everything ends

“   I think you HIT ME WITH YOUR FUCKING CAR!   ”

“   Target Casper, for one. He seems like he’d be more open to the idea of online dating than Kris. Maybe  —   have someone message him. A fake profile, run by us. And we curate it to his interests. Someone interested in aliens.   ”

“   Am I attractive to you?   ”

“   …   what if we catfished them?   ”

“   A girl like me? What? HOT? Trust me. You could find a hot girl.   ”   She gestures across the bar.   “   See the blonde girl? Blue top? She was two years ahead of me in school. Dated this guy in the school band even though she was like, popular. Well, popular enough, if you know what I mean  —   ”   Quickly and unsubtly, Pippa made a blowjob gesture.   “   Bet you could go up and get her to blow on your piccolo, if you catch my drift. Go on, tell me. You go up to her, what would you say?   ”

“   You lost because you suck. Not because of ME. But we can still at least succeed at like, making sure they stop being annoying. Because it is. Annoying.   ”   Ava thinks for a second.   “   I don’t know. We need to make sure it’s not going to tear apart the friend group. We just need to make them realize they’re   …   right for other people.   ”

“   We have more important things to focus on than arcade games, Sammy. We have a serious issue at hand. We need to finally put a stop to the terrorist attack on our friend group that is Kris and Casper and their stupid freaking dumb stupid idiot relationship.    ”

      “   hm. female superiority.   ”   she jests, revelling in the ease for a moment, leaning into their embrace as she does.   “   i know. and i’m going to tell him. i promise. i just need a little more time, if that’s okay.   ”​

“   I definitely didn’t tell you to jerk a bunch of dicks!   ”

“   You let teenagers, harass you? Dude, that’s why you’re still a virgin. It’s a CONFIDENCE thing. You have to carry yourself like you know you could fuck anyone in this bar, and you’re not getting bullied by AP chem students in between the stacks. I bet we could find you someone to sleep with TONIGHT. I mean, I’d fuck you, and because I wanted to, not even out of pity. But then you don’t get any practice charming someone.   ”

She looks around the bar, head tilted in concentration as she studies the men and women in it. It’s more levity than she’s used to on a Saturday night out and about: not exactly good clean fun   —   but she’s having a better time with this guy than she would be doing her usual. Read: pretending to be interested in conversation for disappointing sex and maybe some free drugs. 

“ Ava is most definitely not an AP chem student, okay, let’s put that on the record. Her insults are elementary at best and don’t bother me at all. ” A normally uncontrollable need to speak has been tamed tonight; everything the girl says makes Jaerd’s tongue catch before rolling out whatever passing thought occurs. Confidence? Seeking out a casual arrangement for the evening? A genuine offer to fuck? “ You think I — you’d — well. ” Jaerd throws back the rest of his drink to stop his useless stuttering and immediately signals the bartender for another. This entire situation is so distantly out of his wheelhouse, but... he’s not exactly running to catch up with his buddies. In fact, he’d already almost forgotten about them completely. 

      “   i am. and i’m really happy.”   stating the obvious, sawyer chips away at the space between them.   “   you can’t blame me for wanting you all to myself.   ”​

     “   i don’t want that. any of it. okay? but i don’t want this, either—us, fighting, because of other people. and that’s all it will be. the second that lou finds out, things will stop being good. and they have been. they’ve been really good. i don’t want to ruin what we have right now.   ”    hands settle beneath his jawline, her touch light but determined.   “   i want to be with you.   ”​

     “   right. i cheated. with you. and you want me to tell him we’re back together? i’m sorry but i don’t know how to do that.”​

Emma quickly backtracks, worrying she’d offended him.   “   No! No, you don’t need to do anything. Your hair looks great. Just, you know, on the topic of coconut. It can be for that. I do it. It doesn’t really   …   stay gross, though? You let it sit for a while and then you wash it out. It’s good for you!   ”   Brows furrow, and though she disagrees with his take on coconut cake   …   “   Coconut liquor, huh? You don’t strike me as a big Bahama Mama kind of guy. Maybe something more literary. You’re not gonna see them talk about a Cosmo in the Hobbit, yeah? Like   …   mead, or something.   ”   Emma wasn’t sure entirely what mead was, but it felt right in the moment.

“   Did I say it was bad? Uncommon and offputting doesn’t mean bad.   ”   She studies him as if she’s studying a painting, and analytic mind dancing in harmony with a more objective one.   “   You’re good-looking. You think it’s a personality thing?   ”   For once, a statement that’s undeniably mean doesn’t come from a place of malice. Rather, there’s only an edge of bite on the fringes of the genuine curiosity.   “   Do you want to not be a virgin?   ”

Jaerd’s eyes flit over the stranger’s face as they seek any sort of indicator of her joking. Her tone, however, is mostly observational. She’s doing what often gets Jaerd in trouble with others — simply stating a fact. She thinks he’s attractive, to some degree. “ It’s likely a mix of both. My personality isn’t always particularly inviting. Abrasive, some might say. Or annoying. There’s a teenage girl who harasses me daily at the library so I’m sure if you asked her she could give you some favorable insults to use against me. ” Jaerd shrugs. He can’t remember the last time someone asked him so many questions about his own lack of sexual experience outside of being endlessly teased. His cheeks have started to feel hot - both from the alcohol and from the attractive stranger grilling him.