Take a Chance on Me

Thirty

We park in downtown Laguna Beach to meet up with Alex's friends for dinner before a night out at the bars. When we walk inside the restaurant, I immediately recognize a few of his friends. Chase, of course, Ryan, a few others, and Jen.

Jen.

What is she doing here?

Instead of drinking myself into oblivion and acting like a complete psychopath, I decide to play it cool before I ruin another chance with him.

"Hey guys. This is my girlfriend, Leah."

Girlfriend. He just called me his girlfriend. I look at him as we both sit down, his face turning a bright shade of pink as he smiles at me. This is the first time I have ever seen him the least bit bashful. It makes me so happy to know that he was nervous to call me his girlfriend, like I wouldn't be okay with it.

"Leah, this is Chase, from the airport, remember?" I nod and he continues. "This is Ryan and his girlfriend Haley." I give them a smile and a wave. "Luke, Bennett, and Jen."

A mix of voices respond with "Nice to meet you," and "Girlfriend? Who knew Alex had a girlfriend?" with some spurts of laughter, causing Alex to turn from bright pink to deep red.

"What a surprise," A female voice says. "He's finally serious enough about a girl to make her his girlfriend. And she's pretty." Jen winks at me. Is she being nice or catty? I can't tell.

-

After getting some food in our stomachs and putting down a few drinks, we all walk to a local bar to spend the rest of the night. I'm pleasantly surprised when we walk inside and I hear the live music. I've never been the biggest fan of dancing to club music at a bar, so hearing a live band playing 90's soft rock gets me excited. This is something I can jump around and sing to with the rest of the bar.

We all slide into a booth and Alex orders a round of drinks. "The first round is on me," he shouts across the table and he gets some pushback in return.

"We all know your surfboard business is skyrocketing, but you don't have to brag," Luke rolls his eyes jokingly.

"Should I just drink all of these by myself and let you order a new round?" Alex chugs his entire beer and pretends to grab everyone's and chug theirs too.

Bennett steps in. "I think what Luke meant to say is that he's so happy for you and would actually love to continue receiving free beer from you."

The table erupts in laughter and Jen and I make eye contact.

"So Leah, we have to know, how did the two of you meet?" She points at the two of us and the rest of the group falls silent, waiting to hear the full story.

I hate being put on the spot, especially by Jen. "Umm well we were both flying home from New York and he happened to be seated right next to me."

"As soon as I saw her I knew I had five hours to make her fall in love with me. She was reading a book that she seemed to really be enjoying, so I had to devise a plan to get her to set that thing down and give all of her attention to me," Alex says, wrapping his arm around me and giving me a squeeze.

"Well how did you get her attention?" Luke asks. "What could you have possibly said to direct her attention to you?"

A silent hush fall on the table as Alex takes his sweet time giving them an answer.

"What I said to get her to like me was... none of your business. You guys are going to have to find a way to get girls on your own. Sorry." Alex shrugs his shoulders while the guys all boo him.

While everyone is laughing, I turn my attention to Chase. Throughout the entire conversation of how Alex and I met, he was silent, almost annoyed. Maybe no one else noticed but I saw that little eye roll. I'm onto you.

-

After a few more drinks, we get into the music a bit more and can't help but get out of our booth to join the rest of the bar in belting our favorite 90's live music.

I hear the beginning of a "Never Let You Go" by Third Eye Blind cover start up and the crowd screams in excitement, specifically Ryan because apparently Third Eye Blind is his favorite band.

"Oh my god, oh my god! I LOVE THIS BAND!" he shrieks and his girlfriend, Haley, grabs his hand pulls him towards the front of the stage.

"He knows this isn't actually Third Eye Blind right? It's a cover band," I ask Alex as we move up with the crowd.

"Oh he knows, he's just a crazy fan and every time one of their songs comes on he belts his heart out to it."

As the crowd sings along, me and Alex sing to each other.

I'll never let you go
I'll never let you go

I'll never let you turn around your back on each other
That's a good idea, break a promise to your mother
Turn around your back on each other

This has to be, hands down, one of the most fun nights of my life. Mix a bit of alcohol with my favorite music and my brand new boyfriend and you have the perfect ingredients for the best night of all time. Add a dash of Alex's fun friends and that's the cherry on top.

I look over to Ryan and Haley and I can't stop laughing. She's pretend to fan herself as Ryan sings his favorite lyrics.

I would like to save
That the girl is like a sunburn
I would like to save
She's like a sunburn

The rest of the guys and Jen are dancing like no one's watching, singing every single lyric to every song. Once "Semi-Charmed Life" begins, the crowd roars, even louder than before, which I didn't think was possible.

Jen turns around and waves me and Alex over, wanting us to join in on the fun. "Come on guys!"

When we rush over, Jen grabs my hand and we sing and dance together. I never in a million years thought that this, Jen and I hanging out and not trying to kill each other, would ever happen, but it is. And I'm enjoying it.

Our whole group is bouncing up and down, having the time of our lives. Alex pulls me into him for a quick second, planting a soft kiss on my lips, and then releases me back into the group. I've never been so grateful for another chance.