Masked

Chapter Four

I got back to my room and saw Athalia just waking up.

"You left me in PHOENIX'S ROOM?!" I whisper yelled at her. She blinked at me a couple times and nodded.

"You were like deadweight. There was no way we were gonna be able to get you back here," she yawned. She got up and headed into our little bathroom. I sighed and climbed into my bed. I looked down at the t shirt I was wearing. I was going to have to wash and return this eventually and I already knew that interaction was going to be awkward for me.

"Phoenix didn't do anything to you, did he?" Athalia called out from the bathroom.

"No he didn't," I reassured her.

"Then no harm done. Next time though, let's go easy on the liquor, okay?" she giggled. I sighed and groaned. The hangover was starting to kick in, so I laid down and wallowed in my misery.

Next thing I knew, Athalia was waking me up to go eat dinner. As we were walking to the dining hall, she started bombarding me with questions.

"Are you really sure you two didn't do nothing?" she badgered, poking my arm playfully.

"Well...no? I really don't remember anything from last night to be honest. Last thing I remember is Jules strolling. Then I woke up in his bed. According to him, we just slept," I shrugged. I picked up a plate and grabbed a few slices of pizza.

We sat at a table towards the back of the dining hall and soon found us joined by Yaël and Liliana.

"Hey Mar, you okay?" Liliana asked. I nodded as I took a bite of my pizza.

"Did you have fun with Phoenix?" Yaël asked, wiggling her eyebrows. I almost choked on my pizza.

"Nothing happened. He says we just slept. Thankfully," I replied, gathering myself.

"Awww that's no fun. I was hoping there would be a little spice to the story," Yaël replied with a little sadness in her voice.

"Well, I'm not ready for that kind of spice anyways," I muttered, taking a sip of my water.

They all looked at each other and then the air got tense and serious.

"You're a virgin, aren't you?" Liliana probed. I looked at them all nervously, but I nodded.

"Oh we definitely should not have left you there then..." Yaël groaned, putting her head in her hands.

"Uhh...why do you say that?" I asked, trying to contain the panic in my voice. Yaël sighed and took my hand.

"You almost could have lost it sis, and not in the way you probably want it,"Yaël answered.

"What happened last night?" I began to panic more.

"Do you remember dancing with Jovan?" Liliana asked.

"I remember him pulling me to dance with him and then hearing yall cheer. I don't remember the actual dance," I tried to remember.

"Well one, girl I had no idea your wine was that wicked. Two, the person you gave it to was Jovan and the way things were going, you could've ended up in his bed. Not Phoenix's," Liliana emphasized.

A wave of embarrassment flooded my body. I almost went back with a guy and had sex?! I couldn't believe it. I never thought something like that could happen to me and yet, it almost did.

"Yeah, if Phoenix hadn't insisted you stayed in his room, you probably would've ended up with Jovan. I don't recommend that AT. ALL." Yaël lectured, patting my hand to reassure me.

"Jovan is what you would call...a fuck boy. He tries to get all these girls into bed with him. Lord only knows how many he successfully has," Athalia informed me.

"I guess I don't feel that bad about being in bed with Phoenix then," I admitted. They all nodded in agreement.

We finished up dinner and headed to Liliana and Yaël's suite. I was still disturbed by the fact that I almost lost my virginity last night, and to a man whore nonetheless. I tried to erase the thought in my head.

We were almost to the building's door when Yaël stopped us.

"Hey I just got a text from my brother. He's having a kickback at his place. Just us from the group and a few other people. Yall wanna go?" Yaël inquired.

"Yeah I'm down for a kickback," Liliana beamed, a grin spread across her face.

Everybody turned towards me and I nodded hesitantly.

"But I'm not drinking," I said sternly. They all rolled their eyes and laughed. I pouted at their lack of faith.

A quick change later, we were outside of the apartment building waiting at the side door again.

"Aye, we're at the side door," Yaël spoke into the phone. Soon Hachi appeared through the door to let us in.

It felt like deja vu from last night. I could hear the music blasting before we even got into the apartment, but the vibe was definitely different. People were standing around and chatting with each other. There was alcohol but not as much as last night's jungle juice. It was a better vibe to me than the craziness of last night.

Athalia and I got a seat on one of the couches and watched the madness unfold. Drinks were flowing, blunts were passed around, and I was in awe of it all. I never knew that college would be like in the movies, but here it was, turning out to be exactly like one.

"Hey Marsai, I brought you a drink," a deep voice from behind me said. I turned and looked up. It was Phoenix and I immediately felt my shyness take over.

"Don't worry, it's not alcohol. Just soda," he chuckled as he handed over the cup.

"Oh thank you," I smiled softly and took a sip.

"But it's a chaser for this shot. Join the fun Marsai," he coaxed.

"SHOT. SHOT. SHOT. SHOT," he began shouting, and soon everybody else in the room joined in. I looked around me and sighed before taking the shot glass out of his hand.

I downed the shot and immediately took a gulp of the soda. The burn was ten times worse than last night.

"AYEEEE! There ya go! Loosen up a bit, baby cakes. We're about to play a game," he grinned mischieviously.

"GATHER ROUND. We finna play..." Phoenix paused for dramatic effect.

"LET'S GET FUCKED UP!"