She looked me over like I was her new project and stopped mid-step. “I have just the right thing!” Smiling mischievously she headed back into her closet.
“What about this purple lace dress? It would look amazing with your weird changing green eyes!” She suggested as she tripped over her now messy as hell room.
The horrified look on my face, due to the shortness of it caused her laugh. How the hell did she wear this thing?!
“Is this a shirt?”
“Seriously, Han?! It’s a tunic…I wear it with leggings or skinny jeans and since you look like someone just handed you a bomb, try these on with it.” She threw a pair of black leggings at me.
“I was about to say…”
A few moments later I changed and was checking myself out in her full-length mirror.
“I actually look half decent in this…” I stared at my reflection, dressed in the purple lace dress with black leggings and some strappy sandals, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“Oh, stop it! You are beautiful no matter what you wear. I seriously don’t understand what you see when you look in the mirror.” Abby said wholeheartedly.
Knock, Knock, Knock…
“I’ll get it….” I said as I ran out of the room so I didn’t receive the usual heartfelt spill from Abby about all of my “so-called beauty”. Don’t get me wrong, I loved her for it, but a girl can only hear it so much. She likes to give people a little boost to their confidence.
Opening the door I found Jason standing in front of me ready to embrace me in one of his wonderful bear hugs. Is it creepy that I love the way he smells? I stepped back and noticed that he was wearing a pair of khaki shorts, a button-down short-sleeve grey and blue plaid shirt left unbuttoned with a lighter shade of grey t-shirt underneath. Man, he looks nice tonight and smells pretty lovely too. He truly is a great guy and whoever ended up stealing his heart would be one lucky lady—that’s for sure.
“Well, look at you! I can’t believe you’re wearing a dress. You really look stunning.” He said as he grabbed my shoulders to check me out at arm’s length.
“Thanks, Jason…” I blushed at his word as I dropped my head, “I guess you could say I am stepping out of the box for once.” I’m sure the most flustered look was on display across my face. After many years of friendship he still caught me off guard. That was one of the things I adored the most about him—and hated all at the same time.
“Make yourself at home. Abby and I will be a little while longer getting ready; she just now jumped in the shower.”
“Take your time, I’m in no hurry.”
After flashing my usual embarrassed smile I left the room to continue with my makeup. Makeup was actually one thing I didn’t mind doing, even though I hardly ever wore it during the week. I would much rather sleep in than get up and put it on. As soon as I started applying my mascara, with the infamous “O” face every girl has, Abby came waltzing in like a model going down the runaway. Instead of an elaborate gown, she wore her bathrobe.
“You never cease to amaze me…” I laughed as she continued to strike different poses.
“Do you think I could win America’s Next Top Model?!” she spoke in an annoyed preppy voice, “But in all reality, should I wear this white halter top with a skirt or this teal form fitting off-the-shoulder dress?” she pointed to the two outfits laid out across the bed.
“Oooh, definitely the teal off the shoulder dress; you can pair it with those new sandals you bought the other day.”
Abby is an absolutely beautiful girl inside and out. She is the most kind and caring person I have ever met. It was a blessing when she became, not only my best friend but sister at heart. Looks-wise, Abby is everything I wish I was. She’s tall, thin, has long dark auburn hair and grey-blue eyes. Did I mention that her eyelashes are naturally longer than any I have ever seen? All the guys around campus drool over her and she hardly even notices.
“I almost forgot Jason was in the living room!” Abby shrieked in horror as she started to walk in there to get something to drink from the adjoined kitchen, in her bathrobe. We busted into a fit of laughter as we both fell onto the bed with tears pooling in our eyes.
“How about I go get us some wine and you go change into your outfit,” I pointed to her dress while I wiped the tears from under eyes.
I walked into the living room and noticed Jason sitting on the couch flipping through an old photo album. I realized that the photo album was actually a scrapbook I had put together of my favorite memories since eighth grade, I almost gasped in horror. Shit! There are too many photos of us in there…He’s going to think I’m a creepy ass stalker!
“Find anything interesting?” my nerves poured from the words I spoke.
“Oh hey, just reminiscing through your memories. Where is this photo of us from?” he held the scrapbook up so I could see the photo he was talking about.
“Oh my, look at your hair and my braces…” the two of us bellowed in a fit of laughter, “That photo is actually from our eighth grade field day, when you ran me over trying to get to the event you were late for. The yearbook staff just happened to catch this lovely encounter and I begged them for a copy of it later in the year.”
“That was a good day, huh?!” He winked and nudged my shoulder.
Did Jason just wink at me…? Please don’t blush; please don’t blush...Dammit I know I’m blushing! I grabbed the scrapbook rather swiftly and took off into the kitchen.
“Would you like something to drink?” I called out.
“Sure, Han, thanks. Not any alcohol since I’m driving. Do you have any tea?”
Crap I forgot he was driving us, He has me so damn flustered I can’t even remember that he is our driver. Oh the things this man does to me. Suggesting we call a cab so that we could all let loose for once, I took Jason a beer. I poured wine for me and Abs and headed back into her room. To my surprise she was dressed and starting on her hair. Abby was definitely a girly girl, everything has to be to a “T” or she feels like her whole night is ruined. The process of her getting ready usually took a while—hopefully tonight was not one of those nights.
“That dress really looks wonderful on you Abby. Thanks for everything you do for me, by the way. You truly are the best person in my life who actually understands me.”
“Hannah, you do not have to thank me. I would be lost without you—where did all this tear jerking nonsense come from anyway?!”
“I don’t know really… I just felt like it needed to be said.” Abby closed the space between us and embraced me in a death grip of a hug.
“Now let’s stop this right now before we ruin our makeup!” she demanded as she let me go and walked back over to her mirror.
Abby went back to working on her hair while I glanced helplessly in the mirror at mine. Ugh… Such a frizzy mess! Why did I let it air dry? I decided to re-wet it and go for the natural wavy look. I went into the bathroom and rummaged through the cabinets for my spray bottle and then started to do what I could to tame my mane.
Sometime later I heard Jason laughing uncontrollably in the living room, which definitely grabbed my attention.
“Are you all right in there Jason?” I called from the bathroom and received no response.
I walked into the living room and sat down beside Jason, who was still chuckling and shaking his head as he swiped his finger a crossed the screen of his phone.
“Yeah, Han, Xavier called and was telling me one of his crazy stories about last weekend at the frat house.”
“Ooooh… Please do not fill me in on what that might be, because I probably do not want to hear it.”
“Yeah, you know how he is. It’s not exactly PG13. By the way, he said he was going to meet us later with a few others.”
“That’s fine with me; there is never a dull moment with Xavier around…”
Right about that time, Abby came barreling into the living room with her empty wine glass. Glancing over at the clock, almost at the same time, Abby and I both
sighed.
“It’s only 8:30?! Let’s crank some music and get the pre-drinking started!” Abby cheered.
“In that case, I will pour you ladies another glass and grab myself another beer.” Jason flashed his adorable one-sided grin as he walked into the kitchen.
Why is it all of a sudden he is making me crazy with every grin, every touch, every laugh? Has it always been like this? No…surely not. It would have been overbearing all these years. Ugh, does this mean I am seriously falling head over heels for Jason and there is nothing I can do about it? This is not good! Not good at all! I cannot and will not ruin our friendship because I want more from him now. I cannot risk losing our friendship if this goes south. Son-of-a-bitch…
“Earth to Hannah, are you okay?” Abby waved her hand in front of my face.
“Oh umm... yeah... I was just thinking about some things.”
“Well whatever you’re thinking about I’m sure it will be fine. Now drink up, little lady, no getting down-an-out tonight!”
She knew it was something I didn’t want to talk about, so she let it go at that. Abby knows me like a book; I’m sure she had a feeling what it may be about and knew that it wasn’t the right time to go all “twenty questions” on me with Jason here. She plugged her MP3 player into the dock and cranked the first song that started to play, Everybody Talks by Neon Trees.
“I LOVE THIS SONG!” I yelled over the music.
I jumped up from the couch and grabbed the two remotes off of the coffee table. Handing Abby one, she knew exactly what was about to go down. As soon as the chorus hit we both held the remotes up to our mouths and belted out every word.
“Who all is coming out, anyway?” Abby asked shyly as we both fell back onto the couch simultaneously.
“Actually I’m not sure, I know Xavier is coming and bringing a group.” Jason responded, obviously he didn’t notice the change in Abby’s usually banter as he handed us another drink.
What in the world… Abby is acting a little odd herself.
“Oh, Xavier, well… tonight should be interesting then!” Abby smirked before she darted into the kitchen.
I arched an eyebrow at her response when a thought crossed my mind. You have got to be kidding me!! Abby has the hots for Xavier?! This should be an interesting night to say the least. I have never seen her blush so much at one time since we met Alexander Skarsgård at a local coffee shop last July. I seriously thought she was going to pass out right there in the middle of the place. Good thing she didn’t have on her “Fang Banger” shirt or I would have embarrassed her ass even more than she did herself.
I followed Abby into the kitchen and kept trying to get her to look at me, “Abby? Is there something I am missing here?”
“What do you mean, Han?” she dodged looking at my face—once again.
“Do you seriously think I missed those rosy red cheeks and that girly little smirk of yours when you found out that Xavier was going to be there tonight?” I teased her as I crossed my arms and leaned back against the counter.
“Shhhhhhh…! You cannot let Jason know…Yes, I have this stupid girly crush thing going on towards Xavier. Unfortunately it came to a head the other night when Shelly and I went over to the frat house.”
“What do you mean, came to a head?!” I whispered in shock.
“Nothing I can tell you right now, Hannah, so be quiet!” she harshly whispered back while pointing towards Jason in the living room.
“Your secret is safe with me.” I replied acting like I was zipping my mouth shut and throwing away the key.
Picking up the wine bottle she shook the remaining contents around. “Looks like we have drunk a whole bottle of wine already, no wonder I couldn’t keep my blushing to myself. You know what this shit does to me?” Abby giggled as she nudged my shoulder with hers.
“You ladies ready? The cabbie just called. He is waiting at the curb.” Jason spoke up from the living room.
Linking Abby’s arm with mine, we twirled into the living room like drunken fools, shaking our heads yes in response to his question. Jason just laughed as we all headed out the door.
Chapter 3
Traffic wasn’t as bad as I had thought it might be on a Friday night. Usually the road that leads to the strip was bumper-to-bumper and barely moved. Tonight we had made it pretty far before hitting this. We were about two blocks away when we decided to walk. Thank heavens I wore sandals; heels would have been the death of me. The closer we were to the strip, the stronger the aroma of food, booze, and ocean water grew. Falling back behind Jason, Abby and I decided to have the chat we obviously couldn’t have before we left the apartment or in the cab.
“Abby, I know you have these feelings for Xavier, but what about Alex?”
“I just don’t know if I can handle the long-distance relationship anymore, Han. I mean, we never see each other and when he has plans to come home his work always messes them up. I’m not saying I want to break up with Alex to turn around and jump into things with Xavier. It’s not like I meant for these feelings towards Xavier to happen, but I also cannot help it.”
“I completely understand where you are coming from, Abby… I do. Just take it one day at a time and it will work itself out. Always remember that I am here for you no matter what choices you make.”
“Come on, slow pokes!” Jason yelled back to us. We had fallen back a good ten feet behind him.
“Oh, by the way, Hannah, you and I need to have a talk about a certain someone.” Abby says while nodding her head towards Jason.
“I had a feeling this was coming….” I said swiftly as we caught back up with him.
Turning the corner onto the strip our eyes were stopped by flashing lights, the Ferris wheel, and many fellow classmates. To my surprise it was the annual “College Night Life” event which takes place early in the semester here on the strip. We just so happened to be lucky enough to choose this night, of all nights, to go out. This meant a lot of drunken college students, definitely not my usual crowd. The look on my face was complete horror, but Abby’s was more along the lines of excitement.
“Where should we start?” Jason asked politely while placing his arms out for Abby and I to loop our arms through.
“What a gentlemen you are, kind sir.” Abby responded in her horrible attempt at a British accent.
Oh that terrible accent… “Doesn’t matter to me, it looks like everywhere will be packed tonight. I mean, it’s only a quarter past ten and look how many people are already out.” I chimed in.
“Well, well, what do we have here?!” we heard coming from behind us. You cannot mistake that witty voice anywhere, it had to be Xavier.
“Xavier, what’s up man?!” Jason gave him a quick one-arm hug and slapped him on the back.
Glancing at Abby I noticed her face had become about five shades of red. Should I save her? That’s when I noticed that Xavier was looking at Abby like he was in complete awe of her. It was the most adorable thing I had ever seen him do. Usually nothing about that man-whore was adorable to me. Abby was facing me while rambling about getting a drink so she had no idea what was going on—but I sure as hell did. Noticing the look on my face, she turned around to find Xavier staring right back at her. It was almost like a moment frozen in time and I was the awkward girl stuck in the middle, wishing that I wasn’t.
“Ha—Han, let’s grab a drink or shot before I pass out from these damn hot flashes I have all of a sudden.” Abby grabbed my arm while talking quietly to me.
“All right then, darlin’, Sting Rays is right up ahead. Let’s go...” Pointing right in front of us I linked her arm with mine and started walking.
“See!!! I’m so flustered I didn’t even notice.” She sighed loudly.
The next twenty minutes or so were a blur—Abby and I were sitting at the bar as she rambled about Alex, Xavier, and herself. Sadly I couldn’t concentrate on anything she was saying because there were a group of guys sitting a few tables over from us and one of them looked very fa
miliar. Feeling a cold hand grab hold of mine, I looked over at Abby. She was looked rather aggravated; guess she had realized I wasn’t paying that much attention to her.
“Are you listening to me?” She interrupted my thoughts about the group of guys.
“Sorry, Abby… It’s just… Do you see that guy a couple tables over on the window side? He looks so familiar to me but I can’t quite place where from.”
“The one with the ball cap pulled down low?” she asked while making it completely obvious that we were looking at them. “Girl, he is probably just another face in the crowd at school. Although he is rather cute, maybe you should go say hi!”
“Ummm… No, thanks. I think I’m good.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot… Your eyes are only for Jason.” Abby winked at me.
“Do you have something in your eye?” I spat.
“Funny…” she countered.
I folded my arms across one another on the bar and laid my head on them. Dear lord… Is it a good idea that Abby knows about how I feel for Jason? She can get a little carried away sometimes with her “mission to set people up” and I really didn’t know if that’s a very good idea.
“Abby… Even though I have feelings for Jason—and have for many years now—that doesn’t mean I want him to know about them. Please promise me you won’t go there. Promise me that you will not try to make us your new puzzle to put together. Just promise me.” I sternly pleaded with her.
“If you don’t want me to go there, then I won’t.”
About that time Jason, Xavier, and a few others came through the door. They slowly made their way over to us, while periodically stopping and chatting with a few people throughout the place. Sting Rays is a medium-size bar that kind of has a shack feel to it. With different sea life hanging from the walls, along with fishing gear, this place makes you feel like you are at sea. Although I have only been here a handful of times, I do like the place. I knew everyone wouldn’t want to hang out here all night simply because Sting Rays didn’t have a dance floor. To my surprise Jason sat to my right and Xavier sat to Abby’s left as if we were two couples out having a few drinks. I knew Abby was as taken back by this as I was. Xavier ordered some fries as we sat there talking about what we plan to do after college.
Moments of Reckoning Page 2