Sin-bin

Chapter 13 - Dallas

"And so I was like, sit the fuck down, girl. Nobody gives a shit. It was honestly so embarrassing, and I wasn't even the one who did it," Jose scoffs at the end of his story before glancing down at his phone for a notification. 

The pizza parlor is bustling because it's lunch hour at a university. Students, professors, and occasionally civilians all pack themselves into the hot building for a slice of pizza. Molly chose today's lunch, so I know for a fact that she wasn't thinking about how busy it would be. And she's not even here yet. The little bitch has a Venmo request waiting for her.  

It's Friday, so all of us only have classes in the morning to attend. Marideth, though, works in the dining hall during lunch, so she won't be joining us. Neither will Jose's boyfriend, McKelen, who is still doing dental school things or whatever. So it's just Jose, Molly, and me today. However, only Jose and I sit on stool chairs at a tall table.

"Some people just have the audacity," I comment blandly on Jose's story, "Couldn't be me."

Jose shakes his head, quickly swallowing his Coke Zero to respond, "I know! I wish I had gotten it on camera. The shame."

A hand slapping on the table makes me flinch, but the blood-red coffin nails give it away before I even have to glance over all the way. 

"Did you guys order yet?" Molly asks after dropping her backpack on the ground beneath her chair before sliding on. It's a bit of a struggle for her because Molly is only 5'1" on barefoot with curves and features that girls pretend not to envy, but I see the looks: "I'm starving."

Molly is a hometown best friend from high school. Freshman year I met her—baby bangs and purple braces while I was still short, pimple-ridden and voice cracking—in a speech and debate class. We both did the Informatory category, and we were the only two freshmen from our school, so we ended up together most weekends and class periods. It was a quick friendship that had some bumps and gaps but was still strong enough that we both committed to DU after making sure that the other was committing there, too. 

I like how diverse my friends are. Molly is a natural redhead, short and voluminous. She's hot-headed and vulgar in ways that even I could never imagine saying out loud. She's smart if she cares about it; otherwise, she barely cus by for her scholarships. As a lesbian, she knows way too much about gay and straight sex and dicks to be normal. Jose, on the other hand, has caramel skin and naturally curly black hair. While he's not bulked, Jose has always been willing to go to the gym when I have not, so his thin arms are still cut with muscles. He's got a rich voice that can reach new heights when he's particularly excited about a story he's telling. Like Molly, he's smart, but only to the extent that he feels motivated. Otherwise, he plans for McKelen, a trust fund baby attending dental school, to make him a trophy wife. 

"Yeah, we ordered it, but we didn't fill up your drink. That's your job," Jose pushes the empty to-go cup in Molly's direction, who tsks and hops off the stool she just struggled to get up on.

"Wait!" Molly stops only a few steps from the table when I call after her. I push my half-full cup in her direction with the sweetest smile my face can handle, "Will you refill mine? I got lemonade. Please? Thanks."

Molly rolls her eyes but marches back to snatch my cup up before going to the drink station. I'm one of those people who drinks more than they eat, so I've already downed half the cup in the 10 minutes we've been waiting. But Molly and Jose are used to it. Not that they like it.

I grin and blow Molly a kiss when she places a full cup in front of me. She just grumbles and climbs back up, blowing hair out of her face. 

"I didn't eat breakfast, and I think I'm dying."