I'm Restless, Obsessed With Your Future

Alex shakes his head as he searches for his wallet. “I don’t get this girl.”

“I don’t either,” Jack admits. “But that’s probably what I like about her. She’s new. Different.”

“Yeah, but she’s not even into you.”

“That’ll change.”

“Ha!” Alex exclaims, though in no specific direction. He’s still looking around frantically. The drawers, the floor, the bed, the sheets, the pillows, everywhere; no wallet to be found. “Jack, I hate to be a dick friend, but if she was ever going to suck your dick, it had to be that night with the girl so drunk that she wouldn’t even remember.”

Jack scoffs and leans against the wall behind him. “Well, first of all,” he starts. “You’re always a dick friend, so no need to apologize.” He hopes Alex will be phased by this, but isn’t surprised when he gets no reaction. “I’m just saying, she will.”

“She won’t.”

“How do you know?”

“You’ll give up.”

He ponders this response. “What?”

Alex sighs, pausing his search in order to find the right words to say. “She said she doesn’t trust anybody.”

“Lots of girls say that after a bad break-up,” says Jack.

“Yeah, but she meant it.”

“More than any other girl?”

“Look,” Alex snaps as he looks up to Jack for the first time in about three minutes. “She said she was ‘testing’ herself with her last boyfriend. She didn’t trust him. She never did. This is deeper than the usual bullshit girls spit out.” He waits for an understanding response, something Jack can’t give him quite yet. So he continues. “She’s not going to let her guard down as easily as you expect her to. The way I see it, she’s had these issues for a while. And some asshole fucked her up and made her this way.”

Once Alex goes back to wandering around his wallet-less room, Jack begins to analyze what Dessa said to him. They laughed about it, like it was a silly thing that any girl would have done, but he failed to realize that it was actually unusual. What if Alex is right for once? A shocking idea—one he’s not willing to accept. “So how did this asshole made her unable to trust anyone?” He starts walking toward his increasingly frantic friend.

“Fuck if I know Jack,” he says. “I just need to find my damn wallet.”

“Have you checked your pockets?”

“It’s not in my pockets, dipshit.”

Jack smirks. “Check them.”

Alex begins to pat himself down. “It’s not—” He stops. Then he reaches into his left pocket and closes his eyes slowly.

“What?” Jack wonders.

“Let’s go.” Without hesitation, Alex begins to walk out.

Jack slowly follows as a grin creeps onto his face. “I told you.”

“Yeah, fuck you.”


If Brooklyn has anything to offer—aside from an easy way to Manhattan—it’s really good music. Give Jack a free show in a Williamsburg bar, a few cold, cheap beers, and his best friends, and he’s the happiest man alive. It’s not even that late, and he hasn’t had that much to drink yet, but he’s buzzing. A kind of high he hasn’t felt in a while. A band is closing out their set, thanking the crowd and reintroducing themselves.

“They were pretty good,” says Zack, to Jack’s right.

Jack nods in agreement. “Yeah, awesome. More beer?” He looks at Zack, who nods. They both turn around and walk towards there bar, where Alex is already waiting for the bartender to fulfill his order. Jack puts his arm around Alex’s shoulders and leans against the bar with him. “Is Rian coming?”

“Bartender!” Alex yells impulsively, then looks at Jack. “Sorry. No, turns out Cassadee came into town to surprise him, so they’re catching up. Barten-! Dammit.” The bartender won’t look Alex’s way due to the flock of girls at the front of the bar.

Zack sighs. “Why do bartenders care more about girls?”

“The quicker you get them drunk,” Jack explains. “The quicker they’ll buy more.”

“Yeah, but that logic also applies to us.”

“Why do girls buy drinks anyway?” Alex wonders. “Guys are gonna buy them drinks if they sit around long enough. I mean, hell, I’d buy those girls drinks.” Then he actually looks up at the girls. A grin creeps onto Alex’s face. “Jack, buy that brunette a drink.”

Jack’s heart skips a small beat. A brunette? Did Dessa show up? He looks up and frowns a little when he doesn’t recognize the girl being served a Blue Moon. But she is pretty. Actually, she kind of reminds him of Danielle.

“Wait,” Jack says in shock.

“She dyed her hair!” Alex exclaims. “That’s fucking crazy. She looks so much better.”

“Wait, that’s Danielle?” asks Zack.

Jack is amazed at what a hair color can do. Yeah, that’s definitely Danielle, but she looks much less like the Danielle he’s seen before. He sighs as he admits, “Yeah, she does look better.”

“What the fuck,” Zack says.

“I know.”

They all stare for a bit, except for when she turns her head their way; then they turn their attention to the bartender. Danielle was a beauty to begin with, but with her new hair color, she seems more natural. And damn, she does the natural look justice. Jack usually feels defeated when he thinks Danielle looks wonderful, but instead, he feels uplifted. “You know what?” he announces to his friends. “Fuck it. I’m gonna do it.” He lifts himself up off the bar and begins to walk. Behind him, he hears Alex yelling, “Oh, fuck yes!” and clapping his hands. Jack rolls his eyes, hoping Danielle didn’t hear.

He approaches the girl, whose friends are now missing, and taps her shoulder. She turns around sharply. When she sees Jack is behind her, she gives him an incredibly giddy smile. “What’re you doing here?” She stands up from her barstool and puts her arms around him.

Jack gladly accepts the hug, laughing a little. “I’m with Alex and Zack.” He pulls away a little. “What’s up? Where are your friends?”

“Oh, they went to the bathroom,” she says with a shrug.

“Ah,” he says. He nods his head up a little. “The hair looks amazing, by the way.”

Her smile widens. “You think so?”

“Honestly.”

“Well, thank you!” She turns her body a little, almost like a curtsey. “I thought it was time to do something different.”

“Yeah, well, it suits you.” It’s as if he’s talking to a different person. She just seems so much more vibrant. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry about last night.” Arguably, he isn’t actually sorry, but better to apologize now while he’s making his moves on her.

She shrugs again with a smirk. “It is what it is. You were drunk. You seem fine now.” She puts her mouth up against the straw of her drink and takes a sip. “Who was that girl, by the way?”

Oh, Dessa. He’d almost forgotten the reason why they kissed to begin with—to ward of Danielle. “Oh, that was a girl I met that night.” He knows what he should say: Nothing special, no big deal, just some girl I was making out with. But none of that is true to him, and if he has any chance of getting with Dessa, he can’t just pretend she’s just some girl.

“So, just some girl?”

Jack feels uneasy. For a second, he feels like he’s going to say that Dessa isn’t just some girl to him. But he looks at Danielle straight and realizes he’s done for. When he sees the mischief in her eyes, his knees get a little weak. Danielle was always skilled at seduction, which is probably why he fell for her to begin with. Besides, this Danielle could be a whole new experience. It’s amazing what a hair color can do.

“Yeah, just some girl.” She’s got him hooked.