"This is the best thing i've ever eaten in my entire life" Maya stated through a mouthful of falafel.
"You say that about everything you eat when you're drunk" Josh reminded her.
The pair had just emerged back onto the street from the tiny hole in the wall take out place that said open all night.
"Yeah but I mean it this time"
Josh rolled his eyes, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend's waist and turning her in the direction of home.
"God, that hummus is strong" Maya complained, glaring at the wrap in Josh's hand.
"I can smell the garlic from here"
"Is that right?" Josh teased, leaning his head down to her eye level as they walked as if he were about to go in for a kiss, his breath directly in her face.
Maya attempted to duck away from him but his lips still caught her cheeks.
" You are brushing your teeth the second we get back to your place" Maya commanded. She didn't doubt that her own breath was a similar strength but she decided to look past that. It was far more fun to give her boyfriend a hard time.
…..
It was the awkward time of the night that Maya always experienced every time she drank. That window of time between getting through the front door and getting into bed. The odd haze between drunk and sober she found herself in as she shuffled around the apartment, pulling on her pajamas and making her way towards the bathroom.
Josh was standing in front of the tiny sink in the old faded flannel pajamas pants that sat on just the right spot on his hip that made Maya's heart flutter.
Maya bumped her hip against Josh's, forcing him to shove over a few inches to allow her access to the tiny sink. The bathroom itself was so small that it could hardly accommodate the two of them.
They brushed their teeth side by side in silence.
"Better?" Josh asked, opening his mouth as if Maya were about to perform a dental exam. Maya made a dramatic show of leaning in to smell her boyfriend's breath.
"Much better. Only vaguely garlicky now" Maya teased, allowing Josh to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her into him.
He played with the hem of the frayed NYU t-shirt that Maya preferred to sleep in. Her eyes felt as though they weighed a million pounds. She leaned her head against Josh's chest, feeling as though she could fall asleep right where she stood.
"Do you want me to carry you to bed?" Josh asked, looking down at Maya as she stifled a yawn.
"I can make it 10 feet across the living room" Maya stated stepping out of the bathroom and towards the general area of the bedroom.
"Although the couch is a hell of a lot closer" Maya muttered, finding herself pulled in the direction of the sofa.
" and have you complained about your sore back all day tomorrow? I think not" Josh stated, amusement in his voice.
"Fine" Maya muttered, shuffling in the direction of the bedroom.
Her sheets were cool against Maya's skin. She shivered involuntarily and scooted her body over to Josh's side of the bed. She pressed her cold toes against the warm skin of Josh's calf. Instead of reacting as he normally would, Josh wrapped his arms around Maya and pulled her up against his side.
"The fact that i've become immune to your frozen feet is further proof that it's impossible for you to ignore me out of wanting to live with you" Josh stated, stroking the side of her head.
"Hmm" Maya muttered into his chest " just wait until I start snoring"
"That is a downside to your drinking" Josh amended. While Maya tended to be a fun and low maintenance drunk, it was almost inevitable that she'd end the night in a sleep so deep that her snoring got out of control.
"Well if it gets too bad I can always smother you with a pillow" He joked. Maya rolled her eyes under her closed lids and snuggled in closer.
…
"I'm in love" Sasha pronounced as she flounced into the room she and Maya shared the next morning.
Maya had just gotten back to the dorm a half an hour ago and she was busy getting herself set up for the week to come.
"With?" Maya asked, playing along.
" Who do you think?" Sasha answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She threw herself down onto Maya's bed, her head landing in Maya's lap.
"Could it be the boy you were dancing with on a tabletop last night?" Maya asked, amused.
"Ding ding ding" Sasha pronounced.
"So Austin has his claws into you?" Maya asked as Sasha reached up absent mindedly and twirled a lock of Maya's hair around her finger.
"Quite the opposite" Sasha amended, seeming proud of herself.
"I've enamoured him with my femine wiles and left him wanting more"
"What? You kissed him at midnight and ran away leaving only a glass slipper?" Sasha rolled her eyes.
"No! I left him unkissed at 3 am with a sultry look and an air of mystery"
"So what happens now?" Maya asked
"What happens now is that he waits three to five business days before he texts me and casually mentions that he's having a party, and maybe I want to stop by"
"Is that right?" Maya asked, amused by her friend's assuredness.
"Yes it is. So clear your calendar for next friday night, because I have a feeling we're going to have plans"
…
The door to Maya's dorm room flew open three days later and Sasha came strutting into the room, her hair bouncing against her back as she purposely shook it out behind her.
"I've still got it" she pronounced, tossing her unlocked phone into Maya's lap.
"The party is on?" Maya asked, lifting the phone and gazing down at the message still pulled up on the screen.
"You bet your sweet ass it is" Sasha said excitedly, already flitting through the clothes hanging in her closet.
"And you want to hear the best part?"
"What's that?" Maya enquired, placing the phone down on the bed beside her as she watched her friend in amusement.
"His bitchy sister isn't invited" Sasha proclaimed, pulling out a leather skirt and holding it against her body.
"How does the work? Don't they share an apartment"
"Well he isn't having it at that dump. His mom has a townhouse on 79th and she doesn't care if he uses it. Will we feel poor and inadequate being there? Probably yes. But it'll be worth it. Invite everyone you know" Sasha proclaimed, pulling another few shirts out of her closet and tossing them on her bed.
"That's not a very long list" Maya joked. Out of the corner of her eye Maya saw a familiar figure pass by their open dorm room door.
"Cass!" Maya called out loud enough that she could be sure that the girl in the hallway heard her.
Cassidys head poked around the corner of the door, a soft smile on her face.
"Hey" She greeted them.
"What are you doing Friday night?" Maya asked, her plan formed in her head
"Nothing?" She replied a little hesitant.
"Do you want to come to a party?"
"Sure!" Cassidy replied, her voice brightening.
"Great!" Maya replied " Now that i've got you committed to plans I can tell you that it's also kind of a blind date" Cassidy's eyes went wide.
"What?"
"No backing out now!" Maya pointed out.
"But I-"
"You said you wanted to meet a nice guy. Well I just so happen to know one" Maya stated, flipping her hair over her shoulder " plus it's a group setting so there's zero pressure"
"A nice guy in New York city?" Sasha questioned " I didn't think such a thing existed"
On second thought Sasha turned on her heel to face Maya.
"Why didn't you save him for me?"
Maya rolled her eyes.
"Because you're not a nice girl," Maya pointed out playfully.
"Rude but true," Sasha admitted, turning back to her closet.
"It's going to be fun," Maya promised Cassidy, who was still standing a little hesitant at the door.
"Yeah" Sasha pushed, suddenly excited with the whole idea.
"It's going to be the night of our lives"