Vanessa stood in the mirror, fidgeting with her hair, turning this way & that. She was happy with her outfit - a tight white tank top & short - but not too short - pastel pink skirt with ivory heels. It was the right balance between casual but not lazy. & she had no need for anything but basic make up. A little foundation, a little eyeliner, no lipstick. But her hair. She couldn't get the hair right. Ponytail. Tied up. Free-flowing. Ugh!!!
She heard a car pull up in the driveway next door. Predictably, she rushed to the window. Below she saw her neighbour, Chris, get out with one of his friends & walk into the house. Chris' family had been her parents' friends for as long as anyone could remember. & for as long as she could remember, Vanessa had been hopelessly, hopelessly infatuated with Chris.
Now 19, Vanessa had spent her adolescence producing all sorts of paraphernalia surrounding a dramatic, imagined love affair with Chris. Drawings, journal logs, & she never stopped talking about him to her closest friends, Michelle & Katie. Chris was 26, a tall, athletically muscular type - he worked with weights, but didn't overdo it. More importantly, he had the most devastating hazel eyes. Vanessa was careful to look at Chris only when she felt safe he didn't notice, but whenever they were speaking face to face, she made no effort to avoid eye contact. She had made a pathetic, childish attempt at his attentions three years earlier - she cringed thinking about it - but she was a totally different gi --- woman, now. & the party they were going to tonight was her chance to prove it.
She finally settled on having her hair down in a long, platted ponytail. Vanessa was half-Asian, half-White, & she was quite striking in the distinct way Eurasian girls often turned out to be. Her skin was fair, with almond eyes & a faint smattering of freckles. She wasn't athletic & only jogged occasionally, but she was in naturally good shape. Being a little taller than most Asian girls - 5'7" - she was happy with her fairly long legs, but her chest was a little smaller than she would have liked at a B. Still, she had been given cause for hope that Chris at least might be interested in her now, because she had seen two Asian girls leaving his place in the past month.
Vanessa herself wasn't very experienced sexually - she'd been with only two guys, one she'd lost her virginity to not long after her humiliating effort to woo Chris a few years ago, & one she'd spent nine months with in an unfulfilling relationship the past year. She wasn't short on attention in the bars & clubs, but her heart being set on Chris aside, Vanessa knew she just wasn't the most sexual person. She had to change that, though, because Chris obviously was, if the stream of women his age who came & went from his house was anything to go by. She was determined to prove she could be what he wanted. She just absolutely knew they were destined to be together.
9pm came & Vanessa joined Michelle & Katie as they drove to the party. She knew Chris was popular, he probably wouldn't show up alone. Still, if she could just GET him alone somehow...
"He's over there!" Katie giggled excitedly, turning her back to Chris & his friends to tell Vanessa & Michelle.
"It looks like he's just here with his mates" Michelle said. Vanessa inwardly thanked God. This was kismet. Fate or not, though, she suddenly felt the weight of the situation upon her shoulders. It was one thing to show up & look for him, even for him to be alone, & quite another to actually be presented with the moment. Now it was upon her, she felt her nerve falter. She spent the next hour & a half stalling & changing the subject, occasionally looking for courage in the bottom of a red plastic cup. When he left the guys in the direction of the house's back garden, the girls decided Vanessa needed a push. "C'mon! You're lucky he's even here alone" Michelle contended.
"She's right, you have to go now," Katie said. "Don't even think about it. Just go for it." Vanessa couldn't argue. It really was now or just going back to watching women leave his house & wishing she was them from her bedroom window. She took a breath & made for the balcony overlooking the yard. Walking down the stairs into the garden, she followed the trail under the archway & walked along the path. It was such a cute little out of the way place here, a kind of mini-maze, like their own personal location.
"Chris?" she called out. She heard him reply from the next bend & followed. She rounded the corner & felt her heart skip a beat as she came face to face with Chris sitting on a sandstone bench, partly illuminated by small lights pierced into the surrounding gravel. "Hi," she smiled nervously, immediately realising how timid & pathetic she sounded. "What are you doing out here? Are you okay?" He looked at her oddly.
"Yeah. Just...dealing with peoples' bullshit."
"Girl trouble?" she asked, hoping to probe his personal life.
"Yeah." he said.
"I know how you feel" she said empathetically. She was a little wounded when he let out a laugh.
