Chapter 2

I stumble into the kitchen in the morning. Amanda is already sitting at the counter eating breakfast. I'm not a morning person at all. Or just not an easy to wake up person no matter what time it is.
I grab my box of FrankenBerry off the top of the refrigerator and sit down by her.
"There's coffee" she says.
I give her a sad look that means yes I would love coffee but there is no way I can get up and get it right now.
"And yes I will get you a cup" she says.
She pours me a cup of coffee and brings it to me. "Do you want a bowl? Milk? Spoon? Anything for your cereal?"
I shake my head.
I stick my hand in the box, get a handful out and cram it into my mouth. I need sugar.
I take a drink of my coffee. So hot and delicious. I lay my head down on the counter.
"Why don't you eat some of what I'm having. So much better for you. That shit is killing you slowly" she says.
I sit up and look to see what she's eating. Looks like yogurt with all kinds of crap in it. Drinking some slimey looking green goo. Like she put frogs in the blender and chopped them all up.
Don't get me wrong, I love fruits and veggies, but not all mushed up together. And not in the morning when I need sugar and strong coffee.
I reach in my box of cereal, get another handful, and cram them in my mouth.
"I have no idea why you don't have a boyfriend" she says teasing me.
"I don't know" I reply with my mouth still half full.
"Michelle called and wants to know what we're doing tonight, so any ideas?" she asks me.
I shrug my shoulders. Of course my brain is screaming GO TRY TO FIND THE SEXY MUSICIAN WITH THE MAN BUN.
"I guess I'll call Spencer and see if he wants to come, or meet us somewhere. Really you have no ideas of what to do tonight? Should we just hang out here?" she asks.
NOOOOOOOOO my brain is screaming. I'll never see him here.
I casually shrug my shoulders. "I don't know, last night was kind of ok. Just hanging out downtown. We could go eat and just hang out again."
"I don't know if Spencer will, he was kinda pissy when he got lost."
"Yeah. We can ask I guess. Or maybe Michelle has an idea" I say but secretly think, I'm going to look for my man!
Amanda dials Spencer's number. She puts him on speaker phone. "Hey sexy, are you up?"
"Um...yeah...sort of I guess. Probably not as awake as you, but more awake than Mara. Why? What's going on? Is it even noon yet?" he asks.
"You're an asshole Spencer" I say.
"Yes I know. You tell me at least once a day."
"So asshole...plans for tonight?" Amanda says.
"Well I can call my friend..." he says.
"Spencer, do it and I will never talk to you again" I say.
"You need some sex in your life. Meet him and at least fuck him. I think it will change your whole outlook on life" he says.
"I'm not having a random fuck with your friend."
"Just give her a friend fuck" Amanda tells Spencer.
"NO!" me and Spencer say at the same time.
We all laugh.
"I don't need a friend pity fuck thank you very much. And it hasn't been that long. When did I break up with that dude?" I ask them.
"Which one?" Amanda asks.
"That one, you know. Um...that guy. He was um...nice" I say.
"That like really dirty hippie dude? He was nice, what happened to him?" Amanda asks.
I don't want to say, so I just shrug my shoulders.
"Yeah what happened with him, did he get too wasted and is lost somewhere in the city?" Spencer asks.
"Who knows" I say.
"What did you do?" Amanda asks me.
I try to look sweet and innocent. "What do you mean?"
"What happened? What did you do? You broke up with him didn't you?" she asks.
"Is my meek little Mara being bad?" Spencer asks.
"I didn't do anything" I protest.
"She did something, you shoud see the smirk on her face" Amanda tells him.
I cram cereal in my mouth so I can't talk.
"She's stuffing her mouth full of her trashy cereal so she can't answer us" Amanda tells Spencer.
"Fine, she won't tell us. I think I need to go. I'm going to call my friend, set them up for tonight. What time works for you Mara?"
"I didn't like his dick ok. It was just not pretty. I know every time I saw it I made a face. And the thought of it in me was just like eww, so I told him I was gay and didn't want to fuck any more, or that we should break up."
Amanda looks at me like she doesn't believe me. Only silence from Spencer.
Then Amanda starts laughing.
"Wow. I don't know what to say" Spencer says.
"So what are we doing tonight? Can we ever stay on the subject?" I ask.
"I'll be over in a couple hours, we'll figure it out then" Spencer says.
"Are you bringing anyone?" I asked, kind of scared, kind of curious.
"Dave will probably want to hang out again, and yeah I might call my other friend. Just to hang out with us, I promise I won't try to set you guys up, but you can meet and see what you think. Ok?" he asks.
"Sure."
"And if she doesn't like him she can just tell him he has an ugly dick" Amanda says laughing.
"Fucking assholes" I say. I grab my box of cereal and wander back to my room.

I lay on my bed eating dry cereal off and on while messing around on my phone. I text my mom to let her know I'm still alive, then I call my older sister Beth.
"Hey" I say when she answers.
"Hey. You do know that if you're not here for dinner tomorrow night mom is going to probably make you a plate and invade your sanctuary" she tells me.
"Oh god no. I was there like a couple weeks ago. Why is she coming?"
"It was actually several months ago. Fourth of July, it's almost October now. So I suggest you get your ass here" she says.
"Shit. Yeah I guess I will" I say.
"So what have you been so busy with that you can't come see your family?" she asks.
"I don't know, just nothing I guess. Stuff. But nothing really."
"Well that explains it" she says laughing.
"Just work, coming home, going out some nights. The weekend mostly."
"Is that what you're doing tonight?" she asks.
"Yeah. Probably having dinner, then hang around downtown."
"Who all is going? Are you still with that one guy, um...Seth?" she asks.
Oh yeah Seth, that's what his name was.
"No. It just wasn't working. Spencer keeps trying to set me up with one of his friends, but you know he has to be some loser if he needs set up."
"Well you do realize that you saying that means you're calling yourself a loser too, since he's trying to set you up."
"What an asshole. I never thought of that. It doesn't matter anyway I told him no way. It's just going to be me, Amanda, Michelle, Spencer and maybe a couple of his friends. No set up though, I told him no."
"Spencer is just trying to be nice. You know how he is, just wants to take care of everyone.Wants everyone to be happy" she says.
"Yeah."
My phone beeps, someone is calling me. I look to see who it is. Michelle.
"Hey Michelle is calling me so I need to go. I'll be there tomorrow though. Bye."
"Yes Michelle."
"What are you wearing tonight?" she asks me.
"I don't know, did anyone ever decide where we're going? What we're doing?"
"Well no, but I was going to wear these cute shorts I have but I need some sandals, can I borrow a pair of yours?" she asks,
"Yeah you can wear some of mine. You know, last night we went downtown, ate and then just hung out. Watched some of the people playing music. Just walked around. It was fun. We could just do that again."
"That's fine with me as long as I can drink. Did they give you guys any shit? Did you drink?" she asks.
"No. No one said anything to us. We did lose Spencer and Dave for about an hour though, but we eventually remembered we could just call Spencer and ask him where they were. It was fun. I thought we could do that, then maybe come back here and I don't know, do whatever."
"Sounds fine to me. I'm going to eat something, shower and then I'll be over, so in about an hour. Bye."
"Bye."

I get up to see if there's any coffee left.
Amanda is in the living room painting her toenails. I get coffee and sit next to her on the sofa.
"Michelle's going to be here in like an hour."
"Yeah? What are we doing?" she asks.
"I told her we had fun last night just doing nothing. She seemed ok with doing that."
"Yeah. Cool. I guess I better shower after my nails are dry."
"I called Beth and she says I haven't been home since the Fourth Of July. She said if I don't go tomorrow that my mom will come here to check on me. So guess where I'm going tomorrow."
"Fun."
"Yeah."
I sit there and drink my coffee.

I realize an hour later I'm still sitting there just spacing out. Amanda left to shower and get dressed about thirty minutes ago.
Someone knocks on the door. That's strange, no one knocks on our door ever. Well none of our friends. I guess I better see who it is. All I have on is a little tank top and someone's boxers. Spencer's probably. Couldn't be Seth's he didn't wear underwear. He really should have to keep his ugly dick covered.
I look through the peephole. Some guy, no idea who it is.
I open the door and look at the guy suspiciously.
"Oh hey um...you are either Amanda or Mara. Let me guess...Mara" he says.
I look at him, raise my eyebrows. Who the fuck is this.
"I'm Spencer's friend. He told me to meet him here. Well at first. But he just called me and said to tell you he's going to meet all of us downtown, but was hoping it's ok if I come with you guys" he says.
"Spencer's friend?"
That fucking asshole. I am going to kill him when I see him.
"Yeah. Um...I hope it's ok" he says.
"Who are you talking to?" I hear Amanda ask.
She comes to the door.
"Hi. I'm Spencer's friend. He told me to meet him here, but now he just wants to meet us all downtown. If that's ok if I come with you guys" he tells her.
"Spencer's friend?" she asks.
"Um yeah. Spencer's friend" he says again.
"Sorry. Come in. Mara has no manners." she tells him.
"I have no manners? What about Spencer?" I say.
"See. No manners. Sit down. Do you want a drink or anything?" she asks him.
"No I'm fine. Sorry to just show up. He was going to call one of you, I guess he hasn't yet" he says.
"It's ok" Amanda says.
Michelle comes in. She has no shoes on.
"You came over here barefoot?" I ask her.
"Yeah. I didn't see any reason to wear any shoes since I was borrowing yours."
She sees the stranger in our living room. "Oh hey who are you? I'm Michelle."
"Hi. I'm Matt. Spencer's friend" he says.
"Spencer's friend ?" she asks us.
"We don't know" Amanda says.
"I'm going to go get dressed." I wander to my room. If Spencer really sent his friend he's trying to set me up with here, I'm never talking to him again.
I dig through my closet that is really such a mess. Pretty much I went through this last night, looking through my clothes and what I didn't like was tossed on the floor, or my bed.
I put on my favorite brown silk hippie wrap skirt. I try to find the brown tank top that matches it and I can't. I do find a green one and decide it matches well enough since there's green in the skirt. I find a pair of sandals and slide them on.
I stand in front of my dresser mirror and brush my hair. I decide to put it up so I twist it up into a bun and put in a barrette to hold it up.
"I need sandals" Michelle says coming into my room.
"Yeah there's some here, somewhere."
"Somewhere? Like can you give me an idea where" she says.
"Under my bed, bottom of my closet. Or scattered on my floor. Sorry. You know I'm a slob."
"So did Spencer call? Is this the guy he's been trying to set you up with?" she asks.
"I haven't heard anything from him. Call him and ask him for me. Please? If you do, I'll look for my sandals" I tell her.
"Deal" she says and calls Spencer.
I get down on my knees and start looking for sandals. I try to sort of listen to her side of the conversation, but sort of not.
"Hey who's the guy you sent over here?" she asks.
"Yeah Matt, we got that" she says a minute later.
I find a sandal and toss it over by her feet. I keep looking. I know I have two or three other pairs besides the ones I'm wearing.
"He just keeps saying he's your friend so you know what Mara is thinking" she says.
I find two more sandals and toss them to her. Sadly none of them match.
"Ok yeah I'll tell her because I think she's ready to kill you" she says.
I find one under my bed and toss it with the others.
I head for my closet.
"Alright. Yeah I think we're leaving soon so see you there in a little while" she says and hangs up.
I find the last two sandals in the bottom of my closet and toss them over with the rest.
"So?" I ask her.
"So. He says no this isn't that friend. He actually did call that guy to see if he could come tonight but he said he already had plans, but he might be able to meet up later. Depends on what happens tonight. This is just another friend, but he is single if any of us are interested" she explains.
"Well good for him, I guess. Well no not really since he did try to get the guy to come. Will you explain to him tonight that I really hate to be set up. I get so uncomfortable. And tell him I don't need to get laid."
I get up and walk over to where she is, sitting on my bed. I sit next to her.
She leans over and kisses me. We kiss for a minute. Her hand on my thigh, moving under my skirt.
"You need sex? We have time" she says.
I smile and shake my head. "Thanks but no. I don't want friend pity sex."
Amanda comes in my room. "Are you guys hiding from this guy? Any idea what's going on yet?"
"I called Spencer. Matt is just one of his friends. Not the friend. He is single though, if you're interested" Michelle tells her.
She blushes.
"Oh my god you are!" I say.
"Maybe."
"Cute. Ok let me pick a pair of sandals and we can go if everyone is ready" Michelle says.
"Yeah. Where are we meeting Spencer? Matt said he wasn't sure."
"He said same place you guys ate at last night if that's ok" Michelle says.
I smile. Yes! Hopefully my little guitar player will be at the same place pretty near there.

About forty five minutes later and we're all ready and walking downtown. I keep my ears open for music, especially guitar music.
And then I see him. We're across the street, perfect place for me to stand and watch and hopefully he won't see me.
"Oh it's those one people from last night that you liked, isn't it?" Amanda asks me.
"Yeah I think so."
God he looks even more beautiful tonight. His gorgeous curls hanging down. I watch his fingers as he plays his guitar. So mesmerizing. I wonder how they would feel touching me like that.
They finish the song. A couple girls that had been standing near walk closer to him. One talks to him. Smiles. Flirts. He smiles and talks back. They talk for a minute. He reaches in his shirt pocket and gets something out and hands it to her. I can't figure out what it could be at first, then I realize it's a guitar pick. The other girl looks at it and then says something to him, and he gives her one. I guess she asked for it. Yuck. Maybe he's some egotistical asshole. I can see that. I look around, almost everyone standing around watching them are girls.
"Are we ready to go? Spencer just sent me a text wondering where we are" Matt says.
I sigh. Yeah we need to go. No reason to stand and watch the most perfect human in the world because he's probably a jerk in real life.
We have to walk right past them to get to the restaurant. I cautiously look at him as we cross the street. Taking little sneaky looks so he doesn't catch me again. He's so beautiful up close. Breathtakingly beautiful.
While we're walking by I keep my eyes down and my face turned so he doesn't see me and recognize me from last night.
I feel someone grab my hand. I look back, he has a hold of it. My little musician. I look at our hands, mine in his now. He looks at me and smiles.
I pull my hand away and keep walking. I realize he put something in it. I look down to see what it is. A guitar pick? What? Why? Does he think I'm one of his little groupies? Happy to have any little crumb he might toss my way. I start to turn around and throw it at him, then I turn it over and realize it says something on the back.
                                                              MY
                                                          FRIENDS
                                                          CALL ME
                                                               ED  
Did he want me to know his name? Maybe he's not a stupid egotistical jerk. We cross the street. I turn around to look at him again. Some girl is talking to him. He's smiling. He turns his head and looks at me. Raises his eyebrows. I know I'm smiling at him even though I don't want to. I don't know him enough to know if he deserves a smile from me. He could be a stuck up asshole.
"Come on. What are you looking at?" Amanda asks grabbing my hand and dragging me away.