Self Help

Slumming it

Life after Nathan was a bit lonely, but I also felt incredibly relieved. I hadn't realized how much pressure I'd been feeling from our relationship and the strain it was putting on me.

For the first time in a loooong time, I was single. The last time I'd been alone I'd been in highschool. I was getting to know myself now as a young adult, living in the city, managing the stresses of work and University, learning how to pay bills for the first time on my own. To say I had my plate full with other things would be an understatement. So, for a while life flew by and I didn't give much thought to my relationship status.

My long distance relationship with Aidan during my first year of University had assisted me in developing a strong work ethic. I'd been so busy waiting for phone calls and Skype dates that doing my school work diligently had come naturally. After all, you can only sit on Facebook for so long before even essays become appealing. After my success in first year I felt incredible pressure to keep it up. 

I balanced this intense drive to success at school with weekends spent drinking and dancing. Being raised by a police officer, I'd always followed the rules and hadn't drank much under age (with a few exceptions like prom). Now, living downtown and free as a bird, I went out sometimes 2 or 3 nights a week, and to be honest, it took me a good while to really learn my limits. Looking back, these were some of the most fun nights of my life, but even a few years later I can't imagine the stamina I had to do that every weekend.

On one of these nights, just another Friday, I was out at a house party. I'd gone with a few friends but soon found myself surrounded by strangers. I gravitated to a handsome guy with a crooked smile leaning against a wall, right on the edge of a large group of revelers. We made eye contact and I smiled, but just seconds later the room filled with a gaggle of party goers in from the porch and he was lost.

About an hour later, I found myself seperated from my friends and somehow now in charge of a very drunk girl I'd met in the line for the bathroom. She was very friendly and talkative but hardly able to stand up. I couldn't seem to find anyone who she'd came with, so I resigned myself to the reality that I'd probably spend the rest of the night babysitting. I sat with her on the floor of the upstairs hallway, listening to her babble incesantly about her outfit. I turned for what felt like one second, and she had disappeared. Leaving her shoe behind.

What the hell was I supposed to do now?

It was cold, and I knew she shouldn't go far without it. As I stood, probably with a perplexed expression on my face, I felt eyes on me. And there he was, with the same crooked smile.

"I'm James," he introduced. "Need a hand?"

I introduced myself and explained the situation. James had dirty blonde hair and deep brown eyes, with a gentle smattering of freckles above the bridge of his nose. There was something mischievous about his smile that drew me in, and an ease in our conversation that came so naturally. We made flirty small talk while we checked every room of the party, looking for the drunk girl, Dez, on each floor.

Finally we found her, talking the ear off a poor unsuspecting frat boy. After reuniting Dez with her shoe, I was eager to get back to James. Just minutes after I was free and able to devote my full attention to him, my friends showed up ready and eager to go home. I entered my number into James' cell and he promised to call. I gave him a quick peck on the cheek as my friend grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door.

Walking home that night, I had butterflies in my stomach, and my thoughts were filled with optimism and possibility as I fell asleep.

James did text me and we ended up meeting up, both with our group of friends, the next Friday night at a bar downtown. We were drinking and dancing all night - I played coy while he was doting and showered me with attention. I met his best friend and his girlfriend and they seemed hopelessly cool, whispering to each other in hushed tones and decked out head to toe in hipster clothing.