Danny:
Hey! Delta Theta Mu is having a party tonight! If you’re free, you should come by!
My finger hovers over the blue send button and I reread the text. I don’t like the way it reads, especially with three exclamation points, so I try again:
Hey! My fraternity is having a party tonight. If you’re free, you should stop by!
My finger hovers, I reread, and this time hit send. My phone makes that little noise and off goes the text.
Abby:
My English paper is not going well. In fact, it’s not going at all – the word document is blank aside from my name and date. I hear my phone go off and I jump on it, another distraction. It’s a text from Danny. Surprisingly, he’s not asking me about the Spanish homework. I put the phone back down and look at the computer screen. I try and type but just delete what I write – I’ve got even less focus now. I pick back up my phone and dial my friend Julie.
“Hey Abs,” Julie answers.
“Are we going out tonight?” I ask.
“It’s Saturday. Is that even a question?”
“Can we stop by Delta Mu?”
“Delta Mu?” A pause. “Why Delta Mu?”
I make a noncommittal sound
“Who do we know in Delta Mu?”
“Well, Danny, I guess.”
“Oh right, the one in your Spanish class.” I hear Julie clicking on her computer keyboard. “I’ve got him on Facebook,” she tells me and I giver her a few seconds to look through the pictures. “He’s cute enough for a good hook up.”
There’s a lull in conversation so Julie fills it: “Come to my room at ten so we can get ourselves nice and pregamed.”
* * *
Danny:
I’m trying to work on my math set but I keep glancing at my phone. I can’t focus so I just stare back and forth between my calculator and phone screen. I manage to waste ten minutes, then fifteen. Finally, my phone responds:
Thanks for letting me know. See you later!
I reread all two texts of our miniature conversation at least five times. There’s no need for me to respond – I’ll see her tonight, talk to her at the party, and hopefully get a chance to ask her to coffee.
* * *
Abby:
“So tell me more about Danny,” Julie stands at her desk, handle of vodka in one hand and bottle of cranberry juice in the other.
“We sit together in Spanish. He’s really sweet, got this cute stutter whenever he raises his hand to talk.”
“So he’s awkward then?”
“He’s not awkward, quiet maybe.”
“Like on a scale of awkward to hot?”
“I mean, he doesn’t come across as very fratty.”
“So he’s awkward?”
“No,” I say. But I shrug.
Julie grips the vodka tighter. “I’ll pour you an extra for good luck.”
* * *
Danny:
I hate the song "We Found Love." Okay, I didn’t used to hate it. But after hearing it over and over again…I check my watch – 11:30 already and still no sign of Abby. I’m standing in the hallway on the top floor of Delta Mu in the middle of a sweating, dancing mosh pit. Okay, I’m not exactly in the middle of it, more watching it from the outside – I’m not a fan of sweaty dancing. I take another sip of the rum and coke in my Solo cup when finally my phone vibrates. It’s a text from Ryan, one of my friends in Delta Mu:
Dude, your girl is at the bar.
Abby:
There’s a line at the bar, which makes me not happy. The closeness is overwhelming. I lean against the wall to catch some fresh air outside the mad crowd of people.
“You good, Abby?” Julie asks me.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
I see Danny walk over and I give him a quick hug.
* * *
Danny:
I see Abby standing with a girl I recognize from her Facebook page. I can’t remember the name though. Abby is leaning against the wall, swaying a little as she stands.
“Danny!” She screams when I walk over and she throws herself at me, giving me a huge hug. Holy crap, the girl is drunk.
She points a finger at her friend. “This is Julie.”
Julie gives me a wave while Abby practically throws her iPhone at me. “Can you get a picture?” She grabs Julie by the shoulders and pulls her in tight for the camera.
* * *
Abby:
“Why the long line,” I point. Julie has already slipped into the crowd so I turn to Danny. “Can you get me another drink?”
“Are you sure you need more?” he asks.
“Whhaddaya mean?”
He does his little stutter thing. “I don’t know.”
“You think I’m drunk, don’t you?”
“No…”
“Yeah, you do!”
I pull my iPhone out and hold it up. The screen is bright and the letters are a little hazy. Shit, I think. I focus on the phone for a minute and tap at the keyboard. I fix Danny with an angry, yet still flirtatious glare. “Check your phone,” I say.
* * *
Danny:
My phone has two text messages. The first reads:
I am so sober than I can text perfectly.
And then the second:
I am sufficiently sober to have more alcohol.
“That’s good, right?” She says. “Not a drunk text at all.”
“Nope,” I say and I’ve got to give the girl props, “not a single misspelling.” We both stand there quiet for a second; Abby sways, and then leans back against the wall. It’s not like I’m sober myself – I’m feeling the tipsiness, Abby is just drunk. “How about we sit for a little?” I try.
* * *
Abby:
Sitting sounds like a great idea. Danny reaches out and I take his hand, interlacing my fingers between his. He leads out the room and down the hall.
“Where are you taking her?” I hear. It’s Julie.
“To sit,” Danny says.
“Where?”
“In my room.”
His room, I think, oh yeah!
“Your room?” Julie crosses her arms. Julie probably thinks I’m too drunk. Fuck off, Julie, I want to say. Get out the way.
“It’s on this floor,” he says, and then sounding frustrated and so stuttering again. “I keep it open for parties so there’s lots of people there. You could join us if you like.”
* * *
Danny:
We sit down together on my futon, which is currently in couch position. Julie left us once she saw the crowded room. After we walked in, I had to kick people off the couch. I gladly did this one, because it’s my room, and two, because I’m tipsy. I reach back, open my mini fridge, and grab a bottle of water. “You want some?” I ask Abby.
* * *
Abby:
This kid must think I’m absolutely trashed. No, I don’t need any fucking water. I don’t want any fucking water. What I want his tongue in my mouth. “No,” I say looking at the bottle of water, “I don’t.”
He grabs a second bottle. “I’ll have some too,” he says.
“Fine.” I take the fucking water bottle and drink a long gulp. It tastes good so I take another sip. I scoot over on the couch so that I’m sitting closer to Danny. Our knees are touching and my feet are over his. All he has to do is lean in.
But instead he angles his body away from me and he starts trying to talk! He’s asking me questions about class, about how my night is, about this and that. Stuttering and jabbering about stuff that I don’t give two fucks about. I scoot closer so the dumbass can just lean in but he keeps trying to talk.
He says something about how he found this new coffee shop in Evanston that’s really good and has really good desserts. I can’t handle this shit. He asks if want another sip of water, which is the final straw. I fumble with my phone and shoot a text to Julie:
Save me bitch!
* * *
Danny:
I look up and Julie is standing over us. “Come on Abby,” she says, “let’s go.”
“Go where?” Abby frowns.
“To Alpha Lambda. Courtney and Zoey want us to meet them.”
“Can’t we stay here?” Abby crosses her arms in a pout.
“We have to go find them,” Julie says.
Abby looks at me.
I stand up and then help Abby up. “You guys can go,” I say, “no worries. I wouldn’t want you to have to split up or anything.”
“See,” says Julie.
Abby gives me hug goodnight, squeezing my arms as she does. When she talks, her mouth is right up against my ear. “Thanks, Dan,” she says.
* * *
Abby:
I clamber down the stairs using Julie as support.
“It was definitely time to fucking frat hop,” Julie says. “What a jerk.”
“He wasn’t a jerk, I was just getting bored. And he was treating me like an invalid, which was really fucking annoying.”
“He was a jerk,” says Julie. “He invites you to his party, takes you to his room so that you can’t flirt with anyone else, and then he doesn’t even make a move.”
I stop walking because I have to take a moment to consider Julie’s comment. “You’re right,” I agree, “what a jerk.”
We make our way down the quad to Alpha Lambda. The guy at the door is one of Julie’s close friends and he lets us right in.
“Where are Courtney and Zoey?” I ask her.
“I don’t fucking know. I don’t think they even went out tonight.”
I find that hilarious and start both sobbing and laughing. I’m hooking up in a corner with this guy named John or Jim or whoever-the-fuck-J in a matter of thirty seconds. It’s that fucking easy.
* * *
Danny:
“I think it went well,” I tell Ryan. I’ve found him in line for the bar.
“Good,” he says. “She had fun?”
“Yep, I’ll text her for coffee tomorrow.”
* * *
Abby:
After hooking up with Jim or John or whoever-the-fuck for thirty minutes I am now vomiting in Alpha Lambda’s bathroom.
* * *
Danny:
It’s the next morning. I send Abby a text at half past noon. I don’t even bother trying to work. I stare at my phone for ten minutes, fifteen, and then twenty. I pull out my math set even though I can’t focus. Abby finally responds two hours later. I just don’t get it.
* * *
Abby:
My phone pings with a text from Danny:
Last night was fun. Let me know if you’re free this week for coffee.
The details of last night are hazy, but I’ve remembered the key one with help from Julie: Whoever-the-fuck-J was really, really hot. I give it two hours and then respond to Danny: This week is really crazy for me. Sorry.