goal to my heart | s. jake

one

LONDON, ENGLAND

"Please, Evelyn," Astrid begged her friend, clutching her hands, "Let's go to the club tonight. I promise it's going to be fun. Besides, midterms just finished so we should celebrate."

"No, Astrid. I already told you that I didn't want to go out," she responded flatly, trying to escape Astrid's grip.

"Seriously? You're going to leave me all alone at the club?" she complained, letting go of her and flopping onto the bed.

"I know you just want me to come along because you want to see him," Evelyn smirked.

Astrid's face turned red as she rolled over, burying her heated face in a pile of pillows.

"Don't act like you're in denial. I know you have the fattest crush on Roman. That's literally why you're wearing your black dress. You'd never want to go to a club on a night like this. It's cold and it's raining."

Astrid rolled back over on her back and stood up from the mirror. To some degree Evelyn was right. She was wearing the party dress she would wear for sophomore parties at Georgetown. Her dress was a tight black cocktail dress with a sheer ruffle hemmed at the bottom. Astrid looked in the mirror as she wore a full set of heavy makeup: smokey eyeshadow with hints of bronze, foxy eyeliner, full curled lashes, coral blush to add warmth to her face, and a rose nude lip gloss finishing the whole look.

"He told me the plan for tonight at school actually," Evelyn exclaimed, "He really likes you and you know it. Besides, it's obvious that you like him. I think it'll hit off well for the two of you. I just don't want to go because I'm going to be the third wheel... again"

Roman Lavigne, also a senior at the London School of Economics and Political Science was from a relevantly wealthy British-French family. He was studying business management in order to take over his father's hotel business once he was done with university. Astrid had first encountered him when she was invited to dinner with Evelyn's friends at a sports bar. Roman noticed Astrid as her name was a very unique one and she was watching football the whole time. He showed interest in her and they got along quickly. Both of them connected because of the English Premier League, their favorite team being the Tottenham Hotspurs. His golden retriever-like charm was appealing to Astrid and she found herself momentarily head over heels for him. Ever since she broke up with her ex, Nolan, she needed to distract herself and Roman seemed to be helping her cope.

"But I'm not even that close to him. You know him better Evelyn. I don't know what to talk to him about," Astrid exclaimed, still trying to get Evelyn on the bandwagon to the club.

"Just talk about soccer. That's how you guys connected in the first place," she responded.

"Football," Astrid corrected.

"Girl, you're forgetting you're American."

"Football personally sounds better to me. I don't know why Americans had to create a whole other sport called football when they rarely use their feet. It should've been called American rugby or something. Soccer is just a stupid word. Who even came up with that?" she exclaimed, sounding offended.

Evelyn laughed. "Fine, I'll go but this is the last time I'm going out and being the third wheel, got it?"

Astrid squealed with joy, "Evelyn, you're the best. Now hurry and put on a cute dress! We're going to have so much fun tonight."

**

Loud music and flashing rainbow-colored lights radiated through the building as people danced to their heart's content. The smell of alcohol and sweat was intoxicating. While Evelyn was off in the bathroom, Astrid and Roman were sitting at the bar, drinking cocktails, and conversing.