Kari sighed when she looked at the Halloween invitation. Probably the same stupid frat friends of Jay's! Gina promised it wasn't going to be the same guys at their Labor Day barbecue. There would be some cute guys, and they were single!
"Please, it won't be the same without you!" Gina pleaded. "And I need you to help me with the rum punch."
Kari was out of costume ideas but had stopped at the thrift shop on her way home from work yesterday. She found an old Girl Scout uniform, complete with sash and badges that looked like it would fit her.
"Good enough," she thought. She only planned on staying the polite amount of time and then fake a stomach ache.
She got into a hot bath to wash her day away and enjoy a glass of wine.
Kari toweled off to get dressed and she decided to go braless because it was so hot at Gina's. Then she braided her hair into pigtails and put on the beret.
She gulped the last of the wine and grabbed the tray of cookies she made and the bottle of rum she promised Gina.
When she got to the party there were already a few people there. She noticed a cute baseball player and his pirate friend wasn't bad either.
"You look adorable!" gushed Gina, who was dressed as a Playboy bunny.
"Not as cute as you!" replied Kari. They set on mixing the rum punch which turned out to be a hit.
"There's some cute co-worker friends of Jay's, you know!" hinted Gina.
"I'm not really interested in hooking up," muttered Kari through clenched teeth.
"Aw, c'mon, Kari. Live a little!" Kari felt a poke in her side and it was Jay, already tipsy.
"Hi, Jay," said Kari.
"Let me introduce you to some of my buddies!" Jay took her arm to lead her away. Kari looked back at Gina who winked at her. She learned the baseball player was named Nick and the pirate was Dave. Later, there were more baseball players making up a team but there were too many names to remember. Kari was getting a little buzzed. Nick was giving her the eye and she felt a little giddy over it. Eventually she made it around the room and helped herself to the rum punch. Nick walked over with his empty cup.
"More punch?" she offered.
"Yeah, thanks. You helped make it, right?"
"Yup, my specialty," Kari shrugged.
"As a Girl Scout, aren't you supposed to be making cookies?" he joked.
"I made those, too!" she laughed. "No alcohol in them, scout's honor!" she added.
They continued to make small talk but then a woman named Jill (dressed as a hippie) came over and hung around Nick, like he was her property. She found out that the two worked together and they appeared to be an item so she eventually excused herself from the conversation.
"Gina, sorry, I gotta go! My stomach is killing me," she whispered. Kari hated lying but she felt bummed out. She promised she'd be fine going home, their backyards were practically adjoined. Kari felt relieved by the cool night air. She then let out a scream because a man appeared to jump out of the bushes. Kari's eyes closed in relief to see that it was Nick.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," he grinned.
"What are you doing out here?" she demanded.
"Bathroom was full, had to go," Nick replied still grinning. "Hey, what are you doing out here?"
"I'm leaving. My house is over there. It was nice meeting you," she said lamely. Kari started to walk and he followed her.
"I'll walk with you," he offered.