Back at it

I dramatically pushed aside the curtain of the dressing room to reveal the over the top dress Anna made me try on.  Nostalgic wasn't very fancy, but when I sent a Snapchat of my dark jeans  and lace sleeved top with the caption 'tonight's outfit,' Anna promptly texted me.

"I'll be by in 5. We're going shopping."

I did a pretend cat walk over to Anna who clapped her hands together at the sight of me in a sleeveless red dress. "You need this dress," she insisted.

"You're insane," I replied, pulling at the bottom of the dress. "It's way too much."

"Nothing is too much for your first night back!"

I waved my hand in the air. "I've been out of the game three months, not three years."

"Whatever," she said as she whipped out her phone. "Try on the green one."

I silently went into the dressing room. I knew Anna wouldn't listen to me, so I didn't say a word as I put my yoga pants and white t-shirt back on. The green dress was even more extravagant than the red one. No, thank you.

As I walked out of the dressing room, Anna looked up and I immediately saw the disappointment take over her face. "I hate you," she said with a smile.

After another hour at the mall (and an Auntie Anne's pretzel), Anna finally agreed on a top that I liked. It was a white, sheer shirt that would look great with the jeans I already had at home. We decided to also get manicures and pedicures before heading our separate ways. I was excited, but nervous to go out. This would be no different than any other night out, right?

I enjoyed my time getting ready as I listened to pop music to get amped. Before I knew it, Darlene was in my driveway and we were on our way to Nostalgic. The bar was pretty dark and by the time we got there it was already packed. We made our way over to the bar and Jessica ordered us a round of shots. Right away, there was a group of guys who took notice. I made a mental note that any time we wanted the attention of guys, we should loudly order shots.

We talked to them for a short amount of time before making our way to the dance floor. "They were cute, right?" Darlene said to me, wiggling her eyebrows. I shrugged as I took a sip of my vodka tonic. "Come on," she replied.

"They were too young," I said. It was true. None of them were more than six months over 21. I was going to be 24 at the end of the year and my uterus drew me to older gentlemen.

We danced for a few songs. A 90s cover band was playing that night and I focused on singing all the words to some of my favorite songs from middle school. I made eye contact with a few cute guys and hoped they would come over to talk to me, but my telepathic messages unfortunately did not work.

"Why haven't any of the guys approached us?" I asked Darlene on one of our trips to the bar. I pouted out my bottom lip. "I thought this was easier!"

Darlene glanced around and rolled her eyes at me. "I told you. You should've dressed sluttier!" She pointed at a hot guy with slicked back hair talking to a girl in a bandeau and denim shorts. Did I really have to wear a bathing suit to get a guy to notice me in a bar? I was already frustrated about being single.

We stayed at the bar for another couple hours before deciding to leave and drive thru Taco Bell. However, as we were walking out, Jessica was stopped by a member of the original group we were talking to.

"Where are you ladies going so early?" he asked. It was only 12:30, but I felt that we had sufficiently danced and I was ready for a Doritos Locos taco.

"We're bored," she playfully replied.

He threw his hands up in the air. "No, we can't have that," he said. "We're getting out of here soon. You guys should hang out!"

Jessica turned to us and mouthed, "Should we?" We all looked at each other. I really had no desire to go to whatever Fraternity house these guys lived in, but I wouldn't necessarily hold the group back.

We all looked at each other for a few seconds. Nobody wanted to be the decider. Anna finally took out her phone, without consulting any of us, and passed it to the guy. "Put in your address and we'll meet you there in a half hour," she instructed.

His face lit up as if we had all just lifted up our shirts for him. "Great! We'll be waiting!"

We walked out and made our way to Darlene's car. "So, this is happening," she said with a laugh.

"I don't know," Jessica skeptically said. "We don't really know them."

"Well, he didn't just put their address in here," Anna began. "He put his phone number. If you guys don't want to go, I'll just text them." None of us had any real objection to going, so we all went along with it.

Once in the back seat, Jessica leaned onto my shoulder. She was definitely a little bit too drunk, but it made her happier than usual. "This sucks, huh?" She asked. "I hate being single!"

I put my arm around her. "I know, I know."

We sang Backstreet Boys until we arrived at Taco Bell. Then, we ate in the parking lot. Soon, it was well after 1.

"Okay," Anna loudly began. "27 Adams Street. Let's do this!"

We pulled up to the house within 20 minutes. Yup, it was a frat house right by Hofstra University. 

"I guess we're going back to college," Anna said with a laugh.