In a completely ironic but not totally unexpected twist, the only thing that had worked in our relationship was the Frill trip that I'd tried to cancel. It was the biggest music festival of the year, and everybody wanted to go. Including Dan, who stood right in front of me.
"C'mon, Cassidy. You can't get Frill tickets anywhere anymore. I'll pay you double."
"No." After Dan had broken up with me through text, there was no chance I'd give these tickets away, and especially not to him.
"Look, Cass, please understand. Remember Julia from the Paris trip?" I nodded. Yes, of course I remembered Julia; she'd flirted with my boyfriend nonstop, and I spent the two weeks worrying about them instead of exploring my dream city.
Dan waved his hands around animatedly as he continued. "I'm trying to ask her out with these tickets. I promised her we'd go. It was a promise, Cassidy." With his short black hair and obvious lack of smarts, I wasn't sure why I'd ever been attracted to him.
"Yeah, well, you never kept those while we were together. Why start now, huh?" As Dan's face flushed, I quickly continued. My brain began to short-circuit, and all I could do now was lie through my teeth. "Besides, I'm already going—with a date."
I tried not to give myself away under the incredulous look Dan shot me. "You? A date? To Frill?"
"Yes, Dan. I've moved on. And so should you." My mouth was moving of its own accord, and I desperately wanted it to stop before it dug me into a hole that I wouldn't be able to crawl out of.
"Okay. Whatever, Cass." He spoke my name like I was a dead bug.
---
Among the jumping bodies, I felt obviously out of place. I had planned to go for Dan, after all. Not for the first time, I regretted turning down the money. I could have gone shopping again at the new boutique downtown, and treated myself to a few pieces; the white off-the-shoulder top I was wearing how now had been from there, and I vaguely remembered seeing a gorgeous red dress that—
"I am so sorry." First, I heard a deep voice. It sounded pleasantly rugged, after spending so long with Dan as my only male human contact. Next, I turned to lock eyes with blue eyes, vividly similar to the clear blue sky out today, or a huge wave crashing onto a warm beach, with the sun shining and people celebrating. Finally, my senses regained consciousness, and I felt a hot, brown liquid run down my shirt.
"Oh my god." My white top, now ruined, was only more evidence that I didn't belong at Frills. I could tell that blue-eyes was strikingly handsome, now that the initial shock of the coffee had left. As I checked him out—tousled blonde hair, worried dimples, and at least a 6 foot 4 build—coffee continued running through my jean shorts and down my legs. I hadn't wanted Dan to experience any form of happiness at Frills, but it wasn't worth the torture that the universe was now putting my through.
"I—I just—here." Blue-eyed beauty snatched a napkin from passerby, receiving a small woah, dude, and handed it to me sheepishly. I silently grabbed it and began wiping myself off.
I'd officially received the universe's message. Pouring coffee on my white shirt was bad enough, but a cute guy doing it? A cute guy, whom I would barely have been able to talk to anyway, witnessing me with colossal stains that I'd shamefully wipe off in front of him? Absolutely awful. It would be a miracle if I ever left my house ever again.
After a moment of silence, blue-eyed beauty spoke again. "I'm really sorry."
"It's fine." I tried to smile, but it must have came out bitter, because blue-eyed beauty warily walked and sat next to me.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, really. I'm fine. Don't worry." As I spoke, a drunk boy sprinted by, stringers hanging off his arms. I recoiled slightly, and those captivating blue eyes caught it.
"Not really your scene, huh?" he said.
I laughed ironically. "Nah. It's more my ex's thing—see, I got us tickets when we were together, but I couldn't let them go to waste, you know?"
"Yeah? First festival?" he asked. I nodded in reply.
"Well," he continued, "I love Frill. And you know what I think?"
For the first time since I'd arrived, I found myself curious enough so that I wasn't thinking about Dan. "What?"
Blue-eyed beauty stood back up and held a hand out to me. "I think you just haven't experienced Frill with the right people."
The mere seconds that I spent looking at his hand and watching his face felt like hours. I had felt absolutely miserable at Frill; everything about it was a reminder of a relationship that I was no longer in. All the signs pointed to me leaving, now, and returning home to cuddle in bed with a bowl of ramen and some Grey's Anatomy. But, for some reason, I couldn't. Something about this picture, of striking blue eyes, an open beckoning hand, and a sweet, bright smile, had me hooked.
Besides, I was done moping about Dan. If he could see me now, I would want to shock him into oblivion.
I pushed myself up and grasped his hand. The smile, accompanied by subtle dimples, broke out into a full grin.
"My name's Alex," he said. "And I promise I'm not a creepy person, or anything. But you're about to experience the best Frill of your life."
Alex's eyes, which I could not seem to stop staring at, seemed to hold an infinite amount of promise in its gaze. And maybe it did.
"Nice to meet you," I said. "My name's Cassidy."
Our hands shook. "You too," he said. Without letting go, Alex led me into a crowd of people. "My hotel is this way—there's a mall attached to it, and until we buy you something, you can wear my clothes. Just for the time being."
I couldn't help but smile. After my lonely experience at Frill, being with Alex was a breath of fresh air.
---
"Right?" I laughed. I help popcorn in my hands, and I sat on the front of Alex's car, leaning on his body. "So many people hated on that movie. But it set up the next one pretty well, in my opinion."
"And it was hilarious." Alex spoke into my right ear as the sun set in front of us. "I love the franchise."
"Me, too! Let's see the next one together." After five hours of eating cotton candy, riding roller coasters and ferris wheels, and awkward shopping conversations, I truly believed that it wasn't so far-fetched.
Alex chuckled, which made his chest shake from behind me. "Yeah. In 2019. I can't believe they're making us wait that long. The cliffhanger made me want to die."
"Oh, totally," I said. "I guess that just means we'll need to see it opening night."
I felt Alex shift to face me. "Yeah. I guess it does." As he spoke, the sun fell beneath the mountain, illuminating the sky into a canvas of oranges and purples and blues.
I turned to face him as well. I saw his blue eyes, fixed on my mouth, dart up to my eyes and back down. My eyes traveled to his lips as well, and I fully blame him.
I think I leaned in. Or maybe he did. But it didn't matter, because the moment our lips touched? We were absolutely, irreversibly hooked.
