All Eric wanted was a distraction from the tiresome stress of university life. He could never in his wildest nightmares have predicted that one unfortunate misunderstanding with the capricious daughter of Shawn Briggs, a big-shot lawyer, would someh...
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-Eric-
I'd just been looking for a distraction, really.
It was Thursday night, most likely, and there was definitely an upcoming exam that I was meant to be prioritizing. Hell, there were plenty of places where I was supposed to be instead of Devon's seedy frat house on a weeknight, languidly inching my way through the bustling crowd of wasted, partying university students; I glanced around the crowd of vaguely familiar faces, searching for my friends.
It was almost too crowded, even standing made difficult by the shifting of bodies all clamoring to go their own way. And still, I buoyantly swayed to the relentless pounding of the music as it poured out through the living room speakers, keeping my eyes closed while willingly getting lost in the disarray of shifting bodies crowding together; perhaps they didn't know it, but they were also desperately in search of a distraction. Or maybe something stronger.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be converging in such a shithole.
Not that I was any better, though.
Irresponsibility was not a frequent vice of mine, but there was something so enthralling about being able to switch my brain off for the night. To just exist, disregarding the trepidations of not accounting for every possible anomaly that may or may not wreck the foundation on which I'd built all my hopes and dreams. Because being conscientious was good, sure, but it was also utterly exhausting. In some morbid way, wariness was the unwilling accomplice of inevitability, and they always set a trap meant for death by a thousand cuts. One could only be so careful, or run so far.
So, I'd set all my alarms to skip and ignored the assortment of sticky note reminders I'd scribbled for myself regarding upcoming assignments, leaving all that shit back at the dorm where it belonged. I'd had the forethought to let my project's group chat know I wouldn't be available until tomorrow, but nobody had replied anyways.
Tomorrow, I'd likely spend most of the day losing my mind about how much I'd shamelessly procrastinated; still, that wasn't much of a determent at the moment, while surrounded by such chaos. Tonight, all I had to worry about was the buzz I was steadily encouraging, and the tedious fact that Ricky was being stingy with his weed again.
I chuckled as said friend rejoined me and pressed another can into my hand, thanking him with an eager nod of my head. I cracked it open, swung the beer back and took a long gulp, contentedly sighing up at the ceiling before noticing it; I frowned at the view, watching as the lights shifted across an expanse of white canvas, beautifully illuminating the wall in bright colors before fading away. They flickered to the thumping of the house, synchronizing with the blasting beat of a song that I didn't know, but I also didn't mind.
"Eric?" Ricky called out, impatiently nudging me. "You good?"
I lowered my head to frown at him, unconcernedly chuckling when he waved his free hand in front of my face.
