Wish Upon a Star

"I'm serious, that guy hasn't stopped looking
at you for the past 15 minutes."
Janine said, stealing glances sideways.

We had gone out to a bar of some sort, I wasn't
all too thrilled about it.
I was fine once I got there and I had someone to
talk to but I was usually a stay-at-home girl.

"Shut up, Jan. I hardly think that's true."
I said, rolling my eyes.

Apparently some ' dreamy' guy was checking
me out but I ignored it.

I wasn't looking for anything at the moment and
when it came to guys, Janine was almost never right.
I knew her well enough to just say 'Okay, fine' and
start up another subject.

Tonight, she wouldn't be distracted.
I saw her looking again and this time I moved with
her head.

"Honestly, I'm starting to wonder if you're the one
checking him out. Just leave the guy."
I said, shrugging.

"But Les.."
she started with big eyes.

"Don't 'Les' me. You know I'm right."
I replied, cutting her off.

"Well, he really is one hot son of a.."
she said, biting her lip and everything.

I started laughing and couldn't stop for a while.
The expression on her face was really priceless.

"Will you stop undressing him with your eyes,
Jan?! Honestly, I feel like a third wheel already and you
are not even going out with the guy."
I said, shaking my head.

"That's because he isn't looking at me
Leslie. He is totally eyefucking you!"
She hastily whispered.

I laughed it off.
Surely, the guy would choose Janine over me.
Janine was more open and outgoing when it came
to men. I tried to talk to them like a normal person
but they mostly ended up talking to Jan anyway.

"He'll be sick of me in 5 minutes, Jan. You know that."
I said, taking a sip of my non-alcoholic drink.

"That's because you don't go out there enough. You're
such a loveable person but when a guy comes up,
you totally shut down and you hardly know how to talk
to them."
she said, looking at me worriedly.

"Well, I just don't want them all to think I'm easy
or something. I want to be amazed by a guy, you know.
Swept off my feet."
I said, shyly.

"Swept off your feet how?"
Janine asked, with furrowed eyebrows.

"You know, that when you see the guy you just..
You can kind of fill in the blanks on the love life that
was really non-excisting until he came along. I really believe
that when you look at someone you know if he's the one."
I said, still dreaming of a fairytale after all those years.

"So why did you even date Brian?"
Janine asked, confused.

"I don't really know. I loved them, though. I still kind of do
but not like that. You know? Especially Brian. He was my first
boyfriend, he'll always be kinda special."
I said, thinking back to my first relationship.

It lasted for 4 years until we broke up.
It was mutual but I was pretty torn up about it
for a while.

"Did you think he was the one?"
Jan asked, taking the last sip of her drink.

"For a while, yeah. But everything changed when I figured
out he wasn't."
I replied, getting up.

"I'm ready to go home. You coming?"
I asked, grabbing my coat and putting it on.

"Yeah, I guess that's best. I really wanted you to walk up to him,
you know. Just look at him."
Jan said, staring at him shamelessly.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head before stealing a glance
as well.

"What's the fuss about?"
I whispered in her ear.

"Wait for him to look this... Ah."
she said, while the guy turned his head our way.

He looked me dead in the eyes for a few seconds
and a small smile appeared on his lips.

I grabbed Janine's hand and with a small smile,
I pulled her with me, out of the club,

"Holy shit, there was the sparkle. It hit like
a bomb, Les. Like.. Like BAM and then you make us
leave! Honestly."
Janine said, flailing her arms everywhere.

I smiled and shook my head.
"You're wrong. There was no sparkle.
Or bomb, for that matter."

"You're in denial."
she said, shaking her head and pretending not to
listen to me.
"That dude was checking you out, for the millionth
time tonight. You should've gone up there and..
I don't know. Felt him up or something. He was totally
your type."

"My type?"
I asked, with a smile.
She was right about everything.

The guy was handsome, he had a few tattoos on his
arms, as far as I could see. He was definetely my type.

"Yes, your type. He totally looked like a badass but then
again, he didn't. His eyes weren't badass, you know? And those
lips. God, he must've had the most kissable lips E-VER."
Jan said, her arm around my shoulders.

I laughed and then grabbed my keys.
"Keep talking, Jan. You'll get yourself nice dreams."

"Promise me something?"
she said, while we walked up the stairs to our apartment.

"Depends on what."
I said, knowing Jan.

"Come with me again, tomorrow? I know you never go
out two days in a row but this time it's different. What
if he's the one and you're letting it slip because of some
stupid reason?"
Jan said, closing the door and getting her shoes off.

I sighed and looked at her.
"He's not the one, Jan. I'm not going."

"How do you know he's not the one? That's a load
of crap!"
she replied, with her eyes big again.

"How do you know he is?"
I fired back at her.

"I didn't say that. I said he could be the one.
You never know unless you talk to him.
Goodnight, hun."
She said, while kissing my cheek and walking off to her
room.

I sighed and got myself something to drink before sitting
down in our windowseat.

"Leslie?"
I heard a few minutes later.

I turned my head and saw Janine in her PJ's.

"I didn't mean to sound like a terrible human
being or force anything on you. I just want you to be
happy."
Janine said, softly.

"I know, Jan. It's okay, go to sleep."
I said, with a smile.

"You know I love you, right?"
she said, with a smile.

I nodded.
"Dito, my friend."
I responded before she left with a small wave of her
hand.

I looked outside again, at the stars.
Then I made the decision to just go to the club
again tomorrow.

After a while I saw a falling star and smiled.
Closing my eyes I made a wish.
"Please, let tomorrow be a good night. Please."
I whispered before opening my eyes again.

I got up and placed my glass in the sink before
walking up to my room and getting
comfortably in my PJ's and eventually, crawling
under my sheets.

I lied awake for about half an hour before I fell
into a peaceful slumber.

----

"Really? You're coming?"
Janine asked the following day.

We had been shopping the whole afternoon,
both having the day off.

"Yes, I am. But no pressure if the guy is there,
okay? We're just gonna have some drinks and if
he's there, he's there. But if he isn't, that's fine.
We can have fun on our own."
I said, looking at my freshly bought clothes.

"You should wear the dress you bought today.
Honestly, it looks so good on you."
Jan said, getting all her stuff out of the bags as well.

Janine was more of a shopper than I was but every now
and then, I liked to walk around as well and maybe buy
something. Today I bought quite a few somethings.

"I wanna wear the bikerboots, though. I lover the studs
on the side of them."
I said, looking at my new shoes again.

I sighed.
"These are so perfect."

"Honestly, get a room."
Jan said and I laughed.

"Dinner now, dressing later. I'm starving."
Jan said after we had all of our stuff in our closets or
on our 'to wear tonight' chair.

----

We walked up the bar and sat down on some barstools.
While ordering our drinks, I saw Jan was quickly scanning
the room for that guy.

"Aw, crap. He's not here. Ah well, the night is young.
Cheers!"
She said before she downed her first shot of the
evening.

"Yeah, take it slow. The night is young and I don't want to carry
you to our apartment."
I said, looking at her with a smile.

"Oh, shut up Les. I hold my liquor well enough.
You just keep your eyes open."
she replied before ordering another shot.

It was a saturday and that was the only night that
Janine let herself go every now and then.
It was her choice and I was fine with it but only
if I was with her. I wanted to keep an eye on her because
I knew how men were. Not all of them, of course.
But alot of guys would take advantage of a drunk girl and
I never wanted that to happen to Janine.

After about 2 hours, Janine had downed a few more shots
but she wasn't even tipsy just yet.

"I would've been floored by now."
I said, after her 8th shot.

"That's because you can't hold your liquor
and your guy just walked in."
she said, her eyes getting wide.

I turned around a little and saw him walk inside
with 2 other men around his age.

"How old do you think he is..?"
I asked Janine.

"He looks about 30, I guess?"
she said, narrowing her eyes and tilting her head.

"What?! You've got to be kidding me."
I said almost in an angry whisper.

"So? You're both legal and he's way too yummy to
say no."
she replied with a shrug.

"But that's a seven year age-gap!"
I said, still shocked at this new revelation.
I grabbed my coat and stood up.

"Where are you going?"
Janine asked, confused.

"Home. I never should have come. If it's true then what
am I even doing here?"
I asked.

This time, I[ was flailing my arms around.

"You're here to have a good time and to relax
and enjoy yourself and maybe get laid!"
Janine said, after she downed her next shot.

"That last shot is getting to you, you're full
of bullshit."
I said and turned around only to be met with a rock
hard wall of human.

"Shit! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.. Bump into you."
the guy said and I felt my cheeks glow.

"That's okay, I'm probably the one to blame."
I replied, with a small smile and then looking at Janine.

"See you later, Jan. Can you try not to drink too much?
If anything happens, call me okay?"
I said, grabbing her hand in mine.

"But Leslie, it's the guy and now you're
leaving again! Why?"
She asked a little too loud.

"You know why. Call me, okay? Promise me."
I replied and looked in her eyes.
"Promise me, Jan."

"Fine, fine. I promise, mommy."
she said and started giggling.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head.
"Just be careful."

I turned around and the guy was still standing there, looking
at Jan a little weird and then at me.
"Is she alright? She looks a bit.. Well. Drunk."

"Yeah, I don't know what happened. She was really fine
after her 8th shot but after her 9th she just.. She
started acting like this. I wanna take her home but she's
not really willing. At all."
I said, looking at Jan again.

"I could help, if you want to. I'm probably more capable
of helping her in a taxi or something. No offense."
he said, with a smile.

"None taken. And thanks but I don't know you so I don't
really feel comfortable taking you to our house.
No offense."
I said, with a slight smile.

"None taken. My name is Tom."
he replied and he held out his hand for me to shake.

I took it and he grabbed if gently but still firm.
"I'm Leslie. This little drunk over here is Janine."

He laughed a bit and then looked at Janine.

"So now that you know my name and I know yours.
Could you use some help getting her in a taxi?"
he asked, with a slight smirk.

I looked at him and smiled.
"We only live 2 blocks from here so a cab would
be a complete waste of money. You're not a serial killer,
are you?"
I only half-joked.

"Not anymore."
he replied, with a laugh.

"Well, if you're a recovering serial killer, we're good.
I guess I really could use some help. Thank you."
I said, while grabbing Janine's coat and putting it around her.

"Jan, we're leaving okay? And there's someone coming with us
because I can't carry your weight for 2 blocks."
I said, trying to get through to her.
"And if you mention anything we discussed about him,
I am so going to kick your ass. For ages."
I added in a whisper.

She giggle a bit before she allowed me to put her coat around
her and then she got up slowly.

"I could use some sleep."
she mumbled and I wrapped my arm around her
waist.

"Could you take over if you see me crawling on the
sidewalk?"
I asked Tom.

"Of course. I'll grab my coat and tell my mates I'll be back in a bit,
okay?"
he said, pointing over his shoulder.

I nodded.
"Of course. I'll wait outside."
I replied before he walked off and I walked outside with Janine.

After a minute, Tom appeared again with a coat on.
"Lead the way, ma'am."

I started walking with Janine next to me but she quickly
got out of my grip.

"You know, I've learned to walk ages ago. I can totally
do this."
she said and started to walk on her own.

"Fine, if you fall down, it's your own goddamn fault."
I said a bit pissed.

"Who cares?!"
she half-yelled.

"So I take it you don't drink alot?"
Tom asked me.

"Nah, I don't drink at all. Not because I can't or whatever.
I just don't want to. I can have fun without getting completely
wasted. You?"
I asked, while we were slowly making our way home.

"No, I don't drink."
he said, shortly.

"Is there a reason why you don't?"
I asked, trying to make conversation.

He seemed a bit hesitant about telling
so I changed the subject.

"So you sound English.."
I trailed off.

He smiled.
"That's because I am."

"Cool. I love your accent."
I confessed.
"I've never been out of the USA so you gotta tell me.
What's England like?"

And then we started a conversation on where he grew up
and places he absolutely wanted me to see. We had such
a nice conversation that I actually wished I'd lived further away.

"Jan! Seriously, you just walked passed our door."
I muttered while walking over to Janine and grabbing
her arm.

"I can walk myself!"
she protested.

"Yes, you can. But this is our stop."
I said and grabbed my keys.

I turned to Tom and smiled.
"Thank you for walking with us, that was really
nice of you."

"No problem. I'll see you later."
he said, with a smile.

"Yeah, I hope so. It was nice talking to you."
I replied, while also keeping an eye on Jan.
"Jan, don't rip the leaves off of that bush. It never
did anything to hurt you so knock it off!"

She mocked me and started ripping more leaves off.

"Honestly, sometimes I feel like her fucking mom. It's
unbelievable how childish she can get when she's had too much
to drink."
I said while rolling my eyes.
"I better get her inside, now."

"Yeah, you should. Bye, Leslie."
Tom said, with a nod of his head and then turning
around.

When I saw him walk away my heart ached a bit.
"Wait!"
I yelled, before I could stop myself.

Tom stopped and turned around.
"Yes?"

"Do you want to come up?"
I asked, before my head could keep up with my mouth.

He looked surprised.

"You don't have to, if you don't want to.
I normally don't do this, either. Forget it."
I said, turning around and sticking my key in the lock.

"No wait.."
I heard behind me. I turned around again and Tom had walked
back towards Janine and me again.
"I'd like to come up. If you're okay with it. Don't do
anything you don't want."

I looked in his eyes. His blue, sincere eyes and broke.

"Yeah, I'm okay with it. Come in."
I replied while holding the door open.