Gone South

It was another Wednesday night where Gabbie and her four friends gathered at Amari and Diane's shared apartment for their weekly hangouts, the five of them had been friends since freshman year and now they were juniors. The never-ending banter and consistent teasing made their time together enjoyable, they shared a strong bond, added to that was the occasional dares they gave to each other.

“Guys!” Amari shouted over everyone, a mischievous glint in her eyes, “I just thought of the most amazing dare for our beloved Gabbie” she purred. 

Mischievous smirks and devilish glints lighted up the other three faces in the room, Annabelle chuckled, “This better be good, Gabbie has never failed a dare you know?”

Gabbie smirked, she was at the top of the scoreboard sitting at the far end of the living room, she took pride in her work. She scoffed at Annabelle’s remark and crossed her leather boots on the coffee table while taking a swing of her beer. “It’s not exactly my fault the rest of you are a bunch of wimps now, is it?” she sneered.

Diane rolled her eyes and laughed, “I can't wait to see that smug look wiped off your face, I'll make sure to document the moment for the generations to come.”

Gabbie rolled her eyes in irritation, before she could utter a response her feet were harshly shoved off the coffee table, “Manners!” Vanessa growled as she set down a bowl of chips and guacamole. Vanessa was the mom of the group catering to everyone's need, refilling drinks and ensuring everyone was sufficiently stuffed to the brim with food.

“Let's hear it then” she said to Amari, Amari smiled mischievously and shared a conniving look with Diane. “Gabbie has to flirt with Professor Holmes during our Abstract photography lecture—” 

Gabbie snorted, “Is that it?” she asked interrupting Amari, “I'm a little disappointed Mari, I thought you were going to actually say something worth my time” Gabbie clicked her tongue and reached out for a chip. 

Amari made a disgruntled noise, “If you didn't interrupt me so rudely, I would've gotten to the good part” she said as she glared at Gabbie.

Gabbie simply smirked “Get to it then”, she said in a mocking tone. 

The other girls snorted and held back their laughter at Amari’s obvious frustration, Amari hissed and continued, “After the class is done, you have to continue flirting with him, steal his car keys, go to the parking lot reserved for lecturers and take his car to the other side of campus where the fraternity houses are located” as soon as she finished speaking, the entire room fell silent. 

“Oh snap! Amari, that's quite the dare” Vanessa laughed, everyone turned to look expectantly at Gabbie.

“Are you up for it or would you accept defeat now?” Diane asked, her tone mocking. 

Gabbie could feel her stomach sink, but she refused to let her fear show, she didn't come this far to accept defeat. “Bring it on!” she retorted smugly.

“Are you being serious right now?” Amari asked in disbelief.

“I mean I understand your obsession with winning Gab, but don't be stubborn, you can't pull this off without getting in serious trouble” Vanessa interjected in a serious tone.

Gabbie scoffed and said, “Its a decent dare, I'll give her that, but there's no way in hell I'll back out.” 

Vanessa sighed, “This is not the time to be stubborn Gab” she said tight lipped.

“You call it being stubborn, I call it being determined” Gabbie took a final swing of her beer, “Let’s do it on Fridays class, and when I complete this dare, you owe me dinner for a week deal?” she said as she pointed her index finger at Amari. 

Amari smirked, “Dinner and a hundred dollars because I call bullshit!” she countered.

 “Prepare to pay up!” Gabbie said in a final tone, gathering her bags to leave, I have an eight o'clock class tomorrow morning, I'll see you girls later, she said as she headed out the apartment without waiting for a response.

“Do you think she'd actually go through with it?” Anabelle half whispered. 

“I hope not” Vanessa answered. They drank in silence and after a few hours, both Vanessa and Anabelle took their leave.

~~~

“I can't believe I agreed to that, what the hell was I thinking? Ugh!” Gabbie thought to herself as she made her way to her eight o'clock class, she was way in over her head, but it was too late to turn back now, she refused to raise a white flag and accept defeat, her pride was at stake and a hundred dollars as well. She trudged her feet heavily to class, thinking of all the ways to make the day last longer. By noon her classes were over, and she met with Vanessa at the coffee shop just outside of campus. 

“One Iced Americano and a Vanilla Latte please!” Vanessa said in response to the Barista who requested their order, they made their way to the end of the Café and sat in the booth with a buzzer in between them. 

“You're not really going to do it right?” Vanessa asked, Gabbie didn't need to think hard to know what she was asking, it was about the dare. 

She sighed, “Of course I am, I have to” She replied tiredly, feeling exhausted from thinking about it.

“No, you don't, just accept defeat, sure the rest will gloat over it, but at least you wouldn't be getting in trouble Gabbie!” Vanessa said.

Gabbie shook her head and chuckled “You know~” the tiny buzzer went off before she could complete her sentence. “I'll get it” Vanessa said, grabbing the buzzer and heading back to the counter. 

Gabbie sighed and pulled out her phone, she sent a text to their group chat less than 24hrs till Amari pays up. Being cocky helped ease her anxiety, she could do it, she had to, no point in breaking her winning streak. Vanessa returned to their table and they spent the rest of the afternoon in comfortable silence 

As they parted ways at the Café’s entrance, Vanessa turned to Gabbie and said, “You can still back out now Gabbie, especially since you have a crush on him”. Gabbie spluttered at the spot without uttering a single word, Vanessa smirked and walked away yelling over her shoulder “See you tomorrow Gabbie”. 

Gabbie walked in the opposite direction home, she barely got any shut eye, the dare was even more complicated than she'd like to admit, she had the biggest crush on their Photography Lecturer, Mr. Holmes, who was way too hot to be a professor, no one looked good in a turtleneck, but somehow, he managed to pull it off. Only Vanessa knew about her crush and she'd like to keep it that way, she just needed to figure out a way to flirt with him without turning into a stuttering mess. She tossed and turned all night till the sun came out. 

~~~

Gabbie woke up feeling grumpy and sleep deprived but determined. She dressed in an all-black ensemble and pulled her hair into a Ponytail under her baseball cap. She laced her combat boots and gave herself a pep talk. If she was going to do this, she needed to be dressed for the occasion.

She met with the rest of her friends outside the class. “Lose the cap Gabbie, I want a clear view of your face while you flirt with him” Amari snickered.

Gabbie rolled her eyes but complied with the request, Vanessa chuckled at her reaction as all five of them made their way into the class. They occupied their usual seats at the back of the class. Mr. Holmes walked in and the quiet murmuring died out, he really dressed the part of a professor with elbow patches on his tweed jacket, and his signature black turtleneck.

“Settle down please” he ordered.

Amari smirked at Gabbie and pointed to her phone mouthing ‘Group chat’, Gabbie rolled her eyes but opened their group chat. 

Marithequeen: the minute I give a thumbs up, you start and you don't stop till I repeat the action.

Gabs: sure!

Nessa: This should be interesting

Anabelle: Right?!

Diane: let the fun begin.

Gabbie rolled her eyes and turned off her phone. Halfway into the lecture Amari gave the thumbs up and smirked at Gabbie, Gabbie could feel the sweat run down her spine, and suddenly wearing black seemed like a stupid idea, so much for confidence boosting wardrobe choices. She took a deep breath and pinched the inside of her wrist to calm her down. ‘I can do this’ she said to herself.

Gabbie raised her hand to get Professor Holmes' attention,

“Gabbie, you have the floor, ask away!” 

Gabbie smiled and leaned back in her seat, “Professor Holmes, are you single?” she asked innocently. Everyone in class turned to look at her incredulously, everyone but her four friends trying hard to contain themselves. 

“I— Uhm, excuse me?!” Professor Holmes replied.

“Well, it's just you said that art comes from a place of love, so I was wondering if you had someone in your life that inspired you?” she asked sounding genuinely confused. 

Professor Holmes relaxed and smiled, “Not that we should be talking about my personal life but no I don't have anyone, that doesn't stop me from getting inspired, love doesn't have to be just romantic you know?” Gabbie nodded. 

“Alright in the absence of any other questions—” Gabbie raised her hand yet again.

“Yes Gabbie?” 

She smiled and leaned forward batting her lashes at him, “Professor Holmes there are 21 letters in the alphabet, right?” Her professor looked at her confused 

“No, there are 26?” he replied carefully 

“You’re right” she answered, He nodded at her and before he could utter another word, she continued, “I forgot, U R A Q T” she smirked, Professor Holmes stared at her dumbfounded. 

At this point everyone was staring at Gabbie like she had grown two heads. Professor Holmes turned a bright shade of red as he struggled to respond, 

“Professor, I think you might be my art inspiration” she said coyly. 

“Is everything okay?” he spluttered

“It will be when you give me your number!” Gabbie pouted

Professor Holmes adjusted his jacket roughly and ran his fingers through his hair at loss for words. As confident as she seemed, Gabbie was trying hard not to squirm in her seat. 

Professor Holmes sighed, “Ms. Bradshaw, I'll overlook this behavior but one more inappropriate display and you're out of my class” he barked out.

Gabbie nodded and shrank back in her seat, her friends were on the verge of tears, Vanessa mouthed a quick “What the heck?” before ducking her head to quiet her giggles. 

“Dear God, please don't let him hate me” Gabbie murmured to herself. 

The lecture ended and as the students filed out, Amari nudged her elbow, “Time for phase two, you can quit now you know” she said looking smug, 

“I don't half-ass anything and you know that, get ready to pay up” Gabbie retorted as she walked over to Professor Holmes.

“Sir?” she called out quietly, he looked up at her and frowned.

“Ms. Bradshaw” he said firmly. 

Gabbie scratched the back of her neck, “I’m really sorry about that” she said gesturing to the classroom, “It was stupid and inappropriate, and I just wanted to apologize for my behavior” she said. 

His gaze softened, “It’s okay. I was just really surprised, you're one of my best students so I wasn't expecting that, please let there not be a repeat of that” Professor Holmes said, she smiled and nodded.

As she walked out of the class, she raised the car keys and dangled them in front of Amari who was gaping at her like a fish. Gabbie smirked, “I’m suddenly craving lobster” she said as she sauntered off towards the parking lot, the other girls ran after her in awe.

As they made their way to the Lecturers parking lot, Vanessa grabbed Gabbie’s arm and said, “You’ve proved your point Gabs there's no need to see it through to the end, let's just go back and tell Professor Holmes we found his key on the floor or give it to the security guards or something”.

Gabbie was tempted to give in, but she wanted to hold this over Amari, she had already gotten this far, besides he'd never know. 

“I don't do things half-assed Nessa,” Gabbie replied as she shrugged her hand off. They walked quietly and after spotting his car, she handed her bag to Anabelle, “I’ll drop it off and meet you guys back at the Café, cool?” 

“Sure!” Anabelle and Diane chorused, Vanessa rolled her eyes and Amari hissed, the four girls walked off leaving Gabbie by the car. She unlocked the doors and adjusted the car seat then tried to start the car's ignition, but nothing happened, she tried yet again, and still, nothing happened. She spent the next five minutes trying to get the car ignition to start. 

As she tried to figure out how to get the car to start a soft rasp at the window startled her, she turned, and saw an angry looking Professor Holmes glaring at her. 

“Out!, now!” he barked, she gulped and alighted from the vehicle.

“I can explain” she squeaked. 

This was not supposed to happen.