It was almost midnight when Kia snuck out to go to the third year's start of semester party. As a second-year she wasn't invited, but she knew the misogynistic third-years wouldn't mind having another girl to harass. Yes, her standards were low, but she was desperate for a cheap thrill and even the tiniest sip of alcohol.
So she dressed herself in a low-cut shirt, a mini-skirt and some fishnets, and hoped that the knockoff bouncers were willing to look past their age difference.
"Good evening, boys," she smiled at Vincent and Nils who stood in front of the door smoking and holding beer bottles in their hands. "Is there space for another person in there?"
Vincent looked her up and down and smirked, "Aren't you a second-year? What are you doing up past your bedtime?" He cackled and looked at Nils who shared the same disgusting smirk on his face.
She forced herself to continue smiling, "Why sleep when the night is still young, am I right? Come on, at least let me warm up with a couple of drinks so I don't freeze on my way back to the dorms." She let out an over-exaggerated giggle, batting her eyelashes at Vincent and crossing her arms over her chest to draw attention to her cleavage.
He glanced down for a split second before turning to Nils and saying, "I'm sure another pretty girl wouldn't hurt, right?"
Nils nodded and moved aside to let Kia pass through the door.
"Thank you, boys. I won't forget this," she smiled at them as she entered, hearing them mumble crude comments as she was walking further away from the entrance.
It was considerably warmer inside, almost humid from all the warm bodies that moved in clusters around the room. The loud music hurt her ears and the flashing lights burned her eyes, but she knew it would get better after a drink or two. Everything would get better after a drink.
She threw together some whiskey and coke to start off. The bitter liquid looked as disgusting as it tasted; it almost made her gag from how strong it was. She wasn't there to stay for long, though, so she downed the mixture of alcohol and soda, then quickly mixed up another cup. And another.
Kia was three cups in when things started blurring together and the music started to fade away from her. She was sitting in a corner now, observing a commotion down the hallway at the entrance of the not so secret clubhouse. It was more of a passing thought than actual curiosity. However that quickly changed as she saw August of Årnäs make his way over there and then another very familiar person entering.
It was nobody other than the Crown Prince himself.
She wondered how a first year ended up there. They were letting just about anyone in it seemed. In her tipsy state she didn't even notice she stood up to go over and see what's going on.
"Crown Prince," she spoke as she stood in front of Wille, "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Wille looked at her in confusion for a second, then looked like he remembered something. "You're Kristina Brahe?"
She knew that him knowing about her meant nothing good, "Yeah, that's me. Do people talk about me that often?" She tried to shrug it off, but Wille wasn't going to make it easy for her.
"My mother told me about your family," he cleared his throat, "I'm sorry to hear about your parents." He was genuine, but the mere mention of Kia's parents made her sick. Though, it could've been the three cups.
"I'm sorry to hear about your brother," she nodded respectfully, "Enough about family issues- what's a prince doing outside of his dorm this late at night?"
Wille was about to answer, but he suddenly lost all interest in Kia and looked like he saw a ghost. It was clear to her, when she turned around and saw Simon, that it wasn't a ghost but still something of the haunting sort.
"Go say hi to him, I won't hold you up. See you around, Crown Prince." She patted him on the shoulder as he said his goodbye and made her way over to the drinks table.
She was midway through pouring an acceptable amount of whiskey into her plastic cup, before it was cruelly snatched away from her clumsy hands. "I think you've had enough to drink, Kristina." A familiar coarse voice whispered into her ear.
She felt goosebumps on her neck as his breath grazed it. He smelled like whiskey, with a hint of tobacco and his expensive cologne.
"Why do you care?" She faced August and leaned against the table with drinks, watching a smile light up his ridiculously handsome face.
He downed the whiskey she had just poured and shook his head, "Because I'm supposed to make sure that the student body is well behaved and doesn't cause any trouble. We don't want another incident like the one from last year, right?"
She wanted to punch him. "How much trouble have you and your boys caused over the years? I get into one argument and suddenly you blow it out of proportions."
August frowned, "You seriously don't remember anything?" He asked her, perplexed to find her shanking her head in denial. "That's exactly why you shouldn't drink anymore."
"You're a fucking hypocrite, August," she hissed at him, getting up close to his face in an attempt to assert dominance.
"I like how you say my name when you're mad," he muttered, gazing straight back into her eyes.
This only enraged her even more and she felt her hands ball up into fists. She didn't know if his smugness enraged her or the fact that the smell of liquor on his breath mixed with his cologne made her feel even more intoxicated.
"Let's go outside to cool down, yeah?" His hand squeezed her shoulder softly, bringing her back to reality.
♔
The night was freezing cold. She hated to admit it but August was right, she cooled down once she was outside.
"So," she paused to take a drag of smoke out of her cigarette, "Why do you have such a particular recollection of that incident I've had last year?"
He huffed to himself as he shook his head, "Because things like that don't often happen at Hillerska, much less between girls."
She smiled, "You're saying I'm unique?"
He leaned against the wall of the clubhouse and stared at her for a few silent moments that seemed to drag out forever, "I'm saying that you're unhinged and that your Headmistress asked me to keep an eye on you this year."
That scheming hag. As if Kia didn't have enough on her plate, now she added another asshole to the pile.
"What makes you think that I'll change my ways and become a good girl?" She threw the cigarette on the soggy ground and stomped it out with her boot.
August shrugged, "I know that you won't, but I still have to try to do my job. Pretend to, at the very least."
"Such an exemplary prefect you are," she grinned and moved closer to him, "I promise that I'll try and be a good girl for you." She reached up and adjusted the collar of his shirt then leaned over to whisper in his ear, "Pretend to, at the very least."
August tried to put his hand on her waist but she held him by his wrist and looked him in the eyes as she made one step backwards. "Who said you're allowed to touch me?"
August looked baffled, "Were you not trying to come onto me just now?" His breathing was shallow and as she looked down to his pants she noticed they were too tight around his groin.
"Is it really that easy to tease you?" She chuckled in amusement, slightly blushing as she felt heat spread between her legs. She has had too much to drink, surely. What else could make her behave in such a whimsical way.
August hummed to himself, clearly irritated at her for making fun of him. A heavy silence followed and the more Kia stared at him, the more awkward it got. She wasn't in the mood to mess with him anymore.
"Okay, I think I'm just going to go..." she muttered, realizing the absurdity of the situation they've found themselves in. What the fuck was she even doing? Trying to seduce a third year? The student prefect? A relative of the Crown Prince?
She tried to put more distance between them, but as soon as she moved it triggered something in August. He grabbed her wrist and spun her around to trap her against the wall. "You're not going anywhere."
She felt like she had just been lit on fire. Her instincts told her to push him him away and scream in his face, but her body wasn't obeying her thoughts. Three strong drinks were too much and she couldn't make herself leave. She didn't want to leave.
"What are you doing?" she whispered, trying her best to stop her voice from shaking. "Someone might see us."
He smiled at her, "Nobody is going to see us." He reached around her waist and pulled her closer against his chest. "Why are you so afraid of being seen with me?"
She wanted to tell him it's because he's a stuck up, classist asshole who only cared about his status and taunted people whom he considered beneath him. She knew that's who he was. She was ashamed that his touch made her head spin and her heart beat so violently her ribcage would shatter. She didn't want anyone to see how desperate she was to have him touch her more.
"You're a piece of shit," was all she could muster before she grabbed his face with both of her hands and stood on her toes to kiss him.
He kissed her back, pressing her against the wall and running his palms along the sides of her body. His lips were soft and warm; tasted bittersweet from the liqueur he drank. She felt like he was going to suffocate her, but she couldn't pull away no matter how loud her brain was telling her to do so. He did pull away though, giving her space to breathe for a moment. Then he moved his mouth to her neck and her legs trembled and she had to hold her breath once again out of fear that she was going to let out sounds someone might hear.
August was about to sneak his hand past the hem of her fishnets and into her underwear, but there was a crunch not too far away from them.
"August? What the hell?" a masculine voice called out.
August pulled away from her, wiping his face clean of her lipstick. "What do you want, Vincent?" He snapped at his friend, who was wearing a devilish grin on his face.
"The guys were asking where you were, they want to make a toast." The blond boy turned to stare at Kia, "Sorry for interrupting."
Kia felt anger flood her system and she flipped him off, immediately turning around and walking in the direction of her dorm. She heard August calling her name and Vincent laughing. August didn't come after her, though, and she didn't turn back around.
She cursed under her breath all the way back to her dorm and vowed to never again do something as dumb as this.
A/N: this was a long one and i know nothing makes sense but it's ok i need to get my demons out