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Moment in the Sun
by Matt Palka.
Chapter 1

Play 'Frayed Blue Jeans' with Chapter 1

My last week in Athens, Ohio was spent slowly packing. Thursday night came all too soon, marking an end to my college era. I flipped on the radio and angled the speakers out the living room window to the front porch. Then I turned on the Christmas lights that still hung over the outside doorway. The local campus station welcomed in the summer night as I opened a rusted folding chair and took a seat.

I was on to my second beer when Jeff Whitaker stopped by. Jeff moseyed up the stairs in his baggy corduroy overalls with a bandana on his head. He had hair that didn't quite touch his shoulders, but he always had it pulled back under that damn rag. He wouldn't wear deodorant or eat meat, but he smoked cigarettes regularly. He was your typical pot-smoking tree-hugging hippie. His grandfather had taught him magic at the age of eight, and he was great at slight of hand, card tricks, and he was one hell of a juggler.

As he walked up the steps, the two of us didn't say a word. We just nodded our heads like cowboys in front of a saloon. Jeff stood on the top step with his thumbs hooked in the straps of his overalls. He was chewing gum. “"Howdy,"” he said as he nodded a second time. Then he started shaking his hips, like he was flexing his butt or something. After a couple of seconds, he paused. Then he looked down toward his shoe.
Naturally, I followed his stare there too. A flask of Jack Daniels hung out of his pant leg Magicians. He had stopped by the liquor store that was only a hundred yards down the hill from my house. That was the great thing about Athens, every place was accessible by foot.

Jeff tossed me the bottle. I nodded in agreement and disappeared inside. I returned to the porch with two Jack and Cokes. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. We’ve got to start this off with shots.”
“ Ah, hell,” I muttered.
“ Are you going to be a pussy?”
“ We might as well, right?”
“ You’re goddamn right. We ain’t got shit to do.”
Jeff made his way back inside and returned with two full shot glasses. He held his up high. “Here’s to an end of institutional life.”
“ And to drinking life by the drop,” I added.
“ Touché.”
It was only a small bottle. The house was dry of alcohol in no time. We proceeded down the red bricks of Court Street into the bar that had the best jukebox in town. I ordered up a round of beers. A handful of other students trickled in. After a while, one of the pool tables opened up. Jeff returned with the next round as I started knocking some solids in. He sat patiently by while my run continued.
Closing one eye, I steadied my aim. “Look!” Jeff said. “It’s a quasi hippie chick.”
An instant later I sent the cue ball scratching into the corner pocket. Proudly snatching the ball, Jeff lined up a shot. I scanned the bar. “Over by the jukebox,” he added.
Flipping through albums stood a beautiful brunette dressed in frayed blue jeans, sandals, and a white tank top. Her long wavy hair gently swayed, barely sweeping the back of her soft shoulders. With a thumb in her pocket, she tapped on her thigh. I watched her while she finished her selections, her hips gently rocking to the music.

I sighed, “I love quasi hippie girls.”
“ So buy her a drink, Romeo,” Jeff said, sinking another ball.
“ Maybe I will.”
After the pool game we moved outside to the back deck. I kept thinking about the quasi hippie chick. Reservations aside, I headed back in to find her. I searched the whole bar over but I couldn’t find the brunette anywhere. Her music was still playing though, as I headed back up to the bar nodding along. I ran into a friend at the register, paying for her carryout order. Amanda had also graduated from the actors’ training program with Jeff and me.
“ So? Any news?” Amanda asked. “Have you heard anything about the acting internship?”
“ No, but we did get to watch everyone else audition.”
“ How was the competition?”
“ Let’s just say that Jeff and I have a great chance.”
“ Well if you don’t get it, you ought to come visit Greg and me in Lake Tahoe. You’d love it out there, Riley. There’s mountains all around you.”
“ My car wouldn’t make it that far.”
“ So ride your bike.”
“ Yeah, right. Sure thing. Come on and have a drink with us. Jeff is out on the deck. We’re getting hammered.”
“ I can’t. Greg’s out in the car waiting.”