“Where is she?!?” Maggie yelled over the band.
“Why are you asking me?! YOU were supposed to watch her tonight!” Lauren yelled back.
“I know! But Ryan started dancing with me, and, I don’t know, I just kind of forgot.”
“Forgot? I really doubt that Maggie.”
“Fine. I’m just sick of dealing with her shit—Like seriously, I can’t do this anymore.”
“That doesn’t mean you can lose her! Dammit, Maggie, she could be anywhere!”
“I know, ok? I know. I’m sure she’s still here. Let’s just find her. Tonight sucks.”
“Ok. I’m sorry, Mags. We’ll talk about him later.”
“We need to figure out the plan before Emily gets here,” Lauren said as she pulled the straightener through her blonde hair.
“Shouldn’t she decide? She’s the one who needs to go out or whatever. I don’t even wanna do anything tonight,” Maggie said as she examined herself in the bathroom mirror.
“Which is why you’re checking yourself out? You know you wanna ‘accidentally’ run into Ryan or whatever it is you do,” she laughed. “I’m sure you’ve already done your stalking and figured out his plans.”
“You make me sound like such a creep!”
“Well—You are! Am I right?”
“Ughhh, yes. You’re right. He’s going to 8.0’s for Matt’s birthday.”
“Excellent. Ryan for you, and Matt for Emily. This’ll be perfect!”
“Well, yeah, Ryan for me. But do you think Emily’s ready? I mean they broke up like 2 weeks ago.”
“That’s the whole reason we’re going out! She’s in serious need of a distraction.”
“True. Has she seen him recently?”
“Well, Sam told me she saw them talking in the commons yesterday.”
“Wait, what?! Why?”
“I dunno exactly. Apparently Em heard he was out with Stacy, and then actually saw him out with Stacy, and then she freaked out on him or something.”
“Stacy, his ex-girlfriend, Stacy?”
“Yep.”
“God, I hate him. Guys in general, really.”
As Lauren pulled Maggie through the mob of dancers, they finally saw Emily dancing in a group of guys.
“Emily!” Lauren yelled as she grabbed Emily’s hand.
“Oh my God Lauren!!! Maggieee!!! I missed y’all!” Emily sang as her Long Island sloshed onto her shirt.
“I know, Em, we missed you too. Tell your friend bye. Ok? Let’s go,” Maggie said as she tried to pull Emily away from group.
“Nooo we were just dancing! Come dance, y’all, it’s fun!” Emily wiggled her arm away, grabbed one of the guys and started dancing again.
As he turned to twirl Emily under his arm, his face shone under the light and Maggie quickly recognized the dark curls and green eyes that she’d so often daydreamed about.
“Yay you made it!” Lauren said as she swung open the front door to a greasy haired, Nike short clad Emily. “What are you wearing?! Why haven’t you showered?! We’re leaving in like an hour!”
“I changed my mind. I’m over boys. Don’t want to see one. Don’t want to talk to one. Don’t want to dance with one.”
“It was your idea to go out!”
“Yeah, I know. And now it’s my idea to stay in. Let’s watch a movie or something. Didn’t that Cameron Diaz movie come out today?”
“Oh yeah, it did. I think it got pretty good— I mean, no! We’re going to 8.0’s. Mags and I already decided. And you’re coming!”
“Wait,” Maggie popped her head out of the bathroom door. “Em doesn’t want to go out? Good, me either. Screw guys tonight,” she said as she plopped herself down on the couch.
“What is wrong with you two?! Maggie—Ryan, remember? And Emily—You need this!”
“But what if Adam’s there? I can’t deal with seeing him grind on that skank again.”
“He won’t be. Promise. And plus, I’ve already made you guys a drink!”
“But—”
“No buts. You will both have fun tonight. And don’t worry, I’ll D.D.”
“Oh God,” Lauren said under her breath.
Turning to Lauren, Maggie began to fume. “Seriously?! Seriously. She’s dancing with him right now. I can’t do this right now. I’m leaving.”
“She’s drunk! She probably doesn’t even realize that’s him.”
“I don’t care if she’s drunk! She’s seen pictures. I’ve pointed him out on campus. She’s heard me talk about him. She knows it’s him. Believe me, she knows.”
“Ok, yeah, you’re probably right. Just please don’t leave, please?”
“Fine. I’ll wait by the door. But only because I’m scared to walk to the car alone.”
As Maggie walked off, Lauren attempted to lure Emily away again.
“Em, come on, it closes in 10 minutes anyway.”
“Exactly! Still time to dance! Dance with me, Lauren, dance!” Emily giggled as she pulled Lauren into the circle.
“I want to, but we’re leaving. And we’re your ride.”
“Welllll—He’ll take me home!” She smiled at the guy. “Won’t you?”
“Do you even know his name?”
“Yesss sillly. It’s, uhh, it’s— ”
“You’re leaving. With us. Now.”
“But I wanna stay!” She jerked her arm away and continued to dance.
“Emily. As your friend, I’m telling you, you will regret this.”
“Fine.” Before Lauren could lead her away, she turned and yelled, “Call me!”
“But wait! I didn’t— ” He called after her.
“You won’t be needing it,” Lauren snapped back.
“Why’d you do that?!” Emily whined. “I want a boy and he was sooo sexy and sooo going to take me home.”
“You don’t know who that was, do you?”
“Hottie McHotterson?”
“No. Ryan. Maggie’s Ryan.”
