text: Back in 2009, I didn’t have a penny to my name. I shared a two\-bedroom row home with three other people, a couple and another single guy. Let’s call him Drew. We didn’t want to be splitting a two\-bedroom between four people, but every three\-bedroom we’d seen was well out of our price range. So, we decided to start looking at two\-bedrooms with the notion that the couple would get their own room and the remaining room would be claimed by the highest bidder. The only problem was Drew and I were so broke that neither of us could afford to pay extra rent. So, when we found a house that we could all afford we had a tough decision to make - who would be getting the open room? I had an idea. A beer drinking contest. And to the winner, the room would be given as a prize. Everyone agreed. I know. The idea lacked originality, but I was on only 22 at the time, so bear with me. I proposed that on our move\-in date, we would pool our remaining funds together and purchase 3 cases of beer. One case for the couple, one for myself, and one for Drew. Drew and I would start on our cases at 8pm and drink until someone passed out. I’ll spare you the details of that night, but I drank the most beer and won the bet. The room was mine. So, the next day I triumphantly moved my stuff into the empty room. I didn’t own a single piece of furniture back then. Couldn’t afford any. All I had were a few boxes of clothes and a spring\-loaded mattress that I’d flung on the floor, but at least I had my own room. Better than I could saw for Drew. Drew had reluctantly stacked his boxes in the corner of our living room. He’d be sleeping on a cot every night for at least the next year our lease was up. Yuck! We got along like this for a month or two. Everything was just fine. Drew didn’t complain about sleeping in the living room and I never bragged about winning the wager that sealed his fate. I guess you could say that although we were poor, we were happy. One Friday or Saturday night, I don’t recall the exact day, but I know it was a weekend, we decided to head down to our local bar at the end of our street. The place wasn’t fancy. Pitchers of Miller Lite were only $5. And when you barely make enough money to feed yourself, the wisest thing you can do is throw away hard earned cash on pitchers of flat, Miller Lite. We walk in around 8pm and the place is already humming. The floor was sticky with beer. The line for the dartboard was five\-deep. The Women’s toilets were already backed\-up, so girls were busy flirting their way to the front of the line that was snaking out of the Men’s room. It was a good setting for a great time. Around 10pm a group of girls walked in that we’d never seen before, which was weird considering we lived up the street and came to this bar often. I had my eye on one. Or to be more accurate, every guy in the place had their eye on one. The same one. She was stand\-out gorgeous. The type of girl that walks by and is so beautiful that you kind of forget how to breath for a second. Then as she disappears around the corner you find yourself instinctively gasping for air. She was remarkable to say the least. In my younger days, I was quite the confident buck. I had no problem approaching women. So naturally I had intentions of introducing myself. I made mention to Drew that I’d be going over to say hello and asked if he would do me the honor of holding my beer. He obliged me and reached for my half\-empty glass of luke\-warm suds. As I passed him my drink he said to me, “Yea I know that girl. We had a few classes together back in college. I had the hugest crush on her for years, but I never had the guts to say anything.” I tightened my grip on the glass floating between us. “You know her?” I’ll admit, I was shocked. Drew wasn’t exactly a guy that you would call handsome. Or charming. Or tall, or funny, or confident. So, I wondered how this guy could have known a girl as beautiful as this one. I processed my thoughts quickly and managed to shout at him before he could answer me, “Dude. If you know her go talk to her!” “No way man. Girls like that aren’t into guys like me. That’s why I ever said anything to her. She’d never be into it and honestly, I don’t want to deal with the embarrassment of being rejected. Plus, I don’t even have my own bedroom man. I’m nobody to her. You think she wants to date a dude that sleeps on a cot in somebody’s living room?” “Yea but at least she knows you man. This place is super\-crowded and it doesn’t look like her or her friends know anyone here. You’ve never seen her here before, have you? I sure haven’t. Go up to her now. She’ll probably be happy to see a familiar face. If you’re ever going to have a chance with her it’s right now man. Go for it.” I don’t know why he took my advice in that moment, but he did. I held his glass of beer and watched him worm his way through the crowd to the spot where she’d been standing. I could see her eyes scanning back and forth across the smattering of strange faces, trying to identify someone she knew. Then I saw her smile. Her face lit up. She stretched out her arms and hugged Drew like a goddam teddy bear. After five minutes or so, I lost interest in their conversation and to be honest I didn’t want to make it seem like I was staring. So, I occupied myself with something else. Not sure exactly what that something else was, but I surely finished the beer Drew had left in my care. I remember leaving the bar early that night and walking home alone. I was pretty sauced and all I wanted to do was get home and fling myself onto my floor\-mattress and sleep it off. The next morning, I found Drew in the living room, asleep on his cot. I woke him up and asked about his conversation with the pretty girl he’d known from college. “Dude it went fantastic! I couldn’t believe how easy it was to talk to her. We’re going to hang out tonight even. She wants me to come to her place for drinks and then go out.” “Man that’s so awesome! I’m proud of you dude. See! I told you it’d work out.” A few weeks later, they were dating. And a few weeks after that I gave him my room. I really didn’t want the guy to have to explain to her that he’d been sleeping on a cot. So, much to my chagrin, I slept on that cot for the next two years! It’s 2018 now and I have my own room. In fact, I live in a 1\-bedroom apartment all by myself, and as a rule I never sleep on cots anymore. My life has certainly changed since that night at the bar. Seems like it was a lifetime ago. Drew and I don’t talk much anymore. We catch up on the phone from time to time and talk about how we wish we’d stayed closer over the years. But I think that’ what adults do isn’t it? We always talk about how we’re going to get together with our friends for a reunion, but somehow never do. When we do find ourselves on the phone though I always ask him, “How’s that pretty girl from the bar?” To which he always replies, “Oh she’s fine. She’s still bitter that I tricked her into marrying me years ago, but other than that she’s right as rain.