AS AVA AND I laid in my dorm room, her feet resting on the headboard while my feet laid at the end next to Ava's head, I aimlessly scrolled through my feed. As I saw nothing interesting for a while, I began to lose myself in my thoughts.
Against my better judgment, I went into my settings and tapped on the Blocked Users section. There, I found his name. I drew in a deep breath as I battled with my inner monologue about the pros and cons of what I was about to do.
There's no going back, I said to myself and tapped Unblock this User.
Unfortunately, my curiosity had gotten the best of me and I tapped on his profile within a heartbeat. My heart began to pound faster by the second as I watched the tiny dot in the middle chase itself around in a circle, taking an entire lifetime to load. Okay, maybe not an entire lifetime.
Finally, the pictures began to pop up, my heart threatening to leap through my chest. I scrolled down a bit, scanning the various pictures of Milo and his friends, and noticed that I didn't see a single photo with James in it. Strange.
As I continued to peruse through his posts, I came across one particular picture that caused the pounding in my chest to cease at once and was replaced by a heavy, sunken feeling.
With her arms wrapped around his shoulders, Nicole was standing on her tippy-toes, giving Milo a peck on the cheek. An arm was wrapped around her waist as Milo closed his eyes with a giant, goofy grin on his face. A tight pressure formed in my chest, and I inhaled slowly through my nose as my lips rolled in.
Suddenly, Ava shot up with a giant grin on her face, nearly whacking me in the face with her feet.
"Get up, Hadley!" She blurted as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Ava turned back to look at me and noticed the small frown on my face as I continued to stare at my screen, hypnotized.
"What are you looking at?" She asked and scooted closer towards me.
"Nothing," I replied and slammed my phone down beside me onto the bed, giving her a phony smile. She narrowed her eyes at me and, without a warning, pounced on top of me, reaching for my phone. I quickly slid it under my body as Ava began to scream, "Let me see!"
She began to tickle me and soon enough, she obtained what she wanted.
"Uh-uh," Ava said, shaking her head. "You are not going to be moping tonight. It's a Saturday night, Hads! We shouldn't be sitting in our dorms like two losers who have no life, we should be at a party!"
I groaned as Ava stood up, my phone still in her clutches.
"Someone's hosting a party across campus, and we're going," she proclaimed, straightening up.
"Mmm..." I tapped on my chin, pretending to consider it, "I think I'll pass." I reached for my phone, but with her quick reflexes, Ava pulled her hand back, my phone well out of reach.
"Nope, I'm taking this," she declared and stuffed it into her bag. "And you are not getting this back until you have a great time at that party," Ava stated matter-of-factly. I was about to use the I have too much homework excuse but realized that it was syllabus week, meaning we didn't have any homework.
Ava walked over to my closet and after a few dilemmas, she tossed me some clothes and said, "Wear that." She walked across to her room and began to change.
As if sensing my unwillingness to cooperate, she shouted, "Hadley Summers, if you aren't wearing that outfit by the time I come back, I will drag your ass to that party in whatever you're wearing."
At first, I didn't mind if I went to the party with what I had on but then realized that I had on my pink pajamas with strawberries on them. I scrambled to the bathroom, snatching the clothes up in the process.
After changing into the yellow crop-top and white shorts that Ava threw at me, I quickly swiped on a light coat of mascara before rushing to Ava's room.
Just in the nick of time, Ava was fully dressed and ready to go with her tan bag slung over her shoulder. A victorious smile tugged at her lips when I burst into her room and I rolled my eyes.
"Let's get this over with," I grumbled and marched out of the room, heading straight for the door.
The front door swings open and I nearly collide with a brawny chest. I looked up and met those enthralling eyes, quietly sucking in a breath. With his hand raised, Milo stood in the middle of the hallway, about to knock on the door. He slowly lowered his hand, shocked to see me at the door.
"Hey, Hadley," he muttered, offering me a small smile.
"Hey," I breathed, unable to think of any other words to say. My heart began to stupidly pick up its pace as we just stood there, unaware of what to do next. The air became polluted with awkward silence.
"I think Nicole is still in her room getting ready." I pointed over my shoulder, our eyes never ceasing contact.
"Right," he breathed.
Earlier, Nicole had told Ava and I that she and Milo were going out tonight, but didn't specifically say where. Over the past few days, Nicole had been making an effort to get to know me and Ava, so we did the same.
We bonded over many things like our favorite movies, foods, and even shared some embarrassing stories. I hated to say it, but I was also starting to like having Nicole around, and the three of us were slowly traveling down Friendship Lane.
I stepped to the side and let Milo in, averting my gaze to the ground.
"Well, we should get going," Ava laughed dryly. "Have fun on your night out." She grabbed my wrist and pulled me out to the hallway.
"Yeah, you too," I heard Milo say just before the door closed.
â
"SEE, ISN'T THIS FUN?" Ava yelled over the loud music as she bounced up and down with a drink in her hand. Because there were other students who were of the drinking age, free booze was brought to the party and in Ava's cup. There were many other partygoers surrounding us with similar beverages also in their hand. As I surveyed the crowd, I noticed that a lot of other freshmen were also here, wanting to mix and mingle.
"Yup, so much fun," I said, sarcasm laced in my voice. Ava rolled her eyes and shoved her cup in my hands.
"Have some of this. It'll help you loosen up a bit." A waft of the liquid entered my senses, causing my face to scrunch together.
"No thanks," I responded and handed back the drink, which lingered in my hands as she refused to take it from me.
"Just one tiny sip," Ava pleaded, squinting as she made a pinching motion with her fingers. As tempting as it was, I really didn't want to since I knew I was a lightweight. But the devil on my shoulder threw my voice of reasoning out the window and urged me to give in.
"Fine, just one." My head tilted back as I gulped down the rest of the contents that were in the cup, causing a burning sensation in the back of my throat.
As the night went on, I started to take many more tiny sips. My body slowly began to feel light and the weight on my shoulders seemed to lessen as I took more shots, the song "High Hopes" by Panic! at the Disco playing in the background.
Sometime during the night, we made our way to the dance floor and danced like there was no tomorrow. If sober Hadley was in charge right now, she would not be doing the dance moves drunk Hadley was performing at this moment.
As I let my hips take over and sway to the bass of the song with my hands in the air, I felt different pairs of hands lightly grasp onto my hips throughout the night. Normally, I would swat their hands away, but tonight I was too drunk to care.
I glanced over at Ava who was enjoying herself with a guy I recognized from one of my Performing Arts classes. Oddly enough, she seemed to be more sober than I was at the moment even though she had more to drink.
Suddenly, an arm was draped around my shoulders and a citrus scent invaded my senses. I glanced to the side and smiled when a grinning James greeted me, one dimple on his cheek. "Hey, Hads. Didn't know you'd be here."
"Me neither," I chuckled with a slight slur.
Suddenly gaining some liquor courage, I grabbed ahold of James's shirt and pulled him to the middle of the dance floor, constantly being jostled by many sweaty bodies in the process.
I began to dance with James, my back pressed against his chest. At first, he seemed a little hesitant, but soon our bodies moved in sync with the rhythm and each other.
Around us, there were many others dancing with each other, some giving lap dances. Then, a song with a particularly loud bass began to blare through the speakers.
"I'll be right back!" James shouted over the music, but I didn't hear.
As James walked away, I continued to dance alone, looking like a drunk doofus, when I felt a tap on my shoulder.
Without thinking, I twirled around with a giant grin and gave who I thought was James a peck on the cheek, too drunk to even think straight.
When I pulled away, my eyes widened in horror at what I had just done. Feeling as if time had stopped, I sobered up for a second as I locked eyes with his enchanting brown ones.
"Oh my god," I whispered under my breath.
Before Milo had a chance to say anything, I pushed past his shoulder and made like the Flash as I bolted and shoved my way through the crowd. I received many glares and nasty remarks, but I didn't care. I was focused on one thing, and one thing only: getting the fuck out of there.
_______________
A/N: hello, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know the party technically wasn't a 'disco' but they're pretty much the same thing and it fit better with the title. ya feel? Also, thank you for 100 reads!! I know that isn't a lot but to me, it is, so thank you!! â¡
find out what happens in the next chapter! â¡
-Karlee ð