~1~
It was 5:45 in the morning when my alarm blared a local radio station in my ear.

The sun wasn't up yet, and coffee was on the forefront of my mind. I had my best friend, Naomi, to thank for that; her and her promises of mochas and lattes at the Coffee Beanery on campus turned me into a bit of a coffee snob. I used to love the taste of Maxwell House or Folgers in the morning, but not nothing hit the spot more than a white chocolate peppermint mocha.

Reaching for the light on my night stand, a groan scaped my vocal chords; I remember it was the first day of the last weekend before classes began again. I was going into my Junior year at VCU in the city of Richmond, VA, as was Naomi. But that wasn't the only reason for my displeasure.

Over the years, I had become a bit of a recluse; ever since the last boyfriend I had tossed me aside like last weeks recycle, I hated going out. However, I had promised my sweet sister from another mister that I would go to one last party with her.

And that was tonight.

Finally dragging myself out of bed, I yawned and stretched. Grabbing my iPod, I meandered over to my iHome, and set the small music device in the designated slot. Putting on Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana, I reached the bathroom and striped down to my bare skin. Doing that little strip tease dance most girls do in the mirror, I laughed at myself and turned the water on.

The cool part about living in your own townhome is that you didn't have to share water with anyone, so the water was always warm and heavenly.

As the song changed over to Bulletproof Love by Pierce the Veil, I chuckled to myself. I had forgotten I had uploaded new music to my iPod the day before. Being a grunge and garage band lover most of my life, I had decided it was time to explore what was cool and hip in the modern music world. So bands like Pierce the Veil, Sleeping with Sirens, and Bring Me the Horizon spotted my playlists and cd collection.

Ten minutes later, after I had rinsed my body and was just enjoying the water, the warmth disappeared from the liquid and left behind what felt like ice water, falling on my bare skin.

"What the fuck?!" I hopped out of the glass enclosure, "I called the repair man yesterday. Why on earth..."

You know that "it's so nice to hog the hot water because I live alone" bit I mentioned; yea, that meant I have to keep up on repairs solo, too.

Freezing and even more eager for my warm cup of coffee than I was before, my towel wrapped self exited the bathroom and sighed. Fishing for my cell phone on my dresser, I dug under bills and papers until the device revealed itself.

"Ok, Naomi love," I scrolled for her number slowly, "Time for that coffee date."

After hitting the "send" key, I heard my ring back tone loud and clear:

They say that love is forever,
Your forever is all that I-

"Hello?" the low, husky voice said on the other line.
Naomi sounded half asleep.
"Good morning, beautiful best friend of mine!" I tried to sound as cheery and perky as possible.
"Bitch, how dare you wake me up?" the girl on the other end of the line laughed, obviously joking.
"So, now I have your attention," I dug through my drawers for my underwear and bra, "Coffee time?"
"I have created a monster haven't I?" Naomi jested.
"Yep, and now you have to deal with it. See you in 30?"
"You know it. Love you booski!"
Giggling, I told her I loved her and hung up.

Short, sweet, and to the point; Naomi hated talking on the phone.

After deciding on my outfit for the day, I placed it on the bed and smiled. Donning a matching red bra and panty set, I stood debating on shirts. Having chosen grey skinny jeans and my black military boots, I went with a jet black halter and my matching grey denim jacket. After putting each piece on carefully, I re-entered the bathroom to begin the make up process.

Eyeliner, check; mascara, check; smokey eyeshadow, check; and dark red lip gloss, check. My hair was tossed and teased, complete with a skull bow.

For a 90's grunge kid, my style didn't reflect my interests. Let's just say I was first in line for Tripp bondage pants when the Hot Topic at the mall opened back in junior high school.

Heading down stairs and out the door,I made sure I had my debit card and house keys. Patting my pockets and giving myself one more once over in my storm door's glass, I made my way down the street to the coffee shop.

Around seven o'clock, we met up just outside the place of liquid heaven.

"Ready to prepare for our last weekend before classes start up again?” My best friend held the door open as I sighed heavily.

Reaching the counter, our usual coffee crew stood ready to take our order. She ordered her usual macchiato, and I my mocha. After a short wait, we made our way to our usual booth in the far corner of the shop. Finally sitting down, Naomi apparently couldn’t wait to gush over the party that evening.

“So are you ready for tonight,” the woman tossed a loose dread lock out of her face as she stirred her coffee happily.
“Nay, you know I don’t get out much,” I sighed and sipped my warm beverage, “Hell, ever since David cheated on me at that cheerleader’s Fourth of July party senior year, I haven’t even thought once about having a love life, let alone making new friends.”
“Exactly, Deege,” Naomi sipped her coffee and closed her eyes in delight, “Besides, the hottness level of these young men tonight will blow even you away; your feelings about relationships might change.”

Laughing at her, I rolled my eyes and turned my head back towards the entryway long enough to seen a group of young men file in that I had never seen before. The first one in had shortish dark hair with an ivory complexion, and was tall, thin, and ungodly handsome. I sat for what seemed to be an eternity gawking at him alone.

Naomi giggled as she watched in silence.

Following the tall, gorgeous man who had entered were four other good looking specimen. Slightly behind him to his left stood a very tan, very delicate looking young man with amazing facial structure donning low-rise leather riding pants with a matching vest and boots. Looking southward, I noticed a tattoo on his stomach that read OUTLAW.

The three who stood behind the two of them were grouped together, laughing. One had amazing tattoos down both arms and not to mention his biceps would make any girl swoon. The man to the right of him wore a top hat and a Pantera t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, and had a deep blue set of eyes. Lastly, at the rear of them all, stood what looked like the most wild, but very cute, young man I had ever seen, and was loud and obnoxious at seven fifteen in the morning; Obviously the partier of the bunch.

At that moment, I had to blink to keep my eyes from drying out. Hearing her giggle again from behind my head, Naomi decided now would be a great time to bring me back down to earth.

“So, yeah,” she cleared her throat, “We are going to their party tonight.”
I closed my mouth swiftly, and snapped back to face her yet again.
“You’re serious?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Well, fucking shit.”
“Ladybug,” she patted my now outstretched hand softly, “Let me give you the low down on these beautiful man creatures.”

I snickered at the description she had temporarily given them, and glanced back towards the men who had just sat down at a booth on the other side of the shop.

“Okay, so the tall drink of water that came in first; his name is Andrew Biersack, but goes by Andy for short. He is the president of that new frat house down the street from you, The Black Veil Brides. He is a third year, like us, but transfered half way through last semester. We wouldn’t have met him.”

“Ok, so what about the other guys,” I managed to stammer, resulting in a giggle-snort combo from Naomi.

“The guy with the tattoo on his stomach is none other than Ashley Purdy. He was a sophmore last year, but never dated girls who attended VCU; he considered most of us here “too preppy”. He is the oldest out of the bunch at the ripe, old age of 25. The one with the top hat and silky smooth, dark hair is Jinxx, who has a real name but never really goes by it. He is a Junior, too. Jake is the man with the biceps and the eyes that I personally could get lost in. Any way, CC is the wild child. CC’s actual name is Christian “Coma” Mora; he won the drum off last year.”

“I’m impressed, bumble bee,” I leaned back in the booth after turning back around, “You know more about these five guys than you do about your own brother.”
“Sleuthing and stalking are two of my favorite hobbies don’t you know.”

Laughing a few more minutes and finishing our coffees, I decided it would be best to leave before the group we were gawking out moments earlier could notice.

That is, until I bumped into Andy.

Notes

Revamping the story; hope you like the edits, additions, and extended chapters! This was the first story I wrote, so I went back and saw it needed improvement :)