Thoughts That Count
Episode 5 part 2
Ezra
"Everything she'd known disappeared, drifting into the summer sky," I finished taking a sigh of relief. I was glad it was over, and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. People in the crowded bar clapped and whistled as I made my way down from the stage.
I stopped occasionally on my way to where I'd seen Aria sit to accept comments from people in the crowd and speak to someone from the university who would congratulate me.
When I made it to where I could see Aria, I couldn't believe my eyes. Shaking her hand was my best friend Hardy, "Uh-What the hell are you doing here?" I asked, throwing down my story and pulling him in for a hug. I hadn't seen his since I'd graduated.
"Well, I thought I'd get some face time with the president of your fan club, apparently."
I looked from him to Aria and back again, "Wh-You two know each other?" I asked.
"Yeah, well, not as well as you two know each other. I heard about the bunk beds," Aria teased. I opened my mouth, wide eyed, to say something, but Hardy beat me to it. How much had he already told her?
"We just met," Hardy said, "But I'm glad I sat next to her. She kept kicking me so I wouldn't snore." I laughed at his joke. I couldn't believe where I'd ended up, but I kind of liked it.
"No, no, seriously. How… did you know about this?" I asked nervously, partly because I had gone to great lengths to make sure as few people as possible who I knew were here, and in part because I'd brought Aria. Both of them being here wasn't the best idea.
"I don't live in a cave. I saw it on the website, thought it was my duty to come heckle you!"
"Maybe I should be in a cave," I said freaking out a little, remembering Hardy's comment about snoring, "Was it really that bad?"
"No! It was beautiful!" Aria piped up, making me smile, "And that metaphor at the end-"
"Metaphor?" Hardy asked, dumbfounded, "I thought it was really about a kid who lost her balloon."
"You also thought Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang was Mexican porn," I reminded him.
"That's true," Hardy said.
"Yeah, books aren't his thing," I said, remembering back to my college days, "He used to pay me in frozen burritos to write his papers."
"You know what would be great? If you told this same lame story while I had a beer in my hand. I'm grabbing a waitress!" Hardy ran off, and I turned to Aria, "I didn't know he was gonna be here," I said apologetically. Her expression told me she didn't mind, but we both knew what it meant.