Matt
The first week of classes started on the Wednesday after that Labor Day weekend, and it'd gone by faster than anyone had even expected.
After making sure he'd been woken up extra early to have plenty of time to find his classes, Matt had only gotten lost once, but luckily still had five minutes to spare before he'd been considered tardy, terrified at the idea of everyone staring at him if he'd walked in late. He'd recognized a few people he'd met over the last couple of days, and quite a few of them had been from his floor, so even that small sense of familiarity comforted him as he'd adjusted to his schedule.
The professors were all various levels of eccentric, which had been expected; Matt had always felt like it'd been a pre-requisite for any good art instructor to be extremely weird in some way. What he hadn't expected was how some of them had gone right into their exercises instead of just taking the whole day to read off their syllabus.
Matt had taken the summer off from drawing' he'd needed to work to get some extra cash to save, so he'd been was a little rusty on his technique. Their instructor had wanted quick, gestural, and choppy marks down in each student's sketchbook as a warm-up.
The worst part by far had been when they'd received their supply lists for their course. The instructors had claimed they'd only asked for the bare-minimum, but it'd still all added up to about $250 per student. There was also only one art shop in all of Menomonie, so unless someone had a car to drive to a Michaels store in the next town a half hour drive from there, Mike's Art & Design up on the corner of Main and Broadway was where everyone had to go.
While there'd been a collective groan at all their money spent in that one transaction, Matt had felt a bit of comradery with Peter and Jack as they'd dejectedly exited the store together, and had lugged their large plastic shopping bags back down towards campus, speculating ways to complain to the board of directors of the Art & Design program for making them spend so much money.
Soon it was the weekend, and even amongst the freshman, there'd been a lot of buzz spreading about all the parties celebrating getting through the first half a week of school. Matt hadn't been expecting to do anything; Peter, Tony and Jack hadn't seem like big partiers and were probably going to hang out in the dorms, which was fine, but that's not what Matt wanted to do with his time at UW-Stout. He'd done plenty of quiet weekends back home, and he'd wanted a change of pace.
Later that day, when he'd joined Tony, Peter, and Jack for dinner in the commons, Peter had gotten message on his phone.
"Hey guys, Heather says there's people pregaming in her room before they check out the frats, did we want to go?" Peter's bespectacled eyes looked around at their booth.
Jack scoffed. "No fucking way, I don't want to be surrounded by a bunch of douchetards trying to get laid by a bunch of dumb sluts."
Tony had thrown a side look. "Dude, I'm sure most of those girls are ones you've hit on this week, so are they still sluts then?"
"If they decide to fuck those frat guys and not me, then yes, they are major sluts."
Matt hadn't been able to understand Jack's logic on a lot of things, especially when it'd came to girls. His way of flirting was to hit on a girl, and if he'd gotten rejected, he'd simply slide down to the next one like it was a speed-dating line. Matt had given him props for his persistence, but at the same time, using the same lines over and over and expecting different results hadn't made much sense.
"I say why not? It might be fun," Matt replied.
"We could go for a little bit at least," Peter contemplated. "See if they live up to the hype?"
Tony nodded in agreement, but Jack had seemed annoyed that no one had sided with him on the subject.
"What time should we go to their room?" Tony asked.
Peter looked back down to his screen. "She'd said to be there around eight."
"Oh shit, I just remembered I don't have any booze," Matt cringed. He'd felt so stupid; how could he have forgotten about figuring out a way to get booze? He didn't have a fake ID, and he hadn't really met anyone who'd be willing to supply him.
"Don't worry about it," Peter assured him. "I have extra stuff back in the room, and I think you usually pay for a cup anyways."
"Yeah, but it's probably really shitty beer, like Coors or something," Jack had muttered, still petty.
The four of them finished up dinner and returned to HKMC. Matt had gone back to his room, but told the others that he'd meet them at Heather's room. He hadn't wanted to tell them he'd really just needed to be alone for a few moments. While he'd been excited to be going out to a college party for the first time, he'd also been fucking terrified.
Matt's hands wouldn't stop sweating and shaking. It'd been hard to breath, and he'd felt his armpits also sweat profusely. His heart had begun to beat so fast he'd felt like a heart attack was imminent.
While the guys would've been there, Matt didn't really know Heather, or anyone else who was probably going to be there. He hadn't wanted to embarrass himself, and Heather seemed like she'd been super popular; would she get mad about someone like him joining them?
Too many unknown factors hadn't helped him calm down:
Who else was even going to be there?
Heather's roommate was that peppy little blonde who'd hung out with that small clique of girls on their floor, would they kick him out or not even let him into the room?
What other guys would be there?
He'd seen Jared and Brayden around Heather that whole week, Would they feel weird with having him there?
Would Jared think he was staring at him for too long or something like that, call him a fag, and make him a pariah on their floor?
So many thoughts had flashed through Matt's head, all of them a horrible outcome that could've possibly happened. He'd wondered if he should've sent Peter a quick message how he'd forgot he'd had homework due, or he'd gotten sick all of a sudden.
Instead, Peter texted him:
Hey Dude, we're there, where U at?
Matt had taken the moment to take a couple deep, soothing breaths before he'd decided he was calm enough to send an. answer. When he'd counted to thirty, he'd hastily replied:
On my way!
Matt supposed in that moment it was now or never, so he'd reminded himself he'd wanted a better social life, to get out there and meet new people, and make fun memories, and not revert back to the lame, anti-social weirdo that everyone back home had probably thought he'd been.
Matt left his room with a purpose, even as Thomas had never even looked up from his screen that entire time.
Matt walked over to the girl's side of their floor; it'd been so quiet that he'd been able to hear a feint thumping from music in someone's room, so he'd assumed that was where to go. He'd tentatively knocked on the door, and a few moments had passed by without any answer, so he'd wondered if anyone even heard it, or if he'd even reached approached the right door.
Heather had answered the door; her hair was in loose waves, she'd put more makeup on than usual, and had worn a small black top that left her shoulders bare, pale blue denim cutoffs, and golden sandals.
Her face had lit up when she'd recognized him; her hands had rose waved in welcome, and Matt noticed she'd had a piercing on her navel when her top had lifted up and revealed her toned lower abs.
"Matt, I didn't know you were coming! It's good to see you, come in." She'd moved aside to let him pass her.
Matt had taken in the small crowd within the cramped, incredibly warm dorm room. Jared and Brayden sat at the desk chairs by the window, and each had given him a nod as they'd sipped from their bottles of beer. Peter and Tony were on the large red futon, mixing drinks of Bacardi and Coke into plastic cups. Lindsay was applying a ton of mascara in her wall mirror over her dresser.
She'd noticed Matt, a threw him a megawatt smile. "Hi, I'm Lindsay. I'm Heather's roommate."
Matt blushed as he'd waved back. "Hey there, I'm Matt, I remember you during the volleyball game."
"Great to have you! Find a seat if you can." Lindsay returned back to her mirror.
Heather gestured him to sit on the floor next to her. With her warm, welcoming smile, Matt had felt himself relax as he'd crouched down next to her and sat Indian style.
So far, so good...
Eden
Despite having heard from multiple sources–Alex had already made a wide social circle—there had been a lot going on over that first weekend in terms of parties, but Eden had just wanted to stay and enjoy a movie night. For her, there were going to be plenty of weekends to go wild, but she'd figured cops were going to be everywhere those next couple of days to try and keep order.
When Eden had suggested a drunken movie night, Jenna had lit up at the idea, and instantly suggested they'd start a Harry Potter marathon, but Alex had shot that down, at least for that time around. Too much of a time commitment for their first weekend at UW-Stout. The four of them had all packed into Jenna's room, looking at her other movie choices.
"Oh My God, I haven't seen The Iron Giant in forever!" Eden exclaimed.
"Jenna...gurl, I thought you'd at least have Magic Mike hiding in the back or something," Alex commented.
Zach hadn't said much; he was fine with whatever they'd decided on.
"Despite all the gorgeous guys, that movie was terrible," Jenna countered while she'd put a bag of popcorn into her microwave. "I mean, what was with the yellowish tint? Also, there was barely even a plot."
"Um, hi... That tint was an artistic choice," Alex rolled his neck. "and if we saw guys like Matt Bomer, Alex Pettyfer and Joe Manganiello in a thong, did it even matter if there was a plot or not?"
Eden laughed; Alex always had something to say about everything, and always had some impressive clap-backs to anyone who'd disagreed with him. She'd grabbed one of her favorite Animated Disney classics out of the bunch.
"Alright, how about Hercules?"
Jenna and Zach both agreed, but Alex had taken a moment to skim through Jenna's collection once more, just to confirm there'd been nothing better. When he'd came back empty handed, he'd agreed once again and took a seat next to the others. Eden gleefully put the DVD inside the player, grabbed her bottle of Rosé, and slid into Jenna's oversize bean bag chair that'd easily been big enough for anyone to comfortably sleep in.
The movie was just about to start when Alex spoke up again.
"So, just to once again make sure we're all on the same page here, you guys don't want to go out to the frats tonight?"
Eden glanced over at Jenna, who'd shaken her head.
"Not this time, Alex," Eden shrugged. "We've got plenty of time to go and party it up later on."
Alex pouted. "Ok, fiiiiinnne, maybe next weekend then."
They were silent for a while. When it'd gotten to the point during Hercules's training montage that Alex had once again spoken.
"I don't know if I've told you guys, but I have a fantasy," he'd paused until everyone stared at him. "I want to go to all the frats, and find me the cutest, closeted frat guy on campus and make him my slave."
Everyone was quiet for a moment.
Eden broke the silence by bursting out laughing; she'd plugged her nose to make sure any of her wine hadn't shot out. She'd loved how Alex was a little hornball, and he'd only gotten more open about it whenever he'd drank.
"Holy shit, Alex...that's like the fiftieth fantasy you've told us this week," Jenna shook her head, but laughed along with Eden while Zach had looked horrified while he'd just kept watching the screen.
Alex chuckled. "Well my friends, just call me your 'Gay Mr. Gray,' and I am ready to see you now."
Jared
After a couple rounds of drinking games, the vibe of the room had gotten a little rowdier.
Thankful Mandy hadn't joined them, Jared could actually enjoy himself.
He'd glanced over at Heather, who'd sat on the floor and wondered if he should've offered a spot on his lap.
Why did she have to have a boyfriend?
He knew some guys actually got off on the challenge, but he'd never been a guy who'd gone after someone else's girl.
Jared then regarded Matt, who'd sat next to her. Jared honestly hadn't minded him, but he'd seemed so timid, it was like he'd constantly been walking on eggshells. Jared had thought to himself how no one who was like that would go far in life. Plus, the guy was in college, and he's in that room, so obviously he'd wanted to have a good time.
Just let loose, stop worrying...why is that so hard for some people?
"So, Matt, did you have anything to drink?" Heather asked, as she'd taken a sip of her mixed drink in her hand.
"I don't have anything," Matt admitted under his breath and looked down.
Shocker... Dude would totally get busted if he tried to use a fake anyways, Jared thought to himself.
The skinny guy on the couch, Peter, sat up. "If you pay me back, I can give you some of my Captain?"
Lindsay had taken a few back-to-back tequila shots over at her dresser. She was not messing around, and Jared had been impressed at how easily she'd inhaled her booze, but she was tiny: probably a light weight, and he hadn't wanted to have to watch after her through the night. He'd been much more interested about getting a lay of the land at the kegger they were going to.
Jared wondered if Meaghan was going to be there...Hopefully not. He hadn't spoken to her once since they'd hooked up, and he hadn't wanted to deal with her freaking out if she'd caught him hitting on other girls. It wasn't like they were even exclusive; he'd made sure she'd understood it was a one-time thing!
Heather had offered some of her Jack Daniels too, and Jared had gotten an idea. Matt needed to chill the fuck out, and maybe he just didn't want to start with the hard stuff. He didn't look like he'd done all that much in high school anyways.
"Hey Matt, take one of my beers," Jared tossed him one before he could've even responded, giving him no choice.
"Thank you," Matt nodded.
"No problem."
Heather's eyebrows knit together. "Haven't you heard the saying 'beer before liquor, never been sicker'?"
Brayden laughed as he'd shaken his head. "That's a myth, it just depends how fast you drink."
Lindsay squealed and stumbled across the room while somehow not taking her eyes off her phone. Jared's eyebrows rose when she'd plopped down onto his lap, his hands instinctively wrapped around her hips, but only to keep her from falling over.
This girl was going to be trouble...
"So, Ali just messaged me; her and the girls are coming with us tonight," Lindsay informed the room. "They're pregaming in her room so we don't have to worry about getting busted for being too loud." She'd looked over to Heather. "So, we should just meet them at the house, right?"
Jared inwardly groaned. So, Mandy was joining them after all...Perfect.
"Invite them over, I have plenty of room on my lap," Brayden grinned.
"I'm right there with ya, bud," Peter joked.
"Actually, if they're coming too, they should meet us right out front," Jared answered. "With this many guys and only two girls, we need to balance out the ratio."
He'd explained to the room how parties didn't let a large group in unless they'd had an equal or higher number of girls. As stupid as it'd sounded, frat guys wanted girls there in order for their party be a considered a success.
"It makes sense, because a guy's worst nightmare is winding up at a sausage fest," Heather smirked and took another sip, and Peter and Tony had both giggled on the couch.
Matt's eyes widened. "Oh god, imagine the only girl that showed up to that?!"
Heather laughed. "I'm imagining that scene in Eurotrip when they'd ended up on that nude beach, and get chased away by all those naked tourists."
The girl had just referenced Eurotrip, why did she have to have a boyfriend? Jared internally winced.
"Best part of that movie still is Matt Damon singing "Scotty Doesn't Know,'" Matt grinned, and Heather tipped her cup in agreement.
Lindsay swerved around on Jared's lap to grab his attention, and found her grinning over at him, her eyes already looking glazed over.
"Jared, will you take a selfie with me?" Lindsay slurred.
"Of course, why not?"
Lindsay squealed as she'd wrapped herself closer to him while she'd stuck out her phone. After adjusting the angle, she'd captured several pictures of the two, then scrolled through them. She'd looked them over: each picture had her megawatt smile with his signature smirk and arm around her. "We look hawt tonight, H-A-W-T, hawt!"
Jared had to agree, but he'd mostly hoped it'd piss Mandy off. He'd passed Matt another beer when Brayden had spoken up. "Oh shit, I just remembered, I need to run to an ATM really quick, does anyone else?"
"Wait, do we need cash to get in?" Heather asked.
"Yeah, usually these things have an entry fee to get in to pay for a cup. It's usually just five dollars," Brayden answered. "My older brother told me that girls can get in for free if they flash the bouncer."
Heather raised a brow at that, but Lindsay had just drunkenly giggled.
"Well, I can defs flash my pair if it means getting in for free!"
Jared amusedly watched Lindsay grab her tits to pop them out of her top more and gave herself more cleavage. He couldn't help but snort at Peter and Tony over on the futon as they'd tried to not be too obvious about staring down her top.
Jared looked back over at Heather, who'd looked unimpressed with the notion, and thought she hadn't needed any extra help; her body was already absolutely amazing.
Heather
At about ten that night, the group had made their way out to the front entrance of HKMC. Heather saw the other girls, who'd all looked stunning in their outfits. She'd noticed Jared tense when he'd seen Mandy again, but luckily, they'd both seemed perfectly content to just ignore each other.
As their group had all began to walk, Heather had decided to give Jared a reassuring little pat on the back while they'd both ended up towards the back with Matt. The other girls had led the pack while Brayden, Tony and Peter had hung out in the middle.
"So...do you guys like cheese?" Heather quoted as she'd turned to Matt and Jared. Jared had looked confused, but Matt's face had immediately lit up.
"I loved She's The Man," he'd exclaimed. Heather smiled back, so far Matt had gotten all her movie references; she'd liked him.
"My favorite's Gouda!"
Jared chuckled along, but it was obvious he hadn't known what the hell they'd been talking about, so Heather had decided to change the subject to make sure they were all included.
"So, what do you guys think of your classes so far?"
"They seem alright, I guess," Jared shrugged. "Mine are mainly all gen-eds for now, at least."
"What's your major, again?"
"Hotel, Restaurant Management."
"What made you want to go into that?"
Jared looked pensive. "Well, for one thing, it's not something my parents wanted me to do, but I like being in charge, and I love to travel. All that while working at a big resort in Mexico, The Bahamas or even Bali sounds really fun."
"I totally get the travel aspect. It's my dream to see the world," Heather stared ahead forward. "I want go to exotic locations, see the architecture, eat the food, meet the locals; just immerse myself in their culture. I also want to direct movies and be affiliated with women like Kathryn Bigelow and Michelle MacLaren."
Both Jared and Matt hadn't recognized the names, but Heather just shrugged it off; not everyone was usually up to date on prominent female directors in the film industry.
What about you, Matt?" she'd asked.
"I'm still a little undecided what I want to do exactly, so for now I'm in Studio Art, which seemed like the most general art degree. I've always been decent at art, so I want to stick with it," Matt said. "I love to write too, so maybe English is an option too?"
"In Digital Cinema, there's screenwriting, which can be super fun," Heather suggested.
Their group walked through the grassy quad between the dorms and the academic buildings. They'd past the Applied Arts building, which ironically was pretty plain looking, made of big blocks of stone and brick. Heather was reminded about her classes that past week, even remembered Matt had been in one of her courses.
She hoped he hadn't noticed if she'd forgotten that little tidbit. Before that night, they'd hadn't really talked all that much, but so far, she could've honestly said she'd liked him. He was shy at first, but once you'd gotten to know him and he'd felt relaxed enough to let his guard down, Matt seemed like a pretty genuine person.
Heather could tell he'd gotten nervous when Brayden and Jared were ever around, and wondered if maybe he'd been bullied by guys like them before. She thought they were harmless; Jared just needed to learn to keep it in his pants, but maybe they'd reminded Matt of people who'd made his life back home harder than he'd needed. She'd sometimes caught Matt peek over at Jared.
Maybe Matt was into him?
Heather had decided to stop speculating right then and there. Matt's business was his own, and she'd never want to pry, at least right off the bat. Still, she couldn't help herself as she'd remained curious.
Right across the street from the lot behind the art building at the top of the hill, on 6th Street East, was where some of the frat houses had made up 'Frat Row,' with Phi Sigma Phi and Chi Lambda Phi.
It really must've been a small school if two houses next door to each other were considered the place to party at the most. Heather had thought it was also weird for two fraternities to be right next door to each other. Weren't they supposed to be rivals or something?
Heather had spotted the Phi Sigma Phi Greek symbols on the house they'd approached, two gigantic guys stood at the only entrance to the fenced in yard. She'd quickly tugged on Jared's arm to grab his attention. He'd stared down at her with a question in his blue eyes.
"Hey, so, I didn't say this earlier, but could you pretend to be my boyfriend for the night?" Heather whispered into his ear. Jared had still seemed confused, so Heather explained. "I already have a boyfriend, but since he's not here, could you pretend to be mine, just so I don't get hit on by a bunch of random guys?"
Jared had looked reluctant, and Heather totally expected him to say no. Knowing him, even for as short of a time as she had, he was probably looking to get some action, and he wouldn't want to have to worry about someone else who'd get in the way.
Maybe Brayden was a better choice? He was in a relationship too, so maybe he'd be more into the idea.
"Sure, I can do that," Jared had replied a moment later, much to her surprise. Heather sagged with relief, and then placed her hand in his as they'd walked up together to hand one of the bouncers their cash.
Oh dear...oh my god, no!
Lindsay had actually tried to flash the two guys, but had struggled to even lift her top over her head. Mandy had looked outraged and kept ordering Lindsay to put her shirt back on, while Ali and Madison had both laughed on the side. Even the bouncers had tried to hide their laughs under a couple coughs as they'd let them all inside.
At the last second, Heather had glimpsed Ali lift up her shirt and flashed one of her breasts, revealing she'd not only decided to not wear a bra, but she was pierced too. The bouncer looked like he hadn't known what hit him, and Ali winked before she'd passed through. The stunned bouncer watched her go as if in a trance, but was hit in the chest by the other guy to pay attention to the line forming.
Heather smiled the entire way through the front yard where a small crowd had hung around. Out of all those girls, she was beginning to really like Ali Devereaux. She hadn't seemed to fit in with the others; she was way more edgy than any of them combined. She kind of had an even edgier Peyton Sawyer vibe from one of her favorite TV Shows, One Tree Hill.
Heather leaned slightly into Jared to appear like the happy couple they'd pretended to be, and walked into her first ever college house party.
Madison
It had taken about twenty minutes for Madison to decide she was already over that frat party. There'd been way too many people surrounding her inside that small, disgustingly trashed house; did people actually live in a house like that on a regular basis?
Ali had disappeared as soon as they'd gotten inside, probably to do a keg stand, or find a stranger to make out with against the wall. Madison had felt bad to just assume all that, but Ali was kind of a wildcard; too unpredictable and one had no idea what was going to happen next with her.
Maybe she was just too sober, so Madison had decided to head downstairs to where the keg probably was. The basement was so dark, the only light was from strips of blacklight all along the bar and glow-in-the-dark paint that'd snaked a trail along the wall to guide partygoers, along with a couple flashing stage lights that switched from bright green, blue and purple where people danced in another smaller room at the end of a short hall.
T-Pain's 'Booty Wurk' blasted through the speakers, and even Madison couldn't resist to move her hips a little to the catchy beat. She'd made it to the keg and had gotten her cup filled immediately by a winking frat guy behind the counter. She'd smiled but then searched for a familiar face; she hadn't felt like wandering alone any longer.
Not seeing anyone she'd come with, Madison had decided fuck it, and hung back at the counter, and started to chat up winking guy, all the while getting first dibs on several refills.
After five cups, Madison had felt so much better. With booze in her system, she'd felt herself loosen up, not even caring about all the different mold and bacteria that'd probably infested that dank basement. She'd even started to full on flirt with her server. He'd asked for a kiss as a thank you, and Madison leaned in. At the last moment, Madison had grabbed his face to turn it and give his cheek a big peck.
While the guy had amusedly yelled his displeasure, she'd given him a sassy wink and sauntered off to try and find anyone she'd arrived with.
Right at the top of the stairs, she'd collided with Mandy, whose eyes widened at almost having beer spilled all over her expensive top with intricate cutouts.
"Whoops, sorry about that, but I'm glad I found you!" Madison laughed.
Mandy looked annoyed. "Lindsay is too freakin' drunk already, but I managed to get one of the guys to unlock their room for her to pass out in."
Madison raised her eyebrows. "Is she okay? She won't get raped or anything, right?"
Mandy frowned "I threatened the guy if anything happened to her, I'd cut off his balls and shove them in his eye sockets."
"damn girl, that's savage!"
Mandy shrugged, like it wasn't even the worst threat she'd ever given. She'd flipped her hair while looking around the room, her eyes narrowed towards a couple of girls who'd walked by.
"God, some of the girls look so fucking trashy. It makes me not even want to be here," Mandy admitted.
Madison's shrugged; she'd thought to herself at least those "trashy" girls looked like they'd been having fun, and not sitting on the side, judging everyone. It wasn't lost on her that not too long ago, Madison was doing the very same thing.
Matt
"I challenge thee to a chug off!" Tony had yelled over all the noise in the basement.
Peter laughed and slightly tipped over; he'd been pretty intoxicated by that point. Matt also had a good buzz, and had wanted to keep it going, so he'd decided to join in.
He'd never drank much in high school, much to no one's surprise when he'd admitted that earlier that night back in Heather's room.
You don't get invited to a lot of parties when you're a floater between separate social groups.
Matt had told himself to stop thinking about that. He was at his first college party at Phi Sig on a Friday night, as a new college freshman. He was going to keep going out, get drunk, and make memories with amazing people he'd maybe become friends with.
With much determination, Matt had won five rounds of chug-offs against Peter and Tony. He had not been all that fond of the taste of beer, but people were impressed with how much he seemed to be able to drink, so he'd happily kept at it.
A sixth round had been about to start, but Matt had to lean against a wall, and started to realize he couldn't move. The room had started to sway around him; lines and edges had loosened, had gotten hazy, and tripled through his vision. The noise of the party had warped in and out of his focus, his head felt much heavier than it actually was, and he'd giggled at the thought of feeling like the 'Airheads' candy guy with the red balloon head from the old ads.
"Uh guys...I don't feel so good," Tony warned them, and Matt noticed he'd looked really out of it, he'd also been swaying, but his skin was much paler than usual, beads of sweat ran down his face, and he'd started to clutch his gurgling stomach.
"Woah buddy, let's go find the bathroom." Peter had put Tony's arm around him as he'd led them both towards the stairs. He looked back over, remembering Matt still stuck against the wall.
"Hey Matt, you good until we get back?"
Matt had barely heard him over 'Wobble' by V.I.C, and Matt hadn't been able to form actual words, but raised his arm towards Peter to throw a pitiful thumbs up gesture. Peter looked semi-satisfied, and had continued to help Tony up the stairs.
As soon as they were both gone, Matt had mindlessly wandered through the rest of the basement. The counter with the keg had been right at the bottom of the steps, but through a small, tunnel-like walkway was a smaller round room that'd been the designated dancefloor. In his drunken mind, Matt had been curious as to why the room had no corners on the floor or ceiling. His body had never left the wall, and he'd been worried about knocking into someone.
Matt cursed himself; he'd drunken too much too quickly.
He'd caught a glimpse of Jared and Heather dancing together, the latter waved when she'd spotted him.
Should he try to go over there and talk to them?
Matt hadn't known if he could physically make it, plus he hadn't wanted to interrupt; he might make Jared angry at him for being an annoying clinger. Matt had decided to just stay where he was; there were much less things that could've gone wrong.
A curvy girl with curly hair, orange-toned skin with a tattoo of Simba on her shoulder had drunkenly started to grind up against him, and Matt had wanted to laugh; she'd looked like she was trying to move her hips like Shakira.
The girl's hips weren't lying, but they were doing a god-awful job!
Not even saying a word to him, she'd continued to grind against him while he'd stuck against the wall. She'd looked like she was intently concentrating while still enjoying herself, and Matt couldn't figure out what to do.
Did he tell her to stop?
Where did he put his hands?
Did he grind on her too?
Did he have to grind on her too?
Did she know how much her thong stuck out? Talk about female plumber ass...
Completely trapped, Matt had stayed where he was, and tried to at least pretend he'd been enjoying himself. He didn't have the heart to tell her that her ass had caused him to fly back and get whiplash.
Jared
Thank god Heather had wanted to dance with him, Jared thought as they'd kept up the ruse of their fake relationship.
Not that he'd been looking for a girlfriend, Jared couldn't ignore the fact that in the short time there at UW-Stout, Heather had been the only girl who'd even come close to girlfriend material. Of course, a girl like her was already taken, and he'd only seemed to be around people who'd actually wanted to try to do the long-distance thing.
Not his thing...
Jared had looked over and saw a fat, Miley Cyrus-looking wannabe all over Matt against the wall. Jared couldn't help but laugh; Matt had looked too drunk to even know what was happening. Matt had caught him staring, so Jared had winked and given him a thumbs up.
Heather had turned around to face him and leaned in closer to Jared's ear.
"Matt looks like he needs a little help, should we go over there?" she'd asked, hiding her laughter too.
Movement popped in his peripheral, so Jared had looked over, and jolt had struck in right in his chest.
Meaghan was there.
Despite their agreement after the movie, she'd tried several times to message him after she'd found him on Facebook, but he'd ignored them all. But she'd remained persistent and messaged him thirty-five times within that past week.
How the fuck did she even find him on Facebook?
He'd sworn girls did better jobs at sleuthing than an FBI agent.
In a panic, Jared had squatted against the wall until Heather completely shielded him. She'd started to protest, so he'd flipped them both, so she was up against the wall and his back to everyone else. Without thinking, Jared had started running his hands all over her and leaned in closer.
"Pretend that we're going at it right now," Jared's said into her ear.
With a strange look on her face, Heather had still started to run her hands seductively through his hair, and leaned the rest of the way in. To anyone who'd bothered to look their way, it'd seemed like they were just another couple making out, getting hot and heavy up against the wall, but they were doing everything except actually kissing.
The way Heather rubbed against him, along with her soothing hands gliding through his hair and down his back, Jared had to try and not reveal how much he'd actually been enjoying it.
God, her hands felt good...
Jared looked down to see Heather's amused and confused expression, which had totally killed the mood, and had attempted to explain.
"A girl I hooked up with showed up, and I'm trying to avoid her," he'd tried his best not laugh at her expression. "If you want to go save Matt, go for it. After we stop, I'm going to try to sneak away upstairs."
Heather rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised? Jesus Christ, Jared."
Jared grinned, What are you going to do? He'd immediately left her against the wall to sneak around the small crowd and avoid Meaghan, who'd seemed buzzed enough to be oblivious to the covert operation caused by her presence.
Jared thought to himself he'd had to do shit like that way more than a normal person should ever have to.
Heather
After she'd watched Jared go all Mission Impossible in the basement just to avoid a girl he'd fucked and never called back, Heather couldn't help but shake her head and chuckle; she'd felt like that was going to become a normal thing if she was going to be Jared's friend.
Well, at least it will make some interesting stories to tell...
Despite their incredibly odd moment against the wall, he'd been pretty decent throughout the night: Heather had never expected him to actually help her out, so she'd owed him big time, despite the fact that she felt his erection when they'd pretended to be making out against the wall.
Jared liked to try and be the big, manly, cool guy on campus who didn't give a shit about everything except girls and partying, but Heather could see how there was more to him than just that. There were hidden depths to Jared Mikaelson that Heather wanted to eventually discover; he didn't deserve to be reduced to whatever plenty of others had already expected him to be.
Matt was still being mauled by the girl driving him into the wall with her ass, so Heather had decided to go over there and rescue him. Matt had worn a weird smile, but Heather could tell that he'd wanted out of there ASAP.
"Um, hi there! That's actually my boyfriend your dancing with, so I going to need him back," Heather yelled to be heard. She'd put her hands on her hips in intimidation, but luckily the girl easily walked away without a single response.
"Thank. You. So. Much," Matt clapped his hands together in blessing.
Heather grinned. "Well, you looked like you needed some help, so here I am." She'd nodded towards the stairs. "You want to go get some fresh air for a bit? It's kind of gross down here."
Matt attempted to peel off the wall, and when he could successfully stand on his own, he'd nodded his agreement. Heather had made sure to watch out for him, grabbed him if he'd started to fall or trip on himself since it'd been obvious he was pretty sloshed.
They'd eventually made it onto the front yard, where there'd been a significantly less amount of people around, and a soothing breeze had refreshed the two of them. Heather led Matt over to a couple of lawn chairs to sit down. When he was comfortable, he'd looked over at her, a thoughtful smile spread along his lips.
"Thanks for getting me out of there," Matt had managed to say. "It was getting to be too crowded in there."
"It was no problem," Heather assured him. "Like I said, you looked like you needed rescuing back there."
"Yeah, I did. I thought that girl's butt would make me disappear or something."
Heather laughed. "She was going pretty hard. Her butt definitely was super close to snatching you up!"
They'd both cracked up in laughter, and gazed up to the night sky. Heather snuck a few looks at him a for a little bit, wanting to make sure he hadn't passed out, or else she'd have to go find Brayden and Jared to help carry him back to the dorms. Even though it wasn't that far away, carrying a limp body the entire way would require a lot.
Out of the corner of her eye, Heather caught three guys that'd just gotten past the bouncers, and her eyes widened when she'd seen someone she'd never expected to see there that night.
Luke
"Do we really have to go to a frat tonight?" Luke Mitchell had groaned as Brett dragged him out of his house. Jackson was waiting for them both on the front sidewalk, his bright eyes looked around for any cops if they'd passed by before he'd taken a big sip out of the bottle in his hand. When it was empty, he'd made sure to drop the bottle into the nearest recycling bin that someone still hadn't brought back up from the curb.
"Yes, we absolutely need to bring you to a frat tonight," Brett replied. "It's your first weekend here, and they throw great parties for all of you little freshman, so it'll be fun!" Brett had Luke by the shoulders after he'd locked the house up. Not fond of being pushed around, Luke had begrudgingly walked with them through the dark neighborhood.
It had been a calm, warm late summer night with crickets and frogs all chirping along with the cool breeze that'd felt heavenly with the heat of the dorms over that last week. Luke always loved nights like that, but had actually been looking more forward to having a bonfire instead, but Jackson had to have gone and reminded Brett about the frat parties a couple of blocks away. While their side of the neighborhood was much quieter, Luke could already feel the thumping bass from someone's house blaring and small groups of people had appeared wandering around more often, all trying to find the next open house.
Jackson smiled as he'd scratched his short, curly dark hair. "Dude, you're going to love the frats here; they throw some kickass ragers."
Brett nodded. "Unfortunately, there's not too much to do in this town, but if you like to party, the frats are here to help out."
"Okay, I get that, but what if it gets busted?" Luke worried. "What if I have to end up getting breathalyzed, get an underage, and dad finds out?"
Luke cringed; he'd never had to be the guy who'd worried so much about all that. Back then, he'd want to kick any loser's ass that'd say something like that, but he really didn't want to prove his dad right and screw up his college career the first weekend at UW-Stout.
"Luke, buddy... like I've told you already, there's no need to worry," Brett patted him on the back. "Jackson and I've got you covered, and as soon as there's trouble, we're outta' there and will bounce back to my place."
Luke had wanted to believe him, but some part still worried about getting busted. He'd had the money to pay for a ticket, even take a class to get it off his record, but his parents monitored his accounts, and if he'd taken out more than $150 at a time for anything, they'd be on his ass about why he'd needed to withdraw that much money at once, even though his dad was VP of a company, and were incredibly well off in terms of funds.
Soon enough, the three of them had arrived to one of the frat houses and paid the two incredibly huge bouncers their entry fee. Luke had begun to wonder if he'd see anyone he knew, which wasn't too many people to be honest, but then a flash of golden hair in his peripheral had caught his eye.
Luke saw the girl he'd met earlier in the week, Heather, as she'd sat in a lawn chair about fifty feet away. He'd also noticed she wasn't alone again, so he'd hesitated to go over towards her until he'd seen who was with her. It wasn't Jared and Brayden, but he'd recognized the guy from his floor.
Luke tried to remember his name. Was it Matt? The guy was stocky but not overweight, and had short brown hair that stuck up in the front. He had a beard, had worn a casual t-shirt and cargo shorts with sneakers, and the guy's dark eyes lit up at Heather as they'd talked away from the rest of the crowd.
Luke turned back to Brett and Jackson, who'd been both waiting for him by the front door, and cleared his throat. "So, I see some people from my floor, so I'm going to go say hi to them. See you guys inside?"
Brett had stared him down for a moment. "Alright, alright, sounds good to me. Come find us later." Him and Jackson had walked inside while Luke had started for Matt and Heather.
"Hey Heather, it's good to see you again," Luke nodded as he'd stopped in front of them.
She smiled back up at him. "Hey Luke, it's been awhile."
"Yeah, well I wasn't planning on it, but my brother and his buddy dragged me out, said I needed to experience a frat party right off the bat."
"Want to sit with us? We could probably pull up a chair from somewhere."
Heather looked around, but Luke had spotted another chair just behind her and grabbed it. He'd turned towards the other guy when he'd sat down.
"Hey, I'm Luke. I think were on the same floor?"
"Yep, I'm Matt, and it's nice to meet you," he'd replied. Luke was amused at how drunk he'd already looked. Heather must've been babysitting him then.
"So, you're on the same floor, so do you know Brayden Nelson or Jared Mikaelson?" Heather asked.
"I know who those guys are, but I don't really know them," Luke replied. "Jared actually seems like a guy to watch out for. He had a girl with him in the showers on just our second day here."
Heather rolled her eyes. "Not surprising. The guy operates pretty fast for my taste." Luke was relieved to hear that. "He's not too bad once you get to know him, though."
Luke turned to Matt. "What do you think?"
Matt looked contemplative. "I mean, I don't hate the guy or anything, I met him when Heather and them got a volleyball game started..."
Luke decided to focus on something better to talk about, and soon time had passed by seamlessly while they'd all become fully absorbed in their conversation, ignoring the world around them, and genuinely began to get to know each other. The simplicity of the moment was something people would look back on fondly from many years later, like something had changed for the better, and their moment then and there in front of the frat house would've been just the beginning moment.