Thursday 9pm
From a distance, I can hear my whole dorm hall bustling with laughter, slamming doors, and blaring music. The standard with being in college is that Thursday through Saturday is basically party central. Syllabus week, which is this week, is complete overkill.
In essence, for the first week of every semester, the majority of classes have not been assigned any coursework yet. For college students, zero homework combined with the eagerness of everyone being back ends up being the perfect excuse to throw parties every single night. For an introverted individual like me, this week is just a nightmare.
Currently, I'm sprawled out on my narrow dorm bed with my laptop propped open and my syllabi surrounding me. I'm making every effort possible to launch into my upcoming assignments, but my attempts are beginning to come across as useless. Not only am I trying to overlook my entire Princeton dorm hall buzzing with activity, but also Jamie, my roommate and best friend, is animatedly singing from our shared bathroom. Her knuckles are tapping a beat against our sink as she twirls an iron through her hair for some party.
All of the sudden, she races out of our closet-sized bathroom clutching her phone to her chest.
"Emma! Oh my gosh, guess what," she shrieks and I briefly look up to her frazzled state. She doesn't even wait for me to respond before she continues. "Kappa Alpha Society is throwing a party tonight and they only have a limited guest list. It is going to be exclusive to the top fraternities and sororities!"
Her forest green eyes light up brimming with longing and hopefulness. I, on the other hand, am not surprised by the news nor am I even remotely excited. I nod my head flippantly returning my focus to my laptop screen.
She scrutinizes my unvexed demeanor the heat of her stare melting my forehead. "You already knew Emma?" I meekly glimpse back up meeting her accusatory eyes.
She scowls at me. "Oh, of course you did because Sebastien told you. Why don't you tell me these details," she says peeved. "You know I am trying to get into a sorority and he is in the most prestigious fraternity there is. I was planning on going to go to Omega Gamma Psi tonight, but I can't now," she huffs pouting. "That'll be where all the losers who didn't get invited to Kappa will be."
"Oh, stop it. You're not a loser James," I respond simply.
"Oh really? Then how come the girl who never parties—"
"There's nothing wrong with not—" I start to protest, but she presses on.
"Knows about this party and definitely has an invite while I didn't even find about this party until five minutes ago."
I roll my eyes amusedly. "I don't have an invite, Bash just mentioned something about it to me earlier. I completely forgot about it until now. You should just ask him, he would let you in."
She crosses her arms across her chest. "No, he won't. He doesn't have time for that. And it's not like we are that close anyway, unlike like the two of you," she exclaims.
"Oh, come on if you show up do you honestly think Sebastien will turn you away?" I drawl.
Sebastien and Jamie have been and always will be my best friends. Which is remarkable considering I have very little in common with them. They are both outgoing and enjoy socializing, whereas I enjoy avoiding 99% of people if possible.
Meanwhile, Jamie just shakes her head at my previous statement. "See this just shows how inexperienced you are with partying. It's the freshmen who have the guest list and let you through the doors. The people up the ladder get to enjoy the party and won't even see you unless you get in. Sebastien is at the very top of the ladder since he is co-president," she explains.
"Ugh, just text him," I mutter back exasperated falling backward against the railing of my bed. I briefly close my eyes sincerely wishing I could resume my note-taking.
"I did and now I did again regarding this like five more times. He hasn't responded. Sebastien never responds to me," Jamie demands disgruntled.
I open up my eyes to Jamie's pacing and exhale deeply. I slam my laptop closed, knowing I will not successfully get any work done until she figures this out.
"Fine, let me message him then," I suggest to appease her.
"Yes, please do that. Sebastien will totally respond to you. He could never ignore you," she says smirking satisfyingly, and turns back to curling her hair around the wand.
I ignore her statement and pull up his name on my phone to start typing.