Chapter 49: Chapter 49

Dane? Like a great dane? Who gives their kids such strange names? It sounds almost like a made-up name for a vampire from a Twilight book.

"Hi, I'm Julianna. It's nice to meet you." I say this nicely and hold out my hand, and he shakes it. "Are you going to Brown?"

"No, I'm not in college anymore. I dropped out a few years ago." He gives a shrug. "You're a student?"

"Yes, I'm almost finished with my fourth year." I said it.

"Oh, you're almost done! I was about to say that you don't look like a student because you look a bit older. He laughs, and my eyebrows raise. "Not in a bad way, but you seem pretty grown up." I smile when he tells me.

I was an adult, and I had always looked a little bit older than I was. "So, if you're not a student, what do you do?"

"I work on making software." I look at him funny when he tells me something.

"And why do you hang out in a student hangout like Apex?" I smile and ask, and he laughs.

"Well, maybe I was about to go into the whiskey bar across the street when I saw you waiting in line to get in here." He gives me a shrug and moves a little closer. I blink. There's no way that's true, because I haven't been seen in years. "I don't mean to be creepy or anything, but I thought you might be interesting to get to know."

"I think you may be a little sad." When I tell him, he laughs.

"No way, you're the kind of person I'd listen to if you talked about the stock market. He tells me this, which makes me raise my eyebrows. "May I have your phone number?"

"Really, you want my phone number?" I ask, still confused, and he gives me a nod.

"Hey, Julianna, is this guy making you uncomfortable?" Chase is standing next to me with his hand on my shoulder. I feel a little pain and roll my eyes.

"Nothing to worry about, Chase. I just want to talk." I tell him that, and he nods. "I'm fine, go hang out with the rest of the people." He walks away slowly, as if I might change my mind about something. "That's too bad."

Even that guy isn't your boyfriend, right?"

"No, they all just bother me." I say this with a laugh, and so does he. "We're just friends, though."

"Good." He whispers to me as he hands me a pen and smiles. "I'll take that number then."

I take a napkin from the box and write my phone number on it. This is crazy, I shouldn't be doing this, and it's hard for me to understand why this guy wants my phone number. Men never asked me for my number.

"Here." I sigh and hand it to him. He puts it in the pocket of his coat.

"Julianna, I really want to see you again." I clear my throat and he says.

I say, "Really?" and he laughs.

"Yeah, sorry if this is too forward, but you could probably use a break from these college guys," he said. He whispers to me as he leans down close to my ear, and my eyes grow big. I can't do this because he's way too good for me and I'm just too nervous around him. I know he's outside of what I'm used to.

I feel sick because my stomach is turning over and over. Maybe I shouldn't have had so much to drink. I need to sneak out before I have to run.

"I have to go to the bathroom right away." He agrees with what I say. "I'll try to catch up to you, but I can't promise that I will. This place is a little crazy."

"Don't worry, I'll run away. Tomorrow morning, I have a meeting, but I'll call you." He gives me his word, and I nod. "Make it home safely. If you get stuck, let me know and I'll send a car."

"All right, that's great." I say kindly. "See you."

"Bye Julianna." He smiles, and I rush to the bathroom down the hall.

Yeah, this is making me feel like I might throw up. I open the door, but there aren't any people inside. Whenever I went out, the girls' bathroom was always full of people. But I think about how lucky I am and open the toilet seat in a stall. I hunch over, and that metallic taste starts to fill my mouth. I start to breathe hard, and chills run up my spine.

I quickly empty my stomach and then lean against the wall of the stall to take some deep breaths. I flush the toilet and try to catch my breath while I look for the pack of gum I dropped in my purse. I opened the stall door and was glad to see that I was still alone. I turned on the tap and filled my hand with water to drink before I chewed the gum.

Then I got myself together. I think it was the sugar in the Red Bull that made me act like that. Then I let out a little squeal and pull out a napkin from my pocket. I write his phone number on the napkin and put it into my phone in case I need it later.

When I was younger, I felt like I was on top of the world. I had never felt pretty as a kid, but now an older guy was hitting on me. I was the kind of teenager who looked older than I was, so most guys only thought of me as a friend. At age 21, things started to even out and I started to feel better about myself.

I march out of the bathroom and almost run into someone else. I look up and see Chase, which makes me sigh and feel better.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you." He shrugs, and I smile.

"It's fine, Julianna, don't worry." He smiles, and his brown eyes look down at me while he does so. "How's it going?"

"It works." I promise him. "Sorry, I'll let you use the bathroom." I mumble, because I knew the men's room was a little further down the hall.

"It's okay, I just wanted to wash the drink off my hands that Darren had spilled on the bar top." He shrugs, and I agree. "I have time to talk."

"You don't have to. As soon as you're done, I'll be out in the main area." I give a polite shrug and try to get my pride back after my not-so-nice time in the ladies room.

"Uh, well, I've actually been wanting to talk to you all night." He says it with a shrug, and I make a face.

"What about?"

"Well, let's get down to business." He shrugs and turns a little bit toward me. Our eyes meet as he carefully grabs my arms. Right away, my smile leaves my face.

"What's going on?" I ask, feeling alarmed. "Chase-"

"I really enjoy spending time with you, Julia." He whispers, and I quickly close my eyes. "It's great to talk to you because you're so cool and easygoing, and I feel like we have a lot in common."

"Chase, I'm not cool at all. You know that because I plan everything, and I really think that's one of the biggest ways we're different." I speak quickly because I'm worried about where this could go.

"But that's also why we get along so well." He whispers to me while holding my elbows, and my eyebrows furrow. "I've been trying to get the courage to move out of the "friend zone" with you for months.

Tonight feels like the right time to tell you for sure, Julianna, that I like you. I'd like to spend time with you."

"What?" Before I can think of an answer, he leans in and presses his lips to mine. Everything about this is wrong, and it makes me tense up and cringe. "Quit Chase!" I push him away and wipe my lips to show that I'm serious. "Where the hell did this all come from?"

"It's how I feel about you, and I think we could do great things together." He won't let up. He takes my hands back and pulls me closer, making me tense up. "Give me a chance," she said.

"No, Chase," he said. I feel sick and whisper. I was right all along, he did like me.

"Hey!" I hear a shout down the hall, and before I can do anything, Kent pushes Chase off of me. "She said no, so Chase should leave her alone." He keeps pushing, and I raise my eyebrows. I'm no longer smart, I'm drunk, and I'm too busy.

"Don't get involved, Kent." He sighs.

"She said no, walk away." He tells Chase this in a mad tone, and Chase looks at me.

"Oh my god, Chase, just go. We're supposed to be friends, so I won't do this right now." I put my hand on my forehead to remind him. "Go on."

Chase grunts, waits a few seconds, and then goes away. I could tell he'd been drinking because he was acting in a way I'd never seen him act before. I didn't want him with me, I didn't like him that way, and I didn't want him to kiss me.

"You okay?" Kent asks with a tight face, and I nod.

"I think I need to breathe." I whisper, and he nods and leads me silently.