Balancing Boys (Part I): Nate, Leo and Jake.

Balancing boys was never her issue. In fact, she was a bit of a connoisseur at it. Meeting Nate at this bar at nine o'clock, quick drinks, an overkill of laughter, and by ten-thirty, she'd be onto the main event: Leo.

Leo was a real catch. Local, charming, smokin' hot, and completely compatible. They'd talked camera lenses for hours, and let's face it: Where else were you really going to find someone who shared such a monotonous interest? Not to mention, it was hard not to keep glancing back at his lips every time he spoke. Lust at first chat. But then there was Nate. God, Nate was so sweet, he just missed that zing. He missed the zing that Leo naturally oozed.  But truth be told, even the zing was nothing at the end of the day.

She nervously played with her long blonde hair, wrapping anxious fingers around each strand and found herself sucking down her White Russian at unusual warped speed. Was it hot in here, or was it Leo? Wait, what was Leo even talking about? His arm was wrapped around her shoulder now, all debonaire. Was he talking about the Nikon or...? It was nearly impossible to focus. As a matter of fact, the entire bar was completely out of focus. 

Jake Lowell stood directly in front of her. She watched, as if out of a movie scene, Jake sweep some dainty blonde around in circles a mere fifteen feet ahead. Was he... smiling? She forced a half-hearted grin. He never danced with her like that.

Jake was an old flame, but it was impossible to ever refer to Jake as old. Their romance was hot and cold, as she'd remember playfully teasing him: "Katy Perry wrote our song, Katy Perry wrote it for us!" Their love, once comfortable (too comfortable?), passionate and playful, had all but crumbled before her, and she'd had no idea why. At least, that's what she kept on telling herself. She continued to watch Jake, throwing his head back and laughing in delight as he spun now two girls around. She watched them giggle, delighted with themselves and his cheesy dance moves. The girls playfully toussled his hair, the way they all did. "Oh my god, your hair! It's so pretty!" She rolled her eyes, and uncomfortably noticed Jake eat up every word, every move. She'd have thought he was being spiteful, parading on in front of her, had she not known he really hadn't seen her. He was drunk. She wondered if those girls knew everything about him, the way that she did. She wondered if he told them secrets when he was drunk, the way that he once did with her.

She composed that distant smile again, and realized how pathetic she was being. She turned her head towards Leo, watching him take a cool, casual swig of his beer, and snuggled back up into the pit of his arm. She lifted her head a bit to sneak a peak at Jake, but he was already gone.