Tessa Young has finally found the man of her dreams. The only catch? He's literally in her dreams. Every night Tessa dreams of the same perfect man, but she refuses to believe it's anything more than just a dream. She's never been one to believe in...
Friday after school I meet up with Emma and we walk back to our dorm together.
"Oh, by the way, I have some news for you..." Emma says with a huge grin.
"Okay?"
"I found out who your dream guy is!" she squeals.
I snap my head to look at her. "What? Really? How?!"
"I asked around. He's pretty popular and almost everyone on campus knows him."
"Great... I really have a chance with him then." I roll my eyes.
"Just listen, okay? His name is... Hardin Scott. Isn't that a beautiful name?" Emma smiles. "Hardin is such an unusual name, but it just suits him, you know?"
"Hardin? Hardin. Hmm... I think I remember hearing that name in my dream! I mean, I didn't remember until you just said it, but it's definitely not the kind of name you forget."
"That's not even the best news!"
"There's more?"
"Yep." Emma continues to smile. "He parties at the frat house every Friday night."
"This just keeps getting better and better." I roll my eyes. "I know we've been to a few parties together, but that's not really my scene. And I don't even drink!"
"So? We'll go anyway. Think of it as... a reconnaissance mission."
"You're being ridiculous!"
"Come on! Don't you want to scope out the competition?"
"No..." I lie.
"Yes, you do! We're going!"
"Emma..."
"Don't be so selfish, Tessa."
"Oh, is that what I'm being?" I laugh.
"You never know... I might meet the man of my dreams there, too!"
"Fine..." I groan. "I'll go. For you."
"Thank you! Thank you!" She claps.
After we finally get back to the dorm, Emma insists we start getting ready right away. I try to get out of going to the frat house, but she just ignores me.
An hour later, we finally have our hair and makeup done, and are dressed in our sexiest outfits. Although, the sexiest dress I own has three-quarter length sleeves and the hem goes past my knees.
"You should borrow one of my dresses, Tessa. At least show a little... elbow." She giggles.
"I don't even want to go to this party, so quit insulting my outfit or else you're going alone."
"Fine." She rolls her eyes. "At least Hardin can focus on your beautiful face and personality without any distractions from a slutty dress."
"Thanks for looking on the bright side." I laugh.
We do one last check in the mirror before we leave for the party.
As we're walking to the frat house, I realize I'm a lot more nervous than I realized. I know I've been fighting Emma on this, but I'm secretly hoping Hardin falls head over heels in love with me tonight and all my dreams will come true. Literally.
"We're here!" Emma squeals. "Are you excited?"
I stand frozen in front of the entrance to the frat house.
"Tessa? Are you okay?"
"I don't think I can do this."
"What? Why not?"
"I'm... I'm scared to meet him."
"Why? He's just a guy."
"You know that saying about never meeting your idols?"
"Yeah..."
"I know this will probably sound silly to you, but if I meet him and he's a total jerk, not only will I lose the real him, but I'll also lose my dream guy."
"I understand how you feel, but Tessa, if you don't try to meet him, you'll still only ever have a dream."
"I know..." I say sadly.
"Give him the benefit of the doubt. He might be the nicest guy you've ever met, just in much nicer packaging." She giggles.
"Where do you come up with this stuff?" I laugh.
"Are you ready?"
"Yeah. Let's go inside before I change my mind." I take a deep breath, then enter the frat house.
Emma and I push our way through crowds of drunken and rowdy people, looking for Hardin. We're about to give up when we finally spot him on a couch with a bunch of his friends, including that pink haired bimbo.
"I've changed my mind," I say and turn to leave.
Emma stops me, turns me around and starts to push me toward the couch. "Just forget she's even there. Hardin might enjoy talking to an intelligent girl, who doesn't need to wear revealing clothing and hang off his arm all the time in order to get her own self-worth."
As I slowly walk closer to Hardin, the butterflies I already have in my stomach start to multiply. Hardin glances toward me and as I continue to walk toward him, he keeps his gaze on me. I see a smile peek out from his otherwise grumpy appearance. I want to run and hide right now, but surprisingly, not as much as I want to say hi to him, so I continue walking until I'm practically standing in front of the couch. He's just staring at me, and so is his bimbo. After a few seconds, I finally open my mouth to speak.
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