It was probably best that Bianca take the lead—I wasn’t going to flirt with some stranger to get alcohol. I felt a little underdressed standing next to Bianca who looked like she had just stepped off a runway at a fashion show—complete with a purse that probably cost more money than I had ever seen in my life. When her text said we were going to Outback Steakhouse, I thought jeans and a t-shirt would be appropriate, but apparently she lived by a completely different dress code than I did. We walked into the restaurant and got a table near the bar. I didn’t see any guys she could flirt with—there was only one person behind the bar, and it was a woman about my mother’s age.
“Blah, he must not be working tonight.” Bianca looked around in disappointment.
“At least the food will be good.” I forced a smile and picked up the menu.
“Oh, gross! I’m not going to eat anything that they serve here.” She wrinkled her nose.
“I’m—actually kind of hungry.” A whiff of something fried came my way and it induced a craving that was unusual for me. “I probably shouldn’t have skipped lunch.”
“Fine, I’ll order a salad or something.” Bianca rolled her eyes and grabbed the other menu.
Our quest for alcohol seemed to have hit a dead end. I told Bianca she could use her fake ID and get something if she wanted—I was actually fine if I didn’t have a drink. She didn’t think that was much fun, nor did she want to buy something at the store and drink it at her place—like a loser, as she put it. She kept asking questions about my supposed mystery guy, and I finally admitted that I was dating someone that lived in Los Angeles. She thought that was crazy and encouraged me to break up with him so that I could enjoy all four years of college. I thought that was a little strange coming from someone who said they didn’t intend to sleep with anyone from Arizona—which is where she was going to be for the next four years, just like me.
I really miss Amelia right about now…
Two months later
My Outback Steakhouse adventure with Bianca proved to be the only one we had. She must have decided that I was boring or found friends that were interested in doing the things she wanted to do. I certainly didn’t mind. I made friends with a few people that lived in my dorm—they were fairly chill and were more focused on school than partying. They also didn’t think it was weird that I had a boyfriend back home in Los Angeles. A couple of them were involved in long distance relationships as well—which is probably why they were more grounded than the free spirited Bianca. They weren’t offended when I didn’t want to hang out with them because I had a Skype-date with Everette—which is exactly what we had planned.
“Hey!” I hit the button to connect with him and held up my box of Chinese food from Ming’s Dynasty. “I got Sesame chicken!”
“Hey there beautiful.” Everette smiled and held up a box from Ming’s Dynasty in Los Angeles. “I have General Tso.”
“Chopsticks?” I picked up my pair and snapped them together.
“Yep.” He nodded and held his up.
We couldn’t have dinner together, but we found something that was almost as good considering the distance. Everette was the first one to suggest it after realizing there were several chain restaurants in Los Angeles that were also available where I was. Everette continued to surprise me—literally. I had come home from school several times and found flowers waiting for me. The latest was a fresh bouquet of roses sitting on the table on the other side of the room with the sweetest card telling me how much he missed me. A few of our Skype sessions had gotten a little dirty, and if I had my way, we were going to heat things up once we were done with our dinner. He made me promise not to touch myself unless we were on one of our Skype-dates, and I was hornier than normal for some reason. Unfortunately, that feeling seemed to pass as we ate because my stomach didn’t seem to agree with what I was eating.
Maybe Chinese food wasn’t a great idea after all…
“Are you okay?” Everette leaned forward with a hint of concern on his face.
“I don’t know.” I looked down at my food. “Maybe they made mine with cat or something—it isn’t sitting well in my stomach.”
“Oh god.” Everette shuddered. “Well, I’m all done with mine now.”
“Me too.” I put my box down.
“Try some rice. That might soak up the kittens,” he chuckled under his breath.
“I think I’m going to just skip straight to the fortune cookie.” I picked it up while I pushed my food away.
“Sounds good.” Everette picked his up.
“Mine says…” I cracked the cookie open and read my fortune. “A passionate new romance will appear in your life when you least expect it.”
“You better not be finding any new romances,” Everette growled under his breath.
“Maybe this fortune cookie is just late.” I looked at him and forced a smile, even though my stomach was still having issues.
“Mine says…” Everette cracked his cookie open and held it up. “The smart thing is to prepare for the unexpected.”
“Sage advice I suppose.” I shrugged.
“Meeting you was certainly unexpected.” He smiled and leaned back against the couch. “I’m glad I was prepared.”
“Maybe both of our fortunes are old.” I shifted to my side to see if that would help alleviate my stomach issues, but it really didn’t. “They both came true before we opened them.”