I sipped it and knew immediately what it was. “Stella?” I asked.
“You know your beers!” He smiled at me, with a little bit of surprise on his face. “Is that fine?”
“Absolutely,” I nodded. “One of my favorites, actually.”
“Perfect,” he said, and turned his attention to someone who had just walked in. Given it was the middle of the day, it was pretty empty. There were two guys sitting over at a table sipping mixed drinks, but, besides them, it was just me and whomever had walked in.
I turned around to see a dark-haired college girl walking in, adjusting her glasses as she stepped up to the bar and sat a few seats away from me.
She was cute, no denying that. But pretty much everyone I’d seen so far was cute, so that was hardly a surprise. Even the bartender was a good-looking man.
“Could I get a Long Island, please?” she asked the bartender with a polite smile.
“Sure thing.” He nodded as he stepped away to make her drink.
She sighed and leaned her head on her hand as she tapped on the bar counter. Not tapping as if she was frustrated with having to wait or was impatient; it was more that she seemed to be fidgeting.
I glanced over at her, questioning whether or not I should start a conversation with her. Before Julia, I used to be pretty upfront when I was considering flirting with someone.
But things were different now. I wasn’t as secure as I used to be, not nearly as brave. I wasn’t sure how to go about putting myself out there again.
Besides, I probably shouldn’t be putting myself out there at all. I’d only barely broken up with Julia. I shouldn’t have been trying to get involved with anyone else.
On the other hand, I had to start making friends at some point. If I was going to live here, I had to put myself out there. So, hey, maybe I would strike up a conversation with this girl, and she would end up being cool. Not like it had to lead anywhere.
In fact, it probably would lead nowhere, because I couldn't even be sure if she was a lesbian. I might have been sort of getting that vibe right now, but I couldn’t be sure.
“Long day?” I asked her as the bartender handed her the Long Island and she started gulping it quickly.
“You have no idea.” She rolled her eyes.
“Care to talk about it?” I asked.
She shrugged. “It’s stupid. It’s just that I stayed up late studying for this final, and then I forgot to set my alarm, so I woke an hour late for class and only had thirty minutes to take the test. Though I guess I’m lucky my professor even allowed me to take it at all.”
“Yikes,” I said, trying to imagine what that might feel like. I’d never taken school too seriously, and I’d never gone to college, so it was hard to imagine stressing over a test that way. “Were you able to finish?”
“Not even close.” She shook her head. “Hence, the drink.”
“Right.” I nodded. “Ah, that blows. I’d be drinking, too, if I were you.”
She nodded toward my beer. “Well, you are drinking. What’s your reason?”
I laughed. “Oh, no real reason for me. I was just wandering around the campus and decided to drop in. I'm new to Rosebridge, so I was doing some exploring.” I extended my hand. “My name’s Kaitlyn, by the way.”
“Kaitlyn, hello. I’m Emily.”
“Nice to meet you,” I told her, before feeling someone tap my shoulder behind me.
It startled me, so I jumped back a little bit before I saw one of the guys from the other side of the bar standing in front of me.
“Oh, sorry to scare you!” he said in a soft, deep voice. He was tucking his chin-length brown hair behind his ear and smiling at me. “I just had a quick question.”
This was a little weird, but I was an outgoing person, so I didn’t mind someone randomly initiating a conversation with me.
“Are you single?” he asked. “Because you’re very cute, and I was wondering if I could possibly get your number.”
Well, this almost never happened to me. I often was approached by other lesbians but pretty much never by men.