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“Girls, you will never guess what I scored us tickets for!” Abigail exclaimed as the door slammed shut behind her.
Tally looked up from her textbook and turned in the chair and saw a very excited Abigail. Raelle simply groaned from her spot on the bed across the room. She had been asleep most of the afternoon, which had been very fortunate for Tally, who was studying for her Social Psychology of Education test next week.
“What did you get tickets for?” Tally asked with a smile.
“Guess.”
Tally rolled her eyes. “You just said we would never be able to guess.”
“You’re no fun,” Abigail complained as she let herself fall down on the end of Raelle’s bed.
“Could you keep it down,” Raelle mumbled into her pillow. “Some of us are trying to nap.”
Tally laughed. “You have been asleep for almost three hours.”
“What?” Raelle sat up in bed and looked confused around the dorm room. She ran a hand over her face and with a yawn asked, “What time is it?”
“It’s 5:27,” Abigail answered as she smacked Raelle’s thigh over the covers. “So get out of bed Lazy Daisy! We all need to change now, if we wanna have time for food and drinks before the movie starts.”
Abigail stood from the bed and walked to their closet. She started going through each hanger with an unsatisfied look on her face.
“What movie?” Tally asked, spinning her chair from side to side. She didn’t remember Abigail talking about any movie, but Raelle clearly did, because the girl practically jumped out of bed with an excited squeal. “Did you get premiere tickets to The General? The new movie with Scylla Ramshorn?”
Abigail smirked. “And Augustus Elber.”
“And Sarah Alder,” Tally thought, remembering that she had seen a poster for the movie online. It wasn’t that she was a major fan of Sarah Alder. Not like Raelle was with Scylla Ramshorn. Her roommate had the biggest and most obvious crush on the actress. Tally wasn’t crushing on Sarah Alder. She liked her and she liked most of her movies. Sarah seemed like a really nice woman; heartfelt and warm, and that was why Tally had even started following her on Instagram.
Tally never commented on any of her posts, but she enjoyed all pictures of nature, quotes, art and the occasional selfie or modelshoot. She would give them a like and then she would be scrolling further down her timeline, never giving any of the pictures a second thought.
But did premiere tickets mean that the actors would be there as well, because meeting or just seeing Sarah Alder in person would be really cool.
“I need the perfect outfit,” Raelle declared and joined Abigail by the closet.
They discussed loudly which dresses, shirts and pants were clear ‘no goes’, and Tally let out a small laugh as she shook her head.
“Guys, does the clothes really matter that much?” Tally asked, getting off the chair and walking up to her roommates. She peered over their shoulders into the closet that was a mess of clothes. “It’s not like we are gonna hang out with the actors.”
The tight lipped smile that was suddenly on Raelle’s face made Tally look at Abigail with a sigh. “Oh no, you two have something planned.”
“Of course we do,” Abigail said and tooked a green dress from the closet and handed it to Tally. “You should wear this. It looks great with your hair.”
Tally eyed the dress. It wasn’t one of her own, but she took it from Abigail anyway. She could pair it with her black heels, and do a waterfall braid with a matching green ribbon. “What am I getting myself involved with and is there a chance that I will end up in jail?”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Abigail huffed. “We are just gonna crash the premiere party after the movie.”
“JUST gonna crash the premiere party? There is nothing ‘just’ about that,” Tally exclaimed as she threw the dress on her bed.
Abigail rolled her eyes and mouthed ‘dramatic’ at Tally as she walked over to her own bed with an outfit in hand.
“It’s gonna be fun!” Raelle said with a smile, but it quickly turned into a smirk. “And you don’t drink, so you can always drive the getaway car if it becomes necessary.”
Tally groaned as both her roommates started laughing.
Tally liked the movie, she might even call it great, and Sarah Alder had been amazing. Like wow! That woman’s acting was almost tear-worthy.
Raelle and Abigail had seemed to enjoy it as well. When Scylla Ramshorn had first appeared on the screen Raelle had whistled loudly, earning her a loud heartfelt laugh from the actress many rows in front of them.
Raelle had been high on that moment throughout the rest of the movie, so Tally wasn’t actually sure if she had paid that much attention to the story. But Scylla was staring, so there was no way Raelle didn’t like the movie, and her character hadn’t died, which was a big plus. At least then Raelle wouldn’t be complaining about it for days.
Abigail had paid attention. Maybe a little too much attention, and she might have made a bit too many comments about Augustus Elbar and his abs. It hadn’t been uncomfortable. Tally had mostly laughed, but the people around them hadn’t seemed too pleased.
So in conclusion the movie had been a hit all around, now they just needed to wait and find a way into the party.
Fortunately for them Raelle had worked at the movie theater sophomore year, so she knew her way around and hopefully they hadn’t changed any of the passcodes for the employee areas.
Unfortunately that also meant that Tally now knew of every spot in the building that Raelle had hooked up with someone. Apparently her roommate thought that was the best topic of conversation for them to have while they waited for the theater to empty.
When they were the last people remaining they gathered their things and left. They followed Raelle and instead of walking to the main hall like everyone else did they turned a corner and went into the nearest bathroom.
“So how long are we supposed to wait here?” Tally asked her friends as she turned to look at herself in the mirror. Her mascara was a bit smeared and gone from the edges of her eyelashes. Okay, so maybe she had cried a bit at the end.
“Another 30 minutes to be on the safeside?” Raelle said, turning to Abigail who was digging through her shoulder bag for something. After a moment she fished out her mascara and handed it to Tally.
Tally sighed with relief; both because of the offered piece of makeup and because neither of her roommates were commenting on why she ended it.
“Yeah by then the party will have been going on for more than an hour,” Abigail said, nodding her head as she looked at her wristwatch. “I’m thinking that should be enough time for speeches, toasts and such things to be done with and hopefully everyone in there will have had enough to drink that they don’t notice that we do belong there.”
“We are young and beautiful, it would be a shame if no one notices us,” Raelle said and Tally rolled her eyes, turning from the mirror and handing back the mascara to Abigail. Raelle just wanted Scylla to notice her.
Abigail shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t care as long as we don’t get kicked out or mistaken for hired entertainment.”
Tally paled in an instant. “What?! You think that could happen?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Raelle said with a laugh.
"What are you talking about?!” Tally asked, but Raelle was now laughing too hard to answer her. Tally turned to look at Abigail. “What is she talking about?!”
“Remember that party we cashed last month?” Abigail asked with a smirk and Tally nodded slowly.
She remembered the party vividly, because the guy who had been hitting on her all night had asked her if a blowjob was included in the price. The price of what she hadn’t known, but she had slapped him across the face and left.
“Oh my goodness!” Tally groaned and she felt her cheeks staring to heat up. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“We thought you had figured it out when you slapped the guy,” Abigail defended.
Raelle carefully wiped a tear from each eye as she tried to control her laughter. “It was the best thing that happened that night!”
“I really just thought he was rude or bad at flirting,” Tally said, covering her face with her hands. “I feel so stupid.”
“You’re not stupid.” Raelle put her arm around Tally’s waist and pulled her in for a side hug. “We love our sweet, innocent girl. Right Abs?”
“Right,” Abigail said and joined in on the side hug with her arm around Tally’s shoulders. “And this time none of us are dressed in miniskirts or see through dresses, so we should be home safe.”
Tally busted out laughing and her friends quickly joined in. “We really were dressed so very inappropriately.”
“We were,” Raelle said when the laughter quieted down and then she padded Tally’s ass. “Let’s go girls. I think enough time has passed by now.”
The girls let go of each other and all turned towards the mirror. They quickly gave their hair, makeup and clothes a once-over and then they headed for the door. Raelle led them down multiple hallways until they came to a red door. Her hand hovered over the keypad for a moment.
“Why aren’t you typing?” Abigail hissed.
“Just give me a second to remember the code. I haven’t used it in over a year,” Raelle hissed back at her as she closed her eyes. She moved her pointer finger over the numbers, feeling them out and then pushed in the six numbered code.
The acceptance bip rang out loudly in the quiet hallway and Raelle happily opened the door. “After you my ladies.”
Abigail smirked and walked past her with a sway of her hips. Tally gave a small laugh and grabbed Raelle around the wrist and pulled her along with her. When they reached the next door Raelle put her ear against it and listened for a second. “I don’t think anyone is in there.”
Abigail opened the door and they stepped into a fancy looking restroom. They crossed the room and then walked into a hallway where Tally could feel the music from the party in her chest. Her friends walked quickly down the hall that ended in a big room filled with people, tables and blinking lights.
“We're gonna go mingle,” Abigail called over her shoulder at Tally. “Try and have some fun!” And then her friends were off to the nearest bar for a drink and some interesting company.
Tally stayed just inside of the room and watched the people around her talking, dancing and having fun.
Abigail was already out on the dance floor with a drink in hand and two men following her every move.
Raelle was still standing at the end of the bar. Tally could see her friend slowly sipping her drink as she looked somewhat shyly towards the other end of the crowded bar. Tally followed her gaze till she reached a dark haired woman, and rolled her eyes when she realized the woman was Scylla Ramshorn. She wondered if Raelle would even muster up the courage to talk to the actress before the night was over.
Her eyes kept searching for something, but she didn’t know what. She knew where both her friends were, so what or who could she be looking for?
“Would you like something to drink?” A male voice right next to her asked.
Tally tore her eyes from the crowded room, and saw a young waiter standing beside her with a tray of champagne.
“Thank you,” Tally said with a smile as she took a glass from the tray. The waiter nodded and quickly walked away again. She sipped her drink and followed his path through the room till her eyes landed on a table in the middle of the room.
Tally suddenly knew who she had been looking for. She took another small sip of her champagne and then she walked through the crowd of dancing people; giving Abigail a quick kiss on the cheek as she passed her.
Tally didn’t have time to be nervous as she sat down in the chair beside the woman and said, “You look bored.”
“Not bored, just thinking,” Sarah said without looking at Tally. She reached for her drink and took a small sip. “The movie isn’t getting very good reviews.”
“Really?” Tally asked, surprised. “I thought it was good.”
Sarah turned to look at her with an unimpressed glance as she placed her glass back on the table. “And what do you know about making movies?”
“Absolutely nothing!” Tally said, shrugging her shoulders. “But I know I enjoyed it and I cried at the end, so you did something right.”
With that Sarah’s expression turned from slightly annoyed to something lighter. Tally couldn’t really interpret it, but she didn’t look like she was going to tell Tally to get lost anymore. “You didn’t work on the production. Are you someone’s plus one?”
As impressed as Tally was that Sarah clearly remembered the whole production’s team she also felt herself get nervous. This was why she shouldn’t have sat down.
The table was empty except for the two of them, but Tally still lowered her voice and leaned in a little as she asked, “Are you gonna get me kicked out if I say no?”
Sarah chuckled and shook her head. “You and your friends don’t seem to be doing any harm. I actually think the party picked up when you arrived.”
Tally’s heart beated faster in her chest and she begged that her cheeks wouldn’t redden. “You noticed us arriving?”
Sarah nodded her head towards the dance floor, but kept her eyes on Tally. “Your friends aren’t being very subtle out there dancing with two of the main actors. One of them being my ex-husband.”
Tally felt a pang of disappointment deep in her stomach. Of course Sarah had only noticed Abi and Rae. They were the ones people always noticed, leaving Tally to be an afterthought. She pushed the feeling down and with a smile she instead tried with a bit of humor. “If you’re rethinking getting us thrown out then just give me a second and I will drag them out of here myself.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Sarah said with a smile. “I don’t mind.”
“How long were you married?” Tally asked and Sarah looked at her surprised, like she thought Tally should already know the answer to that question. “Sorry, but I have never googled you.”
Sarah shook her head slightly and gave a small laugh. “We were married for five years.”
“Were you in love?” Sarah frowned at the question and Tally quickly apologized. She looked out onto the dance floor at her friends laughing and dancing. Raelle had the biggest heart eyes at Scylla and it seemed like the actress was adoring the attention. Abigail might be dancing with Augustus, but it seemed like she was busier eyeing the younger man sitting at the bar. His eyes were also on her.
It made Tally smile. Her friends seemed so happy.
With her face still turned from Sarah, Tally said, “I thought I was in love once, but I think I was just in love with the thought of being loved.” She could see Sarah looking at her from the corner of her eye, but she kept looking straight ahead. “It didn’t make it hurt less, though, when he finally remembered to tell me that he was already engaged to somebody else.”
Tally could feel the familiar sting in her heart at the thought of her first heartbreak, and even though it didn’t bring tears to her eyes anymore, it still hurt. She looked at Sarah and expected her to offer some kind of pitiful apology or for her to simply drop the subject.
But she did neither.
“I think we were in love in the beginning,” Sarah said thoughtfully. “We were definitely best friends. Still are.”
“Oh I like that,” Tally said, leaning back in her chair as a big smile filled her face. “And it must make working together so much more comfortable.”
“Definitely.” Sarah took her glass from the table and relaxed back in her chair like Tally had. She took a sip and then let the glass rest in her hand against her thigh. “So do you and your friends have a habit of sneaking into parties you aren’t invited to?”
“Maybe…” Tally said, hesitantly. “It’s kind of like a game to them.”
“But not to you?”
Tally laughed. “I usually end up like whatever party we go to, but the sneaking in part is way too nerve racking for me. Like why can’t we just walk through the front door? It’s not like many people are going to turn three college girls away from their party.”
“No, I can’t imagine they would,” Sarah said with a chuckle. “But where is the fun and excitement in just walking in?”
Tally rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s what Abi and Rae always say as well.”
Sarah smirked and took a sip of her drink.
“Can I tell you something kind of embarrassing?” Tally asked, already regretting her question, but Sarah’s intrigued look made her go on anyway. “I’m very thankful you didn’t have any nude or sex scenes in the movie.”
Sarah raised her eyebrows and opened and closed her mouth a couple of times as if she was coming up short as to what she should reply to Tally’s comment.
“I didn’t mean it like that!” Tally said, quickly realizing that Sarah might have thought that Tally’s thankfulness came from her not thinking Sarah would look great naked. Her cheeks started burning. “I’m sure you’re absolutely as gorgeous without any clothes on as you are with, it’s just that I don’t think I could look you in the eyes right now if I had just seen you naked on a very big screen.”
Tally’s eyes widened as Sarah busted out laughing.
“You’re not offended?” Tally asked and Sarah shook her head as she ran her thumb under her eyes to catch the tears before they could fall. “Why didn’t you stop my word vomit then?”
Tally’s tone had been accusing, but Sarah just smiled at her. “Your rambling was too adorable to stop.”
Tally groaned and hid her face in her hands. “I’m so embarrassed right now.”
Sarah laughed. “You shouldn’t be. It really was cute and I totally get it.”
“Really?” Tally asked, letting her hands drop back into her lap.
“Yes,” Sarah said, emptying the glass in her hand and placing it back on the table. “Would you like a different drink?”
“No thanks, I don’t drink.” Sarah eyed her glass of champagne. “A sip isn’t drinking.”
Sarah sat up a little straighter. “Are you not old enough to drink?”
Tally laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m 21 years old.”
“But you don’t drink?” Sarah questioned. “Why?”
Tally didn’t understand why her not drinking alcohol always had to be such a big thing with people, but for the first time since explaining it to her roommates Tally found she didn’t mind telling Sarah.
“When people ask me that I usually tell them to mind their own business or fuck off,” Tally said and Sarah bit her lower lip in what looked to be an attempt not to smile. It didn’t work. Tally rolled her eyes and stock out her tongue. “I know, I look too sweet to say something like that.”
Sarah just gave a small laugh and nodded.
“It’s not that I don’t like drinking. I will have a glass of wine with dinner or a drink at parties every now and then, but I don’t get drunk. I simply don’t think the hangover the next day is worth drinking alcohol. So it’s not a big thing, it’s just…” Tally shrugged her shoulders.
Sarah reached out and laid her hand on Tally’s knee. She could feel the heat through the soft fabric of her green dress and Tally had to remind herself to breathe. “You are a very impressive woman.”
“Because I don’t drink?” Tally asked, confused.
Sarah shook her head. “Because of the way you think.”
Tally looked from Sarah’s face down to her hand still on Tally’s knee. She felt heat creeping up her chest and she was sure it would reach her cheeks soon enough. “I don’t seem to have a filter when talking to you. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize! It’s so refreshing,” Sarah said, squeezing Tally’s knee. “People always hold back when they are around me.”
Tally looked up and found Sarah already looking at her with a small smile on her face. She suddenly noticed how close they were. Had they been sitting this close to each other the whole time?
Tally made the mistake of letting her eyes drop down to Sarah’s smiling lips, and the thought of just leaning forward and kissing her hit Tally like a lightning strike on a clear day.
Talking. She had to talk, because you can’t kiss and talk at the same time, so Tally said the first thing that came to mind.
“I like your art,” Tally blurred out, but she didn’t know what to add to that, so she just continued. “And that you eat ice cream from a small cup and not a bowl. I do the same. I have the cutest Moomin’s cups, but they are so small that they don’t make good tea cups. Tea cups need to be big, but they are good for ice cream, so I use them for that.”
Tally's endless rambling made Sarah laugh, and Tally realized that the sound of her happy laughter just made her want to kiss her even more. But before Tally could start talking again Sarah cupped Tally’s cheek with the hand that had earlier been resting on her knee.
Tally sucked in a breath and sat completely still, afraid Sarah would let her hand fall if Tally moved even an inch.
“I noticed you first. Not your friends. I saw you standing there over by the doorway. You looked as out of place as I felt sitting at the table by myself.”
Tally wanted to say something. Wanted to reply in some way to the incredibly touching and romantic thing that Sarah had just told her, but the only thought in Tally’s head was how beautiful Sarah’s eyes were.
“Blue,” was all Tally said and then she frowned, confused at her own choice of word. That hadn’t been what she had meant to say.
Sarah just gave a small laugh and stroked Tally cheek with her thumb. “Can I kiss you?”
Tally nodded with a smile, not trusting herself to say anything that would actually make any sense. She closed her eyes as Sarah started to learn closer, but before their lips could touch the sound of her name reached her ears.
Fuck!
Tally practically jumped from her chair and down to the floor, so she would be covered by the table and no one could see her.
“What are you doing?” Sarah asked, sounding confused and maybe a little hurt. “Is something wrong?”
Tally laid her hand on Sarah’s thigh and tried to give her a reassuring smile. “Nothing is wrong! It’s just that my friends are looking for me.”
“And you don’t want them to see you with me?”
This time Tally could definitely hear the hurt. She sat up on her knees and turned to look over the table. When she couldn’t spot either of her roommates she turned back around to look at Sarah. Tally took both of her hands in her own. “I don’t want them to see me, because I know they are only looking for me now, because they are ready to go home.”
Sarah looked confused, so Tally smiled and squeezed her hands. “I’m the designated driver, but I’m not ready to leave and for you to forget about me yet.”
That made Sarah smile and she moved to get down on the floor with Tally, but she shook her head and looked over the edge of the table again. Abigail was by the bar and Raelle at the DJ. If they walked close to the wall then they could probably make it unseen to the fancy restroom that Tally and her friends had arrived through.
Tally pushed her heels off and stood from her position on the floor. With her heels in one hand and Sarah’s hand in the other then Tally quickly pulled Sarah from her chair and dragged her along with her as she half ran the distance to the doorway where Sarah had first seen Tally.
When they were a couple of feet down the hallway and out of sight Tally slowed down her running, but they didn’t stop moving till they were inside the empty restroom. When the door closed behind them Tally turned to look at Sarah. Her hair looked wilder now from their brief run, and her smile was bigger than it had been at the table and it all just made her even more stunning.
Tally couldn’t help herself. She stood up on her tiptoes and quickly kissed Sarah’s lips. Before Sarah was able to react to the kiss then Tally had already moved away again.
“Sorry,” Tally said with a sheepish smile as she looked up at Sarah through her eyelashes.
Sarah shook her head and with a laugh she walked right up to Tally again and cupped her face with both hands. “That wasn’t really the kiss I had hoped for.”
“Then show me what you had in mind,” Tally said with a confidence that she wasn’t truly feeling, but it didn’t matter because Sarah felt so safe.
Tally could feel Sarah bringing their faces closer, but then there was a sound of steps in the hall and voices talking quietly together.
Sarah sighed and brought their foreheads together. “Will I ever get to kiss you?”
Tally giggled and nodded as she turned and walked to the door that read ‘employees only’. It was the door to the storage room that they had walked through earlier. She opened it and let Sarah in first as she turned on the lights. Then Tally closed the door and walked up to Sarah, but before she reached her Tally tripped over her own feet and stumbled into Sarah, taking them both down.
Sarah landed on her ass and Tally on her hands and knees, but both laughed till they couldn’t breathe.
“This is not how I had imagined the night going,” Tally said, tossing her shoes off to the side.
“Me neither,” Sarah said with a smile as Tally crawled into her lap, straddling her with a knee on either side of Sarah’s thighs. “But I don’t mind at all.”
Tally smirked. “Good.” And then she circled her arms around Sarah’s neck and leaned down and kissed her lips. Sarah opened her mouth beneath Tally’s and when their tongues touched Tally felt like a thousand butterflies were flicking their wings in her stomach.
Sarah wrapped her arms around Tally and brought them flushed against each other, and if it was possible then she deepened the kiss even more.
They kissed till they became breathless and even then neither of them moved more than an inch from the other. With eyes closed and heavy breathing they just sat there on the floor feeling each other.
Tally let herself enjoy the closeness of their bodies for a moment longer before she gave Sarah a quick kiss and then moved back.
Sarah’s eyes fluttered open and all Tally wanted to do was kiss her again, but she couldn’t.
“I need to go find my friends now,” Tally said with a sigh as she let her hands fall from behind Sarah’s neck down to her hips.
“I know,” Sarah said, running her hands up and over Tally’s hair, cupping her cheeks. She brought Tally’s face back in for a quick kiss, but when she moved her own back Tally moved with her and caught her lips in another deep kiss.
Tally moand and then she sighed and then she was back on her feet looking down at Sarah.
“Let’s go before we can’t stop.” Tally held her hand out for Sarah to take and she helped her to her feet, but didn't let go.
Tally toed her shoes back on and then they left the storage room. They walked in silence hand in hand back to the party, but when they reached the doorway Tally kissed Sarah’s cheek and let go of her hand.
“Goodbye Sarah,” Tally said, stepping away from her.
“Wait!” Tally turned to look at Sarah over her shoulder. She looked a little lost. “I don’t even know your name.”
“That’s okay,” Tally said with a sad smile. “You can forget about me now.”
With that Tally turned back around and walked into the crowded room in search of her friends. She was ready to go home now.
Tally tried her best to stay off Instagram, but she kept finding herself opening and closing the app multiple times a day. It wasn’t that she expected there to suddenly be a DM from Sarah in her inbox, but she may have turned on the notifications for Sarah’s Instagram. It was just that she didn’t always get them and sometimes they didn’t come till hours later, so she still had to check her phone for updates.
Tally sighed as she threw her phone onto her bed and turned back to the books on her desk. She needed to concentrate on her homework.
Abigail was out with Adil, the young man Tally had seen her friend eyeing as she had been on the dance floor with Augustus Elber. It had only been a week since the party and they were already out on their third date. Tally didn’t remember ever seeing Abigail with the same guy twice in one week before. She must really like him!
Raelle was laying on her bed, quietly goofing around on her phone. Scylla Ramshorn had followed Raelle on both Twitter and Instagram Saturday morning and her friend had been in heaven ever since. It wasn’t that they were really talking together, but Scylla would like and comment on everything Raelle posted on Instagram, which meant that her friend was now posting stuff multiple times a day. Abigail and Tally would tease her about it, but half the time they would also help her pick what pictures to post or write the caption for her.
Tally bit the end of her pencil, before making a star at the end of the paragraph and writing a note in her notebook. She liked her psychology class, but there were so many theories to keep straight, and even if she only had to learn the ones about child’s development and education then it was still difficult to remember; especially now.
“Um Tally,” Raelle said, sitting up on her bed.
Tally didn’t take her eyes from her testbook. “What?” She kept reading, not really paying attention to what Raelle was saying until the other girl was standing right next to her. Tally sat up straight and looked at Raelle. “What did you say?”
“I asked if this is you with Sarah Alder!” Raelle said and basically shoved her phone in Tally’s face, holding a finger on the screen, so the picture on the story wouldn’t change.
Tally looked down at the phone and right there was a blurry picture of her and Sarah. It was taken from behind, so no one who didn’t know how Tally had been dressed that night would know that it was her, but it was her.
The picture was on Scylla’s story, but it had been shared from Sarah’s page. Tally leaned over in her chair and grabbed her own phone from her bed. She quickly unlocked it and opened Instagram. It felt like it was taking the damn app forever to load, but then it did and right there at the top was the picture.
It wasn’t the first picture Sarah had posted since the party, but this one she knew was meant for her.
They weren’t sitting as close as they had been later on, but they were looking at each other and even though the photo was blurry and the colorful party lights made everything darker then Tally could see that Sarah was laughing. She could practically hear the sound in her head.
Tally’s eyes moved from the picture down to the caption. “It has been a week since our amazing premiere party and I haven’t forgotten a thing.”
Tally took a deep breath and then she did something she had never done before. She commented on the picture. Just a simple green heart emoji.
But green like the dress Tally had worn that night.
The chances of Sarah seeing it was slim. She got thousands of comments on everything she posted, but now Tally had shown her that she remembered, too.
Tally waited with her phone in her hand and just when she was about to throw it back on her bed again then it vibrated with an Instagram notification.
Tally opened the notification and the phone opened up in a DM from Sarah. It was just a bunch of random numbers. No, not random. It was a phone number. Then another message popped up under the number.
“I’m not ready for you to forget me yet.”
Tally’s breath hitched in her throat.
“So, are you going to tell me about the picture?” Raelle asked. She was now back on her bed, but Tally hadn’t noticed at all.
“Later,” Tally said as she stood from her desk chair. She pressed the number on her screen before she had even made it out of the dorm room. She held the phone close to her ear and bit her thumb nail as she waited for Sarah to answer.
And finally the dial tone stopped. “Tally?”
Tally leaned against the wall behind her and smiled. “Hi Sarah.”