Love at First Spark

2 | July: Meet Cute

July 23rd

Dex,

I'm so glad you're having fun! Do me a favor though and don't turn into one of those douchey surfer guys haha xD. Eloise and I moved into our apartment this week. Mom convinced us that it would be better this way because we're family and it's a good way to save money. She's being her usual quirky self and we seem to be getting along well, even dividing up the chores to make things easier. It's nice to have a room I haven't lived in since I was little. I miss you every day. This long-distance friendship thing is really hard.

Xo Ames

"You can't keep moping over Dex, Ames," Eloise said as she added one last swipe of mascara to her lashes that same night. "And you can't sit around waiting for him to return so you can have a chance at something more. That's all it is, really. Just a chance. What if he finds a girlfriend before you see each other again?"

I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat. Dex had always been popular with the girls while we were growing up. It made sense I wanted to hold onto the chance of something more; our relationship beyond friends was over before it could begin.

But I knew Dex, and I knew he wouldn't hold off just for me. That was the stuff of fairytales.

"Look, all I'm saying is there's other guys out there besides Dex." Eloise stood up from her vanity. "You know my saying, the best way to get over one guy—"

"I'm not sleeping with someone else to get over my feelings for Dex." I rolled my eyes. "That may be your philosophy but it's not mine. Anyway, I don't need to get over him. Dex and I were always better off as friends anyway." My fingers instinctively went to my lips, something I'd been doing a lot as if trying to get the memory of his kiss to remain for a little longer.

Eloise raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything more. "C'mon, we're already late as it is." She gave my outfit a onceover. "Are you sure that's what you want to wear tonight?"

I tugged at my top. "Yes?"

She pursed her lips. "Huh. Okay, let's go." Eloise tugged at my arm and I followed her out to the car.

We pulled up to the club a little while later, the beat of the music inside pulsing through the car windows. Eloise parked then handed me the keys which was our signal that I was now considered designated driver for the night. My sister and her friends gravitated toward the bar to get drinks—judging by the sounds of their giggling. I found a seat at the end of the bar and ordered a virgin cosmopolitan.

But I wasn't alone for long.

"I'll have what she's having." The deep voice startled me as a man took a seat at one of the bar stools a few down from me.

I snorted into my glass. "Does that line actually work? You know, considering A, I've ordered the girliest drink on the planet and B, it's non-alcoholic?"

The man laughed and signaled the bartender—who'd been watching us over the last minute—to keep making his drink.

"It usually works," he replied, "but I'm not going to hold my breath just in case it doesn't."

Smart move.

I took a sip of my drink and gestured to the stool next to me. "Most guys would just be cocky about it. Points for you, um..."

The guy scooched over, grinning. "Braden."

"Amelia." I smiled. "So, Braden. What brings you out tonight?"

"Just needed a place to clear my head." He raised his drink and glanced in my direction. "But I'm a little too sober to go into the whole story tonight."