Tread

June 7

The five days pass faster than I expect and I'm suddenly back in Dublin. I call him after I get back to the hostel and into a fresh pair of underthings. He grumbles about wanting to meet me at the bus station and I calm his petal delicate sensibilities by telling him we'll see each other tonight. He laughs and we decide on drinks around eight at the Night Witch bar.

Plenty of time to start my laundry, but not finish it. That leaves me with a very small wardrobe. Pink flowered yoga pants and a burgundy t-shirt I got at a school function is the least horrendous combination.

"Is that what you're going to wear?" Em asks from the bed, a charcoal face mask turning her pale white skin gray. It's supposed to be girl's night—even Zora has shut down her laptop and taken note of the humans present in the room. Kate and her are wearing the masks, hair pulled back in messy buns, bottles of Smirnoff Ice in their hands.

"Yeah."

"Seriously?"

"It's clean."

"But it is a date, right?" Zora chimes in, taking a swig of her drink.

"I don't know. We didn't specify."

"Drinks equal dates in my book, just like sleeping in someone's bed equals cheating," Kate tosses in from behind her phone as she searches for the next song to play. I Don't Fuck With You pours from her tiny speakers and she stands up on her bed and starts to jump around. We join in and scream the lyrics because this is what Kate needs. Ivan is a total dick who 'slept' with some sleazy Irish girl when he was supposed to be sick. To say Kate's pissed is an understatement.

"Are you leaving or hanging out with us?" Em pants as the song ends and we all catch our breaths.

Zora laughs on her bed and flashes us her cellphone with the video she just took of us. "This is so a Snapchat Story."

"What do you think I should do?" I ask, looking down at my outfit again. Since I decided to backpack through Europe after the study abroad trip, I have few outfits and even fewer 'date night' ones.

"How the hell should I know? The only date I went on is with Kenny from the tenth grade. He had a caaaaar," she sings the last word.

"Go!" Zora shouts, waving her near empty drink at me. I like the girl when she drinks.

"Men suck, but some have great dicks," Kate slurs, chugging her bottle and reaching for another.

"Nick doesn't suck and he has a great dick."

"I've never seen Nick's dick. Ha! Nick's dick," she stretches the words.

I sneak out as the conversation dissolves into dick sizes and how size does not change the asshole. Twenty minutes later I walk into the Night Witch pub and spot Leo. He's in a corner booth talking to another redhead. I wonder if he has a fetish. The man spots me and waves me over, the redhead turning to look. In an instant her eyes scan and dismiss me. Little does she know Leo had his fingers in me a few nights ago, so I dismiss her dismissiveness.

Reaching the booth, I lean down and kiss the hell out of Leo before sitting across from him. His smile is patent. "Hey."

"Hey yourself."

"Hard finding the place?"

"Not at all. But it's a hole in the wall. How'd you know about it?"

Ms. Redhead gapes at me, finally understanding that Leo was never going home with her. I'd told him during one of our many texting sessions that I was a no go on three ways and anal. He said he'd work with me on anal, but agreed with me on the three way.