|| Haphazard ||

Chapter 3

The next day

"What did I get myself into..."

I whispered as I felt Isabelle zipping up my dress.

Don't even bother asking how she convinced me, because somehow she did. Right now we were getting ready to leave for a party that was being held by one of Isabelle's colleagues not too far away from the dorms.

It's not like I'm an antisocial or anything, I simply prefer to spend a good night at home binge watching my favourite series while eating my favourite snacks. But apparently -following my roommate's words- that's not something a twenty-three year old college student should be doing at nights like this, and as much as I wanted to disagree with her, she had a point -it's Friday night and usually almost every single sonority or fraternity is holding a party for the students. I couldn't help but being surprised at her attitude, though. Isabelle wasn't much different from me. She's a bubbly girl but not too much of a party animal so the fact the she wanted to "party until the sunrise" caught me a bit off guard.

"We should get going now, Scar." She said picking up her purse and going towards the door.

"I thought we could leave later."

"Yeah but we still have to walk there. No car, remember?"

I frowned. "Weren't you the one who said that it was close? Even if we're walking there we shouldn't need to leave this early."

The clock on the wall marked 10:30 pm. Even if I'm not a regular at this kind of parties, I know that the fun only begins later into the night.

"But what's the fun in arriving when the good stuff has already started? And if we go now we have a chance to talk with people properly, without any of us being already tipsy or even drunk."

She always had a comeback for anything I could possibly say so I decided to give in and follow her. Guess that being that argumentative is a good think if you're going to be a lawyer so I definitely shouldn't underestimate her.

We arrived less than half an hour later. In front of us was now a big white mansion, only coloured by the reflection of the lights dispersed along the garden in front of it. Some cars were parked on the side walk and we could already start to feel the building anxiety inside of us.

"Remember: as soon as we cross that door... " She pointed at the entry wooden door that was already open and where a young male was taking care of the reception of everyone invited. "everything that has been bothering us stays behind. No regrets, no deep thoughts, just a drink in hand and dancing nonstop!"

I rolled my eyes and started walking faster. I mean, slightly faster because I still had to get used to my new high heels that weren't exactly comfortable.

"Hey wait for me!" She squealed trying to keep up with my pace. "What's the point of going fast anyway if the one who has the invitation cards is me?"

***

A couple hours later the room was filled by dozens of people. Empty bottles were on the floor waiting for some clumsy person to trip over them.

My cup was already empty and the mini bar was across the room, so to get there I would have to squeeze my way through all that people and just the thought of that almost made my will disappear.

Somewhere along the line I've lost track of Isabelle and the feelings of loneliness and worry were starting to get into me so I decided to go look for her. I made it to the mini bar, grabbed another drink and went outside where a few people in clusters were either chatting, dancing or even making out being the bushes.

Since Isabelle was nowhere to be found around the garden I decided to make my way back into the house, turning around but looking behind me to double check her presence. That was when I felt bumping into something hard -someone, to be more precise. I jumped in surprise and apologized to the guy in front of me, who just left a little chuckle. My eyes went wide when I looked to is shirt and noticed that some of my drink had accidentally spilled over it.

"I'm so, so sorry..." My eyes were shifting around my surroundings, trying to quickly find something that could be useful right now.

"Hey, it's okay." The guy said smiling with what seemed like sincerity, making me relax a little. At least he wasn't mad at me. "Don't need to be so stiff about it, you can loosen up. This is my house anyway so I can easily get a change of clothes."

Great. I just bumped and spilled my drink over the owner of the house. He obviously didn't make a big deal out of it so, for the sake of my sanity I decided not to as well.

"Won't it be a bother to you? To go change clothes in the middle of a party? Once again, I'm really sorry. If you want to, I can get your shirt cleaned and give it back tomorrow." This just seemed to, for some odd reason, make his smile grow bigger.

"You really can't relax, can you? Don't be so tense -I already told you it's alright. You can forget about it. Unless... you're trying to get an excuse to come here tomorrow as well?" He jokingly wiggled eyebrows and I instantly understood what he meant.

"N-no, it's not it. If you say it's fine, then I won't bother anymore." I said, trying to make a small reassuring smile. I could feel my cheeks slightly heating up and I cursed myself for it.

As I was about to leave the guy stopped me by lightly touching my arm, grabbing my attention. I eyed him expectantly.

"I forgot to introduce myself... My name's Andrew."

"Nice to meet you, Andrew. I'm Scarlet."

After our awkward introduction we stood there like meek children, in an uncomfortable silence that lasted for a few seconds before another voice broke it.

"Scarlet!" This time, the voice was already familiar. I turned around and saw Isabelle alongside with another guy. "Finally found you! I was going crazy looking for you!"

"I could say the same... I came outside the see if your were around but I couldn't find you anywhere."

"So you decided to stay and flirt with Andrew?" She smirked.

I crossed my arms refusing to answer anything that could incentive her teasing.

Inexplicably, the chilling atmosphere surrounding us was interrupted when suddenly the guy standing next to Isabelle decided to step forward and pull Andrew to his side.

"Time to go, Andrew." He said while eyeing me from head to toe in an almost mocking way. "Isabelle, you stayin'?"

"No need to rush, Matt." Andrew said patting the other male's shoulder that was now covered by his arm.

Hello everyone!
Coming up with another chapter, this time the girls go partying
What could possibly go wrong, right?
Hope you enjoyed ^^

See ya ;)