| and we meet again |

—next day—

"Okay, What!" Jo exclaimed.

I walked away, avoiding any form of eye contact with my best friend. Jo has piercing, big blue eyes— similar to Sebastian's but at the same time, hers were stronger.

"Elena!" She called out behind me.

I stopped in the middle of the store, right behind a clothing rack so that I could turn back around and look at her.

She gripped my arm and leaned in closer, careful not to shout her next few words loud enough for the rest of the store to hear.

"You had a one night stand?" She whispered.

"Ugh.." I shivered. "Can you please not call it that? It sounds dirty.."

"Because it is!" Jo smiled. "Oh my Gosh, El.. You're finally Dirty!" She exclaimed.

My eyes widened. Both our heads looked around our circumference to see if any heads jolted up.

"It was a mistake." I sighed, asking hold of the shirt she was holding for me before I walked over to the changing room.

Jo enthusiastically followed behind me.

"I can't believe Camila told you." I growled, sliding the curtain to walk inside it. Jo allowed herself in too, closing it behind her to the stand with her arms crossed.

"Uh.. Hello? Best Friends here!?" She joked, crossing her arms over her chest. "I can't believe you are finally over that jerk Sebastian."

"Still not over him, Jo." I handed her my purse. She gripped it while scoffing. "Like I said, it was a mistake."

My hands gripped the hem of my shirt and pulled it off my torso. The shirt I wore was too handed back to Jo so that the new one could be tried on.

"Was it good?" She asked me, a smile vivid on her face. She was behind me but her reflection on the mirror in the fitting room made it clear of her expression.

"You're sick." I arched a brow, bringing the new top over my torso.

"No...." She shook her head. "I'm curious! You've only been with one guy before, Elena... This must be so exciting for you!"

"Sex is not everything, Jo." I rolled my eyes, trying to hide the true fact of why I wasn't answering her. Last time I recall.. I was a full drunk when I slept with that guy. I don't remember one bit of it!?

"Oh my God.." Jo gasped to herself. "You don't remember." She arched a brow.

She noticed my expression on the mirror. Yup, that's my best friend right there. Knows me like the back of her hand.

"Do you at least know who the guy was?" She asked, shocked to even be asking this. If you recall, This Isn't Like Me At All!

I turned around with wide eyes. "Of course I do!"

"Who was it?" She arched a brow.

"Just some guy—" I tried to drift it away.

"Some guy?"

I nodded my head. I didn't want to touch the subject more than I already have. And I especially don't want to get into how he was a guy I met at the bar. How low does that sound? So instead, I searched for a good quality, one that would shut her up.

"The DJ actually." I turned back around with a smile in hopes of her not asking me about this again.

I looked the off-the-shoulder top and how it looked on me. I was not pleased with its appearance on my body. Had to say, it was cuter on the hanger.

"No way.. The DJ?" Jo smiled. "Now you really gotta talk to me about this guy!"

Oh no. This is not what I wanted...

"There's not much to tell, Jo." I shrugged, removing the top from me again. "The guy came up to me, we had a few drinks, then we went to his place. There. Basic one night stand story."

"Was he cute?" She asked as she handed me back my regular shirt. I handed her the one I just tried on for her to place back in the hanger as I got ready.

I playfully rolled my eyes at her. "Well I slept with him.."

"So?" She furrowed her eyebrows. "Jessica Sanders slept with Cory Montezuks and that boy has not one pretty bone in his body."

"Jo.." I looked at her. Something unique about my friend Josephine is how much she doesn't care. I wish I could be more like her, having not one care in the world. She lives in a perfect bubble where her feelings don't get hurt and she has no reason to be going out, doing what I just did, if it's not for her own personal sake. Another thing... She doesn't care about what she says about other people. I get it, she's honest, and she does not beat around the bush for anyone, including Cami and I. But that's how she keeps it real.

Sometimes, like right now, I have to remind her how important it is to maybe stop so much of that honesty of hers. I remember Cory Momtezuks— Lonely, skinny as a twig, old Bieber hairstyle Cory. He was the boy every high school story has. The really ugly kid no one talks to, that is, until a rumor came out being that one of the prettiest girls in school slept with him. Turns out the rumor was true, but for all the wrong reasons.

"All I'm saying is that looks don't necessarily matter. If your drunk enough, you'll sleep with anyone." Jo shrugged, now handing me back my purse to which I placed over and across my torso. The long strap held my purse close to my thigh.

"Well, I was sober when we met.. And he wasn't ugly." I replied.

Jo and I shared a small laugh as we walked out of the fitting room. I wasn't lying, not about that. I remember his smile being the first thing that drew me to him. The boy wasn't drop dead gorgeous as many might presume since the last guy I had a relationship was Sebastian Steel. But the boy was different. I don't What it was about him exactly, but he had something.

"Too bad I'm never gonna see him again." I joked around, leaning into her as we made a turn out of the fitting room hall.

We were back into the store and my eyes darted over to the entrance of the store where the doors were now being opened by an incoming customer. They instantly widened as I recognized the light brown hair. Feet came into a sudden halt, stopping Josephine along with me.

Her blue eyes grew wider in worry, blonde ponytail waving from behind her head.

"Elena, what's wrong? What happened?" She asked, taking hold of my hand.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I always heard the saying It's a Small World and The Universe Works In Mysterious Ways.. But this.. This here was just simply ballistic..

There was the guy... The guy I slept with walking right through the store's front doors.

Andrew.

"Elena!"

Josephine's shake brought me back to reality.
My immediate reaction was hard to hide. I quickly grabbed her by the hand and ducked us down, hiding from the entrance of the store. Jo was confused and couldn't stop asking me questions. I stopped us behind a clothing rack that was tall enough for us to not be seen through the front of the store. We remained hunched forward though; safety precaution.

"Elena.. What the Hell?" She asked.

I hushed in efforts to get her to quiet down. She only furrowed her eyebrows. Before I explained anything else, I took a quick glance up to see if who I saw was really there. At first I didn't see him but then he turned around and I dropped back down. It was defiantly the guy.. I can remember that corny smile anywhere...

"Okay.. I know this sounds crazy... But he just walked in the store.." I explained.

"Who?" Jo still wasn't catching on. "Sebastian?" Her teeth gritted. "Oh let me give that fool a piece of my—"

"No!" I quickly pulled her back down, bringing her balled up fist back down with her. "It's Him! The boy from Friday night!" I quietly exclaimed.

Jo's eyes went wide, mouth falling agape. "Oh my God, seriously?"

"Uh.. Would I be hiding us here if it wasn't?" I sarcastically replied.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Wait.. But why are we hiding?"

"Because, Jo!" I exclaimed. "I snuck out of his house before he even woke up!"

"No way.." Jo's expression fell into a complete sense of achievement for me. "You did your first walk of shame too and you didn't tell me? Now I really gotta see this guy."

She got up before I had the chance to stop her. Luckily the guy was heading towards the male section of the store and didn't get to see me when I got up besides her. Like I said before, Jo is a smart girl, probably the smartest when it comes to these guy things out of the whole group. Not even knowing the guy she spotted him immediately.

"Elena...." Her lips curved into a smile. Andrew was stretching an arm out to grab one of the t shirts from the shelf, looking back down at the fabric and studying it. "I can see why you slept with him." She turned back to me.

"Jo! Bigger picture here!" I pulled her back down. My head kept looking back over her shoulder, making sure the boy hasn't caught on with what was happing in the racks not too far from him. "How are we going to get out of here!? He can't see me—I-I'll die of embarrassment!"

My heart began to pound faster.. Palms began to sweat. If that boy spotted me I would really die of embarrassment. I snuck out of his house before he even woke up... How rude was that! I panicked. That night I had no idea what happened to have led me to do that and waking up in a strange house wasn't scary enough, try adding a naked stranger to the situation too! He could not see me.. I have no idea how he'll react.. How I'll react!

"Okay, Okay." Jo relaxed me. "First, take a deep breath."

Jo guided me with the flow of her hand. Following her and her guidelines, I managed to do just that. My head nodded.

"Now.."

The rack in which we were hiding behind was suddenly forcefully split into two as the arms of a strong guy held the clothing apart. Jo and I remained shook, heads turning up to immediately catch hold of the intruding male...

Andrew..

"Oh.." The first thing he noticed was us. "Sorry, didn't mean to—"

Jo and I broke apart from our awkward whispering/ hiding state. Our eyes went in shock, gasping as we took a step back from the rack.

"Oh look at that.." Jo looked down at the shirt I previously tried on but didn't like that was still in her hands. "I think I'm going to go try this on!"

My friend flashed me a wide-eyed look before she walked away, faking an admiration for the shirt.

I was suddenly left alone with this boy again who now seemed to be studying my face. This was bad.. This was really bad.. I had to make a break for it! Quick Elena.. RUN!

"Uh.." A small smile grew awkwardly upon my face. No words were coming out... Only a small laugh. My mind was blank. The only thing humanly possible I could think of to do in this situation was to walk away.

So I did...

Giving him a small dismissal, I swiftly spun on my heels and began to make a break for it. I was going to make it. I had take more than a few steps and I was going to make it..! Until...

"Hey, hold up!" I heard his voice call from behind me.

My feet hesitantly paused. Maybe if I play along as if I don't know him and he's just a stranger meeting me for the first time, he'll go away. After all, he didn't see me leave his house. He probably didn't even know it was me he was with?

I turned around with a small smile already on my face. The guy was already hot at my heels. That corny smile I remember vividly made a reappearance on his lips.

"You..." He pointed. "I know you.."

Deny. Deny. Deny.

"Do you?" I knitted my eyebrows. "I don't recall seeing you before?"

The guy smirked, pulling his lips into a smirk as he leaned in closer to me. "Should I take off my clothes?" He whispered.

My eyes widened, mouth fell agape as soon as his tall figure pulled apart.

"You remember!" I quietly exclaimed.

"I got drunk, not Alzheimer's?" He joked. "Besides.. We met before the drinking..." He paused, leaning his elbow on the clothing rack as he spoke again. "I'd remember you even more clearly if I got to see you by my side the next morning... But you were gone."

"H-How do you remember what we did?" I asked curiously.

"I was naked in my bed—clearly in the aftermath of sex—and the only girl I remember talking to that could've led to that, was you... Elena..." He smiled. "Also, I had my roommate to confirm." He chuckled.

A hand shamefully clasped over my face, trying to hide the look of embarrassment beginning to form on it. Everything about that day was so embarrassing. And his roommate! Oh God, Why would I trust a stranger like that?

"Oh, and—I also found this."

My eyes looked down to the hand he was now shoving into the front pocket of his jacket. I watched bewildering as his hand was pulled back out with a thin gold chain falling from the sides. His hand was opened and in his palm I noticed an extreme object of value to me. My necklace.

"H-How did you get this..?" My fingertips gently picked up the piece of jewelry, observing it now in my own palm.

It was my mother's necklace. A small gold disk engraved with beautiful patterns decorated the outside. It was an object I never took off, ever! So how was this in his hands?

"I was making the bed and found it." His fingers went over to turn the locket around. "It has your name engraved in the back. All these clues were dead ringers for it being you... My Runaway Girl." He joked again.

Rolling my eyes, I put the necklace safely on around my neck. The pendant falling on the inside of my shirt.

"Well, thank you for returning it." I looked back up at him. "That's surprisingly kind coming from a stranger."

"Yeah, a stranger who you fucked." He laughed.

I felt my face turn bright red towards his remark. Before I could say anything, Andrew spoke up.

"I'm sorry, I should just accept your thank you." He smiled with a hand on his chest. "As you can see.. I'm not that bad of a person." His smile still displayed in his lips as he admired me from his intense height. "What are you doing next Friday night?" He asked me.

"What?" I looked back up at him, eyebrow arched.

"Before the tequilas, you were pretty fun." He nodded. "I'd like to see you again... Without all that drinking."

My head looked down for a moment. I felt so bad for saying this, but it was something I had to do.

"Look... What happened between us that night was a mistake. I don't know what or how that happened, but that's not me." I shook my head.

"Shockingly, I'm not talking about sex." He laughed. "I genuinely just want to hang out with you again. Besides, you owe me for running out."

"I owe you?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Hey, I'm a pretty interesting guy." He nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. "You just don't remember."

"Don't.. Go there.." I warned. My reaction towards all this seemed to raise a kick out Andrew. He was highly amused with my embarrassment.

"Alright, tell you what.." His hand dug back into his pocket to pull out his phone. I watched him, questioning his every move. "I will be at this direction, Friday night. If you're bored, or wanna find out how much of a cool guy I really am.. Come by."

I questioned as he finished typing what I presumed to be the address of the place. He didn't show it to me, not once. He just sent the message. Immediately I felt my phone vibrate.

I glanced down, seeing that the boy was already a contact in my phone.

"How did you do that?" I asked, looking up at him.

"We exchanged numbers.. Remember?" He looked at me, arching an eyebrow but managing to pull a smile on his lips.

My silence was all he needed for an answer.

"Man, you were really out of it, Runaway Girl." He joked.

I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Thanks, but I doubt I'll be going out again."

I swiftly turned and continued to walk further into the store. My eyes squinted, hoping the boy would let it go and walk away. I stood corrected, his footsteps sounded clearly followed behind me.

"Say you'll at least think about it." He urged. "You could use some fun in your life."

I halted, spinning around to look back at him. I almost gasped as I realized how close he was to me. My nose becoming dangerously close to his collarbone area. I took a step back, clearing my throat and retracing my thoughts.

"And What makes you think my life isn't already fun?" I crossed my arm, head tilting to the side. I know my life isn't a thrill, but a complete bore is not what I am capable of.

"Well for starters, I met you at a bar while you were drinking... Alone.." He chuckled.

My eyes looked down. I know, I'm pathetic, even to strangers.

"Try." He smiled. All of a sudden, his hands met my arms, gently squeezing them. I was shocked with the contact. "You won't regret it."

His corny smile was warm and inviting. Slowly but surely I found myself falling in a haze to which I quickly snapped out of as soon as his hands were removed from my arms.

"You have my number!" He exclaimed, hands pointing back at me as he moved away. "Use it!"

"Doubt it!" I called back, holding my straight face which only seemed to make him smile even more.

What the Hell just happened..?