Zara sat on the floor of her dorm room, balling her eyes out. She'd been crying for several hours now and felt like there were no tears left in her. Her throat was sore. Then, a knock on the door. Zara got up off the floor and opened the door to her dorm room, when she was accosted by a massive bear hug. It was Madison.
"You poor thing, I'm so sorry." She embraced her friend. "Hey, look at me- we're gonna get through this."
"Th-thanks." Zara sniffled.
Soon afterwards, Isabella and Priya arrived as well. The three girls sat in Zara's dorm and listened to her recant the story of what happened.
Zara's longtime boyfriend of four years had just broken up with her... over text. He said that he no longer felt the same way and that the distance between them was getting in the way. He was in Ann Arbor and she in Lansing- it just wouldn't work. What a load of shit. Zara knew the truth. He broke up with her because Zara wouldn't put out.
"Damn so you're still a virgin?" Isabella was astonished. "That's fucking crazy."
"Isabella you KNOW I'm a virgin, we went to fucking highschool together!"
"Sorry, I mustn't have been paying attention."
"Anyway, it's not like I didn't, ya know... help him out. There are other ways to satisfy a man."
"Oh, like you cooked for him?" Priya asked, stupidly.
"No, like sucking his cock." japed Isabella.
"Yes, thank you. Basically I'd let him go as far as third base- I just wouldn't let him hit a home run."
Zara was a proud Muslim and wanted to wait until marriage for her first time. Her Somali parents were VERY clear that waiting was the only choice. Otherwise they'd disown her. She wasn't sure if they were bluffing or not, but didn't want to find out.
"Ugh, men are such animals." Madison groaned, still upset from her hookup with Chris. "They'll do anything to 'hit'."
"I know but..." Zara began to tear up again. "I loved him!"
"I know." Madison hugged her. "But now it's time to get over him."
"Yeah! We should go out!" Priya elated. Though, she wished that Madie had hugged her instead.
"Best way to get over someone, is to get under someone." Isabella chimed in.
"No, absolutely not! I am done with men! The last thing I need right now. I just wanna have a good time with my girls!" Zara washed the trauma off her face, did her makeup, tied her hijab and before long was on her way to O'Patrick's Pub with her friends.
***
"No thanks! I can't drink alcohol!" Zara refused the Black man that had offered to buy her a drink. She then turned to Madison, "You know, I never really understood why bars are so loud! I mean, don't you want to hear the person in front of you speaking?"
"I think it's because loud music makes people drink more."
"Maybe it's because guys don't care what we have to say" Isabella joked, pushing out her chest and lifting up her breasts with her hands.
Priya went up to the bar, "Can I get an espresso martini?" Then, drink in hand, she joined the group. Now, sitting at the booth, she sat next to Madie.
A man walked over to the table from the bar and turned towards Zara. "May I buy you a basket of chicken fingers?" He was a white guy in blue jeans and was wearing a baseball cap. Not really Zara's type.
"You know what... sure." That had been the best pickup line Zara had heard all night. Usually guy's would hit on her friends instead of her AND she'd get some free food out of it. She excused herself and followed Dustin over to sit at the bar with him, still within eyeshot of her friends.
"Name's Dustin, yours?"
"Zara." She said, looking into his pretty blue eyes.
"You're a muslim, right?"
"Really?? How could you tell?!"
"By that thing you wear on your head."
"Oh, this?" She pointed to her face. "You mean my hijab? I hardly thought you'd notice." She laughed.
"Well, it's pretty noticeable. Are you a student here?"
"Yeah, I study political science, you?" Zara said, trying to stop her eyes from rolling into the back of her skull. God this guy is dense. She thought.
"I'm getting my bachelor's in business administration. I'm gonna be an entrepreneur after I graduate."
"Well, best of luck with that." Zara said, chicken finger in hand, "I hear 90% or something like that of new businesses fail within the first five years."