After Graduation

Hi everyone. This is what I have written so far. It is a story in process and I need some advice on how to continue because I am stuck and I have just been writing as I go along. Thank you so much!


Catching the signal from one of her friends, Angela brushed her skirt, took a deep breath, and walked towards where he was sitting. It was natural for girls to be nervous when making the first move on a guy but Steve wasn’t just any guy, he was someone who Angela had fell in love with from afar and couldn’t pinpoint the reason why.

His thick black hair was wet as if he had just stepped out of a shower and his light brown eyes boldly stood out against his olive colored skin. He appeared so at ease while he sat alone reading the Sports section of the New York Times. He looked up every now and then at the people walking by on the sidewalk. Angela waited so bad for this opportunity to be thrown her way and now it was going to happen.

This wasn’t planned out, of course. Angela and her two best friends Maye and Emma were at Auburn’s for brunch, a small café where the atmosphere was laidback and casual and the food delicious. Maye was explaining to the two of them how her mother was moving to France with her fiancé and how she did not support her mother in anyway until Emma interrupted her.

“Okay Angela, remain calm but Steve is two tables behind you. Alone,” Emma paused to add emphasis.

Angela’s face turned three shades paler than her usual rosy glow and she started to panic. She was speechless.

“Well…are you going to sit there looking like you just saw Michael Jackson rise from the dead or are you going to finally go up to him and strike up a conversation?” Maye asked with an edge to her voice.

“This is the perfect opportunity, A. You look so cute right now and you’re wearing that new skirt you bought last week and you look really tan, it makes your eyes stand out,” Emma coaxed, trying to boost the confidence that Angela had always lacked.

Emma was known for her strange abbreviations. She found a way to abbreviate almost every word, Angela didn’t know whether it was to make people laugh or for her own enjoyment.

“What should I say? I- I don’t want to seem too forward or pushy,” Angela stammered.

“Say something about the weather. Talking about the weather never fails,” Emma said as Maye gave her a questionable look. “Just go,” Emma continued ignoring Maye’s glare, “He could be leaving any second!”

Angela got up from her seat, started walking, and looked back at her friends for one last bit of support. They each had smiles from ear-to-ear and gave her a thumbs up. This made Angela laugh to herself and before she knew it her hand grasped the arm of the empty chair across from Steve for balance.

“Three thousand, it’s really amazing,” Angela said in a way that was both nonchalant and sexy. She was referring to Derek Jeter’s 3000th hit that was recently all over the news. She thought it was a clever idea since he was reading the Sports section and she knew that he was a dedicated New York Yankees fan.

Steve looked up from his paper and Angela thought she would go into shock because they never held eye contact before and his eyes were a beautiful shade of light brown that almost seemed transparent.

The left corner of his mouth slightly curved upward and he welcomed her with a warm smile. “I’m just so mad I missed it. My buddy asked me if I wanted to go to the game on Saturday or Sunday, and of course I chose Sunday,” Steve replied.

“And he hit it on Saturday,” Angela said with an apologetic smile.

“Yeah, we were both fuming, but what can you do?”

Angela noticed she kept pulling at the bottom frays of her denim skirt. She was nervous alright, and intimidated, and anxious and all of the other words in the English language that defined shy. She couldn’t help it though. She grew up that way, to change now would be weird.

Everyone who noticed Angela thought she was a beauty with her straight dark-brown hair and honey-colored eyes. She had a narrow nose and pink lips that were perfectly full on the bottom. She looked like a young and more innocent Megan Fox but whenever she looked in the mirror she couldn’t see the resemblance everyone else did.

She wasn’t completely skinny; she had curves in the right places. Her arms weren’t totally defined but she accepted it. Her chest was big, too big she thought, and her hips curved at the perfect area and led down to her toned legs, which was the only body part she was actually proud of. She liked to go on long walks and her strong legs were her reward.

“My father was there,” Angela lied. She didn’t know what else to say and she thought it might impress him.

His eyes lit up. “You’re kidding. He must have been ecstatic to be there. I bet the whole stadium was going crazy.”

Angela smiled and thought, ‘Bingo.’ “He was right behind home plate, fourth row,” Angela boasted. “He gets to go to the games for free since he was in the military.” This part was true but Angela felt as if she shouldn’t have started lying.

“And you didn’t go why?” Steve laughed.

Angela smiled along with him, begging for there not to be an awkward silence. So instead she just let out a coy laugh.

“Hey, I would ask you to sit down with me but I’m just finishing up and have to get home. I’m moving out of my parent’s house and into an apartment in Hoboken. It’s a pain in the ass but it’ll be worth it. You can see the New York skyline, it’s incredible,” Steve said.

“Oh, that must feel so nice,” Angela said both relieved and sad that their conversation had to end. “I just wanted to say ‘Hey.’ My friends and I just got here and one of them is in kind of a crisis,” Angela replied while shaking her head and giving him a look that read ‘You know girls.’

“Glad I’m not a girl,” he joked. “Thanks for coming over to talk, I haven’t seen you since the spring.”

They both lived on the same street during their senior year of college except for the fact that they didn’t meet each other until March, seven months into the school year. Angela kicked herself every time she thought about that.

“Alright, I’ll see you around hopefully,” she said and she walked back towards the table with her friends. She sat back down in her chair and let out a sigh of relief. The bottom of the chair felt cool on her legs and she realized she was sweating. “Oh my goodness,” she exhaled.

“What happened?” Maye asked.

“Tell us everything…” Emma demanded.

“We just talked for a little…about the Yankees. It was the only thing I could think of, I got nervous and blanked!”

“No, no that’s fine! It’s a start,” Emma said.

Angela smiled. It was the smile of satisfaction and contentment. This was progress, she thought, and chances were she’d see him around again. Summit was a small suburban town in North Jersey and she was determined to hook Steve. She just didn’t know how yet. Clearing her mind for the moment, she sprinkled her home fries with salt, pepper, squeezed a little bit of ketchup and focused on her food.




It was seldom that Angela slept peacefully during the night. She often woke up more than three times, sometimes not being able to fall back asleep. This morning she woke up at 4 a.m. and all she could think about was her encounter with Steve; how amazing he looked when he lifted his head from his paper and looked at her with his stunning eyes, the way his hands gripped the paper and how strong they looked, the way his voice sounded as the words rolled off his tongue, smooth as honey. She couldn’t shake him from her mind.

When Angela looked back at the clock it was only 4:17 a.m. She needed to do something about her sleeping issues, she thought. Instead of attempting to fall back asleep, which she knew was impossible at this point now that she was all riled up thinking about Steve, she tossed aside her lavender comforter, put on her glasses, and tip-toed down the stairs.

On the way down she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. “Jesus,” she muttered to
herself, “I have to do something about my face.”

Angela always had clear skin but she had been stressed out lately so her face started breaking out around her mouth. She had just graduated from Syracuse University for journalism and was back at home living with her family. She loved them of course, but they all had the tendency to drive her crazy.

She didn’t have a steady job, all her good friends from school lived out-of-state, and she was a little depressed that she would never be living the carefree college lifestyle anymore. She was back to having to lie to her parents about where she was going and when she’d be home every time she went out. She hated doing it, one because of her guilty conscience, and two because she knew sooner or later she’d get caught.

Her mother was often on her ass about getting a steady job. Angela really wanted one but the hunt for her ideal job was tough. She wanted to move out of Summit and live on her own, preferably in New York City. This was a dream to a lot of college graduates who want to get a jump start into the real world, but living at home for Angela was too hectic. She had a large family and found it hard to relax.

After realizing she was pacing around the kitchen, Angela filled up a cup of water from the sink, warm tap water which she held a great disdain for, and headed back up the stairs to her room.

A part of Angela’s sleeping problems were due to the fact that her mind always wandered. She was constantly thinking and worrying about the little things, stupid things and her mind never completely shut down. She only had two really good friends, Maye and Emma, the rest of them had changed and she didn’t like the fact that they altered themselves into totally different people.

Angela picked up the current novel she was reading, “The Pact,” by Jodi Picoult, and got back into bed. She loved Picoult and how most of her novels ended with an unexpected twist. Angela always thought that if she could become half the writer her favorite author was she would be pleased with herself. After reading two pages she finally drifted back to sleep.



The sun rose at 6:37 a.m. but Angela didn’t wake up until ten. She felt refreshed yet anxious. She wanted to go out just to run into Steve again but she knew that if she tried too hard there would be a slight chance of it actually happening. She didn’t want to seem like a stalker either. Instead she called Emma to see if she wanted to go for a walk. When Emma didn’t answer Angela decided to go on her own. There was a park down the road where the path was one mile around. Angela usually listened to her iPod, walked three times around and showered when she got back home.

After Angela showered, got dressed, and dried her hair, she went to sit down at her desk. She had the urge to friend request Steve on Facebook but didn’t. She needed to talk to him again. During her whole walk she thought about Steve.

Damn, she thought, what is it about this guy that I can’t get enough of? She knew the weird thing was that they didn’t even have any history together but she wanted him in her life so badly. Even being friends first would be amazing. It wasn’t just because she was feeling lonely and wanted a boyfriend, he just seemed so down-to-earth and friendly unlike many other guys she was involved with in the past.

The sound of Angela’s phone ringing interrupted her thoughts.

“Hey, what’s up?” She said after answering. It was Emma.

“I saw you called before but I wasn’t near my phone.”

“Yeah, I wanted to see if you wanted to go for a walk with me, or a run because I know I need it,” she said. Emma was a good runner and Angela had always envied this about her. She would always find a way to run no matter where she was.

“Ah shit, sorry. I was going to take the day off but we can still go,” Emma replied.

“No, it’s fine, I already went. Hey what are you doing tonight? I don’t feel like staying in. I need to do something so I can get my mind off of Steve.”

She could feel Emma smiling over the phone. “Damn, A, this guy’s got you hooked and he doesn’t even know it!”

“I know, it’s so bad. We should get Maye and head over to The Palm later. It’s going to be nice and cool tonight, it would be nice to sit outside and have some drinks,” Angela suggested.

“I’ve never been there before but I heard the atmosphere is pretty low key. Let’s do that!” Emma exclaimed. She was always up to do something and that was one of the many things Angela loved about her.

“Awesome. I’ll call you later.”

“Sounds good. Maybe Steve will be there!” Emma added sounding excited.

“Ha, I can only wish,” Angela sighed not wanting to get her hopes up.

While Angela wanted to pick her outfit out for tonight already, she decided to drive into town and get something to eat. Panera used to be her go-to spot but she hadn’t had Whole Foods in a while so she drove a couple towns over.

Angela loved that everything there had no artificial ingredients. Whenever she went there she went straight to the back to the section where customers could pick from food from a buffet-style line. The General Tsao’s chicken and broccoli was her favorite. She was feeling good so she went for the mashed potatoes as well.

After paying the cashier she happily walked back outside to the parking lot to get in her car when she saw a truck, very similar to the truck that Steve drove, a couple spots over. She knew his car from when they lived across the street from each other, and knowing that made her feel better about herself and not so stalker-like. She walked slowly to her spot hoping to cross paths with him. She didn’t see him so she turned her head and went to open the passenger side door when she heard a door slam.

It was Steve and his friend Tyler. They were roommates last year and almost always together. Angela found this amusing because when people referred to them they just said “Steven Tyler.” Angela took a deep breathe and caught up with them.

“Steve?” She called over, feigning surprise.

“Oh, hi Angela. Grabbing some lunch?” He asked.

Angela looked back down at her carton of food forgetting she was holding on to it. Her hunger quickly vanished because her nerves took over. “Yeah I was hungry so…” Angela trailed off, not being able to think of something clever to say. “What are you two up to?”

“Tyler’s old man delivers stuff to Radio Shack, we were gonna help him unload boxes,” Steve said.

“Aw that’s nice. I didn’t know that. What are you guys doing tonight? Me and my two friends Emma and Maye are going to go to The Palm for happy hour around seven if you both wanted to join us. It’s supposed to be nice out tonight,” Angela answered back.

They both looked at each other and shrugged. “Sure, we can probably make that. We’re going to the skate park around five but we won’t be there too long,” Steve retorted.

Angela could feel her excitement building up by the second and tried her best to hold it in. “Great, it’ll be nice to relax and have a couple drinks. Besides, we never really hung out during school so it should be fun.”

“Great,” Steve said with a grin, “See you later.”

“Bye!” Angela shouted and walked towards the driver side door. When they were out of sight she did the thing she always did when she was overwhelmed with giddiness and put an ear-to-ear smile on her face while she clapped her hands together and shrieked over and over. Not wanting to waste a second she quickly conferenced Maye and Emma on her cell phone.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” Angela screamed.

“What?” Maye and Emma asked in unison.

“I just ran into Steve and Tyler in the parking lot by Whole Foods and I invited them to come out with us tonight! I can’t believe I saw him, I got so nervous and just thought ‘what the hell’ and did it! Ah I’m so happy!” Angela shrieked.

“Ang that’s awesome! It’s going to be great,” Maye cheered.

“Nice going!” Emma said. “This is the perfect opportunity. But do you think it will be weird, three girls and two guys?”

“I didn’t’ think of that actually. I hope not. Do you think we should invite someone else?” Angela asked, her excitement slightly diminishing while panic replaced it.

“Don’t be stupid, it’s not a big deal,” Maye confirmed. “It’ll be fine either way.”

“Okay, you’re right,” Angela said feeling a little bit more relieved. “I told them to meet us around seven.”

“Perfect. We should walk there, it’s not too far,” Maye suggested.

“Alright,” Emma said, “but don’t get too drunk now Angela, you have to make a good impression.”

“I’ll be fine, geeze!” Angela laughed, “I’ll probably just have five margaritas to take the edge off.”

“What?” Emma and Maye shot back.

“Kidding, kidding,” Angela joked. “I’ll call you two later my food’s getting cold.”

When Angela arrived back home thankfully no one was there. As soon as she walked in the door she dropped her keys into her bag, put the food carton on the table and jumped up and down like a girl who just made the cheerleading team. Tonight was going to be great, she thought, and ran up to her room completely forgetting about the carton from Whole Foods which was the whole reason Angela would be seeing Steve tonight in the first place.


Angela couldn’t stop swirling her straw around in her glass. It was around nearing seven, the sky turned a pinkish-orange, and Emma, Maye, and Angela were at The Palm anxiously waiting. She finished her second vodka and cranberry while Maye and Emma were still nursing their first. “They’re probably not coming,” she groaned as she eyed the entrance for what was probably the tenth time.

“Patience dear,” Emma said, “It’s not like they would show up at seven on the dot.”

Instead of responding Angela tried to get the waiter’s attention for her third drink. “Easy girl, you don’t want to be tipsy before they get here,” Maye said.

“I’m fine, I just—” but before Angela could complete the rest of her sentence she saw Steve walk in with Tyler close behind them. Both of them looked good but Steve seemed to stand out against the sunset colored sky. He was wearing a turquoise fitted shirt, which surprised Angela because she was used to seeing him in mostly black. He had on blue faded jeans and his skin looked tanner than it had earlier today. His hair looked wet again, probably from just showering, and his arms were firm against his sides, hands in pockets. Angela managed to smile and wave them towards her table.

“How are you ladies?” Steve said pulling out a chair.

“Hi,” they all said, watching the two guys intently as if they were both about to perform a magic trick.

“You all know Tyler, right?”

“Yeah, it’s nice to see you again,” Angela said with a smile still plastered on her face. She was trying her best to keep it together. She was a fast drinker and having already finished two, she was starting to feel it. ”How was the rest of your day?”

Steve leaned back in his chair stretching his arms behind his head, “Not bad at all. Turns out Tyler’s dad didn’t need us after all so we were at the skate park all day.”

“Steve busted his ass more than I can remember,” Tyler laughed and Angela thought this was the first time she has ever heard him talk. Steve elbowed him and looked over at Angela.

“Not true,” he said with a sly grin, but they both knew he was lying.

“Hey I’m gonna order another drink,” Emma said, “What do you studs want?” Angela shot her a look of embarrassment. Emma was so forward but it always ended up working to her advantage. Guys loved her because she was sort of a tomboy but also very sexy. She got what she wanted and she worked with what she had. Angela found herself envying Emma very often.

After the waiter returned with their drinks, Steve’s Guiness and Tylers Budweiser, Maye jumped in and said, “You know Steve, Angela told me you were moving into your own place. You should throw a party after you’re all settled in.”

Angela could feel herself getting hot with embarrassment. She hoped Steve didn’t think that she was telling her friends every detail about their conversation earlier today. Angela tried her best to play it cool and just smiled.

“I’ve been thinking about that. I’ll definitely let you girls know. Probably not for another week or two, I plan on painting the kitchen a different color. I don’t think orange really suits me,” he said. He ran his hand through his hair and Angela tried not to make it obvious that she was picturing her own hands playing with his hair.

“Can I get you guys anything else?” the waitress asked. Angela was so distracted by fact that she was sitting right across from Steve she didn’t even hear her come by.

“I’ll have another Guiness and get these ladies another of whatever they’re drinking now,” Steve said.

“You got it.”

“Aw, thanks Steve,” Angela said. “And by the way, I’m drinking cranberry and vodka,” she said with a smile.

“Good to know,” Steve said.

“Yeah, for next time!” Maye exclaimed.

Angela could feel herself burning with embarrassment. She looked down at her drink and swirled her straw around even more wishing Maye would keep her mouth shut sometimes. She heard Steve give a small chuckle.

“No doubt,” Steve replied.

Angela didn’t really know what he meant by that but she finally looked up and grinned at Taylor, still too embarrassed to look at Steve. Taylor smiled back and shook his head.

“I’m gonna hit the guy’s room,” Taylor said as he stood up from his seat.

“So Ang, how did your interview go the other day?” Emma asked, clearly trying to avoid awkward silences.

“Interview? For what?” Steve budded in.

Angela looked at him. “A few weeks ago I applied for this job to write for New Jersey High Life. I’m still waiting to hear back from them but I left feeling pretty confident, which is rare,” Angela said with a giggle.

“That’s neat. I’m sure you’ll get a call soon. You like to write?” Steve asked.

“Yes, it’s the only thing that I’m like, really good at,” Angela replied.

“I’m sure it’s not. I know you’re good at showing up at the same place as me,” Steve responded.

Angela laughed. “Besides that, obviously!”

She was relieved he was joking around with her. Was it flirting? She didn’t know, but it was a start.

“Maybe one day you’ll be this famous writer who will work at one of those big magazines like Glamour or Cosmo,” Steve said.

“You sure seem to know a lot about women’s magazines,” Maye said.

“I have a sister, chill, chill,” Steve laughed.

They all laughed. This was good, Angela thought, everyone seems to be having a decent time and clicking well.

“Hey where’s Tyler?” Emma asked. “He’s been in there for a while.”

The four of them turned their heads in the direction of the restrooms. Tyler was leaning against the bar talking to one of the waitresses who clearly was supposed to be delivering drinks to some other table but was too interested in looking deep into Tyler’s sky blue eyes.

Who wouldn’t blame her, Angela thought, Tyler was the definition of a California beach boy. He moved to New Jersey when he was 17 but it’s obvious he still wishes he were there everyday with his light brown hair and golden undertones and tan skin.

“Looks like he got a little distracted,” Emma said.
Angela detected a hint of jealousy in her voice. Was Emma planning on trying to start things up with Tyler? If so, she hadn’t said anything to her or Maye.

“Who is that girl?” Maye asked.

“Oh that’s Kat, she’s always had a huge crush on Tyler. They hooked up a few years ago when he first moved here but she’s clingy as hell. Tyler wasn’t feeling it. I should go save him,” Steve said. “Be right back girls.”

Steve got up from his seat and all Angela did was stare at his behind. He had the cutest butt and it took everything she had to not get up and slap him playfully. I’ll save that for another time, she thought.

“This is going pretty fun so far,” Maye said after Steve was far from hearing distance. “It’s only 8:30. I wonder how long this night is going to go. Not that I care or anything. But the nights when you don’t really plan out always ending up being the most fun.”

“That’s so true. I haven’t really thought much about what we’re going to do if we leave early but I also wouldn’t mind staying here all night. It’s such a nice night out. I want to get Steve drunk.”

They all laughed.

“Down girl. Just wait and see what happens,” Emma said.

Maye, Emma, and Angela watched Steve swoop in between Kat the waitress and Tyler. Kat started laughing.

“Ew,” Angela said. “I wonder what he’s saying. I don’t like this girl already.”

Kat had long blonde hair and skinny legs. She wore black sneakers to go along with the bar’s employee dress code: all black.

“Nothing to be jealous about. She’s a stick. If I bent her over my knee she would snap in half like a twig,” Maye said.

Steve and Tyler finally detached themselves from the clingy waitress and as soon as she left to serve the table she should’ve been serving probably an hour ago they started laughing and shaking their heads in disbelief.

“Man she still has it bad for you,” Steve said as he and Tyler sat back down.

“Yeah, what was that all about?” Emma joined in.

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Tyler said, hoping to put an end to the conversation.