Johnny had a crush on Beth the moment he saw her. It was on the first night of the college year where Beth's roommate knocked on his apartment door.
"Hey, we want to meet everyone on the floor so come out and hang!"
Never the one to leave beautiful woman disappointed, Johnny rounded up his roommates and went outside. He sat next to the tall, athletically built woman with jet black hair smoking a cigarette.
"Hey, I'm Johnny nice to meet you."
"Hi, I'm Beth nice to meet you too Johnny. You don't go by John?"
"No, going by Johnny keeps me from growing up too fast. Plus everyone on my team calls me it anyway."
"Oh, what do you play?"
"Baseball and hockey."
"Oh nice. I play soccer."
"Nice. You look like a soccer player."
"Is that a compliment?"
"Do you want to be?"
"Um...yes."
"Then yes, it's the nicest compliment I can possible give."
The two laughed and talked throughout the night. They both had busy schedules, but Johnny always found excuses to see Beth. She made it clear that she probably did not have time for a boyfriend, and there was still someone back home whom she had feelings for, but Johnny still stuck it out. If it was not for the fact that they generally liked each other as people, Johnny may have stopped spending time with her. But the two shared similar personalities and had a very brother-and-sister like rapport.
Johnny's friend Lucy would often tease him for not being able to get a date with Beth.
"It's not like I haven't ask! If she only wants to 'hang' and not go on an actual date, then that's what I'm going to do." Deep down Johnny did not like the situation he was in, but he was just happy to be there, since he had witnessed firsthand how Beth treats men who she wants no part of...and it was not pretty.
Little did Johnny know, Beth would often get teased by
her
friends about not dating Johnny.
"C'mon!" would proclaim her roommate, Emma. "You two are like everyone's parents anyway. It makes sense for you too to start dating."
"I know, but I don't have
that
much time for a boyfriend."
"Neither does he. And don't you try to use that guy back home as a reason. Johnny is
here.
And he's hot!"
"Then you date him."
"Why do you not think he's hot?"
"No...I do."
"Well then, he's all yours. At least fuck him."
The closest Johnny and Beth every got to hooking up was grinding up against each other at a bar one night. They never eve kissed, but Johnny was satisfied with that level of contact. He never expected to hook up with Beth, which kept everything between them cool and collected. He definitely did not expect anything when he got a text from Beth the night before everyone at Eastern State left for break.
"Hey bud, I know a lot of people already left, but I have some friends swinging by so you should come over and get drunk with us, lol."
"You had me at 'bud'. I'll be there."
Johnny kept everything casual, as he usually did. He threw on a hockey jersey and a pair of cargo pants. He walked to Beth's apartment and knocked on the door.
"Heeeyyy you, come in" said Beth as she opened the door. She had her jet black hair down, something she rarely did. She had on a pair of jeans and a dark green tank top that ended just above the waist line.
"Has someone been hitting the sauce already?" said Johnny as he walked in the door.
"Don't judge me!"
"I never judge you, darling. It just means I have to play catch up."
The combination of alcohol and being referred to as "darling" caused Beth to blush a little. Beth introduced Johnny to everyone in the apartment and pointed him towards the beer. There were only about eight people at the party and Johnny only knew about three of them, including Beth. The guy versus girl ratio was almost even which meant as the night went on people might start pairing off. While all of the girls at the party were pretty and flirty towards Johnny, he was only there for Beth.
The first drinking game of the night was a round of Kings. Johnny always liked it because it got everyone involved and kept the drinks flowing freely. Every couple of rounds, while Johnny would be talking to someone else, he would glance over at Beth. Almost every time he would, he would catch Beth quickly looking away. Was she being shy around him? That was unlikely especially since alcohol tended to make people
less
shy. Still, what was going on in Beth's mind right now? Johnny was more than willing to wait and find out.
After Kings, a few people, including Beth, snuck out for a smoke break. Johnny didn't realize Beth left so he was confused when he couldn't find her in the small apartment. When she walked back inside, a smile came across his face.
"There you are! I thought I lost you."
"Aw, did you miss me?"
"Like the desert misses the rain, baby doll."
"Hehe, you're pretty smooth when you're drinking."
"I'm always smooth, drinking just enhances it. So what's next?"
"I think we're getting the beer pong table ready. Do you want to me my partner?"
"Do you want to win or lose?"
"Win."
"Then you should have me as your partner. You'll lose if you go against me."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, it's a scientific fact."
"Oh well fuck you then, you can find another partner. It's on now!"
Johnny formed a team with Emma while Beth found a partner in one of the people he did not know, named Travis. Travis was wearing black suit pants, green dress shirt, red tie, and a black vest. Someone asked him why he was dressed so formally, to which his response was that he was "just dedicated to looking my best when I go out." From his gelled up hair, to his dress, to him only drinking the craft IPA that he brought and would describe to every person that would sample it, Johnny knew Travis as going to get on his nerves. Travis pairing up with his girl, Beth, was only going to make matters worse for him.
The game started out slow for both teams. Emma sank a cup early, and then Johnny followed suit on the next turn to put his team up 2-0. It was then that Travis made his first comment of the game.
