New friends, new enemies?

After my conversation with Matt on Thursday, my mind was pretty clouded and the rest of the day went by fairly quickly. I have never had a guy instantly consume all my thoughts, and as hard as I tried to concentrate on other things, it just wasn’t happening. It was actually annoying me how much he had taken over my mind after meeting him only one time. I was always able to shake off distractions and focus on classes, but there was something different about him.

By the end of my last class, I was ready for a night of binge watching The Mindy Project on Netflix and a glass of red wine to unwind. I knew Aleah was working at the Racquet Club, Maddie was out with her boyfriend, and Nellie had evening class so I was looking forward to having the apartment to myself. Being the classy lady that I am, I twisted off the cap of my $8 bottle of wine and poured it into a plastic cup before plunking my butt on the couch for my TV marathon.  For the record, it’s not that we don’t have proper wine glasses; it’s just that I have a tendency to break glasses. It’s become kind of a running joke in our group, and so for part of my birthday gift last year, Elena got me a Costco sized bag of plastic cups so I wouldn’t keep breaking ours.

After about 6 episodes, I decided to call it a night and headed off to bed. I woke up the next morning around 9:30 and went for a quick run before our first track meet at 11. I knew if I just sat around the apartment until the meeting I would just obsess over running into Matt there so I figured some fresh air would do me some good.

After a solid 40 minute run, I hopped in the shower. The hot water felt amazing so I just stood there enjoying the bliss for a few moments before getting out and putting myself together. I quickly made a coffee in my to-go mug and darted out the door.

I got to the Athletic Centre about 2 minutes before the meeting was about to start when I heard someone calling my name. “Sarah!!!!” I heard a familiar voice yell from across the room. I looked over and spotted my good friend Chloe, who also throws discus for the team. I scurried over to her and gave her a big hug.

“Heyyyy! Long time! How was your summer?!” I asked excitedly.

“Oh the usual, but I missed you! Wanna do dinner tomorrow night to catch up? We can try that new tapas place. Apparently it’s really good and a lot of students go so it must be fairly cheap” she said with a laugh. Chloe always radiated positive energy, which is why I loved hanging out with her so much. I’m a firm believer that we feed off of the energy of others.

“Sounds great! I’m not working so that works perfectly” I whispered back just as the athletic director stood at the front to start the meeting. Chloe was my closest friend on the track team. She was a bit shorter than me with long dark hair, bright green eyes, and olive skin. Everyone on the team said she looked like Sarah Hyland from Modern Family, even though she would just laugh and say “I wish!” when people told her that.  She was one of those girls who could make anyone feel better even on their worst days.

I did a quick scan of the room and saw Matt standing at the back with his arms folded over his chest. The second I saw him, my heart started beating fast and my stomach was in a knot. God, his body was perfect. He had just the right amount of muscle and a golden tan that made him look like he could have been a model for a cologne ad. He must have noticed me staring because he made eye contact with me and gave me a friendly smile. I smiled back, turned around, and tried to focus on the meeting for the remainder of the time. 

The meeting went on for about 40 minutes and just went over the standard start of the year stuff. I didn’t have class until 2 pm, so I wanted to head to the grocery store to grab a few things since our food situation was looking pretty sad at the apartment.

“Hey, why don’t you come by my place around 6:30 tomorrow and we can have a drink then head over to the restaurant together?” I asked Chloe just as we gathered our things.

“Perfect! Gotta go to class I’ll text you when I’m on my way!” She said over her shoulder as she hurried out of the room.

I bent down to grab my bag from under my seat and when I stood up, Matt was standing right in front of me.

“Jesus!” I said surprised.

“Sorry” he giggled. “Am I that scary?” He asked wryly.

I blushed as soon as he smiled. “Not at all! I’m probably just jumpy from drinking a big coffee on an empty stomach”

“I know the feeling” he said back while grabbing his stomach.

“So, how are you finding your first week here” I asked awkwardly trying to make conversation and not stare like a complete idiot.

“It’s been good. Busy, but good. I’ve been so focused with trying to get myself organized with my TA job that I haven’t really had any time to get to know the campus or the city” His eyes were so intense as he spoke.

“Yeah, that makes sense. I know moving to a new city is hard, especially when you don’t know anyone” I said while nodding.

“Hey, do you know of any good Irish pubs? I’ve been dying for a Guinness and a good meal since I got here!”

I laughed as I said, “Funny that you’re craving that, there’s actually a great Irish pub about 15 minutes away called Guinness. Hands down best nachos and fish and chips I have ever had.”

I wasn’t sure if he was looking for an invitation or just a suggestion. He was hard to read. While his winks and smiles certainly seemed flirty, he could just be looking for a friend since he didn’t know anyone yet. Also, with him being a TA, I’m sure there are rules against dating students.

He laughed at the irony as well. “Well isn’t that just too perfect! Thanks for the suggestion”

“Anytime” I said back with a smile. “I gotta run some errands before my next class, so I guess I will see you in social psych on Monday?”

“You bet!”

I went to turn around to head out of the room when Matt started talking again.

“You know….a beer is never the same when you’re drinking it by yourself and since you rave about the food, why don’t you come with?” He looked kind of uncomfortable as he was asking me. How could a guy that looks like him possibly be shy around girls?  I thought to myself. I didn’t want to look like a loser for not having any plans for a Friday night, but I also didn’t want to miss out on hanging out with Matt outside of school.

“Umm, sure I don’t think I have anything going on tonight. Do you want to meet there around 7?”

“7 is great! But don’t be silly, I’ll pick you up. No sense in taking two cars. Plus then you can be my co pilot and direct me there” He said with a wink. He needs to stop winking at me or else me knees are going to give out.

I giggled “Okay that works! I’ll text you my address”

After we exchanged numbers, we said our goodbyes and parted. I left the meeting feeling like a giddy school girl. I knew it was very possible he was just looking for some company, but I still couldn’t help feeling overly excited for our get together.

After my last class, I raced home to get ready for my dinner with Matt. As soon as I got to the apartment I went into the bathroom to turn my straightener on while I chose something to wear. I stood looking at my bursting closet trying to think of something that would look good without looking like I put any thought into it. I settled on black skinny jeans (Okay, they’re jeggings don’t judge) with a flowy pink chiffon blouse. I had texted Matt my address about an hour ago and knew that I had about 40 minutes before he would be picking me up. I did a brief touch up on my make up and ran my straightener through my hair so it didn’t look like a rats nest. Sometimes I contemplated chopping it all off so there was no maintenance, but at the end of the day, I really do love having long hair and I would hate myself if I cut it all off.

At about 5 minutes to 7, I heard the buzzer to my apartment. I did one more quick look over in the mirror before grabbing my clutch and heading out the door.

We made small talk on our way to the pub which wasn’t too far from campus. The reason I liked Guinness is that it had great food and drinks, but also the crowd was so diverse I found it pretty interesting to people watch there. It always had a mixture of college students, young professionals, sports fans, and even an older crowd.

It was fairly busy when we got there but Matt managed to spot an open high top table near the bar. We made our way over and settled in before a peppy waitress approached our table.

“Hey guys! Can I grab some ID off ya while you look at the menu?” She smiled and waited for us to give her our licences.

She glanced at them for about a millisecond before handing them back. I’m pretty sure 90% of the time waitresses don’t even look at the date and just do the check to make sure you have it to cover their ass.

Matt ordered a Guinness while I opted for a vodka and cranberry juice.

“So tell me about yourself Sarah” Matt said while taking a sip of his beer.

I wasn’t crazy about that question because I never knew where to start, so I briefly told Matt about my family, what it was like growing up in Michigan, how I got into track and how I met the girls I lived with. Conversation flower easily throughout dinner, and Matt seemed so genuinely interested in everything I said. I don’t think I had ever been out with a guy who didn’t glance over at the TV screen multiple times or check out the waitress. It was refreshing, and he made me feel like I was the only person in the room.

It was already 11 when we figured that we should each be heading home so Matt asked the waitress for our bill when she walked by.

After she set it in the middle of the table, I went to reach for my clutch to put some cash down but before I could even undo the zipper Matt said “Don’t even think about it” while he put down his card.

“Thank you,” I said with a smile.

When we got out of our stools to leave, Matt guided me to the door of the pub with his hand on the small of my back. I could smell his cologne from him standing so close to me and I could feel those butterflies in my stomach again.

We were just getting into the parking lot when I said “I had a really great time ton-…”

I didn’t finish what I was saying because when I looked up at Matt, his eyes were focused straight ahead with a look of shock on his face.

His truck had been completely trashed. The windshield had a crack right through it. There were dents all over the body of it and the passenger side mirror was hanging by 2 wires.

“Oh my god” I said.

As we got closer, I noticed whoever had done it had also spray painted the side with just 2 words

“WATCH OUT”