I met her not far from the bar I liked to visit for the free glass giveaways. I parked my car about a half mile away since it wasn’t a glass giveaway night but it was freezing, so I hated myself for parking so far in the heart of winter. She was sitting on a bench, waiting for the FSU night bus when I noticed her. We were wearing the exact same wool cap, in bright red. A better opportunity to talk to a girl has never happened to come together so smoothly for me. I told her the story of how I found mine, in a soon-to-be derelict thift store in Virginia. They were jammed into the pocket of a pair of slacks I was trying on to replace the ones I had thrown up on the week before as I dressed up as black James Bond for the third time in my life. Eventually, we got to talking about our night, how we were both at the bar, but didn’t notice each other. Turns out her friend bailed on her to go fuck her boyfriend in the car. I figured we had a good vibe, I asked her if she wanted a ride out of here and she came along.
Jackie was a small person, but could command tremendous attention and make sure everyone around her knew that she couldn’t be pushed around. “You wouldn’t want to challenge drunk Jackie,” she would say, half joking and half serious. Just the way that she made herself known at a party for downs on beer pong was exciting for me. I could smoke with her and listen to this girl talk all day, she was completely different from what I was used to and how I operated.
She loved beer as much as I do and had the balls I didn’t have for arguing. Despite this, she still melted in my hands after we became intimate. Things stuck out to me, like the way she called me “baby” when she asked me to dim the light in her bathroom which she left on for her cats, our conversation about cheaply made beef jerky, or how she told me that I was sexy. I felt a calm excitement about her, and felt like a more adventurous self for being with her.



