"Where is he?" I yelled to Kate over the loud music. "What?" She yelled back. "Aaron! Where is he?" She shrugged, and indicated that I follow her.
I groaned, hating the idea of being here. Kate ended up bribing me, by offering to do my research for an assignment I had due.
"I see him!" Kate called out. She grabbed my hand, and pulled me behind her, through the crowded room. I apologised to people we pushed past, who luckily either didn't care, or were too drunk to notice.
Finally we reached a corner in the room, where Aaron was leaning against a wall, talking to a couple of guys, probably from his hockey team. His eyes lit up when he noticed we'd arrived, and he waved us over.
"How did you get her to come?" Aaron nodded towards me.
"I bribed her. You and I are going to have to do her research work for her," Kate shrugged. "Why me? I didn't force her to come," Aaron protested.
"You literally said 'I don't care what you do, get her here'," Kate quoted him. "All three of us know I'm going to end up doing it myself, so now that we're here, can you two quit quarrelling?" I rolled my eyes.
"Yes, ma'am," they replied in sync, before exchanging glances and laughing.
"Well guys, meet Sam and Andre. Sam, and Andre, meet Hazel and Kate," Aaron introduced us.
I waved at the two of them, while Kate spoke. "You guys aren't on the team with Aaron, are you? I've never seen you guys on the ice."
"These two are football buffs. Wide receiver and defender," Aaron spoke for them.
"Let them talk," Kate snapped, before turning to the two of them, almost daring them to not say anything.
"Yeah, I'm wide receiver, and Andre's defender," Sam spoke, after a moment of silence. Kate must have missed speaking to these two during her interrogation at the game.
"You two aren't football fans?" Andre raised an eyebrow, glancing towards me. Yet again, Aaron spoke for us.
"These two are hardcore hockey fans. They haven't missed a single game of mine."
"That's because you get us free tickets and don't give us a chance to not come," Kate retorted. I chuckled, knowing we would go even if it weren't for the free tickets. Kate and Aaron knew that just as well as I did. Sam and Andre laughed, while Aaron elbowed Kate.
"Yo, Carter! Ethan! Over here," Sam yelled, waving to whoever was behind me.
I turned around, and sure enough, Alex and Ethan were strutting towards us.
"Why is he everywhere?" I whispered to Kate. She raised an eyebrow, before responding with a loud "What?".
"Alex. Why is he everywhere?" I raised my voice. "I heard that. That's not very nice of you." I scrunched my face in exasperation. "Alex. What a surprise," I said sarcastically.
"I could say the same thing about you. What's with the sudden appearance at all these parties?" He asked me, smirking.
I wordlessly pointed at Kate. "Great to see you again, Kate," He grinned at her. She awkwardly smiled back, probably taken aback by his greeting.
"And me. Hi," Ethan smiled widely, as he raised his hand for a high five. If it weren't for how endearing he was, I would have left him hanging, but instead I high fived him back. He immediately turned to Kate to receive a high five from her.
"I'm Ethan. Hazel probably told you all about me, and how I led us to victory during cup pong," he said, putting his hand back down. I chuckled, as I let the pair enjoy their conversation, and turned to see Aaron and Alex conversing.
I didn't know they were friends, but it makes sense. Aaron is literally friends with everyone on campus. He knows everyone, and you can always find him at any social gathering. I don't know how he does it.
I'm the complete opposite. Although I have plenty of friends around college, because of my classes, the only two I ever bother actually meeting and staying up to date with are Kate and Aaron. I used to enjoy going out just as much as the next person, but after my last breakup, going out was pretty much ruined for me.
"Dude, hello?" I snapped out of my thoughts, with Aaron waving his hand in front of my face. "What?" I glared at him.
"Do you want a drink?" He asked me, grinning. "No, I drove," I reminded him.
"It's fine. I'll drive you back," he offered.
"Aren't you drinking as well?"
"Yeah, but I can hold my alcohol way better than you can," Aaron reminded me. I shot him a puzzled look, unsure of how true that statement really was, but agreed nonetheless, mostly because I really wanted a beer.
•••
"God, I wish I never drank those stupid beers." I groaned, as I stared at Aaron, who was passed out on the sofa.
"I could drive if you want," Kate slurred. She seemed pretty close to passing out.
"You've had more to drink than I have. I only had like two beers, so I'm pretty sure I'm better off driving," I told her, contemplating doing just that.
The crowd was thinning, and there was no way I wanted to be the last one to leave, so me driving seemed to be looking great right now.
"You guys are still here?" I turned around, and came face to face with Alex.
"Dude, you really are everywhere." I shot him a confused look. "You say that like it's a bad thing," He retorted.
"Not bad or good. Just weird," I shrugged, as I turned back around to see Kate seated on the sofa, her head leaning against the back, half asleep. "A good weird," the brunette settled on, to which I made a face.
"Need help with the two of them?" Alex continued, the amusement evident in his tone. "No," I snapped. I was being unnecessarily rude, but in my defence, it was 2am, and currently my only way home was driving while tipsy. Either that or calling an uber, which would mean leaving my car here overnight, which I wasn't willing to do.
"Okay," he said, popping the way. I scrunched my face up in defeat, before turning back to face Alex, who was leaning against a wall, watching me and grinning.
"Have you, uh, had anything to drink?" I asked him nervously.
"Nah, I have practice at 7am tomorrow. Strictly stuck to water," he replied. "Do you have a license?" I continued.
"Yes, Hazel, I do have a license. What I think you're putting down here, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that you want to know whether I'll drive you home or not?" He smirked, thoroughly enjoying my discomfort.
"Well, not just me."
"You and your two passed our buds, huh?" He snorted.
"That would be cool, since you're offering," I smiled sweetly.
He let out a loud laugh at that. "Sure, I guess. Since I'm offering, You have your car though, right? Because I came with Ethan, and he's gone off to get, uh, smashed."
"I did not need to know that. But yeah, I have my car," I pulled out my car keys and tossing them towards him. He caught them, and began walking.
"Uh, Alex?" I called out, as he strutted away.
"Yeah?"
"I need help with these two," I smiled sheepishly, as he turned around, and walked back.
After what seemed like forever, we finally managed to get Kate and Aaron at the back of my car, where both of them instantly fell asleep, their heads leaning against one another.
"Wait, if you aren't drunk, what's with the no driving? Not that I mind driving you guys or anything," Alex asked me, rushing through the latter half of his sentence.
"I had two beers, so I'm more tipsy than drunk. I would've driven if it was really necessary, but I prefer not to drive when I've had even one drink, so I just had to take you up on your offer," I tell him, as I buckled in my seatbelt.
"Uh huh. My offer," he repeated sarcastically, pulling out of the driveway.
"Didn't you need a ride back to campus anyway? I mean, you did say Ethan went off to- do whatever he had to do," I winced at the image that was put in my head.
"I could've always called an uber," he reminded me.
"You could have, but this way you're getting a ride back home for free," I argued.
"You're so right. Thank you so much," He said, a grin tugging at his lips.
"Glad to be of service," I grinned.
"You're so much easier to talk to when you've had something to drink," Alex admitted.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I feigned a look of offence.
"Well, you actually have a personality for one, and you're not completely closed off," he explained, shrugging. I scrunched my forehead, weighing how true his sentence was- it was fairly true.
I was a closed off person in general, especially with people I didn't know- I was surprised Alex realised.
"Anddddd we're here!" He exclaimed, a few moments later, as he came to a stop outside campus.
"Thanks for the free ride," Alex winked, once we were out of the car. Kate was standing next to me, majority of her weight on me, while Aaron was leaning against my car.
"My pleasure," I chuckled. "But for real, thank you. You saved us from a potential crash," I shot him a quick smile.
"Glad to be of service," he winked, repeating my words from before.
We stood in silence for a second, before he spoke. "So uh, I can take Aaron to his room if you want. It'll probably make your job a lot easier," he offered, nodding towards Kate.
"Could you really? Is it close to your room?"
"Yeah, not too far. It's no trouble at all," he shrugged. He walked towards Aaron, and placed one of his arms around his shoulder.
"Thanks a bunch again," I smiled awkwardly.
"Yup," he grunted under Aaron's weight. "Oh wait. Your keys."
He dug his hands into his pocket to retrieve my keys, and tossed them me. Unfortunately for me, I completely missed. "Got it," I muttered embarrassed, bending down to pick them up, while ensuring Kate didn't topple over.
"Goodnight, Hazel," he chuckled.
"Night, Alex."
•••
UPDATE!