Author's Note: Avoid this story if references to smoking cigarettes and doing drugs will offend you. I based this on an actual organic encounter from my college days, and I didn't want to excise that context. In real life, I left the party when "Billy" drunkenly tried to start a fight with someone there. I've always wondered where his shameless flirting on the balcony might have finally led if his macho side hadn't kicked in as compensation.
I had just finished my shift at a restaurant near the main strip of campus, gleefully walking out the door and immediately reaching for the cigarettes in my pocket. Yeah, I know smoking is terrible, but after a long shift working customer service I don't care about what anyone has to say. This is the highlight of my day after putting in eight hours of labor, my release from all the stress I'd endured slaving away under that roof.
Looking out into the world, I can't believe how perfect it is right now. The temperature feels like 70 degrees, an absurdly blue cloudless sky stretching up above my eyes. Spring was finally here.
Flicking my lighter, the end of my cigarette smolders as I inhale my first puff. All the bullshit finally melts away as I blow the smoke out. The burrito place I work at caters to vegetarians and vegans, and they'd been especially hellish this shift, scores of random people complaining about the food for no legitimate reason, like I have any control over it anyway. Worse than that, I'd been bombarded by people explaining their dietary restrictions all day, solemnly declaring them like they were at confession. How fucking hard is it to read a menu with everything clearly marked? I swear they get off on it.
Whatever. Fuck them all. Another cloud of smoke billows from my mouth as I survey the scene downtown. The sidewalks are teeming with people who have been shut up all winter. They look excited to finally be outside on this gorgeous day.
Off in the distance, I notice a particularly hot guy who's at least six feet tall walking toward me. His t-shirt is tight, muscular quads blatantly poking out of his preppy shorts. I can't help but check him out. His skin is so darkly tanned I decide he must have just spent an entire month on spring break doing nothing but sitting on a beach. The hot guy looks up at me as he comes closer, nodding his head. For a second I think he'd just caught me staring, but he walks right up to me and smiles.
"Hey man, you happen to have another smoke I can bum?" he asks, his intense brown eyes pleading.
I usually say no when people ask, but how could I refuse him? I pull the pack out of my pocket, pressing a cigarette into his raised fingers.
His face lights up like I'd just done him a huge favor. "You happen to have a light too?"
"Oh yeah, sure," I answer, grabbing the lighter from my pocket and igniting the cigarette as he sticks it into his mouth.
"You're fucking awesome, man," the guy says as the first cloud of smoke lists out of his mouth.
"Yeah, no problem." I was expecting him to start walking away to wherever he was headed, but instead he plants himself right there beside me, taking another big puff.
"You have no idea how much I needed this," he says like he's relieved. "We started drinking two hours ago and I finished my pack last night."
I chuckle. "Sounds like way more fun than I've been having. I just clocked out."
His head swivels to the restaurant's sign as he takes another drag from the cigarette. "No shit, you work here, bro? We order catering from this place all the time."
I'd assumed he was a frat boy from the moment I saw him, but the guy's constant use of the word "we" had me totally convinced. Looking down, I noticed that he was wearing boat shoes, a wing tattooed on one of his bronze ankles.
"Your orders are probably way easier than the ones from all the vegan assholes."
The guy laughs as he hits the smoke again. "Fuck that shit! I'd probably get fired in a day rolling my eyes every time some fat bitch mentions gluten."
I take my last puff, dropping the butt to the ground and stamping it out with my shoe. "I've come close way too many times, trust me," I mutter, preparing to step away.
The guy pats me on the shoulder playfully, obviously trying to stop me. "Hey, you seem cool, man. Would you want to go to a party down the street? There's going to be tons of booze and weed there."
I'd just spent my whole paycheck paying rent. I wouldn't be going out or scoring any green for at least two weeks. Now this hot guy was handing me the chance to indulge for free on this absolutely perfect day, when I had nothing else to do? Why the hell not? I looked the frat guy over reluctantly, but I could tell his offer was completely serious.
"Uh, I don't know," I pretend to hesitate. "I just met you five minutes ago."
He smiles as he throws his cigarette down, holding out his palm. "I'm Billy," he introduces as I grasp his hand. "And honestly, some girl I barely know invited me to this an hour ago, so I'm not going to know anyone there either. I think it's going to be all chicks and I could really use some backup."
"Well, I'm Mike," I introduce myself.
"Come on, Mike," he urges, taking a few steps forward and twisting his head back at me. "Come unwind after that long shift, man!"
The guy is so enchanting I can't say no. How could I possibly turn him down? I start following him, shaking my head like I can't believe I'm doing this.
"Yeah, Mike!" Billy whoops. "I knew you were ready to have some fun, bro. You were standing there begging for it!"
"I'm honestly surprised you asked me to come with you. You were just talking about hanging out with a bunch of your friends earlier.
Billy grins. "To be completely honest with you, dude, the chick who invited me has a little coke-and I mean a little. No way I want to share it with a bunch of the bros. No worries if you want a bump, though."
As soon as he says that, I know Billy must be a wild guy. I'd never even done coke, and now I suddenly feel myself hesitating about tagging along. What am I getting myself into? I picture the years of crazy antics this ridiculously hot frat boy has been involved in, and I know he's trouble.
"I'm perfectly content keeping that to myself, man," he adds, seeming to interpret the silence. "You can still drink and smoke your fill. They have good shit there, trust me. Seriously the best."
"Yeah, I'm definitely more cool with that stuff," I answer. Why does Billy seem to want me there so badly? I decide he's just insanely outgoing. He probably randomly meets people like this all time.
"Oh shit!" he calls out. "I forgot there's a Town Pantry over here! I'll pay you back on that smoke right now."
We wander into the convenience store, Billy strolling back to the cooler and picking up a 24 pack of beer. He's holding it up on his shoulder as he struts over to the register.
I watch him smile coolly. "Hey," he greets the girl at the counter, "can I get a pack of American Spirit blue and a few of whatever your best blunt wraps are? And a lighter. One of the good ones."
She diligently reaches up into the display case, pulling out the cigarettes, twisting around to grab the wraps he'd asked for.
"You getting off any time soon?" Billy asks.
I can see him smirking like he wants to fuck her. I can't believe how shameless this guy is, but that's exactly what I'd barged into.
The woman behind the counter laughs like she's drinking up his effortless flirting. "I'll be here for four more hours, babe, if you're still conscious by then."
Billy hands his credit card over, resting his big forearms against the counter. "We might need to come back for more supplies by then," he says, looking over his shoulder at me like I'm complicit. "I bet Mike would love for you to join us.
The clerk looks over at me, seeing the embarrassment on my face, and laughs off Billy's comment like she's heard it a thousand times before. "Sign there for me," she says, pressing the receipt over the counter. "And you boys have a great night."