Chasing Danger

4- just ask him out already

Sometimes, distractions don't work. Sometimes, your mind has a will of it's own and forces you to obsess about things that you don't want to even think about. For example, Tyler. Despite all of my attempts to get the hot mysterious guy out of my head, nothing had worked. Not school, not movies, not even flirting with other guys. So, after beating flannel guy at the shootout three hours ago and since then being bored in my apartment, I finally decided that enough was enough.

"What are you doing?" Carly asked me as I left my room later that day, dressed up to go out. Jess was also looking at me with a weird expression on her face.

"Going out." I said simply.

"To Dave's, I'm assuming?"

A slow smile creeped up on my face. "Yes."

"To see Tyler?"

"Yes." I looked back and forth between Jess and Carly's disapproving eyes. "I'm sick of waiting. I'm just gonna ask him out already."

Jess smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah, fuck it. If it doesn't work out I just won't go there anymore." Plus, if he rejected me I could finally move on.

"You go girl."

"Wait, I can come with you." Carly said as she stood up from the table. I walked over and put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.

"No, you have a test tomorrow. You need to study."

"But we never go out alone." Carly protested.

"Yeah, but there's nothing to worry about. Nothing will happen to me." I assured them. I had taken self-defense classes before and wasn't too worried about my safety. Then again, I never was.

Jess and Carly exchanged uneasy glances. It was Carly that looked at me first, nodding with a smile. "Go for it. Call us if you need anything."

I agreed, then was on my way. Tonight, for the first time in forever, I had decided to wear heels. I was still in jeans, and a nice blue shirt, but heels. I figured, go big or go home, right?

Wrong. Heels killed. I regretted my decision about ten feet into my walk but I kept going cause I was in a fuck-it attitude and nothing was going to stop me.

Thursday nights, while not big party nights, sometimes had a decent crowd in this town. Bars often had specials that ran all night long, like two dollar beers or cheap wells. Tonight, Dave's happened to have dollar wells so I didn't even need to pregame.

When I stepped into the bar, I immediately felt a chink in my confidence. I had never been out by myself, ever. I didn't really know what to do with myself. The only thing I hoped was that Tyler was even working tonight, cause otherwise this would have all been for nothing.

After taking a quick glance around, I noticed the establishment was only a little more packed than on Sunday's. All of the tables were full so I took a seat at the bar. Feeling completely vulnerable, I looked up to see Tyler was one of the two bartenders. I took a deep breath and smiled at the other bartender as she asked me for me order. It was a girl, with black hair and a tight tank top. She had at least five piercings in each ear and one on her nose and lip.

"Rum and coke, please. Two of 'em." I had a feeling I was going to need a lot of alcohol to get through this.

"Coming right up."

As she was making the drinks, I glanced around the establishment. The crowd seemed to be mostly men, which I supposed was typical for a sports bar but made me slightly more nervous.

The bartender handed me my drinks so I handed her my card. Right as she pushed them toward me, a guy about twice my age decided to sit down next to me. I kept my gaze forward, quietly sipping on my drink while trying to seem invested in the soccer game playing on the television.