Tinder

OK, it was SSR-W, thought Bianca, but this was a really good party. The DJ was on form and lots of people were dancing. And she didn’t have any lectures tomorrow either, for the first time in ages. Then a hand on her shoulder jolted her out of her thoughts.‘Nice to see you in the flesh.’ The boy grinned, giving Bianca a view of a row of crooked teeth. It took a moment before she realized he was one of her Tinder matches. How photos can lie.‘Oh, hi,’ she said. ‘How’s things?’ She tried to sound as uninterested as possible.‘Well, a lot better now,’ he replied, still grinning.‘Oh,’ said Bianca. ‘Um … I’ll just grab a beer.’ Before he could say anything, she disappeared into the crowd of people in the direction of the bar. She stayed chatting there with some people she knew and soon forgot the boy. At any rate, until she saw him from the corner of her eye coming towards her. She fled onto the dance floor where her best friend Anne was. She tried to avoid looking in the direction of the boy so that she would not catch his eye. Anne had to laugh at this story when they were back at the bar some hours later. She was flushing, as always when she had had a drop too much. Bianca too realized now how much she had drunk. ‘We’ve got to go find some nice guys,’ said Anne enthusiastically. ‘The pub is still a much better bet than Tinder.’ They looked round and Anne soon pointed out a well-built chap. ‘Now that’s what I call a hot dude.’ Bianca shrugged; he had spent too long in the gym for her liking.‘Your loss!’ said Anne and went off in his direction. Bianca’s own ‘match’ had probably been waiting for this opportunity because all of a sudden he was standing next to her. No, she thought, not him.‘Do you know you look great?’ He was very close now. Closer than was strictly necessary to be heard above the music. She couldn’t think straight; she felt woozy and panicky. Then she felt his hand slide slowly down her back. He seemed to be waiting for a good moment to steal a kiss. Alarmed, she thought: this can’t be happening. She looked around nervously for anyone she might know. Then, with a feeling of relief, she spotted Willem-Jan — never one to miss a party. What an unexpected saviour.‘Oh, there’s my boyfriend,’ said Bianca as loudly as possible while pulling Willem-Jan towards her by the shirt.‘Hi,’ he said in surprise. ‘You’ve got to help me,’ she whispered into his ear. ‘But this is most definitely a one-off.’ And before he realized what was going on, she started kissing him.