I finished another cigarette before Rob turned up. I was really happy that Becky hadn't looked for me, as I wouldn't know how to explain chain smoking around the corner, after I told her I needed to be somewhere.

"Thanks for picking me up," I said, as I got in Rob's car.

His car was a piece of shit too, and it was always full of rubbish. I needed to kick a few things out of the way before I could see the floor.

"It's okay... So, what happened?" He asked, while driving back in the direction of home.

"I just wasn't feeling it tonight," I lied, and he eyed me suspiciously.

"I can't believe Ivy Shaw has finally struck out!" He teased.

"I didn't strike out!" I argued.

"Ivy, you have never not been feeling it. You've slept with everyone you've been on a date with since you were sixteen, that's hundreds of girls."

"That's a slight exaggeration," I laughed. "I haven't been with hundreds of girls."

"How many then?"

"I don't know, I don't keep score," I answered.

"So why weren't you feeling it?" He asked. "She's hot."

"I'm not blind, Rob, I know she's hot. I just didn't want to go home with her tonight," I replied, "can you drop it now, please?"

He rolled his eyes, then looked straight ahead, and drove in silence. When we got back to the coffee shop, Rob parked the car, and we went up to my apartment.

We drank some more wine, and put some music on, while we ordered a pizza.

"You could have been having sex right now," Rob said, and I frowned at him. "I mean, I know you have more options, but if she wanted to sleep with me, I'd be straight in there."

"She's a lesbian," I laughed.

"I know, but you know what I mean."

"Yep, you mean she's beautiful, and I'm an idiot. I already knew this," I said.

"So, are you gonna tell me what happened?"

"Not right now," I grinned.

Rob kept trying to get information from me for a little while, but after a couple more drinks, he gave up. He was now sat on the floor, attempting to make a house of cards. Every now and then, I would blow it over without him realising and he would need to start again.

"Ivy, why don't girls like me?" He asked.

I frowned. I didn't know how to answer him, because I couldn't understand why he didn't have a girlfriend. He was sweet, funny and caring. And although I was a lesbian, I knew he was good looking.

"I don't know Rob, maybe you just need to put yourself out there a bit more," I suggested.

"But I don't know how to," he said. "I'm not as confident as you, I can't just go up to a girl and ask her out."

"Sure you can, you just need more practice," I assured him.

"Practice?" He laughed.

"Just ask any girl out. You don't need to like her, just get used to doing it."

He looked like he was deep in thought, so I blew his house of cards over again, just to entertain my drunken self. Rob cursed, and picked up two cards again.

Shortly after that, Rob was fast asleep, and snoring, on the sofa. I finished my drink and went to bed. I couldn't sleep right away, I was too busy beating myself up for what happened earlier.

Rob was right, it was completely out of character for me. My thoughts wandered back to Larissa again, and I frowned. I literally knew nothing about her, besides her name, but I couldn't get the image of her smile out of my head. I needed to forget about her.

~~~~~

When I woke up the next morning, my head was thumping, and the room was spinning. I checked my phone to see that it was almost ten o'clock. Slowly, I managed to pull myself into a sitting position on my bed. I took a minute to allow my head to catch up with how fast the room was moving, then got to my feet.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty," I said to Rob, as I pushed his legs off the sofa so I could sit down.

"I hate you," he groaned.

"No, you don't."

He sat up, and rubbed his eyes for a solid five minutes, before he opened them.

"You gonna tell me yet?" He asked.

"Tell you what?"

"Why you didn't fuck Becky..."

I shook my head, then walked into the kitchen to make some coffee. Rob followed me, and stared at me questioningly. I knew he wouldn't stop pestering me until I answered, so I gave up just enough information to keep him happy.

"My mind was kinda preoccupied with another girl," I said.

"Who?"

"That, Robert, is none of your business," I laughed.

"You're gonna tell me eventually," he assured me.

"What are we doing today?" I asked him, trying to change the subject.

"Wanna go climbing?"

I nodded, and grinned. Rob and I used to go bouldering regularly, but we hadn't been for a while. There was a girl he liked who worked at the climbing wall. I decided that today would be a good day for him to start practicing talking to girls.

Rob went home to get ready. I took a shower, and got dressed into black sweatpants and a white vest. I dug through my closet to find my climbing shoes, and put them into my gym bag, along with a towel, and my chalk bag.

I waited for Rob to come pick me up, but I wasn't waiting for long. I got in his car and he drove us to the gym. We were going to pick up my car from the bar after.

As we were walking to the desk, I saw Rob's eyes light up. The girl he liked was sitting there, smiling at him.

"Ask her out," I said, and he frowned at me.

"Are you mental?"

"Just do it, she likes you."

"Why? Because she's smiling? That's kind of her job," he argued, and I realised he was right. Maybe she didn't like him, but he needed practice so I decided to give him a little nudge.

"No, because I've seen her checking you out before. Just ask her, and don't be shy."

I quickly showed the girl my ID card, and walked away, leaving Rob alone with her. The girl looked quite shy too, so I wasn't sure how it would go down with both of them. I tried to mind my own business, and sat on the floor, changing into my climbing shoes. I strapped my chalk bag around my waist, then put my gym bag into my locker.

Rob walked over to me after a few minutes, grinning happily.

"I got her phone number," he beamed.

"Awesome," I replied. "See, I told you she liked you!"

"You're gonna need to help me when I finally manage to text her," he joked, as he put on his climbing shoes.

We both walked to one of the climbing walls, after he locked his bag away. The floor around the whole room was lined with deep, springy mats. We didn't need harnesses to climb, as the walls weren't too high, and the mats normally ensured you didn't break anything if you fell.

"Race you to the top," I said to Rob, who just nodded in response.

We both started to scramble up the wall. My hands gripped the small, awkward shaped holds, and I used my legs to push myself up, so I didn't put too much strain on my arms. Rob and I were on equal footing, until something else caught my attention.

Rob's new friend at the desk was watching us climb, and she was accompanied by Larissa. My heart sped up slightly, and I felt determined to beat Rob to the top. I remembered Larissa telling Tom that she was on the way back from the gym yesterday at the coffee shop.

I quickly pulled myself up one hold at a time, catching back up with Rob again. My eyes kept flicking back to the desk. She was still watching, and it made me nervous. We were only a few feet from the top of the wall, when I stared past Rob for a second too long, and caught my forearm on one of the holds. I slipped backwards and fell onto the mats below.

My body hit the mat hard, which hurt, as it usually did, but I was quick to pull myself to my feet. Rob was laughing at me, as I pretended I was immune to the pain.

"Shit, you okay?" He yelled from the top of the wall, climbing back down to me. He looked concerned, and I was confused.

I looked back over at the desk, and saw that Larissa was walking over to me, and she also looked concerned. It took me a few seconds to realise what they were looking at. When I caught my arm on the hold, I had cut it. The holds were quite rough, and as they were meant to be like rocks, some of them had rough edges. The cut wasn't deep, but once I had seen it, it became painful all of a sudden.

"Can i take a look at that?" Larissa asked as she got closer to me. "I'm the first aider here."

"You work here?" I asked, and my eyes widened. I was gonna need to come here a lot more often now.

"Yeah," she replied, unsure as to why I was surprised. "Come with me."

She beckoned for me to follow her, and took my arm in her hand as we walked. She tried to get a better look at the cut, while I tried to get a better look at her. Her hair was tied up in a tight ponytail again. I noticed she had several piercings in her ears.

As she led me into the first aid room, I wondered if she recognised me from the coffee shop. My heart was racing as she closed the door behind us, leaving us alone.