opening his mouth like he was going to talk to me. "Fuck."

"Callie, how are you?" Don't fucking pretend you're concerned for me, you self-absorbed piece of shit.

"Great," I said shortly. I didn't ask him. I felt Luke move closer to me. I'd rather get a root canal without anaesthetic than be here right now.

"I just wanted to say..." He blew out a breath, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry for what happened. But I really feel like I've done all I can. Can't we just.. make up? I mean, even if we can't be together, can't we at least be friends?"

I gaped at him. Did you seriously think it would be that easy?

"No," I replied bluntly.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked angrily. "I gave you space, I apologized, I explained why it happened... We were barely even together, for God's sakes. Look, my conscience is clear!"

I stood. "Then your memory fucking sucks." I took Luke's hand, pulling him with me. I found a random empty table and sat down, and he joined me. I looked over at Daniel, and he had rejoined the hostess on the dance floor. By looking at him, you couldn't even tell that he'd just been in a fight with me.

"Look at that prick." I nodded towards him. "He broke my heart, and he doesn't even care."

"Well," Luke began quietly, "I guess it's a good thing you've got mine instead, now."

I just stared at him for a minute. That was definitely the most forward thing he'd ever said to me. Also, what is it with me and picking corny guys? We sat in silence, and he blushed and looked down.

"Maybe I should go..." He started to stand embarrassedly.

I laughed and pushed him down by the shoulder before leaning over and kissing him on the mouth. He smiled widely and I took his hand.

"You definitely shouldn't go."