Alex
Did you hear about the constipated mathematician?
He worked out this problem with a pencil.
It was a number two pencil.
I know, hilarious. I crack myself up. Get it? Crack?
I’ll give you a second to wipe the tears of laughter from your eyes.
Anyway, that’s me. Alex Watson. Built like a brick shithouse, VP of the most popular frat on campus, a linebacker on the football team and everyone’s favorite funny guy. Oh, I also race cars. But we’ll get to that later.
I’m the guy who always has something to say or a joke to tell, make everyone laugh. You know that guy. You’ve met him. The Joker. The lovable idiot. The talker.
So, it’s weird how I can’t think of a single thing to say to this girl. I saw her the second she stepped into the room, and I’ve been following her around the frat house for the past half an hour. She’s not my usual type. I’m totally kidding. Human, with a pulse, and sober enough to consent is my type. And she falls directly into that category. But she’s the hottest pulse I’ve ever seen in my life. All auburn hair and big tits and bubble butt. It’s like she stepped right out of one of my wet dreams.
Fuck, I’ve lost her again.
Did I mention she was short? I mean, everyone is short in my world, but this one especially so.
I frown and scan the crowd of dancing bodies on the floor. I’m tall enough to see over all of them but, she’s so short she disappears as soon as I look away for a single second. I could just talk to her when I see her but, yeah… like I said, I have no idea what to say to her.
The girl needs to have a beacon attached to her.
Oh, my god. I’m a fucking genius.
I rip a single red balloon from where it’s attached to a bunch on a table.
I know what you’re thinking. Who still has balloons at a college party? I know, right? But whatever, I’m glad they’re here.
I take my red balloon and make my way through the crowd. I spot her on the other side of the hallway, head bent over her phone. People are milling all around her, waiting for the bathroom or making out against a wall, but she’s oblivious to all of them. I edge closer to her through the crowd, but as soon as I’m behind her, three giggling girls block my way. My jaw ticks in annoyance, only the back of her arm and a piece of the bag over her shoulder are visible to me now. One of the girls’ stumbles, and her friends jostle around trying to keep her standing. I take my chance, and pressing my back against the wall as stealthily as I can, I tie the balloon around one of the straps of her bag. And then I disappear back into the crowd of dancers. I head over to the drinks table and gulp down a glass of Dutch courage. As soon as she gets out of that bathroom, I’m going to talk to her. Now I just need to figure out what to say.
Are you religious? Because you’re the answer to all my prayers. No?
Are you a parking ticket? ‘Cause you’ve got fine written all over you. No, yeah, I hear you. Too unoriginal.
Kiss me if I’m wrong, but dinosaurs still exist, right? No again? Okay, can you guys just give me a fucking break? I’m not this guy. I’m not afraid of talking to chicks. I always know what to say.
Shit, there she is.
I’m halfway through my second beer when I see her. Or rather, I spot the balloon bobbing above the crowd, heading in the opposite direction to me. I take the last two gulps of my beer, slam the red cup down on the table and head over.
“Hi,” I manage to edge out when I reach her. Her back is still to me; head still bent over her phone. I clear my throat and try again. “Hey, I haven’t seen you around here before.” She lifts her eyes in a glance that doesn’t quite reach my face. “Are you new here?” She continues making her way through the milling students, and I stand here feeling confused. Did she even hear me? I sigh and go after her. “This party is kinda wild, huh?” She shrugs one shoulder and continues typing on her phone, barely looking up to see where she’s going. “Are you a student here? I’ve never seen you before.” I get a grunt this time, I frown. “Wait, are you deaf?”
I mean, is she?
I wonder if there is some kind of sign language course I could take, and how long that would take to learn.
I keep following her around the room, though. Maybe she really is deaf, and she uses the phone to communicate, but then I see her head lift and watch as she laughs at something some girl says to her. I frown. Is she ignoring me? She can’t be ignoring me. Nobody ignores me. I watch as the other girl walks off, and take the two steps I need to get to her. “Hey, I’ve been trying to...”
“OMG, what do you want?” She says to her phone.
“Um,” comes my genius reply. “I...”
“Yes?” Is she talking to her phone or me? “What do you want?”
I frown again, feeling slightly foolish and a lot annoyed.
“For you to notice me.” Her head lifts in surprise as she looks at me and I wait for the inevitable to happen. An easy smile spreads across my face as I wait for her eyes to glaze over and her chest to push out. Girls always react to me; they only need to look at me to get that spark in their eyes that tells me they’re interested. And they’re always interested.
“Ok,” she blinks up at me with a sigh. “And now that I have?”
I suck in a breath when her eyes meet mine. I can’t quite make out the shade of them. Somewhere between blue and green, but all I know is those eyes are pinning me to the spot and doing weird things to my heartbeat. The look in her eyes is expectant. Like she’s waiting for a small child to count out how old he is on his fingers.
“Twenty-one.”
“What?” Her eyes dart across the room looking for a way to escape no doubt, because I just came off like an insane person.
“I mean, did you know dinosaurs still exist?” Her eyes flit back to me. Fuck. Me. “I mean, can I get you a drink?” She looks unsure but then something washes over her expression, and she nods.
“Yeah?” I smile again. “Great. Okay. Yeah. I’m just gonna…” I point my thumb over my shoulder. “Just wait here.” I turn and hurry over to the keg in the kitchen nearby. I fill up two cups and turn around to head back over. But she’s gone again. Obviously, she only agreed to a drink to get me to go away so she can make her escape.
I let out a heavy sigh.
“What are you looking for?” I spare Brant a quick glance and then frown back into the crowd. I didn't even notice when I came to stand beside him. We’ve been besties since freshman year, bonded over chicks and drink. He’s about as big of a whore as I am. Well, he was until he met Abby and now he’s all one girl all the time. Annoying, but I’m happy for him.
“Red balloon,” I mumble.
“Disappear on you?”
I nod. “But I’ll find her.” I ignore his surprised expression and continue to look for the red balloon.
“So…” There’s amusement in his voice. “That one, huh?”
“Yep,” I nod. “That one.”
I push off the counter and go in search of her for the fifth time tonight. I search every room in the house, even barge in on people fucking in the bathroom, but she’s nowhere to be found. I look around the living room when I come back down the stairs, and head towards the back porch. This is the first party our frat is giving to celebrate the new year. It’s still too cold for people to have taken the party outside, but this is a last-ditch attempt at finding her. And it pays off.
As soon as I open the door, I see her. She’s standing against the railing of the porch, tying something onto the string of the balloon. I watch as she lets go of it and then holding onto the railing, lifting her head to watch it go up and disappear into the night sky.
“What did you just do?” She startles and clutches her chest as she looks back at me. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” I give her a wry smile. She shrugs and then waves me off in a gesture for me not to worry about it, but she doesn’t try to leave again.
“Everything okay?” I take a couple of steps toward her.
“Yeah,” she shrugs again. “Just noisy in there.” She smiles. She actually smiles at me. I shove my hands into the pockets of my jeans and look down, trying to get a hold of the feelings that a simple smile has raging inside me.
“So, the balloon?” I ask again.
“Oh,” she lets out a sheepish laugh. “Someone tied a balloon to my bag. My dad used to say that if you found a balloon, you can make a wish. If you tie your wish to it and let it go, maybe it will come true.” I didn’t even notice coming to a stand next to her, but now that I’m here my brain is total mush. I can’t think of anything to say, so I don’t. I just look at her face. Unbelievably, she’s even more beautiful this close. Her skin is a perfect shade of peaches and cream, those eyes of hers, so bright and clear.
“Where did you come from?” I mumble and then catch myself when I realize that was out loud. “I mean, are you new here?”
“Yeah, transferred in this year.” We look at each other in silence.
“Anyway, listen,” she looks back out onto the back lawn. “I’m sorry I was so rude to you earlier, I was mad at my boyfriend because I couldn’t find him. He told me to come here and he just...” she gestures into the air but then only shrugs.
Wait. Boyfriend? She has a boyfriend?
“Boyfriend?” I reply dumbly. I swear I’m not always this much of an idiot.
“Yeah, well, I better get back inside.” She pushes away from the railing, but her foot trips over an uneven piece of wood. I catch her and pull her to me. Big mistake, cause her scent slams into me like a freight train. Sugar and spice. Like cookies. I’m hungry.
“Are you ok?” Why am I whispering? I clear my throat and swallow against the sensation of her body plastered to mine.
“Yeah, sorry. I can be a klutz sometimes.” She shoves away from me and heads inside. I’m too much of an idiot to do anything about it.
“Wait!” I call after her, and she turns to me. “What did you wish for?”
“It’s silly,” she laughs sheepishly.
“Hey, I’m the guy who just told you dinosaurs still exist.”
She bites her lip and considers me for a second. “I wished that I could make a difference in someone’s life this year.”
“Wait,” I call after her again, but it’s too late. I never got her name.