A Short Story
Thursday Morning, 9:20 a.m.
“Well, she sounds great but you’ve got to tell us how you two met,” Blue said impatiently. She’d been insistent in the group chat, holding her at metaphorical gunpoint, but Aminia had stood her ground saying it would be better in person.
“Alright, alright,” Aminia forced a laughed. They had only sat down ten minutes ago at her favorite coffee shop, five minutes from campus, at her table that had the perfect amount of warm sun rays between 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. But even sunshine, great coffee, and buttery croissants weren’t enough to sweeten the sharpness of Blue personality.
Aminia took a sip of her iced latte with oat milk and sugar-free vanilla and adjusted her tiny Shein top that would go out of style (and into the trash) in the next month. She opened her mouth to begin the juicy story but was interrupted.
“So you didn’t meet on Bumble or something?” Jaden asked. “Everyone meets on dating apps now, if you didn’t meet on Bumble then it was Tinder or fucking Farmer’s Lovers or whatever it’s called—”
“FarmersOnly. I get ads for it all the time,” Jordan ran his hot pink nails across his carefully styled hair in bored irritation.
“Of course you do,” Jaden laughed.
“Okay, are you going to let me start or what?” Aminia asked.
“Yes, go!” Blue mumbled, spewing flecks of croissant onto the table.
Okay, so you know how I always do my homework in the downtown library instead of the school library—
“Because you’re too good for us.” Jordan interrupted.
“Or maybe because you talk too much while we’re trying to focus,” Jaden replied.
“Why would you need to focus? You’re a Comm major.” Jordan said and Jaden punched his arm.
Anyway, the downtown library is definitely better but sometimes you get the absolute weirdest people in there. So over the weekend, I went to finish this stupid essay for Greek Mythology—I think it’s the worst essay I’ve written yet, I couldn’t be bothered to read the book. It was so boring and way too long.
“Are you kidding?” Blue was also in Greek Mythology, it was how they first met. Aminia had only taken the course because it was supposedly the easiest A in the line-up of Freshman classes. When she discovered it wasn’t as easy as she’d hoped she befriended the smart girl next to her to copy notes (and sometimes tests). “The Odyssey is one of my favorite books. You just have to give it a chance because once—”
“Or maybe you’re just a nerd.” Jordan said, cutting off what was ramping up to be a Big Blue rant (as they liked to call them behind her back).
So I’d almost finished writing the worst essay of my life, just completely bullshitting and ChatGPTing everything, when I suddenly got the feeling that something was wrong. I looked up and saw this really hot girl—
“Let me guess . . . your new girlfriend,” Jaden sang teasingly before sucking up the rest of her cold brew and reaching for the rest of Jordan’s who immediately batted her hand away.
So the really hot girl was staring at me but she looked scared and was trying to mouth something to me but I couldn’t really tell what—
“Wait first of all, what was she wearing?” Jordan asked.
“Baggy striped tee with a black long sleeve underneath, silver chain, Carhartt beanie, and Levi’s.”
“Sounds cute,” Blue said.
“Sounds basic,” Jordan laughed.
“Don’t be mean,” Blue replied.
Jordan licked his lips, smacked them shut, and slowly scanned his eyes over Blue’s current outfit (which hadn’t made the cut for his daily Instagram stories).
Anyway, she had this terrified look on her face and her lips were moving but she was too far away for me to see what she was trying to say. And then she spun her finger in the air as if to say “turn around.” So I spun around and I was face to face with the creepiest old man I’d ever seen.
His face was right over my shoulder, I guess he was watching me type for who knows how long. I screamed so loudly that everyone looked up at us and the old man started screaming too. Then he literally slapped me in the face!
“What? He slapped you?” Blue exclaimed. “Did it hurt?”
“Did it leave a mark?” Jaden said, scanning Aminia’s face with interest.
“No, not at all.”
“I would’ve slapped him back,” Jordan said.
“No, you wouldn’t have,” Jaden rolled her eyes.
I didn’t even think about slapping him back, I was completely frozen. It’s the first time any one has ever hit me. Unless you count that time in third grade when I called this girl ugly and she tried to rip my face off. I guess I kinda deserved it that time though.
“One sec Ami, I have to leave soon,” Jaden said quickly sending a text before stuffing her phone into a leather mini purse that barely fit a tube of lipgloss. “My Big’s picking me up soon, we have to go shopping for next week’s formal.”
“Don’t you own enough white dresses?” Aminia asked.
“Apparently not.” Jaden applied another sticky layer of lipgloss using her phone camera. “Hurry up so I can hear the end of the story!”
Yeah, well as I was saying, I was completely frozen . . . like time stood still, when Charlie—the hot girl, you guys already know—was suddenly right beside me and yelling at the guy. I forget what she said but she was like cussing him out and then he tried to slap HER but she had really quick reflexes and grabbed his hand and twisted it behind his back!
“No way, what a badass,” Jordan said, finally engaged in the story.
“I like Charlie already,” Jaden said approvingly.
That’s when other people came to help and they took the guy away and Charlie looked down at me and smiled saying, “My dad was in the army. He taught me a few self-defense moves.” And without thinking, I swear to God, my first words were, “You’re so cool.” I probably sounded like such a loser! But she just smiled and said, “You look like you need some fresh air, want to get out of here?”
“Oh my god, she’s literally your hero,” Jordan said.
So we just started walking randomly around downtown, talking non-stop, and then we passed my favorite ice cream shop that also turned out to be her favorite. And guess what, we have the same favorite flavor, mint chocolate chip.
“It’s a sign from the universe,” Jaden said and Aminia was 90% sure it was an unironic comment.
We literally spent hours at the ice cream shop, ended up seeing a movie afterward, then dinner, and she kissed me goodnight at the end.
“I love it.” Jordan clapped for dramatic effect. “Crazy old guy, a fight, and ice cream. Doesn’t get better than that.”
“Yeah, that’s the weirdest meet-cute but I honestly love it,” Jaden as she flung her purse over her shoulder and blew kisses indiscriminately across the table. “Sorry, I have to go now but I can’t wait to meet her. See you guys later!”
“Byeee,” We all chorused as we watched her jump into a blond girl’s Bentley.
“She must not have many friends in Kappa if she’s always hanging out with us,” Jordan half-joked, watching the Bentley speed off.
“I hope that’s not true, she’s paying way too much to not have friends there,” Aminia added. “Sororities are stupid.”
“Didn’t you rush Kappa?” Blue asked.
“Yeah, but she didn’t make the cut,” Jordan said with a smirk.
“I wasn’t actually going to join, I was just rushing because my mom wanted me to,” Aminia said defensively.
“Anyways,” Jordan said pursing his lips, “Great catch-up girls, great tea Aminia, I’m going to head out too. I have class in ten.”
Aminia still had half her croissant and coffee left so she sat back and watched as Jordan walked away, typing quickly on his phone. She took a deep breath and felt a wave of relief and pride. She knew she shouldn’t care so much what Jordan and Jaden thought, but it was hard not to sometimes.
“So how many dates have you and Charlie been on?” Blue asked.
“We’ve hung out every day since we’ve met, so five dates. We’re practically girlfriends,” Aminia half-joked.
“I’m happy for you,” Blue smiled.
Thursday Afternoon 8:20 p.m.
“How about you Char, any updates on the love life?” Charlie’s coworker/best friend asked as he took off his apron for the day. He had just finished a ten-minute monologue on the worst dates he’d been on so far this semester.
“Yeah, actually I’ve been seeing this girl, things are going really well.” Charlie smiled as she hung up her cap and pulled on her beanie.
“How’d you meet?”
“Bumble.”
“Nice.”
Honey Gouda 
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