The Mesh (Raura)

Chapter 13

A half an hour later

"That guy is still in the hallway. I can see the light coming from his lamp. ", Anna says.

We hear light snores coming from her bed and look that way only to find Ethan asleep on it. I roll my eyes.

"Can't take a little bit of alcohol. ", I mutter and lean back on Laura's pillow.

She looks at me horrified. "Who let you lay on my bed? Stupidity is contagious. "

I push her gently. "Then lie on the floor, Ms Smarty. "

"I am not saying I'm smart. I'm just saying you're stupid. "

"By saying I'm stupid, you give yourself the right to judge my intelect, which instantly means you find yourself on a higher level, egocentric smarty pants. ", I comment and Laura pushes me. I squeak and slip from her bed, falling on the floor.

"Shut up. "

"I need a cigarette. ", I groan and Laura throws hers on me.

"Thanks, smarty. ", I pull out one and grab the lighter from her nightstand.

"Ross, you smoke?", Anna turns to me surprised and sits on her bed beside Ethan's feet.

"Sometimes. Only when I feel like it. ", I shrug.

Watching as the fire slowly creates ash of the previous paper in a thin circle and the lit up sparkles forming around it calms my senses. I close my eyes, feeling sore from drinking tonight, and breathe in the catastrophic nicotine. It's catastrophic as it is calming, the great mixture of disaster and complete serenity. It's the burn that brings peace, an utterly weird feeling.

"What makes tonight so special?", Anna always asks the questions that demand an answer which somehow define who I am. She always does it in front of Laura, Anna the prying, smooth talker.

"I don't know. I like you people. I like that this dorm room has a small terrace. I like the atmosphere and the night is fresh. ", I say, opening the glass door to the terrace.

Cool air hits me and sways my hair within its rhytm. I push my jeans down my legs to reveal black boxers and the two girls gasp.

"He's a sex crazed maniac. God save us. Run for your pussies. ", Anna teases and I roll my eyes and fold my pants on a small chair before going out where I prevously intended to go.

The sky is clear and shining down on me, making me smile. I love the sky. It's my one true love and that's the way it's always been. There's something about it that triggers this unexplainable kind of emotion in me while watching it. It's like I feel at home, at peace, it's like I am one with the space, sinking deep into its silence.

It's mysterious and it frightens me but at the same time, intrigues. It holds back all its emotions, all of its knowledge, and it posseses fucking a lot of it. It's not the information type of knowledge but the deep tranquility and calmness, true inteligence. It speaks nothing yet it sees everything. The past, the present and the future are all underneath its strong gaze. It's an all seeing eye.

The smoke of my cigarette travels up high and disappears into the night as I think of nothing. I feel at peace. My mind is at the right place and I've never felt this way. I don't know what's with this new feeling but it's like the click in my mind, saying from now on, I've taken the path I should be walking on.

Is it because of this city? Maybe it's the college?

No.

It's the people. They push me forward.