Once Upon A Sketch

2. A new friend?

Mandy was with Jess outside a classroom on a completely different building from theirs waiting for a guy. That guy being the new exchange student that Jess had been rambling about non-stop since yesterday when she first saw him. That's right she moves fast, that way she could get to them before others can. 'Sometimes I'm really amazed by her ability to get guys as if she's just changing shoes.' Mandy wondered as she looked at her friend.

The bell rang and the students were out. Thew scanned the crowd looking for a specific mop of black hair. Once the crowd fanned out and fewer people were exiting the room Mandy saw him. There was no mistaking it, he was the definition of Jess's type. Tall with a lean build, messy hair that looks good on him and a ruggedly handsome face.

Mandy nudged Jess to his direction and she swore Jess' eyes twinkled and went heart shaped for a moment. Mandy closed Jess' hanging jaw since she seemed unable to close it on her own. Mandy didn't approve of Jess' choices in men but her reactions were really fun to see so Mandy just let her be and even sometimes helped her with a guy.

"Okay since he's here already good luck with the rest I'm gonna go do some homework in the library" Mandy started to walk away but Jess held onto her arm tightly it began to hurt.

"Ow! Jess?" Mandy looked at her and she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Jess was actually nervous to approach a guy.

"Can you stay by my side please?" Jess looked at her desperately and Mandy couldn't deny her when she was like that, Jess was her friend so she just sighed and accepted her fate.

So together they caught up to his strides before Mandy nudged Jess to say something.

"Hey! you're Ethan right?" Mandy wasn't even surprised that Jess already knew his name. Ethan turned around and blinked, a bit confused.

"Yeah that's me" He still looked a bit lost.

"I'm Jess and I just wanted to invite you to my birthday party this weekend" Jess said and flashed her smile. 'Yup that's the Jess in hunting mode.' Mandy smirked when she saw the guy was affected. He was definitely a fine specimen but so was Jess. She had a killer smile that was lethal when used just right.

"Okay cool I'll go, thanks for the invite" Ethan smiled widely showing his pearly white teeth and Mandy felt Jess tighten her hold on her, most likely because she needed that support for her knees to not give out under her. 'Oh god, I think these two will be unbearable in the future. They're already blatantly checking each other out and I've had enough.' Mandy miserably thought about the future with Jess and Ethan.

"Jess you'll be late to practice" Mandy stated and that seemed to snap them both out of their staring at each other. 'Wow do I really amount to air unless I speak? They looked like they didn't even know I was here in the first place.'

"Come on Jess you'll be late to practice and Parker's going to be on your ass again" Mandy tugged her away and Jess just let herself be dragged away from there but not before waving goodbye to Ethan.

After Mandy delivered Jess to her volleyball practice still starry eyed, she made her way to the library. The moment she set foot inside she went straight to that one shelf at the back where she put the book last time. Mandy smiled a little in anticipation as she skipped her way there. 'If Jess and Ethan ended up together I'll need a new friend, I don't want to spend all my time third-wheeling them and this might be my perfect chance at having a new friend.'

Mandy grabbed the book out of the shelf and excitedly flipped the pages and as expected there was still the folded paper inside. 'She transferred to her dream university, didn't think that we would last on long distance. My turn to ask questions, what's your worst breakup?'

Mandy thought about his question and racked her memory. 'I actually didn't have any bad breakups, most of them we just fell out of love so there was no struggle or hatred there and some were mutual, we both knew we weren't going to go far so we just cut it when we felt it was time. Looking back now I've actually lived a very boring love life, no drama. The same can't be said about Jess though.' Mandy chuckled as she thought of Jess' very colorful past love life.

'I actually didn't have any bad breakups, I've lived a boring love life with no drama but I have a friend whose love life was filled with drama mainly because of her choice in men. There was one time when her boyfriend cheated on her so we went to the bar where he was making out with another girl. My friend brought a bucket with her which she filled with all kinds of drinks from the bar, put it on her cheating boyfriend's tab and went over to where the two were still making out before splashing them with all the contents of the bucket. It was nasty, the mixed alcoholic drinks smelled terrible and was enough to make me gag'

The note was long enough to reach the back of the paper so Mandy just stopped there.

'What about you? What's your worst breakup?' Mandy added as an afterthought before tucking it in the book and putting it back on the shelf.

'I wonder how he felt when she said they wouldn't last in a long-distance relationship. Is it really that hard? I've seen people do it and come out still strong. But then again maybe it depends on the person. I like my alone time so I think I would survive long-distance as long as we trust each other enough. But she loved him right? How can she give up without even trying it? I feel bad for the guy. After all when I first saw that sketch I thought, wow the person who drew this must really like her.'