If you know, you know

(And by that I mean if you know me, you know that I can't write a single book without there being drama of all types.)

—

Ana went into work the next morning with a mood which she could not name. She wasn't stressed, no, Ana definitely knew when she was stressed because a migraine would usually begin. And she wasn't angry, her anger was never so solemn nor slow.

Part of her mood, which she discovered after having sat behind the cash register at the cafe for three hours and questioned every inch of her sanity, was humored. It sounded psychotic- which was why she was questioning her sanity- but part of it felt validated.

It was incredibly hilarious that she was in a down and out mood because of a sex pact she'd made with a man who got paid to sing and dance for a living. Of all of the problems Ana could have faced in this great wild world of issues, she was given one that her mother would laugh at.

Her brother would crinkle his nose up in disgust and ask, "Why would you even tell me about that?"

Ana found herself missing her family upon imagining this scenario and she considered fleeing back to New Jersey for a while. She hoped that if she would do this, Jeremy would forget every muscle memory he'd made with her, or Ashley would move on from attempting to be friends with her and she could just be with Jeremy.

Ana clocked out of her nine hour shift and face planted on her bed when she reached home.

She couldn't flee the city. If she did so, Laura would ask her why and Jeremy would blow up her phone and Ashley would offer to have a girls night where'd they drink wine, watch Love, Actually and, through a mess of tears, Ana would confess to having slept with Ashley's ex-husband.

Later that night, at nearly nine pm, Laura burst through Anas bedroom door with a backpack tossed over her right shoulder.

"Hey, girly pop. Feeling up to going out tonight? It's been at least three weeks since we've gone out on a Friday. I'm getting bored of watching reruns of American Horror Story on Netflix." Laura tossed her bag to the ground and slumped down beside Ana.

Ana sat there in silence, staring up at the ceiling as if it would answer for her. "I don't know."

Laura stared at her like a puppy dog, pouting her lip and making her pupils dilate. "Pretty please? I'll buy all your drinks and attempt to snag you a hot date."

Ana giggled slightly at this, "Well, if you're gonna buy all of my virgin Shirley Temples, I might just have to say yes."

"Give me an answer in thirty minutes or I'm leaving without you," Laura smacked her friends shoulder lightly upon hearing her joke. Laura left the room and went to get ready in her own.

Ana stood from the bed and picked up the bag Laura had left on the floor. She took a step towards the door, ready to tell Laura no, when her phone rang.

She dropped the bag on her bed and answered without looking at the contact. "Hello?"

"Hey, Ana, it's Jeremy."

Ana quickly stood to shut her bedroom door, leaning against it with a shy. "What do you want, Jeremy?"

"Can you come over?"

Ana almost said yes because she herself was feeling quite lonely that night. But she remembered how angry she was at him and answered, "I actually have plans tonight. Sorry. Talk to ya later. Bye!"

He attempted to say a few words as she rushed the goodbye of their call. She hung up.

Ana grabbed Laura's bag, peaked into her roommates bedroom, and said, "I'll be ready in ten."

—

Ana pushed through the crowd of perspiring bodies, holding her cocktail over her head as to not let it be bumped and spilt. She held a light smile on her rosy red lips, laughing at every drunk who stumbled and danced awkwardly to whatever song was playing.

She found Laura where she'd left her, at a stand-up table with empty cups littered across it. Ana set her drink down and grinned at Laura, "I totally forgot what it was that you said you wanted."

Laura giggled and snagged the drink away from Anas reach. She downed it with a few gulps. "Good thing you have legs to get yourself another cocktail, then."

Ana playfully shoved at Laura's shoulder. It was then that Ana noticed a stranger standing on the other side of Laura. He was extremely tall with black-rimmed glasses and a green bomber jacket enclosing a button up shirt.

"Oh!" Laura suddenly remembered he was even standing there, "Ana, meet my friend, Ben. Ben, meet Ana, my roommate."

Ana leaned across the table and shook his hand. "It's good to meet you."

Ben nodded, obviously flattered by Ana's features. "You, too."

"Now, is this the Ben who does the 54 Below shows?" Ana moved around Laura to talk more directly to her new acquaintance.

Laura was patting herself on the back for getting the two on first name basis. She also (mentally) thanked Ben for going out for his once-every-blue-moon clubbing. They both needed this.

"This is him." Laura bumped her hip against Ana's. Her and Ana had a conversation through eye contact and Laura took it upon herself to add, "Well, you two, I am going to get myself a martini, since someone can't remember a drink order. Get to talking, maybe dance a little. I probably won't be back for awhile because I am totally setting you up right now."

The three of them laughed at the last part, all obviously too buzzed to look t the internal context of the situation.

Ana turned her back completely to Ben and mouthed to Laura, "He's really cute and talented!"

Laura simply strutted away with her purse in clutch and a smirk upon her mouth.

Ana spun back around to face Ben, "So, Ben Fankhauser, right?" He nodded, "Tell me everything there is to know about you."

"Everything?" He laughed at the girl. She only shook her head in a positive reply and swayed side to side to the rhythm of the music. "That'll take a lot of time."

"I have all of the time in the world."

Ben went to say something about himself, along a with a quirky remark to reply to what Ana had said, when the music switched to a much louder EDM tune.

"Why don't we go for a walk?" Ben held out a hand for Ana.

She glanced around the bar, the decision weighing across her shoulders lightly. She hesitantly replied, "What about Laura?"

"She just walked out." Ben laughed as Ana rolled her eyes at her roommates actions.

"Well, I guess I can trust you if she left me alone with you. Where to?" She intertwined her fingers with his. As she had learned with Jeremy, it didn't hurt to have fun everyone once and a while.

"Let's go to my place."

Ana felt guilty deep down inside because she was already sleeping with a man. But, Jeremy would never know, so the situation could never hurt him.

Besides, she wasn't like him. If they were exclusively together, he'd be likely to cheat on her than him.