At The Toss Of A Coin

"I say you need to go. This whole 'secret admirer' thing is annoying me, so I can only imagine how nervous you are about it, but surely it's only going to be better once you know who it is."

Kate let out an aggravated sigh. "I just don't want things to change."

"And you think if you don't go things wont change? You know I love you, but if you don't go then you'll break this poor boy's heart after he's put in so much effort to show you how much he cares. You think he wasn't scared about how all of this would turn out? You're lucky to have a guy who's willing to completely put himself out there for you!"

After our first meeting was so rudely cut short it hadn't been until the next week's hockey party that Kate and I reacquainted. We'd bonded while I informed her of what really went on that first night.

x

After being dragged ceremoniously from the kitchen area I was tucked into TJ's side as he made his way through the crowd, apparently trying to find some semblance of empty space. On natural instinct my right arm curled into place, palm resting comfortably between TJ's shoulder blades, while my left hand held firmly to my cup of beer being cradled safely against my chest.

On our silent travels we ran into Jonesy who was already past tipsy. He gave me a big bear hug, luckily I managed to get my drink out of the way in the nick of time or else I would've been dealing with wet boobs for the rest of the night. At least I was wearing a dark purple fitted shirt, so the wet patch wouldn't have been too noticeable if the unfortunate did occur.

"Oops," he giggled, realising the close escape as he peered down into my cleavage. The shirt wasn't exactly low cut, especially not going by the standards in the rest of the house, but the v-neck gave a decent view of my girls from his (and TJ's) vantage point half a foot above my own.

Seeing that his eyes had narrowed in on their target, and that his head was slowly getting lower I pushed Zach's shoulder back, effectively cutting his concentration as he was forced to work on maintaining his balance. "Don't even think about motor boating me, Jones," I joked, TJ pulling me back towards him in some macho act of marking his territory.

Apparently that marked the end of our conversation, Zach distracted by a blonde bimbo who'd started dancing next to him, and TJ resuming his march. Obviously there was no suitable space for him in the house, because we ended up heading back through the majority of the house to the back porch. We still had the atmosphere of the party, but it was quiet enough to be able to talk without yelling in each other's ears.

Enjoying the cool breeze that lazily wafted past, I perched myself on the wooden railing with one foot curled around the support column to help keep my balance while TJ leaned nonchalantly against the side of the house. After a few calming mouthfuls of my drink I broke the silence, "So, you invited me, huh?"

"Minor detail," he smirked, taking a gulp from his cup as he moved to stand in front of me. "I was right that you'd be here though."

I could only shake my head at his cockiness. "And why was that so imperative?"

"Because," he took the final step forward, hand running up my thigh to my hip, "If you weren't here I couldn't do this." Our lips were connected, dormant for a second before realisation occurred and I started to kiss him back. He may have been somewhat of a cocky asshole, but his lips were soft and tempting, feeling even better than I'd guessed during the second he'd been moving in.

Tongues tangling, I let my free hand work its way across his firm chest, pulling his backwards cap off and placing it crookedly on my own head, then up into his hair that seemed made for weaving my fingers through.

"You can thank Chay for dragging me outta my room, kicking and screaming. Kinda surprised I still have a voice." That wasn't quite the way things happened, but might well have been. It seems once you've been accepted into the fold you're stuck there for life.

"You won't have a voice when I'm done with you," he barely mumbled. I didn't really want to know if I heard that right, but the look in TJ's eyes seemed to confirm the message.

"You have quite a fan club in there," I motioned over his shoulder to the house, choosing to ignore that comment.

It was impossible to miss the venomous looks sent my way purely for being in proximity to the boy with his hands caressing my waist. I was just as clueless as them as to why I'd earned his attentions.

TJ shrugged, seeming not to care. "I guess. Do I have a fan club out here too?" He almost seemed shy asking that, at least until the smirk appeared.

Knocking back the last of my drink I held the empty cup out to him. "Depends how long the cocky asshole sticks around."

x

Several hours and a few rounds of beer pong later I was certifiably drunk and up for following TJ up to his room. I wasn't much of a hook-up girl, and I'd certainly had no intentions of doing so tonight, especially after the friendly warning Chay had given me about TJ in particular, but I hadn't seen Chay for a few hours and I was enjoying my time so I figured 'why not?'

I couldn't really remember too much after we found our way to the bed, but waking in the morning I had several hickeys covering my neck and a nice bite mark at the top of my right breast. TJ didn't get off lightly either, a nice set of scratch marks marring the pale skin of his back as he slept on his stomach.

Quickly gathering my clothing I dressed, borrowing a sweatshirt to ward against the cool morning air, and exited as quietly as I could. There were a few random bodies scattering the pathway to the front door, all passed out except one disgustingly awake person sitting at the kitchen table.

"Morning," I mumbled on my way past, getting into the spirit of my 'walk of shame'.

x

Seeing that Kate had made no progress on deciding her dilemma I dragged her out of the house. We both had then next few hours free of class, so finally paying attention to the rumbling of my stomach I suggested we get some fresh air and just forget things for a while.

"Let's go see Andy," I suggested, knowing he'd be a welcome distraction.

Andy was a barista at one of the coffee shops in town who I'd first met at one of the few parties I'd managed to attend that didn't involve the hockey team. He was fun, a little off his rocker, and despite his aggressive persona was really a great guy. I'd initially wondered if he was gay, seeing as he was wearing tight leather pants and a mesh shirt, but he shared my taste for heavier music so we got talking. The image was a front, a test if you will. I guess I passed it, because we were still friends.

"Yay!" Kate was excited. She loved Andy as much as I did - he was a welcome removal from the 'jock persona' of the hockey boys that usually surrounded us.

x

"My favourite girls!" was all the greeting we needed. Screw the other customers, our drinks were at our table almost as soon as we seated ourselves. "A spicy apple and caramel with chocolate sprinkles for the lovely Miss Kate, and a plain old boring hot chocolate with caramel syrup for Rose."

"Go make me a sandwich, bitch," I joked back at his 'insult'. "Actually, can ya make it a chicken, brie and cranberry panini? I haven't had anything all day." As much as he hated that part of his job, he dutifully returned behind the counter to perform the 'menial, woman's work' as he generally referred to it.

After catching up on the gossip with Andy it was back to reminding Kate she had a choice to make. "So I've decided," I announced as Andy started to clear our table, under the watchful eye of his manager. "That if you haven't made a decision about mystery boy by the time we get back to your place then I'm making you do a coin toss."

"Mystery boy? What's happened now?" It was quiet as Andy 'accidentally' knocked over Kate's almost empty glass, giving him a chance to hear the details while he cleaned.

Kate sighed, still upset about the position she'd been put in. "He wants me to meet him tonight."

"You have to go!" That was said a little too loud and he was quickly reprimanded for socialising, but he managed to get an encouraging smile and nod in before he dragged himself back to the counter, dirty dishes in hand.

Raising an eyebrow at Kate, she knew she was in a tough spot. "Even Andy agrees, and you know he only wants you happy. I'll even let you use my lucky coin," I grinned.

Coin tosses were a way of life for me, being eternally 'decision challenged'.

x

Standing on a street corner, I flipped my 20-cent coin into the air. As always, heads would signify left, while tails would represent right. I didn't need anything for straight ahead because once I had a direction decided for me I walked until I felt like a change, whether it were one block or seven.

Heads.

Tails.

"What the hell are you doing?" a familiar voice questioned, humour evident.

TJ. Appearing from seemingly nowhere. It was just a little surprising, especially since we'd barely spoken anything but pleasantries since our escapade.

Raising my eyebrow at him, I silently questioned his intelligence. "I know you're blonde, and have probably taken a few too many pucks to the head, but you should still know what's going on here."

He let out an irritated huff. "Fine, I'll rephrase. Why are you standing on a corner throwing a coin in the air?"

"Why not?" I shrugged, trying to hold back my cheeky grin. "Fine," I gave in when he'd clearly had enough, "I'm deciding which way to go on my walk. Makes trying to find my way back to campus more interesting too."

I could see TJ was wondering about my sanity, but he went along with it anyway. "So where are we headed?"

"Excuse me?"

"Did I stutter?" There was that smirk of his, finally making an appearance. "I've got nothing better to do, so lets walk."

I took the last coin toss silently, somewhat in protest at TJ inserting himself into my stress release.

Tails.

"We're going right." I didn't wait for him to comprehend my instruction, just started walking.

A block and a half later TJ's curiosity broke the silence, "So what's the deal with this?"

"We walk, when I get bored, flip the coin and change direction. Easy." Being that TJ was six inches taller than me we weren't having much trouble keeping pace. I did always tend to walk at a faster pace than most though.

"Can I do the next one?" he honestly looked like a little kid, the amount of hope he was radiating.

I contemplated his request as we approached the next intersection. "Do you have a coin?" Seeing his eyes light up upon finding a loose piece of metal in his pocket was amusing. "Ok, so now we do a best of three. I usually go left is heads, tails is right, but it's up to you this time."

We turned left as heads came up twice, continuing our journey with an easier ambiance. "You do this often?"

"What's with you talking in questions?" The only answer I got was a shrug as he readjusted his cap, this time with the peak facing forwards to block the bright sunrays. "The random walking, when I need to. The coin tosses, all the time. I hate trying to make decisions. That's actually how I ended up here."

Of course that statement set into motion the explanation of how I'd made a coin toss between going to university in New Zealand or overseas. Then, because I needed somewhere they spoke English I flipped between Europe or North America; USA vs Canada was next, and then came the hard part.

I went for North against South, then East against West to find the Northwest, and then I was stuck with deciding between all the schools in my designated area. I basically just split the alphabet in half through each round until I ended up with the University Of North Dakota.

"Wow, that's uh... impressive? I don't know if I could just go somewhere completely random off the bat like that."

Again I shrugged in response. "I guess I just figured if I didn't like it here, it's only a year of my life. But so far it seems decent enough. I'm just not looking forward to trying to survive winter. At home we're lucky if we get a centimetre of snow to settle overnight!"