Me: have fun tonite.
Caleb: Be good tomorrow!
Me:I always am.
Caleb: Talk later
* * *
When I arriveat Briana’s apartment, I am surprised to see Paige, the third person in our friendship trio. Filled with so much excitement and relief at the sight of them, tears fill my eyes. All the loneliness of the past few weeks weighs on me. I give them each a huge hug.
“No more sniffles, Sof. We got to get going to make it in time for brunch.” Briana takes my bag, throws it into her room, and drags us out.
I force a smile, not wanting to explain my sudden rush of emotions. “Let’s go.” I chime in cheerily.
We order mimosas at a hipster,trendy restaurant Bree suggested, using the fake IDs we purchased at the end of the summer. Bree assured us this place was a safe spot for us to use them.
“Tell us, Sof, how’s everything’s going? We don’t hear from you at all, youneverpost anything anymore,” Briana starts after the waitress delivers our drinks and we order.
I think about her question and whether I want to answer honestly.
“What’s wrong? Why are you making that face?” Paige says with narrowed eyes.
How can I not be truthful? My eyes begin to water.
“It hasn’t been the easiest transition. I don’t get along with my roommate, I don’t know anyone yet, I haven’t made any friends…I’ve been ignoring the world the past couple of weeks. I don’t snap or check socials anymore because it’s depressing to see everyone loving their new schools,” I blurt out and drop my head on the table, embarrassed by my admission.
“Why didn’t you tell us? You know you could have been coming to hang with me on weekends. I know it wouldn’t have helped during the week, but at least you could have been looking forward to the weekends.” Briana gets up from her chair to hug me, and Paige follows closely behind. I feel a huge sense of relief being with them.
“I don’t know. It’s embarrassing admitting it. I seemed to be the only one having trouble adjusting to college life.” I shrug, not knowing what else to do or say. “But something just happened, and I do have some juicy stuff to share,” I say giving them a small grin.
They sit back down, and Paige widens her eyes at me, giving me the “spill it” look.
“Well… I met this guy in class.” I take a quick sip of my mimosa. “Or, actually, he introduced himself to me.”
I sit back wiping the remaining tears and begin to tell them about Caleb. I, of course, start out with his yummy looks and continue with how we met and the few texts.
"He already found me and requested me on Snap and IG," I continue.
“Then show us a pic!” Paige interrupts before I can say anything else.
I take my phone out and open his page before handing it to them.
“He’s a hottie, Sof. I need someone that yummy chasing me!” Briana says while making her sexy, come-hither look, which only cracks Paige and I up.
“Really, Bree, you had several hotties in high school. Give me a chance for one.” I continue to laugh at her.
We talk about Caleb, their new friends, school, and everything we missed the past month while enjoying our drinks and food. It feels so simple and natural to be with them.
* * *
We arriveat a house that is already in full swing with people dancing in the living room, drinking games on the kitchen table, and a beer pong table set up on the outside patio, close to the keg. We serve ourselves and click our plastic cups, toasting to a great night. I feel like my old self with them, able to talk with new people and have fun.
Bree introduces us to a few of her new friends and sorority sisters while we make our way through the party. Several glasses of beer later, thanks to a couple of games of beer pong, we make our way to the makeshift dance floor in the living room. Paige drags a couple of guys with us and more follow. A guy comes in close to me, grabs my hand, and spins me. He seems harmless, so I bask in the attention.
Paige hands her phone to a random girl and asks her to take our picture. We all gather around, and the guy I was dancing with wraps his arm around my shoulder and kisses my cheek.
“Idea!” Paige yells over the music, “Let’s head down to Sixth Street. Sophia and I did not come to Austin to miss Sixth Street!”