She Moves In Her Own Way

Chapter 3

“You better have the best fucking explanation I have ever heard for missing that damn concert.”

“I love you, Stella,” I said, handing her a mug of coffee.

“Still not an excuse.”

“Quit your bitching and I’ll tell you.” I plopped down on the couch of our apartment. She quickly shut up, leaning up against the kitchen counter a few feet away.

“So,” I started. “I met this guy.”

“NO WAY!” Stella screamed, slamming her coffee down. “Like a legit guy?”

I sighed. It was rare for me to find a guy. Like, I went on dates a lot and I had fun with guys, but I hadn’t had a serious relationship in years. It just never worked out. Stella said it was trust issues, but whatever. Maybe I just didn’t like feelings. Is that so bad?

“Yeah, I bumped into him when I went for a smoke,” I replied. “Like I literally bumped into him. I thought he was a wall.”

Stella burst out laughing, almost spitting out her coffee in the process. “Did you get his number at least?”

“No.”

“Addy!” she yelled, throwing a newspaper at me.

I dodged it and rolled my green eyes. “It’s not like it was anything serious.”

“This is why you’re never in any relationships,” Stella complained over her shoulder as she walked to her bedroom.

“Yeah,” I mumbled. “That’s why…”

“Stop mumbling to yourself and get up. We’re going partying tonight at Layla’s.”

*****

Stella and I stumbled into Layla’s loft, narrowly missing a guy skateboarding through her living room. Shit always got crazy at Layla’s, she hated being bored.

“Guys!” the brunette greeted, giving us bear hugs. Even though we’d been friends for years, I never got tired of hearing that hint of her British accent that hung off her words.

“Layla!” we chanted back.

“I’m so glad you guys came,” she said loudly over the wob wob of the dubstep that blasted through her stereo. “This night’s going to get crazy.” She shoved a light beer into Stella’s hands and a shot of whiskey into mine.

I smiled. The girl knew me well.

“Hey, there’s someone I want you guys to meet,” Layla said, leading us through a frenzy of people to a girl with pin straight black hair, sitting at the counter with a drink. “Meet Riley!”

“Ah, you must be Stella and Addy!” she smiled. “Layla couldn’t stop talking about you, I was thisclose to shoving a sock in her mouth, haha. I’ve heard you guys did some pretty wild things in high school!”

I laughed loudly, knowing full well Layla had told the story about how I shoved a frozen hotdog up our physics teacher’s ass. She always loved that one.

“Layla just can’t get enough of us,” Stella smirked, patting Layla on the shoulder. “But if you excuse me, I saw a very attractive male dancing by himself and I refuse to miss an opportunity like that.” With that she was gone.

“Pardon the whore,” I said laughing. “She can’t help it.”

Layla nodded in agreement before telling me about how she and Riley met. Something about horse shit in Forever 21. Leave it to the pair of them.