Ireland Luv

Chapter 2

"Good morning, class. Welcome to Ireland. Hopefully, you all aren't too hungover to get back into our daily school grind."

Our professor knows our class well. It is full of partiers and usually, Professor August Booth is right out there with them. Hell, sometimes he's actually worse than them. That is not my scene at all, unlike my lovable best friend. I glance at Ruby, who is already laying her head on the table in front of her. She appears to be in some early morning distress.

"Take one and pass it down." Our professor hands out large binders. "You are officially seeing your script for the first time. The scenes are in order but are numbered according to the order in which the filmography students plan to shoot them. So, I'm giving you two days to read the script and get a feel for the characters and their surroundings. I want your primary focus to be on the scene starting on page 45, labeled number one. Take notes. Brainstorm. What type of music do you want to hear behind this scene? The more ideas you have, the better chance your idea will be chosen!" he says with excitement.

"Why is he yelling?" Ruby groans beside me. She lifts her head a little and then throws it back down to our table, allowing her long brown hair with red streaks to spill wildly onto the table with it.

It would be a shame not to mess with her as an 'I told you so'. So, I slap her binder down onto the table next to her face, startling her and making me give the slightest giggle as an apology.

"He's not yelling. You're hungover. When did you get back last night?"

"I didn't." She grins wickedly, flipping open her binder to the assigned page.

That was the exact answer I was waiting for. Thank the lord, I don't have to share a room with her on this trip. It's bad enough sharing the dorm.

For four years, I have been living with this girl. Every evening is a party for Ruby. Drinking and sex is a typical night for her. If she slept with the same man two times, it meant they were practically in a long-term relationship. Long term lasts roughly a week. She has a short attention span. I have zero doubt Ireland will be no different.

"You couldn't go one night without it?" I bite my lip to prevent another laugh.

"I could, but why would I want to? You should try it while you're here. You're going to love it." She winks.

"Ruby!"

I scan the room to make sure no one heard her. I'd rather she didn't announce this to our entire class. There is no filter on this girl.

Why the hell did I choose her as a best friend?

"Give it up already. Once you get laid, maybe you won't be so uptight."

She talks about my virginity like this is some normal conversation around a dinner table while she sifts through her bag. She pulls out three highlighters and carefully selects the blue one. This was likely the toughest decision she was going to make all day.

"I'm not uptight," I argue. "I'm motivated."

"Right."

School is everything to me. It's my ticket to my snagging my dream career and getting out of Maine. I don't party; I don't sleep around; I study. I study hard. I'm all in for making this career work. Sometimes, I wonder how Ruby and I became such good friends over the last four years. We have almost nothing in common, but she would do anything for me and I would do the same for her. The girl is my BFF-soulmate. There's no getting rid of her now. Four years, we're in a committed friendship.

I hesitate and stare down at her lack of faith in me. I can prove to her I'm not uptight.

"Fine. I'll go out to a bar with you tonight. One, for only two hours. So help me, Ruby, if you leave me there to run off with some guy, I will never go out with you again."