Here and Now

by T. Renee Fike

  “I’ll see you guys later,” I say as Dani and I walk towards the back of the house. “Why did you pull me out of there?” I ask, confused.

  “That man is fucking gorgeous, you didn’t tell me he was that fucking hot,” she snaps.

  “That man is off limits,” I remind her.

  “I know, I know, but holy shit, just so you know, if you ever and I mean ever give me the okay, I’m going after him,” she says looking completely serious.

  I can’t help but laugh out loud, I know she’s serious, any girl with a pulse would be serious. “You didn’t answer my question, why did you pull us away from him?”

  “Because he needs to know that you aren’t necessarily interested in him. All the guys want a girl who isn’t such an easy piece to catch, if you get my drift,” she winks.

  “I know, but Evan doesn’t even look at me like that. He started talking about my brother, which is all we ever talk about,” I admit.

  “Eh, don’t worry about that, there will be plenty of other things for you guys to talk about down the line, but for now, you play like you don’t care and aren’t interested in him,” she instructs.

  “That’s not hard to do, when he isn’t interested in me,” I state.

  “You said so yourself, this first year you aren’t dating anyway, so let’s have fun,” she says as she chugs the remainder of her drink.

  We end up going back home around two and Dani’s beyond drunk. Her purple hair is flying in every direction, I’m just glad she didn’t puke on the way. We ended up leaving the last party and Dani and I went to another party. I tried to let Anna and Lily know, but Lily didn’t care, she was still trying to talk Evan’s ear off. Anna I’m sure just left at some point, that girl didn’t look like she was having any fun.

  The next few weeks fly by and Owen informed me he wouldn’t be able to make it out the weekend he was planning on coming, because something came up at school. I’m assuming a girl, though he wouldn’t be specific with me, usually that means a girl. So, hopefully in the future, he will make it out.

  Lily has been staying clear from my dorm; she apparently wants to avoid Dani at all costs. I guess I get why, but so what, Dani is honest and blunt and there’s nothing wrong with that. Dani and I have become a lot closer and she’s really cool.

  Dani’s undecided for her major, which right now, so am I, so it works perfectly. She’s enjoying the college experience, just like I am. We are a lot more alike than I first realized. Though, Dani may be more expressive with her looks, I may be the plainer Jane, but we definitely get along quite well.

  “Do you want to order pizza?” Dani asks, as she looks up from a book.

  “That sounds delicious,” I say as I sit on my bed, reading more homework. College has a lot of homework, a lot more than I realized.

  “I’m going to let them deliver, because I’m not running out,” she says, as the thunder continues to roar.

  “Sounds good to me,” I say before jumping back into place in my textbook.

  “I wanted to ask,” Dani says, looking shy all of a sudden.

  “Ask what?” I say, as I sit up realizing this looks somewhat serious.

  “Does your brother look anything like Evan?” she asks, before a huge smile appears on her face. I grab a pillow and throw it at her face, before laughing hysterically.

  “My brother doesn’t look anything like Evan, except for the height,” I admit.

  “What’s your brother look like?” she asks.

  “Like my brother,” I say, grabbing a picture off my desk, surprised she hasn’t seen it already, and tossing it to her bed.

  “No, he doesn’t, he’s hot,” she says as she continues to stare at the photo.

  “That is my brother you’re talking about,” I snap.

  “You should definitely introduce me,” she says as she wiggles her eyebrows, causing me to laugh again.

  “You’ll meet him sometime. He is pretty awesome,” I admit.

  “I got that, which is why I want to meet him.”

  “I’ll see if I can get him to come to visit soon.”

  “We could do a double date,” she says, like she solved a magic puzzle.

  “A double date?” I ask, confused.

  “Yeah, me and Owen, you and Evan,” she chants.

  I fall back on my bed laughing, “That would be the day. That date would consist of Owen and Evan talking non-stop and you and I talking, there would be no date in that.”

  “Oh, damn, well it was just a thought,” she says.

  “It’s not a bad one, but definitely not one that would work out to either of our advantages.”

  “Who knows, maybe one day,” she says with a wink.

  I shake my head, “Maybe one day,” I chuckle.

  Once the pizza comes, we eat and chitchat about silly nonsense, before I dive back into some homework.

  A few hours later I get a text from Lily asking if I want to go to some parties. “What’s the face for?” Dani asks, calling me out.

  “Lily wants to go to some parties tonight,” I answer.

  “Have fun,” she quips, as she rolls her eyes.

  “Is it bad that I don’t want to go?” I ask, feeling bad.

  “No, especially because all she wants is the sorority shit. Tell her to go herself,” she says, not caring that Lily is my best friend.

  “I know, but then I’ll never hear the end of it,” I say as I lay on my bed and stare at the ceiling.

  “You don’t always have to do what she wants.”

  “I don’t,” I say, looking at her surprised.

  “Then don’t go and go out with me instead,” she says with a smirk.

  “And where are you going?” I ask curiously.

  “I’m headed to a fraternity party, they are so much better than the stupid sorority ones.”

  “That could be fun.”

  “Oh, it will be, so ditch the blonde and let’s get ready,” she states proudly.

  “Alright,” I say as I type Lily a message saying I already have plans to go with Dani to a frat party. She instantly responds asking if she can come along. “Crap,” I mutter.

  “What?” Dani asks with a look, as she stops looking through her small closet.

  “She wants to come along,” I say with an I’m sorry look.

  “That’s fine,” she says before turning back to her closet.

  “Are you sure?” I ask surprised.

  “Have you seen your so called best friend?” she says, as she stops again and looks directly at me.

  “Yeah, what am I missing?” I ask, confused.

  “She’ll go, and then run off on her own once she finds either a sorority girl or a frat guy to hang all over. Your friend is very superficial, it’s kinda sad.”

  Ignoring her last comment, I text Lily letting her know that works and then get up and start to root through my closet to figure out what I’m going to be wearing tonight.

  After a few minutes, I decide on a green dressy tank with a denim skirt and wedges. Dani is wearing a dark purple shirt, which matches her hair with a pair of denim cut off shorts and flip flops.

  “Damn girl, do you always have to be so tall?” she asks, as she stares up at me. I definitely have a few good inches on her.

  I start laughing, “I’m sorry, maybe try wearing some heels,” I joke.

  “You’re practically six feet tall,” she says with a straight face.

  “No I’m not,” I laugh, “I’m 5’8”.”

  “Tall enough, I’m only 5’3” and when you put those shoes on your even taller.”

  “Don’t wear flip flops, you are already short,” I laugh as I walk over to her closet and look at her shoes. “Here, wear these,” I say as I hand her a pair of heeled sandals.

  “I hate these shoes,” she mumbles.

  “They will go great with your outfit,” I state before walking over to my desk and start applying my make-up.

  For the next thirty minutes we finish our hair and make-up b
efore walking out the door.

  “Where’s Lily meeting us?” Dani asks as we head down the stairs.

  “The front door,” I say, as we continue to descend the stairs.

  By the time we get to the front door, I see Lily already standing there, looking all decked out. She’s in a short black, sparkly dress with high heels. Her hair is curled and she looks like she’s ready to meet the man of her dreams.

  “Wow, dress up much,” Dani says, as I go to open the door to go outside. I give her a quick glare before turning towards Lily.

  “There you are, I was thinking you guys left without me,” Lily says as she obviously checks out our outfits. “You two look cute.”

  “Thanks,” I say before Dani has a chance to say something smart. “You look great yourself.”

  Lily smiles, knowing damn well she looks good, “So, are we ready to go?” she says.

  “Yep,” Dani says as she starts to head towards the opposite way of where the sorority houses are. I catch up and so does Lily and we walk in complete silence for a few minutes, which is really awkward.

  “So which house are we going to?” Lily asks out of nowhere.

  “Does it matter?” Dani says bluntly.

  “I was just curious,” she says hastily.

  “Let’s just go and have a good time,” I say, not wanting to hear these two argue all night. Dani never says as word, she just keeps walking towards whichever house we are going to. A house comes into sight that has quite the crowd; I’m assuming that’s the house.

  “Wow, now this is a party,” Lily says excitedly as we approach.

  We head inside and this party is insane, people are everywhere. It doesn’t take long for Lily to spot Evan, not that it took me long either, but I watch as she makes her way over to him, never saying a word to Dani or I.

  “She’s a great best friend,” Dani mocks.

  “Be nice,” I say before looking around. We head to the kitchen and are each handed a can of beer, which surprises me, usually parties have kegs. I crack open the can and take a sip, making a face because it tastes disgusting.

  Dani starts laughing, “Not a beer drinker?”

  “Not this kind,” I say as I make a face. We head back out into the living room, where there are people everywhere. Noticing that Lily is nowhere to be seen, then again, I’m not surprised, she will follow Evan around like a lost puppy dog.

  Dani and I start talking about the people here and before I know it she elbow’s me hard. “Ouch, what was that for?” I say, as I rub my arm.

  “Hey, Lily said you were here,” Evan says, surprising me.

  “Oh, yeah, we thought we would check it out,” I say, making conversation.

  “There’s a surprise for you,” he says suddenly.

  “A surprise?” I ask shocked, wanting to make sure I heard him right.

  “Yes, a surprise,” he says with a sexy smile. I can’t help but stare at this gorgeous man. He could wear a trash bag and still make it look sexy. Tonight he’s in a button up shirt that’s blue plaid with light blue jeans that hug his body perfectly.

  “What’s the surprise?” I ask, hoping he didn’t catch me staring.

  “You’ll see,” he says, his smile getting even bigger.

  I can’t help but look at him completely confused and feeling lost when suddenly I’m picked up in the air from behind. I can’t help but squeal, not ready for what’s happening.

  “Hey sis,” Owen says, scaring the shit out of me.

  “Oh my gosh,” I squeal, super excited to see my brother. He sets me back on my feet, “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

  “Figured I’d surprise you,” he says, smiling away.

  “You definitely did,” I say, then noticing Dani, “Crap, Owen, this is Dani my roommate, Dani this is Owen, my older brother,” I say as I introduce the two.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Dani says as she holds her hand out.

  “Nice to meet you too,” Owen says kindly.

  “When do you leave?” I ask, wishing he could stay longer than a few days.

  “I actually leave tomorrow morning, but don’t worry, I’ll come visit again, and you can come visit me too you know,” he says with a look.

  “Yes, and I will,” I say, knowing for certain I will go visit him.

  “Maybe we could plan and go visit the same weekend,” Evan says, jumping right into the conversation.

  “That works,” Owen says, looking delighted at his best friend’s suggestion.

  “We can do that,” I agree.

  “Can I come?” Lily asks out of nowhere. Where the hell did she come from?

  “We’re going to visit Owen, are you sure that’s something you would want to do?” Evan asks, looking directly at Lily.

  “With my two best friends, of course,” she beams.

  “We can figure the details out later,” I say changing the subject. One thing I know is that Owen accepts Lily as my best friend, but he is not the biggest fan of her, apparently not many people are. I mean, I get it, she is very self-absorbed, but she’s been with me forever and has been there for me through some hard times, I can’t forget that.

  “Sounds good to me,” Evan says with a smile. The past two months, he seems to look irritated with Lily more and more.

  “I’m going to let you guys catch up, I’ll meet up with you before I head home,” Dani says suddenly.

  “Are you sure?” I ask, knowing she is more than welcome to stay.

  She looks at Lily, rolls her eyes and then back at me, “I’m sure,” she says with a smile.

  I smile, knowing exactly why she’s not staying. “Sounds good,” I say, before she walks off.

  Chapter Four

  “What are you drinking?” Owen asks.

  “Some nasty ass beer,” I state.

  “No shit, don’t drink that,” he says as he takes the drink out of my hands. I don’t argue, as he takes it and sets it on the mantle of the fireplace.

  “Do you want another drink?” Evan asks politely.

  “She’s not old enough to drink,” Owen snaps, looking between the three of us.

  “I wasn’t old enough to drink at any of the parties we went to, since when did that make you go all big brother?” I ask, calling him out.

  “Since you’re at college and guys are douchebags who just want to fuck,” he points out, looking completely serious.

  “I’m not stupid, I don’t get smashed,” I retort.

  “Man, at the party last weekend, I ran into her and she was drinking water,” Evan says, backing me up.

  “See,” I say with a look.

  “Fine, but two is your limit, you need to make sure you know what’s going on around you,” he says sternly.

  “Yes, Dad,” I joke.

  “Not funny,” he says as he wraps his arm around me and leads me to where the kegs are at.

  “How do you know your way around this house?” I ask, confused.

  “Evan lives next door, so when I visit, this is where we party.”

  “Oh, okay,” is all I say. He hands me my cup. “Bay, do not ever take an open drink from someone you don’t know, do you got it?” he says as he looks at me intently.

  “I know,” I remind him.

  “I’m serious.”

  “So am I. Owen, lighten up, I’m not dumb, I know how to handle myself and I also know what I can and can’t do. I’ll never put myself in a bad situation by myself.”

  “You always were the wise one,” he says, as he squeezes me toward him.

  “Yes I am, so don’t you forget it,” I smirk. We make our way back towards Evan and Lily.

  “She’s going to drive him nuts,” Owen says looking unamused.

  “Huh?” I ask, confused.

  “Evan can’t stand Lily and she never lets him alone. He’s going to snap one day,” he says, surprising the hell out of me. When did this happen?

  “He’s one of her best friends,” I point out.

  “She’s not one
of his. They were neighbors growing up, that doesn’t mean he wants to be her best friend or even her boyfriend and she just doesn’t get the hint,” he says, as he shakes his head.

  “I’m fairly certain she thinks she may have a chance.”

  “There is no chance,” he says bluntly.

  “She planned to make a move on him here at school,” I informed him.

  He starts laughing, “That’s hilarious and won’t amount to shit, but I will fill him in. Why do you still hang out with her?” he asks.

  “She’s always been my friend.”

  “So, what about the girl you room with, she seems like she could be cool,” he says kindly.

  I smile, “Why, because she has purple hair?” I joke.

  “She just seems more down to Earth, unlike some people,” he says, as we get closer to Lily and Evan.

  “She’s actually really cool and she’s not a fan of Lily at all,” I state.

  “No surprise there,” he says with a look. “We’re back, did you miss us?” he jokes to Evan and Lily.

  Lily looks anything, but happy, though she doesn’t say a word.

  “Of course we did,” Evan quips.

  “Everything alright?” I ask Lily.

  “Its fine, I’m going to go get a drink,” she says before walking away without another word.

  “Thank God,” Evan says once she’s out of ear shot, “I can’t fucking stand her,” he says, shocking the hell out of me. What the hell is going on, how can Lily make it like they are amazing best friends, when he can’t even stand to be around her?

  Owen starts laughing, “I was just filling Bay in on that shit.”

  “How the hell can you hang out with her for so long?” Evan asks with a straight face.

  “You just learn to deal with her for how she is,” I admit.

  “A self-centered bitch,” Owen blurts.

  “I get she’s self-centered, she loves to be the center of attention, I get that, but she’s been there for me when I needed it most,” I say, sticking up for her.

  “That shit gets old so damn fast, but damn Bay, I’m sure there are plenty of other people you could have turned to, instead of her,” Evan says.