i couldn't stop thinking about lara. i woke up at about 9am, hoping i could think about something else. i grabbed my phone to check for texts from my friends.
jesse stewart: i like joanne a lot
jesse stewart: she kissed me goodnight when i dropped her off at her dorm :)
spencer knight: sorry about the diane thing
spencer knight: i didn't kno u were fucking her roommate
spencer knight: she's fine af i'm proud of u man
lara holland: can i come over to ur dorm? one of my roommates has been having really loud sex all morning
lara came over, wearing a gray sweatshirt from our college and a pair of striped blue pajama shorts, holding a white bag. i motioned for her to sit on my bed and she did, opening the white bag and taking a donut out. she passed it to me and i did the same, taking a bite out of a glazed donut.
"where's your roommate?" asked lara, breaking our unofficial silence as i finished my first donut.
"he's in someone else's bed, probably trying to find a quiet way to sneak out," i joked. lara smiled and took another donut.
"have you ever fucked a girl and left her alone in the morning?" questioned lara, between bites of her donut.
"no. i'm not the ladykiller you think i am."
"you're a chick magnet, paul. you could have anything you wanted from any girl you wanted," retorted lara.
"including you?"
"what do you want from me?" questioned lara, tucking a lock of hair behind her ears.
"be my date to this semi-formal saturday night. i'll pay for everything," i offered.
"hm, be surrounded by drunken frat boys who might throw up on me for several hours or stay home in my room waiting for my roommates to leave so i can listen to lana del rey and masturbate in peace."
"if we leave early enough, you'll have time to do both," i joked. lara crinkled her nose, unable to suppress her smile.
"i'll be your date." the moment the words left her lips and entered my ears, my heart skipped a beat.
for every ounce of talent lara had for art, she matched it in her music. it was a wednesday night and i sat in the front of a cafe with a green tea in tow, listening to lara perform her original songs. she was wearing the same sweatshirt she wore when i asked her to be my semi-formal date paired with light blue jeans and dirty nike air forces. her guitar, which had a few stickers on it, was on her knee. as she tuned it, she looked up and smiled, looking directly at me.
"i wrote these songs a few nights ago when i couldn't sleep. um, this first one is called bubblegum and i hope you guys like it," began lara, right before strumming her guitar.
"sorry i didn't kiss you, but it's obvious i wanted to. bubblegum down my throat and it's a curse, but my luck couldn't get any worse." lara's voice was beautiful, soft like the notes she played and apologetic like the lyrics she sung. i sipped my green tea while she continued to play, focusing her attention on me. she finished the song, garnering light applause from everyone in the cafe but heavy claps from me. she smiled at me right before starting her next song.
"this one is called ladybug and it's really special to me," began lara, right before she began to play the song. i was entranced by her playing. i sat through the rest of her entire set, unable to do anything but just listen.
we walked out of the cafe, her guitar case in my left hand and the keys to my truck in my right one. since my truck was now drivable, i found myself at her house for the past three days, staying there from around 4 to 8pm. we holed ourselves up in her room, working on our separate homework assignments for the first two hours in almost complete silence. afterwards, we would alternate between confessing secrets, stories and feelings to each other and lara playing her songs for me, the sunset seeping through her bedroom window.
i unlocked my truck and put her guitar case in the backseat while she got in on the passenger side. i got in and put my keys into the ignition, starting it up.
"where to?" i asked.
"how about my place? do you wanna see which dress i'm going to wear saturday night?"
"yeah. i have to wear a tie that coordinates with it." i backed out and put the car into drive, heading down the street and towards her house.
"god, i can't wait to see you in a suit," remarked lara.
"i can't wait to see you in a dress," i retorted.
"wow, you're gonna pick me up and take pictures, aren't you? it's like prom, isn't it?" asked lara.
"it's kinda like prom, except we're gonna be more hammered. but formal is closer to prom than this is," i explained.
"i didn't go to prom." i was now parked at lara's house and we both took the cue to get out of my car.
"why?"
"my date. he flaked on me last minute because i wouldn't hook up with him afterwards," replied lara. she fumbled with her house key while trying to unlock her door. we finally got in and got comfortable on her sofa after i set her guitar case down. i sat, reclined back while she leaned forward and to the side, facing me with her chin resting on her hand.
"i'm really sorry about that."
"it's okay. he was just some high school asshole who pretended to like my music because he thought i would fuck him."
"if it makes you feel better, i threw up on my prom date," i said, causing her to crack a smile.
"what? how?"
"well, i drank too much beer that night and i had bad sushi. we were slow dancing, to that song from that tom cruise movie-"
"top gun? the one with the volleyball scene?"
"yep, that's the one. we were dancing to that song and i tried to pull away, to go to the bathroom. but she wouldn't let go, so i threw up on her."
"oh my fucking god." lara was now laughing uncontrollably, her face red at my embarrassing story. i smiled at her smile while pretending to be hurt by her laughter.
"so, you're telling me i shouldn't wear anything too nice because you might puke on it?"
"well, if you keep laughing, i'll do it."
"i'm willing to take my chances." we sat together in silence, waiting for words to come out when we heard the sound of the front door being opened. a girl with dark brown hair walked in, followed by zane gautreaux.
zane gautreaux was the vice archon of theta xi and the senior party animal. between him defeating the champion player in his tennis division and him having a grown up job lined up for him in july, zane has taken his partying and antics to a whole new level. he grew out his hair and dyed it blonde, began doing coke with j.d. every weekend and brought an average of three girls per week back to the house.
this meant that at least two of my friends were fucking at least two of lara's roommates. zane awkwardly high fived me right before the girl led him upstairs, presumably to her room.
"so, i see you've met zane."
"yeah. and you've met amelia," replied lara.
"god, our friends are sluts," i said, a smile creeping in on my face.
"well, birds of a feather flock together."
it was now 9pm and i was in my dorm room, drinking beer with spencer.
"dude, i feel like we haven't done this in forever. you gotta stop studying with georgie sometimes. you need a break," said spencer, finishing off his beer and throwing the empty can on the floor. we were both two beers deep and we had about two cases left.
"i was out with lara, actually."
"that geed art chick? i would totally fuck her if i didn't have to talk about feminist theory or some shit beforehand," remarked spencer, opening another beer. i did the same and took a long sip.
"she's really nice. i like hanging out with her."
"you like hanging out with her? or do you like her?" questioned spencer, sipping his beer.
"uh-"
"you like her. you've been at her place a lot this week and she took you home from the party friday night."
"i mean. i don't know," i admitted as i kept drinking.
"bro, you gotta get with her. i bet every geed guy is trying to fuck. you gotta tap that ass if you really want it," advised spencer.
"i think i like her. i wouldn't mind fucking her but i wanna do other stuff more, you know?" spencer nodded, as if he understood.
"you like her, man. i think you should ask her out, you know? pick her up, take her out for dinner and when it's over, kiss her on her front doorstep. you gotta sweep her off of her feet, ya know?" explained spencer, making a swooning motion with his free hand.
"well, i asked her to come to the semi with me. how's that?"
"i can't wait to meet the girl who has captivated my pualie," said spencer. the more spencer drinks, the more syllables he uses. once his speech resembles victorian english, he had to get cut off.