Thanks, 212

I hate los angeles street. I want to cry when I think about it. Fuck those bull shit parties, man, that shit is so last year. Standing around holding drinks, trying to look cooler than the crowd. I mean HELLO. We would never stay at a party like that, except we wanted to see Trip. Correction: I wanted to see Trip. And I said so, almost even texted him while we waited in line for the bathroom but I had no signal.

Strangely, however, on the topic of Trip's return to LA four days after dumping his latest girlfriend, Elisa remained quiet. There’s Alex, she said. Let’s call Theo. Was that him over there? She went to find out.

Jaz and I ambled about through the crowd of eastside rock chicks and underage boys in skinny jeans, trying to get into the music. An ice cream truck parked outside to serve snacks. I picked up free energy drinks and smoked a couple cigarettes. At 1:30 am, forty-five minutes after we should have left that lame party, we sprawled out on a vinyl couch and waited. Trip is being a nerd, Elisa said. It was the first time she had mentioned him on her own the whole night.

When he did walk in, with Theo at his side, Elisa sent me to go say hi. I touched Theo lightly on the shoulder. He hugged me and l ooked quickly in his eyes. He smiled. The five of us left the party and headed north on the 5 to Trip's. Jaz had to pee when we got there so she dashed off to the bathroom and spent the rest of the night texting her ex-boyfriend. Trip found clean cups even though we all had waterbottles of vodka in our handbags and we headed into the living room.

Elisa sat on the couch and stared defiantly into Trip's eyes. Theo and I sucked down a joint and he led me over to the corner of the room to show me some new vinyl. I could feel fire in my head as I bent over to examine the records. I selected some downtempo house and we all kicked off our shoes and danced in the middle of the room.

Later Theo gave me a tour of the rest of the apartment while Elisa and Trip remained on the couch. I started to stumble on a step. We grabbed each other instinctively and I caught myself shooting a quick, longing glance at the full-size guest bed. After one second too long I reluctantly left his embrace and went back to the living room to check on Jaz.

In the car, Elisa explained the situation.
“Theo is such a team player. Winging Trip like that? Taking you away so we could talk? They totally planned it.”
I fell silent for a few minutes, thinking about her words.
“You have to hit that,” Jaz slurred. “Why aren’t you hooking up with him?”

I stayed silent a minute longer before speaking. "We're better as friends. He’s not in my city.”