presston one shot

chapter one

"haha, sure jj. we absolutely believe you," morgan says in a tone that suggests that she probably doesn't believe julie. crystal is sitting beside julie, laughing so hard that she's nearly crying.
"no, im serious! im like really good at picking up girls," julie says, pouting slightly. "crys, stop laughing at me." julie shoves crystal's shoulder lightly.
crystal breathes heavily as she tries to stop laughing and faces her. "okay, okay. how about this: we'll believe you IF you can get the number of a girl in this bar that morgan and i choose," crystal says turning to morgan, who nods back at her.
"sure, go ahead. do your worst," julie says.
crystal moves out from the seat she was sitting in to sit next to morgan. julie watches them scan the bar together. she wrings her hands as she watches them whisper to one another heatedly, trying to pick the perfect target for julie. julie tries not to think too much because it'll make her nervous.
dread starts to seep in as morgan and crystal continue to take their sweet time. she doesn't have time to think about it for too long because crystal slams one of her hands against the table to get julie's attention.
"okay! so we have decided that we want you to get that girl's number," crystal says, pointing to the bar counter. julie turns her head to see who crystal's pointing at. "the one talking to the bartender, in the black dress."
julie looks around the counter and her jaw almost drops when she finds her. the girl is gorgeous and the dress she's wearing compliments her so well. and she is almost definitely out of julie's league. the girl laughs at something that the bartender says and julie's heart skips a beat as she continues to stare in awe.
"hey, jj. i think you've got a bit of drool there," morgan says sarcastically. julie instinctively goes to wipe the corner of her lip with the heel of her palm before realizing that morgan was joking. morgan and crystal burst into laughter as julie glares at both of them.
"haha. very funny," julie says flatly, getting out of their booth. "i'll be back."
"try not to embarrass yourself," julie hears crystal shout from behind her and winces, hoping that the girl didn't hear her.
she walks over and tries to think of something to say to her. a pickup line? the only thing that comes to mind is how she can't stop thinking about how this girl's smile could probably cure cancer. she shakes her head, thinking of something better to say.
the seat next to the girl is empty so julie sat down as the bartender leaves.
"hey," julie says casually.
"hi," the girl says, turning to face julie and lifting her glass to her lips and taking a sip. julie almost aborts mission because she didn't know that her voice is hot too and now she's looking her in the eyes and julie just wants to die. she completely forgets what she kind of had planned to say.
"umm... i..." julie says as the girl stares at her expectantly. she remembers that morgan and crystal are probably staring at her right now and that if she doesn't get her shit together she'll never live this down.
"okay, here's the thing: i told my friends that im really good at picking people up and i swear i am, but i can't think properly because you're so beautiful and your dress is really nice and your smile makes my head hurt so could you please help me out by writing a fake number on this napkin so that my friends leave me alone?" julie asks desperately.
the girl looks at her for a moment then breaks into a sly grin, saying, "well, i don't want your friends to think im easy, so you're going to have to fake-try harder than that."
julie stares at her, dumbfounded. "huh? what do you mean?"
"i mean, im going to talk you through getting my number," the girl says. julie nods along, still not quite understanding where she was going with this. "okay, introduce yourself to me."
"um, im julie."
"im christen," christen says, extending her hand. "shake my hand then kiss my knuckles."
julie does so and watches christen's face as she seems to blush and turn away. julie lets go of her hand.
"oh, are you acting right now? you're really good," julie stage whispers.
"thank you. now talk to me about anything," christen says.
"um, so im here with my friends morgan and crystal. we've all known each other for a while now... uh, why are you staring at me like that?" julie asks, looking at christen, who's resting her elbow on the counter and her chin on the palm of her hand and staring at her in awe like julie's telling her about how she saved a cat from a really high tree.
"im trying to make you look interesting, dummy. put your hand on my forearm and we're going to pretend that you're being really charming," christen says cheekily. julie follows her orders again and raises an eyebrow at her, trying to ignore the way christen is looking at her and what it's doing to her insides.
"first of all, i am very interesting, you just didn't ask me to tell you something interesting about me. and i'll have you know that im actually very charming, just not with you," julie says, before correcting herself, "nope, okay that came out wrong. you just mess with my head a lot, like just now."
christen giggles at her genuinely and leans her head closer towards julie's, placing her hand over the one julie has on her arm.
"um... what do i do now?" julie asks, looking into christen's eyes.
christen openly glances at her lips and whispers, "now you back away and get me a pen and i'll write my number down for you."
julie reluctantly pulls away, grabbing a pen from the countertop and handing it to christen. christen scribbles onto her napkin and hands it to her, smiling shyly.
"thanks again, christen. i really appreciate it," julie says, getting up and turning to leave. she feels a hand around her bicep turn her around and then christen's lips are on hers. she doesn't react for a moment due to shock and before she could reciprocate, christen pulls away.
"im sure that'll win you some points with your friends. and by the way, that's my real number. text me when you get to your friends. trust me," christen says with a wink. julie nods, licking her lips, and walks back to her booth.
when julie returns, morgan and crystal are staring at her in disbelief. she drops the napkin on the table and sits down in her seat.
"boom. told you guys," julie says confidently.
morgan is the first to respond. "what the hell just happened?"
julie shrugs. "look, i told you guys that im good at this."
"what are you going to do with her number?" crystal asks.
julie pulls out her phone and waves it around. "text her. duh. hold on." she glances at the napkin then writes off a quick 'sup?' to christen's number and adds her as a contact. she looks up from her phone and isn't surprised to see her friends staring at the bar counter, probably to watch christen react to her text.
she waits, taking joy in seeing her friends acting so dumbly. she feels her phone buzz several times in quick succession as she receives christen's response.
christen: i'd love coffee tomorrow. there's a great place at the corner of this street actually. meet me there at 8? :)
christen: you're actually really cute and funny and honestly kind of lame but i like that about you. i want to see where this can go
christen: also your friends keep staring at me
julie laughs before responding.
julie: sounds great ;) c u there
"dude, how did you do that?" crystal asks.
julie laughs. "guys, just don't doubt me anymore. i know what im doing," julie says, but if she's being honest with herself, she's really glad that her friends decided to doubt her tonight.