Page 7 of June

“I want to be back by eleven,” she said.

“I’ll see you at nine,” Jodie repeated as she stood.

???

“You’re going out?” Viv asked.

“Yeah,” she replied as she slipped her belt through the loops of her jeans. “Want to come?”

“Oh. No, thanks,” Viv told her.

Caroline knew Viv would say no. Her roommate wasn’t someone who liked the nightlife in New Orleans much. She preferred campus events and the occasional frat party if she managed an invite. Caroline didn’t really care much for the campus stuff, but that was because most of those things involved people talking about school, their majors, and what they wanted to do with their lives later, and she had no answers to those questions.

“Hey. Are you ready?” Jodie asked her as she stood in the open door. “Oh, hey, Viv.”

“Hi, Jodie,” Viv said as she sat up in the bottom bunk.

“Are you coming out with us?”

“No, I’m staying in tonight.”

“Are you sure? We won’t be out late. I’ll even buy you a drink.”

Caroline wanted to glare at her because she had already done the obligatory-invite-to-be-polite thing, but in the tiny dorm room, Viv would be able to see any look she gave Jodie.

“No, thanks. I have some studying to do, and I’m a TA, so I’ve got papers to grade.”

“Okay. Well, maybe another time,” Jodie replied. Then, she looked at Caroline. “Ready?”

“Yeah. Let’s go,” she said.

Caroline turned and gave Viv a quick smile before she grabbed her wallet, room key, and phone. She had an inside pocket in her jeans where her wallet and key would go that no one would be able to grab, and her phone would fit in the front pocket of her jeans and would be a little safer there than in her back pocket. That was all she would be bringing to the Quarter, which she knew the locals didn’t always spend a ton of time in, but she was in college and thought it was the best place to get cheap drinks, assuming she could even get one. Caroline preferred going out in the fall or winter, when the weather was a little cooler, allowing her to wear a jacket or a sweater, but it would be too hot for that tonight, so she was in a short-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans, not exactly trying to look good to pick anyone up and just thinking she’d have a good time with her friend and head home.

“Why did you invite her?” she asked Jodie once they were in the hallway and out of earshot.

“I don’t know. She was there.”

“I already asked her to be polite, like I always do. She said no.”

“I didn’t know that,” Jodie said. “And she’s nice, Care. She’s just a little boring, but maybe we need a little boring in our lives from time to time. When we don’t have boring, we end up drunk at a bar, and some woman is putting her hand in your pants.”

“Hey!” Caroline chuckled. “She tried. She didn’t get in there. And I was making out with her.”

“Making out isn’t a stranger putting her hand down your pants when she can tell that you’re drunk.”

“Where are we going, anyway?” Caroline asked.

“I don’t know. I figured we’d see which bars don’t have a bouncer tonight and go for one of those.”

The drive in a shared-ride car took them only about fifteen minutes, and they walked the rest of the way to Bourbon Street and found a bar that didn’t have a bouncer at the door. Jodie nodded for them to give it a try, and they walked in, finding people dancing inside to the loud music. The bar had a short line, and Jodie joined it, while Caroline stood off to the side, looking around. She saw two women dancing close and another two kissing and swaying but not really dancing. Caroline wanted that for herself. She wanted someone to kiss and dance with, but not the woman she had made out with that night, who had been clearly interested in something more and in public no less, which wasnotCaroline’s thing.

“Okay. So, the bartender was kind of an asshole and saw us come in together, so he asked for your ID before he would let me order two drinks. I ordered you a water,” Jodie said, handing Caroline a red cup.

“Well, that sucks,” she replied.

“Drink it fast. I’ll pour half of mine into your cup.”

“Not worth it,” Caroline told her and took a sip of her water. “So, what now?”

---