geed | clairo

seven

lara hated drinking. she made this clear to me as i poured my third cup of jungle juice. thankfully, i saw jesse and joanne in the kitchen by themselves, so i decided to introduce her to them instead of catching flack for my drinking habits.

jesse was sipping a beer while joanne was in the midst of telling a story about how she almost died while diving during her freshman year here.

"i mean, i just hit my head so hard and it hurt like hell!" joanne's hands were doing the talking for her. lara and i walked into the kitchen and joanne's face lit up even more while jesse seemed to tense up.

"hey paul. hi lara," greeted jesse, his voice soft and quiet. lara waved shyly at him and diverted her attention to the other side of the room.

"you guys know each other?" i asked.

"yeah, jesse used to tutor me in, uh, biology," explained lara. i nodded while jesse took a gulp of his beer.

"i love your jean jacket! where did you get it from?" squealed joanne.

"i thrifted it from that shop uptown a few weeks ago!" replied lara excitedly, seeming to want any excuse to get away from jesse.

"paul, brady wants to see you for a sec. let's find him," said jesse, leading me away from joanne and lara. we walked out of the kitchen and through the living room, reaching the slightly hidden staircase that led upstairs to the rooms of the guys who lived in the house. jesse opened the door to brady's room, waited for me to walk in and then closed the door behind him, locking it.

"god, why'd you have to bring her to the party?" questioned jesse, running a hand through his hair.

"lara?"

"we were kind of a thing two years ago until she stopped answering my calls and texts."

"she ghosted you?"

"yeah and she had the fucking nerve to pretend nothing was wrong just now," explained jesse.

"are you still into her? i won't talk to her anymore if it makes you uncomfortable."

"i'm not into her anymore, i just don't want her to ghost you and fuck up your life too." god, i sure knew how to pick 'em.

"um, georgia asked if you were coming to the party. you should go meet up with her. she's really nice," suggested jesse. i nodded and we left brady's room.

georgie was wearing a t-shirt with a mixture of pink and white paired with navy pants. she was sitting on the sofa next to brady, holding a beer and seemed incredibly bored. i approached her and waved at her, getting her attention immediately. she smiled at me and stood up, completely unbeknownst to brady who continued to drunkenly ramble.

"fine time for you to show up here," said georgie, her smile still wide.

georgie smith was simply sweet. she tutored middle schoolers in her free time, was the part of the reason her sorority broke several campus philanthropic records last semester and had a literal heart of gold. so why wasn't i in love with her?

"you know what they say: fashionably late makes for a popular mate," i joked.

"your hair looks really nice tonight. is there product in it?" asked georgie, reaching towards my head and gently twirling a lock of my hair with her index finger and thumb. i lightly swatted her hand away and nodded.

"mousse."

"mousse? god, you have to use some for the semi next week," said georgie.

"will do."