CHERRY. [JESS MARIANO]

And I Hated That Too

My first week of college was officially up and now it was the weekend. The time where I was supposed to go out and get drunk somewhere. But instead, I was watching Full House on the secondhand tv that Zayna and I had bought from a thrift store downtown.

She was out tonight with Benjamin, somewhere on Bleecker Street or something that sounded like that. I was still trying to get familiar with the area. This left me alone on a Saturday night, which I honestly didn't mind.

I tore my eyes away from the tv where Uncle Jesse and Aunt Becky where having a moment, to get up from my seat and head to the kitchen counter. I made myself a fresh pot of coffee from the coffee machine that my mum had so kindly sent to me a few days ago.

It wasn't as good as Luke's -I doubted anything was- but it was the best I got. Sure, I had hundreds of coffee carts around campus and town, but need I remind you that I was a college student away from home. That meant that I had to practically live on water if I wanted to survive. Granted, I spent most of my money in second hand bookstores and record shops, but it was money well spent.

Midway through putting my third spoon of sugar into my mug, the front door burst open. I snapped my head up in alarm only to see Zayna standing there with a wide smile on her face. I looked behind her to see Benjamin standing there with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

He and I still weren't friendly to each other, but we were civil enough not to throw food toward one another when Zayna was around. She always made sure that we were getting along properly. She acted like my mum toward Luke and Lorelai sometimes.

"What are you two doing here?" I ask incredulously as the two of them walk inside. "Didn't you have some date night planned?"

"We did," Benjamin agreed with a playful glare Zayna's way. "Someone just had a brilliant idea," he says sarcastically as she hushed him.

She fixed the dark green hijab on her head before turning to me excitedly. "We want you to come with us!" She exclaimed as if she had solved one of Einstein's equations.

"No, thank you." I quickly shook my head at her suggestion. Spending a night with them was like sitting through dinner with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, they were so in love it made me sick. "I have no intention of being the third wheel," I had enough experience of that when Rory and Dean were together.

"You're not gonna be the third wheel," Zayna persuaded me with a proud smile. "I asked Benjamin to invite one of his friends."

I nearly choked on the coffee I was drinking. "Me?" I repeated with a scrunched up nose. "And another one of his friends?"

Benjamin rolled his eyes at me and glared. "I'm surprised I even got the guy to come."

Zayna sent us both sharp looks, "Stop it you two." When she was sure neither one of us was going to start it up again, she turned to me. "So get you ass back into your room and change out of your pyjamas."

"But I'm lazy," I groaned as I plopped myself back in my seat, careful not to spill the coffee in my hands. "And Full House is on! You can't expect me to skip that!"

"Just assume that Stephanie and DJ make up and Uncle Jesse and Aunt Becky find a way to parent their twins." Benjamin snapped impatiently as he checked his expensive looking watch.

I glare up at him from my seat. "Way to spoil the show," I muttered as Zayna grabbed my empty hand and pulled me of the chair.

"Get changed," she said as she pushed me into my room. She closed the door behind her, leaving Benjamin outside as she raided my closet.

"I don't wanna go," I repeated again as I put my now empty mug of coffee on my bedside table. "I just wanna stay here and watch Full House, is that too much to ask?"

Ignoring me, she held up a teal coloured blouse up to me. "Is it because you're still hung up on that guy?" I hadn't told her about Jess but she knew there was a guy. And that seemed like enough for her.

"No," I lied as I averted my eyes from her unconvinced stare.

"Listen," Zayna started as she took a seat next to me. "I'm not gonna force you to go if you really don't want to." I gave her an appreciative smile at her words.

"But you should go out, have some fun." She continued on. "Maybe even have a one night stand, who knows. We're in college after all, this is the time we're supposed to be dumb and reckless-"

I put my hand up to cut her off. "Are you done with your speech?" I asked sarcastically as she nodded. "Good, I'll be ready in five minutes." The minute those words left my mouth I knew I would regret them. Zayna let out an excited squeal before leaving me to change.

~~~

So our double date? -0.2 stars, would not recommend. To start off, my date had the personality of a slice of bread. Zayna and Benjamin had to split it off from us, taking a table that was on the other side of the room. I bet that was their plan all along.

"Hi, I'm Alex." My 'date' had introduced himself to me as we took our seats. Alex was a fairly tall and muscular guy who had a pair of sunglasses in his blonde hair -which should've been a big red flag. He wore what looked like a pair a khaki shorts and a white polo t-shirt.

I smiled politely at him, "Alex? Like the psychopath?" I referenced to 'Clockwork Orange'.

All I got was a slightly offended, 'pardon me?' I mentally told myself to cross out his taste in movies in my head. I opened up the menu and almost dashed straight out of the restaurant once I took a look at the prices. The only thing that kept me in my spot my the reassurance that Alex would pay for it all.

As dinner went on, I found myself being thankful for one thing, and one thing only. It was the fact that Alex talked about himself, a lot. He talked about himself so much that I didn't have to do anything except just nod and laugh at the correct times.

Throughout Alex explaining his life story from when he was two years old, I caught on that he was a business major. Another thing to cross out on my mental list. After a while, I found myself zoning out as I thought about how ridiculous this guy was. Going on and on about how he was captain of his varsity football team.

Suddenly, a thought struck me. A pretty unwelcome thought but a thought nonetheless. I thought of how Jess and I would make fun of this guy together.

How we'd made fun of the stupid Porsche he got and the fact that he wore sunglasses inside. And how he dressed like he was in his forties and on his way to a polo club. It was like I could almost hear his laugh.

It made me nostalgic and sad all at once. It also made me so sure that I was still in love with him. And I had accepted that. Despite how much I hated him for leaving I still loved him. And I hated that too.