The Game of Life.

The phone rings.

"Hello?"
"Hey bro, want to go get a drink?"
"Yeah, yeah i do."
"Sweet man, meet me at Tail's in 15."
"Word."

Its 6:30pm and my day just started. I throw on my jeans and a nice shirt. I brush my teeth and do my hair. I shout "Later!" to my roommate Brian and shut the door behind me. I make my way down the stairs to my car. I drive 10 minutes to the parking lot on Evan's st. and pull my ticket. I walk to the bar and look around. Troy still isn't here.

I sit down and the bartender asks me what i want. She's kind of cute so i flirt with her a bit. "I'm not sure what i want, whats your favorite?" "Are you looking for a beer or a mixed drink?" She asks. "Surprise me." I reply with a wink. I look around the bar again and Troy still hasn't showed up. I grab my cell phone to see if i may have missed his call. "Here you go babe." She says as she hands me my drink. "Its a Kiss of Fire, with apple schnapps, i call it the Poison Apple." It sounds delicious. "Sounds awesome, thanks doll."

I slide my phone to my ear as it dials Troy's number. He picks up and barely manages a hello. He sounds tired all of the sudden.

"Hey man, you almost here?"
"What are you talking about bro?"
"Tails man, Ive been waitin for 10 minutes."
"Robert, what are you talking about?"
"Troy, you called me 45 minutes ago and told me to meet you at Tails, stop playin around man."
"I didn't call you dog, check your phone. Your losin it man, I'm goin back to sleep."
"Dude, its 6:30 at night what are you doin sleeping?"

Wondering what is going on i go to my call log on my phone. As I'm seconds away from viewing who called me, a girl comes up and asks if i want to play pool with her. She is kinda cute too, so in between being astonished that she is even paying attention to me i get out "Sure, but don't expect me to let you win." I turn around to buy another Poison Apple for me and the girl, and notice a large man standing behind the bar.

"Whoa, what happened to the woman bartender?"
"She just asked you to play pool with her man, are you alright?"

That drink must have hit me quick, i didn't even notice. I walk over to the pool table with a slightly embarrassed look on my face. She laughs at me a little bit.

"I'm sorry Ive just,....Its been a weird day."
"Don't apologize, I'm Samantha, I'm glad you came in tonight. You ready to lose, boy."
"Its Robert, and there is no way i am losing to you tonight."



Three months pass and we are good friends. Ive had a crush on her since the day i walked into that bar but haven't found the courage to tell her. I have a feeling that she is making it obvious that she wants me to, but I'm to dumb and blind to see it. We are going out with some friends tonight to the waffle house and i think i may pull her aside and tell her.

We get to the waffle house and everyone is having a good time. Everyone is laughing and telling jokes, and i can see her making eye contact with me from across the table. I ask everyone to move out of the way so i can use the bathroom. As i return to sit back down at the table i tell everyone to just scoot in so that i am right across from her. As i sit down she smiles that smile that makes her whole face light up. We talk small talk for a few minutes as i build up the courage to pull her aside. Right as i go to ask her for a minute alone the worst happens.

Kyle says "Hey Samantha, would you like to hang with me sometime tomorrow?"
Samantha quickly shuts him down in the nicest of ways "Yeah Kyle, some friends and i are going to the mall tomorrow, you should come with us."

And now I'm lost. Aside from the fear of being rejected that has returned i now have another problem. I have never been the kind of person to date someone that one of my good friends really likes. Now I'm stuck in this state of wanting to ask Samantha on a date, but wanting to respect Kyles feelings. Life throws the most difficult curve balls sometimes, and no matter how you swing the bat your still going to hit a foul. I didn't know what to do in this situation so i made what i thought was the right choice at the time and decided to wait on talking to her. Though i am now worried that despite turning him down, she will still grow to like him during her time spent with him.

I make my way back to my original spot next to Troy. I lean over and whisper to him what just happened. He leans over to give me some advice, advice that i definitely needed to hear.

"Look bro,......"




-To be Continued.