Bridgette’s alarm blared in her face as she groaned and pulled the pillow over her head. She had promised her best friend Harper that she’d be at the gym bright and early this morning for her boot camp class. All of the images of drowning her sorrows in vodka last night were coming back to her on in the form of a freight train of regret and a pounding headache. She was tempted to text Harper and make up an excuse but instead she pulled her hungover ass out of bed and crawled to the bathroom.

Harper and Bridgette had been friends since middle school. They grew up down the street from one another. They had met the on the bus the first day of 7^th grade and had been inseparable ever since. They went to the same high school but attended different universities, Bridgette staying local at the University of Illinois and Harper going to college in Michigan. They still talked and texted every day throughout college and had made plans to move to Chicago together after graduation.

Harper had recently left her corporate job to pursue her dream of being a personal trainer and fitness instructor. Today was her first day teaching the super intense full body boot camp class her high end gym was known for and Bridgette had promised to come support her and join in on the hellish torture.

She hoped a quick body shower and some very vigorous teeth brushing would mask any evidence of her very hungover state. She pulled her long, chocolate brown locks into a pony tail, shimmied and squeezed her way into some leggings and a sports bra and ran out the door.

“OH MY GOD,” Harper said as Bridgette strolled in to class. “You don’t even need to tell me you’re hungover because you look like you got hit by a bus and dragged a few blocks and you smell like a frat house.” Bridgette sniffed herself and furrowed her brow, seems like the shower did little to mask the stench of last night. Harper couldn’t help but show the disappointment she felt on her face. “I don’t know what happened last night but I’m telling you right now I’m not taking it easy on you today. You might want to get a spot in the back in case you puke.”

Bridgette understood her frustration and tried to be sympathetic. “Hey I’m here aren’t I?! Look I made some stupid choices last night which we can discuss over brunch after this, but I promise I’ll still bring it this morning. I may be hungover as shit but I’ll still put these Lululemon wearing, yoga moms to shame.” She said as she flipped her pony tail and grabbed a spot in the back of the class.

Over the next hour Bridgette cycled through several phases. One minute she felt like she was probably a shade of green and about to puke last night’s decisions all over the room and the next she felt like she was on cloud nine, running on endorphins and feeling like she could flip a car. This class was torture but in the most euphoric and addictive way. She actually felt a thousand times better than when she arrived, she was sure it was because she sweat out the remaining alcohol.

“So? What’d you think? I thought I’d find you dead halfway through class but you looked like you were going to rip someone’s head off back there!” Harper had finished up saying goodbye to the rest of the class and was cleaning and putting away the exercise mats as she talked to Bridgette.

“It was incredible! I definitely want to add this to my routine, I’m going to be in kick ass shape in no time!” Bridgette wiped the sweat off her face, “plus it helped me sweat out the booz and I may have been fueled by my recent breakup.”

Harper spun around, “Breakup?! Oh no! What happened Bridge? You know I never liked that guy!” she said mater-of-factly as she pointed a finger at her friend. Bridgette laughed a little remembering Luke had said the same thing last night.

“Yeah, yeah you and Luke both. I’ll explain over brunch so hurry up. I’m heading to the showers. Thanks again for the class Harper, honestly it was kick ass and you’re an amazing instructor. So proud of you for taking the leap to pursue your dreams, boss bitch!” She punched her fist in the air as she jumped up and kicked a leg out then scurried off to the locker room.

The girls finished cleaning up and headed out to a local brunch spot. “Mmmm, my soul needed that.” Bridgette took a long sip from her coffee and relished in the warm liquid running down her throat.

“Okay so tell me what happened?” Harper gestured with her hands and raised her eyebrows dramatically. Bridgette spent the next few minutes giving her a rundown of the phone call she had with Bret and how Luke had come over afterward to cheer her up.

“Ok first of all, what an ass bag for breaking up with you over the phone that is inexcusable and says a lot about his character and maturity. More importantly though, how are you doing? I know you guys had only dated for a few months but you seemed to really like the guy.”

“Yeah we had fun, he was nice to look at,” she said with a coy smile. “The truth is I’m not so heartbroken that we broke up, I didn’t think he was the love of my life or anything but I’m just so tired of getting dumped.” She flicked the hash browns around her plate, wallowing in her self-pity for a moment. “I know it’s not all on him, I have a history of picking the wrong guys. I just don’t understand why it’s so hard to find someone! I’m tired of the game Harper.”

“Well, I think a lot of us women can commiserate with you there. I know you get weirdly panicked thinking you’ll end up alone with 15 cats—and don’t say you don’t, I know you do!—but I know you’ll find someone when the time is right. We’re only 27 so we have plenty of time and besides F the pressure from society to fine ‘the one’ and settle down. Do what makes YOU happy! In the meantime, how did Luke make you feel better?” She said with a smirk. She had teased Bridgette about Luke since the first day of freshman year. “Did he console you? Maybe offer to bang the memory of Bret out of you?”

Bridgette rolled her eyes, “God no! He brought pizza and beer over and let me cry it out. One of these days you need to get over this weird obsession you have with him and me hooking up or whatever.” She flipped her hand in the air as she took another large gulp of coffee. “OH!” She exclaimed almost choking, “I almost forgot he said he’d go with me to our 10 year reunion! I think that was another thing that had me upset about the breakup…showing up to our reunion alone.”

“Uh excuse me? I’m going alone…well actually I thought you and I were going together?” Harper’s look of frustration was written all over her face.

“We are! Luke said he’d drive down with us and it would also give him a chance to see his family. His brother just had his second kid so he’d like to go visit with them.” She took the last bite of her breakfast and pushed her plate back. “Well, looks like I just completely negated that workout.”

“You’re a twig, one giant breakfast won’t change that. So, the plan is still we drive down together? I kind of feel like a third wheel now that you have a date…I wonder if I could convince Jason to go with me.”

“You’re ex Jason? The guy who tried to sleep with your sister?! Yeah Harper that’s a great plan! Talk about my bad judgement in men!” She flailed her arms around wildly.

“Hey he was going through some serious stress at work and had a bit of a breakdown! I’m not excusing his behavior by any means but he’s still a nice person and we’re friends.”

Bridgette suddenly shot up in her chair with a huge grin on her face. “What about Grant? Luke’s best friend. I know he’s single and you’ve met him a few times at softball games and when we’ve gone out for happy hours!”

Harper shrugged her shoulders, “I dunno Bridge, I’d feel weird having to hang out with someone I don’t really know and make small talk.”

“Come on he’ll be talking to Luke the entire time I’m sure, this way they can be entertained with each other and we can do whatever we want, but we still show up with dates so we don’t look like sad, lonely 27 year olds.” She said with a fake smile plastered across her face. “Let me just find out what he’s up to that weekend and see if he’s available, sound good?”

“Yeah I guess, can’t hurt. Why is he single anyway? He’s one tasty snack, I can’t imagine he has a hard time finding women.”

Bridgette laughed at her comments, “Ya know…I’m not sure. I know he’s dated quite a bit in the past but I haven’t seen him with anyone in some time. Luke doesn’t usually share too much about his friend’s personal life but I should pry…see what kind of dirt I can dig up.” She said as she rubbed her hands together.

“Well don’t do it on my behalf, I was just curious. No intentions there.” She put her hands up in the air to emphasize her point. “Okay so anyway, I need to get back to work. I have two more classes to teach today and then I have some client meetings so I need to get a move on. Thanks for brunch and again I’m sorry about Bret. I know you’re already over him but still I know it hurts. We’ve all been there girl, I’m here for you.” She stood up and pulled her friend into a warm embrace. “Alright I’m outta here. I’ll call you later, love ya doll.”

Bridgette said goodbye and picked up her gym bag to head home. What started out as a horrible weekend was turning around pretty quickly. She was super excited that her closest friends would be going with her to her reunion. She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Luke: Hey, got a quick second? Have an idea I’d like to run by you.

A few moments later her phone rang and Luke’s name appeared on the screen. “Hey thanks for the quick response! I have an idea but need your input. So, what’s Grant’s story?”