Ch. 5: Football House

Thankfully, the first week of classes flew by, and it was already Saturday night. I was laying on my bed, listening to Nina and Char argue over what I should wear to the party tonight.

"Jeans and a simple top. It's really not that complicated Char," Nina simply states.

"Hello?? She needs to make an impression. The girl hasn't tried...well, ever! I say go with the crop top and skirt!" Char argues.

"A skirt? To a college party? Surrounded by drunk football players? Are you insane?" Nina shouts. This has been going on for the last 20 minutes. It was amusing at first, but now they are giving me a splitting headache and one more reason not to go out tonight. Perfect. Now, they are just screaming nonsense at each other. Okay, time to break this argument up before they kill each other.

"Guys? Hello! GUYS!" I raise my voice to get their attention. They both stop shouting and look at me. "I appreciate all the help, really, I do. But I'm not that fashionably challenged. I think I can pick out my own outfit." They both look at each other and crack up laughing. Okay...rude.

"Girl, we love you, but no. You have taste, we'll give you that. However, both of us agree that you need to make a good impression on a certain boy tonight," Char says, while Nina wiggles her eyebrows.

"Wait a minute. You guys have been arguing for the better part of half an hour because you want me to look good for Asher tonight?" I question in disbelief.

"We didn't say we were talking about Asher, but glad to know where your mind is at." Nina smirks.

"You're kidding me, right? I swear you guys have argued more in the last week than you ever have, and it's mostly been about my love life. Let's settle this quickly, ladies. I. Do. Not. Have. Feelings. For. Asher. Understand?" I talk slowly, hoping this time it will sink in for them. They both wave me off.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say," Nina says.

"Denial is to be expected," Char replies. I give up. I sigh, as I grab the jeans out of Nina's hands and the black crop top out of Char's.

"There! Now, we have a compromise." I say before walking into the bathroom to change. I hear Char shout that she wants to curl my hair for me, as I shut the door. I groan. They're your best friends. You love them. Don't kill them. I quickly change and head back to my room. Nina already has her outfit on for the night: black jeans and a red bodysuit. She is doing her makeup when I walk in. I grab my fav pair of Nike Air Forces and slip them on. Char drags me over to her room and sits me down at her vanity table. She immediately starts curling my hair.

"Hey, Lucas is gonna come pick us up soon! He said he isn't in the mood to drink tonight, so he offered to be our DD. I hope that's okay?" Char asks me, nervously.

I smile at her. "Hey, you know that you don't have to be so nervous to talk to me about Lucas, right? I mean, I know he hasn't always been my favorite, but as long as he's treating you good, I don't have a problem," I tell her.

"I know I know. It's just with all my past boyfriends turning out to be so shitty & Lucas being an asshole a few times already, I figured you wouldn't want to hear about him. You've already dealt with enough crying sessions to last a lifetime," she tries to joke, but I can see she's upset. I turn around to face her and in the process of doing so, burn myself on the curling iron.

"Ahhh, fuck!"

"Kay! I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Oh my god!" Char starts freaking out.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine! It's my own stupid fault anyway." I laugh to myself. Char giggles too, until we both are cracking up. It wasn't even that funny but leave it to me and Char to find any small thing amusing. After the laughter dies down, I look at her seriously. "No matter what, I don't want you to ever be afraid to come to me. You're my best friend, Char. Your problems are my problems, and vice versa. Look, Lucas and I will probably never be best friends, but I can get along with him for you. The second he's a jackass to you though and you give me the go-ahead, Nina and I will take a baseball bat to his car in a heartbeat!" I say. She smiles and thanks me before finishing with my hair.

I thank her before trying to escape, but she quickly sits me back down and insists on doing my makeup as well. Well, less work for me, I guess.

Finally, after it seems like hours, Char tells me she's finished. I take a glance at myself in the mirror and I'm in awe. My hair is in loose curls, while the gold eye shadow and mascara she put on me, makes the green in my eyes more noticeable.

"Char, I love it! If being a pediatrician doesn't work out, you would make a great beautician," I say to her. She laughs.

"Hey!! Are you guys ready now or what? It's after 10, and I'm way too sober for a Saturday night!" Nina calls from the living room. I laugh, as we both make our way out of Char's room. I finally take a second to glance over at what Char is wearing tonight: a light pink tank with 'Pisces' written across the chest and a pair of light denim jeans. I shake my head. I change my mind. She should be an astrologist. Char is taking another look in the mirror when I pull her away. The girl always looks good anyway.

"Thank god you guys are finally ready!" Nina sighs in relief. She does a once over of me before nodding her head in approval. "Damn MK! You look hot. Nice work, Char."

"Thank you, I try," Char replies back, patting herself on the back, before checking her phone. "Oh, hey! Lucas is out front; we should head out."

Nina tells us she already has her set of keys before heading out. I grab mine just in case. Char will probably go home with Lucas, and who knows what's happening with Nina and Colton at this point. Nina locks our apartment door, and we all make our way down to the lobby. As we get outside, I see Lucas is in his car, waiting for us. Char jumps in quickly, giving him a peck on the cheek. Nina and I slide into the backseat.

"Hey Lucas! Thanks for driving." I say to be polite.

He turns around and looks at me. "Oh yeah, no worries, Madison," he replies. You have got to be kidding. I've met this kid several times, and every single time, he assigns me a new name. I glance over at Nina who is rolling her eyes. I think she might dislike Lucas more than me, which is saying a lot.

"Babe, it's Makayla, remember?" Char says, trying to remedy the situation like she has done several times before.

"Right. My bad." he says. I roll my eyes. Char gives me an apologetic look and I smile back letting her know it's fine. Not wanting to make the situation worse for her, I let the fact that her boyfriend is a complete tool slide for now.

Lucas puts the car in drive, as we make our way to the party.

*************************************************

I can hear the music before I see the house. When Lucas parks his car down the street and we all get out, the music is even louder. Nina and I make our way to the house, while Char and Lucas linger back a few steps, with Lucas nagging her the entire way. I roll my eyes at his comment about her outfit, well, more like insult. I honestly don't know why she doesn't just dump his ass already. It takes my conversation with Char earlier to stop from turning around and kicking his teeth in. Char's strong and more than capable of taking care of herself. If she needs me to step in, she'll ask.

When I see the house, I instantly want to go home already. There are people everywhere! Some are scattered outside, some talking to their friends, others making out in the places where the streetlights don't shine down. I walk up the steps of the house, kicking aside empty solo cups in my path. This is why I won't let Nina throw a party at the apartment. People have no respect for other people's space. I'm looking around at the scene in front of me. There's a DJ in the corner of the room, and the middle of the floor is filled to the brim with people dancing and playing beer pong. I squeeze my way past the crowd and make my way into the kitchen. Nina is already there and hands me a drink. I thank her, as I take a sip. The back of my throat instantly burns, and I start coughing.

"God, Nina. What is this?"

"It's a vodka sprite. Mostly vodka, though. It's good," she shrugs while sipping on hers.

"Don't they have anything a little less strong?"

"Unless you want one of the football guys to make you a spiked drink. If I were you, I would stick to that," she replies.

"Hey! Not all guys' spike drinks. There's a few of us left who know how to be decent, and coach would kill us, if we did anything stupid like that."

I look over and see a guy looking over at us, while casually sipping from his beer.

"Uh, sorry. Nina is just a little...Um what's the word?" I ask myself.

"Distrusting," the guy tries to help.

"It's not distrusting. It's called being cautious." Nina shoots back.

"Okay relax, I come in peace. I'm Noah," he replies, while holding his hand out for both of us to shake.

Ahh, a gentleman. How refreshing. I shake his hand back, while Nina does the same.

"So, Noah. Assuming you're on the team and not just an advocate for them, do you live here in the football house?" I question.

He laughs. "Yeah, I have a room upstairs. I share it with my teammate, Liam. He's here somewhere," he says, while looking around.

"Ahhh, a football player. So, you know Asher then, right?" Nina asks, while smirking. My eyes nearly bulge out my head, and I glare at Nina, hoping she will get the hint to shut up.

"Ah, another Asher Thomas fan?" Noah laughs while looking at me.

"Umm, fat chance of that. Nina was just kidding. She knows that Asher isn't my type." I state, smacking Nina in the back of the head. They both laugh before Noah stops and smiles to himself.

"Aw, I'm wounded sweetheart." I hear a voice behind me say.

I turn around and see none other than Asher, smiling at me. God does this guy appear out of thin air or what? I frown and then take a swig of my drink.

This is going to be a long night.