Call it Fate, Call it Karma

Sangria

Sat under a tree somewhere in Central Park, I ran my fingers over the grass with a smile. "We need to come here more often."

Julian, who was sitting crosslegged in front me, lit up a cigarette. "You think so?" he said in a nonchalant tone. He was brooding a little over the fact that I chose to sit in the park for a couple hours instead of letting him treat me to lunch at a restaurant.

"Would it kill you to lighten up?" I said with a roll of my eyes. "For the last time, Julian...I don't need you to spend money on me in order for me to have a good time."

"Yeah, but it'd just be nice...y'know? 'Cause you deserve it." He handed me the cigarette and pulled a flask out of one of his pockets.

I scrutinised it with a raised brow. "Watcha got there?"

"This is super cheesy, but I thought it was kinda funny," he said, flipping open the cap. "...it's Sangria."

"Sangria?!" I threw my head back, laughing. "What! Why?!"

After taking a swig, Julian placed a hand over his chest with a goofy grin as he began to sing, "Just a perfect day...drink Sangria in the park..."

As I laughed, he handed me the flask and pointed a finger at me, signalling he wanted me to continue the Lou Reed classic.

I rolled my eyes once again and giggled. "And then later...when it gets dark, we go hoooome!" I took a sip of the drink and flinched, handing it back to him. "You're such a dork, but this was seriously so cute."

I could see Julian's cheeks redden a little as he took another mouthful from the flask. When he noticed I was looking him, he cleared his throat. "Will you at least let me buy you a movie ticket?"

"I guess so." I said, then taking a drag of the cigarette. "This is kinda reminding me of that date we went on a couple years back."

"Which one?"

"The one where we did coke in the bathroom at the movies." I explained as I shook my head.

Julian chuckled. "Oh yeah! That one! You broke a window that day too!"

"Ugh, did I?"

"Yes! You were so excited about it. It was like, one of your first real tastes of being bad."

I cringed at myself, shaking my head. "I was such a loser."

"Still are!" Julian smirked.

I elbowed him, then standing up. "So are you!" I offered him my hand and pulled him up.

"So are we gonna make out in the movie theatre again?" asked Julian as we walked, hand in hand.

"Depends on what movie we see."

"I'll make sure to pick a bad one then...so we have nothing else to do."

"Quit being sleazy or you'll be sitting by yourself." I said as Julian looked at me with puppy-dog eyes and a pout, which was apparently my newfound weakness, because in a split second my lips found their way to his and we were suddenly passionately making out in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Hey, get a room! People are walkin' here!" Some guy shook his fist at us in passing, resulting in Julian and I bursting into laughter upon pulling apart.

"Sorry, I don't know what came over me." I said sheepishly as we began to walk again.

"Yeah, you bit my lip kinda hard." Julian said, running a finger over his bottom lip. "It was hot as fuck though, not gonna lie."

"Shut up!" I nudged him, turning away to hide my red cheeks.

Somehow, on our way to the movie theatre, we ran into Karen and a couple other guys out smoking on the street in front of a popular music venue. Karen explained to us that her band, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, were playing a gig there and she invited us, so of course we accepted the invitation and ditched or movie plans.

One trashed dressing room, many drinks and a couple of lines later, the gig was in full swing and Julian and I were going absolutely crazy, dancing with the crowd as we watched Karen and her bandmates killing it on stage.

"Albert's probably wondering where we are!" I yelled in Julian's ear over the music.

"So what!" Julian yelled back.

I shook my head and groaned. "I'm gonna go find a phone and call him! Be back in ten!"

Julian didn't seem to hear me that time and he just kept dancing and cheering. I figured I'd only be a few minutes, so I just turned around and started making my way out of the mass of sweaty bodies.

After dipping outside to use a payphone, I talked to Albert and told him not to wait up for us, and on my way back inside, someone grabbed my arm.

"Jade!" Adam greeted me with a grin. "You should've told me you were gonna be here!"

"I didn't know I was gonna be!" I exclaimed, then pulling him into a hug. "Hey, Adam!"

"Is it just you tonight?"

"I came with Jules." I said. "And I was about to go find him. Wanna come with?"

Adam nodded and we linked arms. "So I heard the dressing room got trashed. Did you happen to have any part in that?"

"I may have smashed a couple beer bottles, but everyone else did the real hard labor." I explained with a laugh. "Karen smashed a couple mirrors and a Julian broke an entire fucking table!"

"Damn, I wish I didn't get here so late! I missed out on all the fun!"