Moments of Reckoning (3 page)

“I LOVE THIS SONG!” I yell
ed over the music.

I jumped
up from the couch and grabbed the two remotes off of the coffee table. Handing
Abby one, she knew exactly what was about to go down. As soon as the chorus hit we both held the remotes up to our mouths and belted out every word.

“Who all is coming out
, anyway?” Abby asked shyly as we both fell back onto the couch simultaneously.

“Actually I’m not sure, I know Xavier is coming and bringing a group.” Jason respond
ed, obviously he didn’t notice the change in Abby’s usually banter as he handed us another drink.

What in the world… Abby is acting a little odd herself.

“Oh, Xavier, well… tonight should be interesting then!” Abby smirked before she darted into the kitchen.

I arched
an eyebrow at her response when a thought crossed my mind.
You have got to be kidding me!! Abby has the hots for Xavier?! This should be an interesting night to say the least.
I have never seen her blush so much at one time since we met Alexander Skarsgård at a local coffee shop last July. I seriously thought she was going to pass out right there in the middle of the place. Good thing she didn’t have on her “Fang Banger” shirt or I would have embarrassed her ass even more than she did herself.

I followed
Abby into the kitchen and kept trying to get her to look at me, “Abby? Is there something I am missing here?”

“What do you mean
, Han?” she dodged looking at my face—once again.

“Do you seriously think I missed those rosy red cheeks and that girly l
ittle smirk of yours when you found out that Xavier was going to be there tonight?” I teased her as I crossed my arms and leaned back against the counter.

“
Shhhhhhh…!
You cannot let Jason know…Yes, I have this stupid girly crush thing going on towards Xavier. Unfortunately it came to a head the other night when Shelly and I went over to the frat house.”

“What do you mean
, came to a head?!” I whispered in shock.

“Nothing I can tell you right now
, Hannah, so be quiet!” she harshly whispered back while pointing towards Jason in the living room.

“Your secre
t is safe with me.” I replied acting like I was zipping my mouth shut and throwing away the key.

Picking up the wine bottle she shook the
remaining contents around. “Looks like we have drunk a whole bottle of wine already, no wonder I couldn’t keep my blushing to myself. You know what this shit does to me?” Abby giggled as she nudged my shoulder with hers.

“You ladies r
eady? The cabbie just called. He is waiting at the curb.” Jason spoke up from the living room.

Linking Abby’s arm with
mine, we twirled into the living room like drunken fools, shaking our heads yes in response to his question. Jason just laughed as we all headed out the door.

Traffic wasn’t as bad as I had thought it might be on
a Friday night. Usually the road that leads to the strip was bumper-to-bumper and barely moved. Tonight we had made it pretty far before hitting this. We were about two blocks away when we decided to walk. Thank heavens I wore sandals; heels would have been the death of me. The closer we were to the strip, the stronger the aroma of food, booze, and ocean water grew
.
Falling back behind Jason, Abby and I decided to have the chat we obviously couldn’t have before we left the apartment or in the cab.

“Abby, I know you have these feelings for Xavier
, but what about Alex?”

“I just don’
t know if I can handle the long-distance relationship anymore, Han. I mean, we never see each other and when he has plans to come home his work
always
messes them up. I’m not saying I want to break up with Alex to turn around and jump into things with Xavier. It’s not like I meant for these feelings towards Xavier to happen, but I also cannot help it.”

“I completely understand where you are coming from
, Abby… I do. Just take it one day at a time and it will work itself out. Always remember that I am here for you no matter what choices you make.”

“Come on
, slow pokes!” Jason yelled back to us. We had fallen back a good ten feet behind him.

“Oh
, by the way, Hannah, you and I need to have a talk about a certain someone.” Abby says while nodding her head towards Jason.

“I had a feeling this
was coming….” I said swiftly as we caught back up with him.

Turning
the corner onto the strip our eyes were stopped by flashing lights, the Ferris wheel, and many fellow classmates. To my surprise it was the annual “College Night Life” event which takes place early in the semester here on the strip. We just so happened to be lucky enough to choose this night, of all nights, to go out. This meant a lot of drunken college students, definitely not my usual crowd. The look on my face was complete horror, but Abby’s was more along the lines of excitement.

“Where should we start?” Jason asked politely while placing his arm
s out for Abby and I to loop our arms through.

“What a gentlemen you are, kind sir.” Abby respond
ed in her horrible attempt at a British accent.

Oh that terrible accent…
“Doesn’t matter to me, it looks like everywhere will be packed tonight. I mean, it’s only a quarter past ten and look how many people are already out.” I chimed in.

“Well, well, what do we have here?!” we hear
d coming from behind us. You cannot mistake that witty voice anywhere, it had to be Xavier.

“Xavier, what’s up man?!” Jason
gave him a quick one-arm hug and slapped him on the back.

Glancing at Abby I noticed her face had become about five shades of red.
Should I save her?
That’s when I noticed that Xavier was looking at Abby like he was in complete awe of her. It was the most adorable thing I had ever seen him do. Usually nothing about that man-whore was adorable to me. Abby was facing me while rambling about getting a drink so she had no idea what was going on—but I sure as hell did. Noticing the look on my face, she turned around to find Xavier staring right back at her. It was almost like a moment frozen in time and I was the awkward girl stuck in the middle, wishing that I wasn’t.

“H
a—Han, let’s grab a drink or shot before I pass out from these damn hot flashes I have all of a sudden.” Abby grabbed my arm while talking quietly to me.

“Al
l right then, darlin’, Sting Rays is right up ahead. Let’s go...”  Pointing right in front of us I linked her arm with mine and started walking.

“See
!!! I’m so flustered I didn’t even notice.” She sighed loudly.

The next twenty
minutes or so were a blur—Abby and I were sitting at the bar as she rambled about Alex, Xavier, and herself. Sadly I couldn’t concentrate on anything she was saying because there were a group of guys sitting a few tables over from us and one of them looked
very
familiar. Feeling a cold hand grab hold of mine, I looked over at Abby. She was looked rather aggravated; guess she had realized I wasn’t paying that much attention to her.

“Are
you listening to me?” She interrupted my thoughts about the group of guys.

“Sorry
, Abby… It’s just… Do you see that guy a couple tables over on the window side? He looks so familiar to me but I can’t quite place where from.”

“
The one with the ball cap pulled down low?” she asked while making it completely obvious that we were looking at them. “Girl, he is probably just another face in the crowd at school. Although he is rather cute, maybe you should go say hi!”

“
Ummm… No, thanks. I think I’m good.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot… Your eye
s are only for Jason.” Abby winked at me.

“Do you have something in your eye?” I spat.

“Funny…” she countered.

I folded
my arms across one another on the bar and laid my head on them.
Dear lord… Is it a good idea that Abby knows about how I feel for Jason?
She can get a little carried away sometimes with her “mission to set people up” and I really didn’t know if that’s a very good idea.

“Abby… Even th
ough I have feelings for Jason—and have for many years now—that doesn’t mean I want him to know about them. Please promise me you won’t go there. Promise me that you will not try to make us your new puzzle to put together. Just promise me.” I sternly pleaded with her.

“If you don’t want me to go there,
then I won’t.”

About that time Jason, Xavier, and a few others came through the door.
They slowly made their way over to us, while periodically stopping and chatting with a few people throughout the place. Sting Rays is a medium-size bar that kind of has a shack feel to it. With different sea life hanging from the walls, along with fishing gear, this place makes you feel like you are at sea. Although I have only been here a handful of times, I do like the place. I knew everyone wouldn’t want to hang out here all night simply because Sting Rays didn’t have a dance floor. To my surprise Jason sat to my right and Xavier sat to Abby’s left as if we were two couples out having a few drinks.  I knew Abby was as taken back by this as I was. Xavier ordered some fries as we sat there talking about what we plan to do after college.

Everyone knew I hated my major but no one understood why I didn’t just stand up to my father and choose my own path. Well Abby understood.
She was the only one who knew that my father was a very persistent man and that he had a plan set up for me from the day he knew that he was going to be a father. He always wanted someone to walk in his footsteps but I’m pretty sure he wanted it to be a son—not me, his daughter. The son my father always wanted was lost when my mother miscarried when I was around six or seven. They tried again, but gave up after they lost three babies. I guess you could say I feel like I have to bend over backwards for my parents and what they expect out of me because of their misfortunes.

“Anyone want a shot?” Xavier asked.

“Sure,” Jason, Abby, and I replied almost in unison.

Xavier ordered two rounds of tequila shots before we left Sting Rays. I don’t usually drink
anything other than beer or wine, so tequila was a big change for me.
Tonight just might end up being a blur if I keep up this kind of drinking.

Shots down and out the door we went. About five minutes later we found ourselves outside a new
, flashier bar on the strip, Silhouettes. From the looks of the place it was going to be an interesting time inside. The entrance was
very
elaborate; medieval wooden doors painted solid black with two large pillars and red glistening carpet leading inside. Two women stood outside handing out flyers, dressed in black, white, and red jester outfits with masquerade masks covering half of their faces. The outfits were rather provocative but they obviously grabbed the interests of many, because the line to get in was a good twenty people long.

Xavier was smacking Jason’
s arm to get his attention on the girls working the door, instead of on me. Not only was he drooling over them, but the people he showed up with were as well. All Jason could do was laugh at Xavier's usual behavior. While Abby, on the other hand, rolled her eyes and had to put in her two cents.

“
You are such a gentleman Xavier...” Abby butted in sarcastically as she shook her head.

“You know, you actually could be one of those jester girls
, Abby.” Xavier stated matter-of-factly while looking her up and down.

I’m pretty sure my face was filled with shock at what he said so I could only imagine the look on
her face. Her profile was all I could see because I was slightly behind her.
Yep, her face is fire engine red. She is definitely dying right now… All of this flirting between them is too stinkin’ cute, but I wonder what his intentions are. Abby definitely doesn’t need to jump from one doomed relationship into another. She doesn’t deserve that and technically she is still in a relationship with Alex.
Abby didn’t respond to his
obvious
flirting, all she did was smirk and wave her hand at him in a “go away” manner.

We stood in line for what seemed like forever until we were close enough to see the bouncer’s right inside the door. I thought I recognized one of them.
Is that Lan? I have missed having him in my classes this semester… Wonder what he has been up to. Come to think about it, I haven’t seen him around campus either.
Landon is his name, but everybody calls him Lan for short. We had quite a few classes together last semester but I hadn’t seen him since. He noticed me at about the same time I stood on my tiptoes to see if it was actually him. A huge smile spread across his face as I began to wave. He waved me forward and I pointed at myself while holding up three fingers so he knew I had others with me. To my surprise he mouthed “bring them with” as he continued to wave me forward.

“Do y
ou know him, Hannah?” Jason’s voice in my ear startled me.

“His name is Landon but he goes by
Lan. We had quite a few classes together last semester but I haven’t seen him since.” I breathlessly started talking like I had to explain myself.

“Is he really going to let us all in?” Abby jumped into the conversation.

“It looks that way to me! Now let’s go before he changes his mind...” I grabbed her hand and pulled her along with me.

The b
oys followed right behind us as we weaved through the crowd. Needless to say, we received some pretty mean glares as we skipped ahead of about twelve people. Lan and I were finally face-to-face for the first time since last semester. He looked pretty much the same as I remembered, just slightly more muscular. Lan stood at a firm six foot three with sandy light brown hair, green eyes, and a pair of dimples that I could hardly keep my eyes off of. I have to admit I always thought he was absolutely gorgeous, but then again I felt like the friend, just like I did with Jason. Maybe it’s my own subconscious or maybe I am just better off being friends with these guys. But I sure didn’t hold back flirting with Lan last semester. One particular instance stands out vividly in my mind. We ran into each other out on the lawn one afternoon. He mentioned that he had been looking for me and wanted to know if I wanted to meet up later at his dorm to study. I believe what I said next was one of the bravest, most embarrassing things I have EVER said to a guy in my entire life.
“Studying huh!? Is that all we’re going to do?”
The look on his face was just about as shocking as my inner monologue was.
WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT HANNAH! SERIOUSLY, HAVE YOU LOST YOUR DAMN MIND!!
I remember thinking to myself. I didn’t give him a chance to respond, because as soon as I said it I laughed it off and told him that I couldn’t make it but maybe another night. Then off I went in a brisk walk towards my car, hanging my head with embarrassment. That was finals week and I hadn’t talked to him since.
Hmmmm…I wonder if this conversation is going to be awkward. I still cannot believe I said that to him that day.

“Hey
, Hannah, you’re looking good! Never thought I would see you in a dress though…” Lan was smiling from ear to ear—and those dimples were already
killing
me.

“
Lan!! Long time no see! I can’t believe you work here!” I exclaimed going in for a hug.

“Better now
.” He said, picking me up off my feet as he hugged me back.

Se
tting me back down, he informed me that he could get us a VIP table. I insisted that he didn’t have to do that but he wouldn’t let me pass on it. Xavier went on about how hard it is to get VIP anywhere, let alone at this place. I finally accepted Lan’s offer just to shut Xavier up, but I felt strange doing so.

“Hannah… you hot thing you! Getting us VIP and being hit on by that sexy bouncer. Girl
, I didn’t know you had this side to you.” With the way Abby was going on about what just happened, I knew I was never going to hear the end of it.