jesse was once again our designated driver and joanne met us at the boot, with amelia and echo in tow. spencer and i were at the bar part of the club where we saw brady chatting up a bartender, most likely about golf since brady was wearing this year's golf team polo and was using his hands to do most of his talking for him.
"brady! what's poppin' bro?" shouted spencer from about ten feet away from brady. brady rushed over to us and gave us both hugs with his free arm.
"not much bro. paul, how you been?" returned brady.
"not too bad. i see you're quite ready for tonight," i joked, seeing as he was somewhat plastered already and had a drink in his hand.
"fuck yeah, i am! where's jesse?"
the three of us went to where jesse was before we left him only to see him dancing with joanne while amelia and echo were standing awkwardly together a few feet away from them.
"yo, that blue haired chick is the chick who organized that weird animal protest," slurred brady, pointing directly at echo. echo tucked a lock of hair behind her ear while avoiding eye contact with us.
"yo, i wanna talk to you. i'll buy you a drink!" continued brady, moving towards echo.
"hey, tell your friend to back off," said amelia, shifting herself to provide a shield from brady. spencer and i were speechless and unsure of what to do next.
"bro, chill. i-i wanna talk about the animals!" shouted brady.
"fine. if you buy me a drink, we can talk about the animals," said echo, shifting past amelia and walking towards brady. the two of them headed towards the bar, while brady kept rambling unintelligibly.
"god, if i had known being a drunken idiot would get girls to like me, i would've destroyed my liver by now," remarked spencer. we were left alone with amelia, who was wearing a cropped white t-shirt and black skinny jeans with adidas.
"so you're paul right? and you're spencer?" she asked, moving her finger as she said our names.
"yeah."
"spencer knight. and you are?" retorted spencer.
"amelia. you're the guy who used to sneak in through the back window and drink all of our chocolate milk," replied amelia, focusing on spencer before she turned to me.
"and you're the guy who ate all of lara's cupcakes and drives her to her performances," continued amelia.
"i think it's wonderful that we're all acquainted now," i said sarcastically, a small smile forming on my face.
jesse dropped me off at lara's house and per her text messages, i opened her front door and locked it for her and began the trek to her bedroom.
it was 1am and her room light was still on. lara sat on her bed, a journal in front of her and her guitar on her knee. she was wearing the same sweatshirt she had on last weekend when she spent the night at my house and a pair of blue striped pajama shorts. as i got closer to her, i realized that her eyes had dark circles under them and she looked incredibly sleep deprived.
"paul! come look at this!"'exclaimed lara. i took off my shoes and sat on her bed, holding her journal.
"that, um, record exec. he said he liked ladybug but he wanted me to make it longer, and-and check it out!" i began to read the extra lines and nodded in approval.
"i like it. a lot."
"paul, if i get this opportunity, i-i, it would be perfect! i can do what i love, i-i could travel and people could listen to my music. what's your dream?" rambled lara.
"i-i have no idea. i just figured once i graduated, i could just get a job somewhere, you know?"
"paul, you have to have a dream. let's figure out what your dream is right now," offered lara.
my head was on lara's chest, her arms wrapped around my shoulders tightly. a plate of her vegan snickerdoodles were diminishing in supply on her nightstand as we talked through what i wanted to do.
"i like the idea of going into research and finding something that benefits mankind. it's just really interesting," i explained.
"you're so cute when you're being a nerd."
"if i weren't cute, i wouldn't be able to be your trophy boyfriend, would i?" i joked. lara craned her neck to kiss me on the forehead.
"five years. in five years, we could be anything, paul."
"as long as we're happy in five years, i think it'll be okay."
lara and i sat up and ate more cookies until we ended up making out with each other. i tasted the cinnamon on her lips and i couldn't get enough. she pulled away and reached for her phone.
"any requests?" she asked.
"uh, anything to set the mood." nothing compares 2 u by sinead o'connor began playing softly out of the speakers in her room as lara guided me to lay down and she laid on top of me.
our lips connected again and i held lara's waist to keep her steady and on top of me. she moved her lips to my jawline and then my neck, applying light pressure as she went down.
we took a quick moment to remove our tops and i began to feel lara's chest with one hand as she continued kissing my neck. i felt my body becoming more relaxed and began to breathe deeply as she made her way to my collarbone. i shifted my hands to hold her by the waist again and just enjoy the way she made me feel.
an hour later, i was facing her, her hair enticing me with the smell of coconut and the ocean.
"you should come to my formal with me. it's the last one of the semester and it would mean a lot to me if you came," i said, breaking the silence between us. lara looked into my eyes.
"i would love to. do you have any plans this summer?"
"i have to come back to campus for a conditioning camp in late july and i'm going to a national park out west with spencer and jesse for a week in june," i replied.
"so would you say you're free to hang out with me this summer?"
"yeah, i just wanna take it easy this summer," i said. lara smiled, her nose crinkling before she answered.
"i'm staying in new orleans for most of the summer. and, i wanna hang out with you. i really like you,"said lara.
"we should go on a quick trip somewhere once we're finished with finals. just you and me," i suggested.
"i would love that."
i woke up at around 9am to find that brady had spammed my phone with messages and lara was in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. i checked the notifications and was only left with more questions than answers.
brady field:
made out with echo
she's chill for a geed
if youre at lara's, tell her to water her plants or something
i got out of lara's bed and made my way to the kitchen, where weezer played softly and lara had her back turned, focusing on the pancakes on the stove. i saw a container of blueberries on the counter and i took one, placing it in my mouth.
"how do you like your pancakes?" questioned lara, turning her attention to mix the bowl of batter next to her.
"crispy," i answered.
"noted." i walked closer and stood next to her, admiring what i saw. she was wearing the same clothes from last night with her hair in a ponytail and the circles underneath her eyes didn't seem as dark.
we ate our pancakes at the small table in the dining room, facing each other while i cut my pancakes with a knife and fork while lara opted for the caveman method of just using a fork.
"pass the syrup." i slid the bottle to lara and she drizzled more on her stack of pancakes.
"so, are fraternity formals just like the semis?" asked lara, as i swallowed a bite of pancake.
"yeah, except you wear a long dress and i wear a tux. and there's usually no beer, only wine and mixed drinks," i explained.
"i can't wait to see you in a tux."
"can't wait to see you dominate the wine bar," i joked. lara smiled at me before she took another bite.
i met brady at the house around noon and walked in to find him sitting on the living room sofa eating a pop tart. i settled next to him after declining his offer of a blueberry or s'mores flavored packet.
"so, you know how you're going out with lara? i'm thinking you and me and her and echo, we go on a double date or something," said brady, after finishing his first pop tart.
"uh, that could be interesting. i can ask lara if she's free to do it."
"i know echo's one of those activist chicks but she's actually kinda cool. she even let me show her my golf swing," stated brady.
"you're into her?"
"she seems nice. she gave me her number and we've been texting or whatever," explained brady. i patted him on the back while he finished eating his other pop tart.
brady wasn't the type of person to settle down with her a girl or even remember her name after a hookup. the fact that he even remembered the hookup and wanted to go on a date with her was astonishing and made me wonder if his pop tarts were expired.