As hard as it is to believe, Joel's presence got even worse. He obviously wasn't, but it felt he was constantly breathing in my face. He was that annoying.

We did a few more shots before moving on to a nightclub, hoping that all Joel's posturing would end as soon as he was forced to back up any of his ridiculous claims. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and he followed us as we paid the entry fee and headed straight to the bar to buy more shots.

"And I thought Eddie was annoying!" Dean laughed.

"You haven't seen anything yet," I sighed. For my last night as a single man, this was turning into a disaster.

"Say, Joel. Do you often head out to bars by yourself?" Dean asked. He sounded like he was being a dick but it was just the alcohol wrapping itself around his system and smothering his filter.

"All the time. I have friends everywhere. So I'm never alone," Answered Joel, clearly lying again.

"Well . . . can't argue with that then, can we?" I laughed.

"So when do we get some bitches?" Joel asked our group. Talk about zero to sixty.

"Whenever you feel like the time is right," Eddie told him. A wicked smile arrived on his face, suggesting that he just really wanted to see Joel in action. Maybe my impending relationship had called for him to think of a replacement for me. I was both insulted and intrigued. But mostly insulted.

"David?" I heard someone ask from behind me.

Breaking out of my terrifying thoughts, I turned round to find a girl staring at me in disbelief.

Breaking out of my terrifying thoughts, I turned round to find a girl staring at me in disbelief.

"Piper?" I asked, uncertainty lacing my voice.

Piper was a girl that I was quite friendly with in high school. We'd been paired up to do a science project in freshman year and had remained quite good friends since. That is until I started dating another girl in our class and then suddenly she stopped talking to me. I hadn't seen her since graduation.

"Oh my god, you look great!" She said, clapping her hands, which was a little weird.

"Thanks! You're looking pretty good too," I said, making a show of sizing her up.

The truth was, she did look good. In school she wasn't that good looking. Mean, I know. But then neither was I. Turned out that we were both like a fine wine, getting better with age. She had long, light brown hair; turquoise eyes and a nose ring that made her look a little adventurous.

"How have you been?" She asked.

"Aw, you know. Pretty good. Nothing exciting has been happening lately. What about you?" I always hated conversations like this. Although they are asking, we all know that they really don't expect an answer. And I didn't want to rattle off everything that had been happening in my life either.

I mean, it'd be a pretty boring story right . . . ?

Nevertheless, the conversation continued until she convinced me to have a drink with her and to go over and say hi to her friends.

Apparently "They'll never believe you're here!"

Which is odd, because I was always here.

"Alright, let's get this party started!" I heard Joel cry out as I followed Piper across the dance floor. I turned round and was surprised to see Eddie actually holding him back.

"Not this time, cowboy."

Joel looked disappointed, as did Dean who was probably feeling that way because he was now stuck with him.

The situation that I was in, was a weird one. I didn't recognise any of Piper's friends and I don't think they recognised me. I said hello to everyone and then tried to make my exit, back to my own friends, but for whatever reason, Piper dragged me back. I could have sworn that she was getting ready to make a move. If it weren't for Melissa, I'd have been all over this.

I carried on the conversation with her and the one friend of hers that was actually listening to me, all the while keeping an eye on my own friends to make sure they didn't abandon me.

Thankfully, it looked like they were doing the annoying friend routine with Joel taking over Eddie's usual place. I had to admit, this was guaranteed to be a success for someone.

Every time I answered any of Piper's questions or told her a story, she would totally go over the top with her laughing. I couldn't tell if she was drunk or just a terrible flirt, but either way her friends didn't seem to care. Once again I tried to dash away, making the excuse that I was going to the bar, but all that did was bring her along with me.

I bought us both another drink and as we waited for the bartender to make them, she put what I assume was her master plan into action.

"You know, I always wondered what happened to you after high school," She whispered into my ear. I swear she blew inside it too.

"Like, I said, nothing exciting!" I smiled, doing my best to re-establish my personal space. It was only then that I pretended to need the bathroom and made a quick escape.

On my way down to the bathroom, two things happened. The order in which they happened remain a mystery to me but to make myself feel better, I'll tell it this way.

First, the alcohol took full effect.

Second, I bumped into Eddie. I hadn't even noticed him leaving my friends.

"Hey dude!" I called to him, offering my hand for a high five which he stopped and reciprocated.

"You seem to be putting the moves on Piper over there!" He said mischievously.

"Yeah right!" I laughed.

"Why not?"

"Uh . . . remember what I told you? About Melissa?" I tried sparking his selective memory.

"Yeah but cant that wait?" He asked. He really was the Loki to my Thor. You know, because I'm all jacked and shit.

"I don't think that's how this works," I started.

"But why not?" He argued. This time he didn't sound like he was trying to be a pain in the ass. He had his legit debate face on. "Let me say this one thing and I'll be done ok?"

I nodded.

"Ok so when we were in school, do you remember that guy Heath Peters?"

"Yes. He was the biggest asshole in the school."

"Right. Remember what he always used to say to us? That no chick would ever go near us. How wrong was he, right?"

I nodded again, not really sure what Eddie's point was.

"Remember when he was the first one in class to lose his virginity, to that Stacy chick that ended up having three kids?"

"Yeah . . ."

"Well do you remember how distraught Piper was about it? She had the biggest crush on him even though he basically made her life hell. Fast forward to now, he doesn't have a job, weighs like four-hundred pounds and gets high every night. Meanwhile, we're doing ok, and Piper looks . . . better," Eddie always had a way with words.

"I'm not sure what you're getting at," I admitted, now doing a little dance thanks to the piss that I actually needed now.

"What I'm saying is, this is your last chance. I don't have a problem with you and Melissa, hell, I even like it! But why not take this one last chance to get back at Heath and all those other people that said this sort of day would never come for us? That's what I keep doing!"

"I don't know, dude."

"Just think about it, ok? If Melissa had one last chance to get some sort of revenge or justice against her ex, she'd probably do it too right? Plus, it would finally show Joel that we aren't a bunch of bullshit artists."

The second last point clearly didn't make sense. I know that now. But I nodded anyway. Whether it's because I believed it, or I just wanted to get away from him and go to the bathroom. Either way, while I drained the serpent, I couldn't get his words out of my head. It wasn't the worst idea in the world.

Was it?

Whatever the real answer was, I decided that I wasn't going to be going out clubbing or anything for a while after this, so as Eddie said, I might as well have a little harmless fun. The chances were that Piper wouldn't let me bang her straight away anyway.

I arrived back to my spot and found that she was still there.

"Where did you get to?" She asked in obvious flirtation.

"I had to see a man about a thing," I replied, even though I don't even know what that means.

"Well I'm glad you're back. We're just about to do some more shots. You interested?"

What the hell!? These girls drink more than we do!

"Hell yeah!" I answered confidently.

Piper ordered some more drinks and we quickly knocked them back before her friends left us alone again. I hadn't even seen my friends since I'd returned from the bathroom.

Our small talk continued on a little longer, with her getting closer and closer to me with every passing word. Before I knew it, our noses were practically touching and I could smell the tequila on her breath.

I found myself laughing a little on the inside. This situation was a complete throwback for me. I wasn't really all that attracted to Piper but here I was anyway. She was pretty and everything but there just wasn't that feeling that I knew very well now. But those thoughts were pushed to the back of my head when I looked up at her again and said something sexy to her. In the blur that happened afterwards, I've totally forgotten what it was.

Whatever I'd said, she'd clearly enjoyed it as she placed a soft kiss on my lips. I didn't kiss her back really, but I certainly didn't pull away.

Despite being in a nightclub with music that was far too loud, hundreds of people talking amongst themselves and Joel constantly yelling "Yaaaaaaaaay!", I swear I could have heard a pin drop then. But instead of a pin dropping, I heard an unrecognisable word coming out of Melissa's mouth.

I opened my eyes and shot away from Piper as quick as I could, but it was already too late. Melissa was dashing out of the building that until now I didn't even know she was in.

I shot a look to my equally shocked friends, who were switching their attention from me to her, back and forth.

"What's wrong?" I heard Piper ask, but I didn't answer. I gave her an apologetic look before running after my girl.

*

"Melissa!" I cried. Everyone in the street heard me and turned to see what I was yelling about but the one person whose face I wanted to see, didn't turn round.

"Melissa please, I can explain!" I told her as I slowly caught up. My words were separated by huge pants; alcohol and running do not go well together.

"I don't want to hear it David," She sobbed. I could tell she was crying. "I just want to go home and never see you again."

"Melissa, it's not what it looked like!" I lied.

"Really?" She finally spun round at a hundred miles an hour. "So you weren't kissing another girl?"

"Well, yeah, but –"

"There are no buts, David! I thought we had something! But obviously I was wrong. Again!"

"We did! We do!" I was so desperate that I was starting to get muddled up. "Look, I made a huge mistake back there but it didn't mean anything!"

"That just makes it all so much worse!" She shrieked. "Did I mean anything? Does anybody mean anything to you?"

"Melissa, you mean more to me than anyone else. I promise that what you saw in there wasn't really me," Despite all the drinks I'd consumed, I'd never felt more sober in my whole life.

"I wish I could believe you David, I really do," She said, fighting back the tears, and losing. "But I just don't think that I can believe anything you say to me any more."

I wanted to argue but my words caught in my throat. How could I argue? If I'd caught her kissing another guy, I'd have lost my shit. There was no excuse for what I did, no matter what I tried to tell myself. It was only then that I realised that there was something that I hadn't said yet.

"I am so, so, sorry."

"So am I," She said before turning and walking off again. I didn't follow.

It's a weird thing to say, but if there was ever a definitive way to end things between us, this seemed like it. What else could I say? The last thing she said to me hurt me so much, but probably not even half of what I'd hurt her.

Not that I had any right to feel hurt.