"And the dance master awakes!"

I had just come out of my room the next morning, drawn out by the smell of fresh coffee. Emilia sat at the table, a steaming mug in front of her, giving me a knowing smile.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

I yawned as I headed for the coffee pot. "Not bad," I said. And it was true. I had a slight headache and my throat was dry, but I didn't feel any need to throw up. "I didn't drink that much," I pointed out. "And what I did have was over a few hours."

"Well, that's good," Emilia said as I sat down across from her. "Because we have about an hour before we need to be at the festival."

"Damn, it's already ten?"

She nodded. The festival really started in full swing at 11. At least, that's when most food and craft stands opened.

I sipped my coffee. "Alright, I know you have questions about what I did last night, so ask away. I don't really want to have to talk about it at the festival where literally everyone I have grown up with will be."

Emilia laughed. "Hey, you don't have to tell me anything."

I glared at her.

"But you're right, I want to know," she said, giving me a knowing look. "What happened and who did you do it with?"

I snorted. "Well, as to who I did it with, I'm not really sure," I admitted. "Some guy. Never asked for his name."

"Typical."

"Hey, he didn't ask for mine either," I defended myself. "And besides, why give him the wrong idea? Guys already typically think that if you even look at them that you suddenly want to fulfill all of their desires."

"Okay, okay, I get it," Emilia said in defeat. "So what was nameless guy like?"

I shrugged. "He was fine," I said. "We danced, we grinded, we made out. He asked me to go home with him, I told him no, he rolled his eyes and left without another word. Honestly, a successful night in my opinion."

"Did you consider going home with him?" Emilia's question had no judgement, just pure curiosity.

I shook my head. "Nope."

"Not that attractive?"

I hesitated. And in that moment of hesitation, Emilia pounced. "What is it?" she asked. A sly grin appeared on her face.

"He was attractive," I said slowly. "Just, not exactly the guy I wanted to be doing all of that with. At least not the one I was thinking about."

Emilia stared at me. "Oh my god, were you thinking about Alex when you were with the other guy?"

I scrunched up my face and sat back in my chair, crossing my arms. "Maybe."

Emilia let out a cackle. "Ha! I knew it!"

"Oh, shut up," I said. "I already feel weird about it."

"Why?" Emilia said, shrugging. "I mean, it would be weird if you went and told him about it right now, unsolicited. But a fantasy is just that, a fantasy. No harm if it stays in your head."
"How are you so wise about this?"

"You point it out all the time yourself, Ana," Emilia said drily. "I have no dating or sex life. All I have are fantasies."

She had a point. But I also noticed that she was blushing. "Why are you turning red?" I asked. "You've never been embarrassed talking about sexual stuff."

Emilia looked down at her coffee cup. "It's not because of that," she mumbled.

I sat forward in my chair. "Emilia," I said slowly. "What are you not telling me?"
Her cheeks reddened even more.

"Emilia, did something happen at the bar last night?" I gaped at her, not believing that anything could have happened, but her silence was confirming my thoughts. "Emilia!"

"Okay, okay!" she said. She huffed. "Okay, nothing happened in the way that things happen with you," she clarified.

"Doesn't matter, if something happens then something happens." I was dying to know what she was about to tell me.

"I might have given my number to someone."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. We were both twenty-four, and I had known her for about twenty of those twenty-four years. And never, never, never, had Emilia shown any sort of interest in getting close to a guy. Sure, she had a few crushes over the years, but nothing she ever wanted to pursue. And now, she had just given her number to a stranger in the bar.

"Oh, and you just let me sit here telling you the details of my predictable night?" I said. "You need to spill. Like, now."

I couldn't believe my eyes as an involuntary smile came up on her face. "It was when you went off to dance with the nameless guy," she said. "I was sitting at the bar, drinking soda, and this guy just comes up and offers to buy me a drink."

"And so naturally, you told him no, but that he could buy you mozzarella sticks instead," I said, nodding. Emilia used that as her test to see if it would be worthwhile to talk to anyone who came up to her in a bar. If they got huffy and annoyed, she got far away as soon as she could.

"Obviously," she said. "And he said yes."

I sat back in my seat. "So this random guy comes up to you, offers to buy you a drink, and agrees to buy you mozzarella sticks instead," I repeat. "Did you give him a marriage proposal on sight?"

"Oh, shut up," she said. "No, alas no marriage proposal, but we did get to talking. He asked what I liked to do and everything, so naturally I started telling him about my art."

"And don't tell me," I said, getting more and more invested in the story by the minute. "He was interested in it?"

"Ana, he's also an artist," Emilia groaned. She put her head in her arms down on the table. "Like, was this guy even real?"

"So while I was getting felt up by some random, you were drinking soda, eating mozzarella sticks, and talking about art with an actual, decent man?"

She nodded, still not looking up.

"So, what's his name?"

Emilia lifted her head. "John."

"And you gave John your number?"

She nodded again.

I shook my head and laughed. "You know, I'm proud of you Emilia."

"Thanks," she said sarcastically. "But I don't know. I kind of doubt he'll even text me. Or if I'll want to do anything if he does."

"Well, if things went as well as you say they did, I'm sure he will," I said confidently. "Does he live in New Haven?"

"Just outside, apparently. About half an hour from here."

"So you should totally give him a chance," I encouraged her. "If it doesn't go well, you never have to see him again."

"Yeah, we'll see." Emilia drained her coffee and got up. "Come on, we should get ready. And, I hate to say this, but you really should shower."

I couldn't even argue with her. When we got home, it was all I could do to wipe off my makeup before falling onto my bed. Even I knew I was in desperate need of a shower.

I avoided washing my hair, though. With the humidity I could already feel inside, if I went out with it wet, it would never dry.

Wrapping a towel around me, I wiped the fog off the mirror and felt very refreshed after washing off the grime from the previous night. I applied a light layer of makeup and my usual red lipstick and reattached my necklace around my neck. The only time I took it off was when I went out clubbing. I couldn't risk losing that ring.

Back in my room, I found myself overthinking what to wear. And yes, it was because I was fairly certain I would be seeing Alex today. And this would be the first time he would see me not in work clothes or after a sweaty workout.

Well, I guess not the first time. He did see me last night. But while there was no way I could live up to that, I could at least look better than at work.

Eventually realizing I was overthinking literally everything, I pulled on a white, short sleeve crop top and a pair of high-waisted shorts so there was just a small strip of my stomach showing. I put on sneakers but threw flip-flops in my backpack. I would most likely end up on the beach at some point today. After braiding my gross hair into two French braids, I gave myself one final look in the mirror before heading out to meet Emilia.

She was already ready and waiting for me. "We're not going to be late, are we?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "Nope, we're right on time."

"Good. I wouldn't want to have you lose any customers due to your stall not being open right away."

She smiled and held out her arm. "I would never forgive you."

Chuckling, I took her arm and we headed out to the festival together.

A/N: It's festival time! What do you guys think, is Alex going to show up? Thanks so much for reading.