The music is blaring against the walls of the house. Outside, we walk up the driveway, asphalt crunching beneath our heels. “What’s up with Michael?” Josie asks me, before opening the door. I shrug. “Come on, I know you texted him.”

“I honestly didn’t,” I say. “I’m here for you tonight. I’ll stay for an hour and then I’m leaving.”

“Fine,” she sighs. I open the door and a billow of fog comes pouring out. The music grows a hundred times louder. College kids are sitting on the couch getting wasted. Some are dancing. Others are standing around, smoking cigarettes with men and women. Everyone is trying to get lucky tonight. Only a few will go home with someone. The rest will head home alone, feeling absolutely defeated.

“Where the hell is he?” Josie asks.

“Maybe he’s outside,” I suggest.

Secretly, I reach into my purse and click open my phone. “Miss me?” It’s James. He has finally responded to me. I click my phone shut and close my purse. He’s annoying me. He can wait.

We walk past the sliding glass doors, past the beer pong losers, and head outside toward the bonfire in the backyard. “There he is,” she says, waving at her guy. His eyes light up and he smiles like he’s containing a secret of sorts. “Isn’t he cute?”

“Sure. He’s cute,” I say.

“Miss me?” he asks her. I nearly burst out laughing when I hear him say that. Is that some pick up line every guy uses with a new girl or something. I look at my phone again and James has texted me a second time. It’s a simple question mark and it’s staring back at me.

“Maybe a little bit,” I quickly type.

“Not really, but I did have fun the other night,” Josie tells Jarod. “Jarod, this is my friend, Olivia.”

“Good to meet you,” he says. His eyes quickly move from me, back to her. “So, about the letter. I’m sorry. I kind of got a little dramatic there.”

“Tell me about it,” Josie says.

“Can we talk in private?” he asks her. His eyes look at me in the peripheral.

“Don’t mind me,” I laugh and walk over to the sidewall of the backyard.

I grab my phone and lean against the cold brick. “Why don’t you come by my place tonight?” he says.

I laugh to myself and shake my head. Not going to happen. If he really wants to see me again, he’s going to have to try harder than that. “To talk?” I text him.

“We could do more than that,” he immediately responds.

“What about the restaurant? You don’t want to wine and dine me anymore?” I ask him.

“It’s too late for that. We can get breakfast in the morning. I’ll wine and dine you anytime, woman,” he says.

“Prove it,” I text him.

Three dots light up on my screen. He’s typing. Almost a minute later, I get a picture response. It’s a picture of a nice table layout. There are two wineglasses, a fork and a knife, and three hundred-dollar bills. “Good enough?” he asks.

“Getting there,” I say. Okay, he’s got me. The offer is tempting. But not tonight.

“Olivia!” Josie calls out to me. She waves me over. “Come hang out with me!”

At this point, Jarod has mingled back to his friends, although I’m not sure why. When I walk up, I tell her, “I can’t stay here much longer, Josie. You know how much I hate these things.”

In the front corner of the backyard is a wild pack of frat boys and they’re all loudly screaming over each other. One of them has a can of unopened Coors in his hand. He gathers the troops and makes a grand announcement. It’s something along the lines of: “I’m going to down this whole can in less than three seconds!”

The whole party cheers in support, as if it’s the biggest feat known to man. The guy sticks a key into the side of the can and opens it. He greedily slurps the beer and four seconds later it’s gone. Everyone cheers and I seem to be the only one who doesn’t appreciate that he didn’t complete his real objective of downing it in less than three seconds.

“Stupid,” I mutter to myself.

“You’re such a buzz kill,” Josie says.

I ignore her and look over at Jarod, who is now talking to some bimbo who is scantily clad and very eager to agree with him on every talking point. “What happened with Jarod?” I ask her.

She rolls her eyes and groans to herself. “Oh, I don’t fucking know. I said one thing and he got all pissed off,” she says. “Men. You know? They’re so easily hurt.”

“Well, it’s not as if he was the one, or something. What did you say?” I ask her.

“I said that he needed to chill out on the letter thing. I think I damaged his poor, little ego,” she says. “Oops. Sorry, bud.”

“Men are weird,” I laugh. “Seriously though, I’m going to go. You want to get out of here or what?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugs and looks back at Jarod. “I think I’m going to stay. He’s all angry now and I love that angry sex. You go ahead. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Suit yourself,” I say. We hug and I dip out of the party as fast as I can. As soon as I pull out, the cops arrive to the driveway. Thank God.

At the stop sign, I grab my phone and check it. More question marks from James. “Alright,” I type, “I’ll come over. But this is friendly. No trying to get wild.”

“I’ll be a good boy,” he says.

So I turn the car around and head in the direction the maps tell me to take. This is a dumb idea, but as long as he keeps his hands to himself, things will be okay. Who knows? Maybe he’s a really good guy who just wants to get to know me better? Maybe he’s boyfriend material…