Something Complicated

The Summer It All Began

"Dude, you are not deserting us."

"You just broke the bro code."

"You really chose her over us?"

My track mates are not happy that I signed up for community service and not for extra training hours for the Summer Activity Program to follow a girl. They did everything to convince me to change my plans but it's not going to happen. My mind is set.

"Dude, she will not kneel down before you when she sees you there," Randy, my best buddy in the team, argues. "She'll think you're a creep."

"She won't because we know each other," I counter, and they hoot.

"If you know each other then why haven't you scored first base?" Cordon teases. He still can't figure how it was possible for me not to kiss Aubrey, a.k.a. the hottest girl on campus, when we were alone in the req room during the massive campus brownout.

"Because..." I shake my head. "I'm not a dickhead like you."

"You think I am dick for dating three girls at the same time?" Conrad laughs. "Dude, that's what you call YOLO."

I flash him a middle finger and he acts as if I just stabbed him in the chest. "Jerk off, Con."

"Can't. I just finished an hour ago," He scans the student lounge and a girl (a freshman maybe) in a yellow dress catches his eye. "See you at the gym, guys. I've got some business to do."

"That dude is going to get his heart broken one day and I am not willing to offer him bro hugs," Jacob, one of the seniors in the team, shrugs. He's the only one in the team with a girlfriend, and he's a very serious guy.

Randy laughs at that and says, "I'm not ready to give him bro hugs, too. I only hug hot girls." Then he turns to me and asks, "What are you going to do the whole summer, Stan? Are you going to keep on pining for Aubrey?"

My teammates call me Stan because they think my name sounds like a girl's name. I don't think so, though. "Maybe try to get a date with her."

"I'm a serious dude when it comes to relationships, but that's a grandpa move, Stan," Jacob snickers. "You have to attack when you get the chance."

"And if that won't work, there are many girls out there waiting for you, dude," Randy tapped me on the shoulder. "Like that one..."

He's talking about the girl in a pink shirt and denim pants, who's actually cute, but too cute for my taste. But the girl beside her is different. I met her in freshman year. She is the best friend of an old teammate, Brandon, who quit track to focus on his studies. I thought that was crazy but I respect the guy.

Jennifer, if I remember correctly, is an incoming sophomore like me. That means she's here to sign up for the community service program. I focus my eyes on her and admire her olive skin. She's sporting a messy bun and it surprises me how that makes her look hot. I have always thought she's pretty, but I've never broken the bro code. We may not be close but I know Brandon's into her, and she's into him, too. Also, she's not Aubrey, and Aubrey's my girl.

And speaking of Aubrey, she's still not here.

"Let's move," Randy finds us a space on the couch near the registration table. Let's just say he used his charm to get his way. I am still looking for Aubrey when Jennifer and her friend approach the registration.

"I'd like to sign up for community service," she says.

"Me too," her friend says.

"I think I should have listened to you. Girls are going to be in community service," Randy whispers.