(tysm for 50 reads! story's only gonna get better from here...)
it's been a month since i moved in. everything was going so smoothly, i had gotten a cute little computer for online classes as well as my streaming. i was hoping to get a better setup in the future, but for now my main focus was school, and saving my money. summer went by so quickly it felt like. now we've moved on to sweats and socks, hot cider and pumpkin muffins. me and clay have gotten pretty close, we loved playing minecraft and just laying around eating or whatever.
it was the middle of october, pretty chilly but some days hot. typical florida. though i was basically an adult, i still dressed up for halloween. i don't care if people say they're "too old," i'll never be too old to put on a whole costume, except i hadn't got a clue what to be this year.
it was currently pretty late, but i knew clay would still be awake. he stays up at the weirdest times streaming, it was just last night that he stayed up until 4 am screaming his head off with his friends. it was good for him, but incredibly unhealthy at the same time; we both knew that he was a people-person, he seemed so irritable when none of his friends would respond to him, so he would either bug me to play with him, or go to sleep. the unhealthy part was the fact that he got so little sleep of course. i walked out of my room, "AYO," i yelled down the hall, walking out into the kitchen and grabbed a juice from the fridge. there was no reply. "ohhh dreaammm!" i bellowed teasingly. where was that man? i walked up to his door and knocked-- still no response. it was cracked open; i peaked in and he wasn't there, "clay?" i murmured and backed away.
"BOO!" i heard a screech and swung around, i swear i was gonna have a heart attack. "clay!!" i charged at him, he turned and ran. i grabbed the nearest object, an apple off the counter and chucked it at him. "HEY!" he frowned at me, and turned from running from me, to chasing after me. "THAT WAS AN APPLE" he was so much quicker than me, charging for my legs. i yelped as he swung me off the ground, over his shoulder. "aye! i'm supposed to be attacking you, you crazy!" i argued, swinging my arms at his back as i hung over him.
he threw me on the couch and flopped down to the floor next to me; we were both laughing hysterically. i coughed a few times, clay still making soft tea kettle noises on the floor beside me. i reached over him and grabbed the apple that i threw, as it still laid on the ground. "what are you doing awake at 2 am scaring me anyways?" i asked calmly, bouncing the apple around in my hands as i slid down next to him on the floor. "i don't know, none of my friends are awake and i can't sleep anyways so," he rolled over onto his stomach, eyeing the apple i was tossing back and forth, "i'm never eating that, as bruised as it is now." he stuck a finger at it with a disgusted look, and rolled back over with a sigh.
i snorted and chucked it in the trash. "well i was trying to find you to ask about halloween. what should i dress up as?" i poked his arm. "aww, you still dress up for halloween?" he made a pouty face at me and let out a wheeze. "dude shut up, of course i do." i stared back with a frown. "i'm kidding, i dressed up as patches last year, and she dressed up as me." i nodded slowly, on the verge of tears from trying to hold back my laughter. "that's pathetic." he rolled his eyes and sat up, leaning up against the couch like me. "well fine, we should be pandas!" he suggested in an adorable voice. "aww you wanna be a wittle panda?" i teased as i stood up. he grunted at me and stood up as well. "fine i'm not gonna dress up as ANYTHING." he threatened jokingly, heading to the kitchen for a water. "no please, i'll be a panda with you!" i fake begged, leaning over the counter with pleading eyes. he turned to me with a charming look, and smiled. "good."
(halloween night.)
i bounced around humming, it was one of my favorite days of the year. i fiddled with shoestrings of my black boots; i wore them along with a black, tight dress and some white socks, along with panda ears and makeup of course. my figure fit this dress well, i felt confident. i was so excited too, clay was going to be wearing his black jeans and long sleeve, with the panda makeup i painted out on his face. it was going to be a blast, we got invited to a "halloween bash" just a few doors down from our apartment. apparently these people were the party people, basically inviting everyone in the whole complex. they were friends of clay, or maybe more like acquaintances; but we wanted to go, i've never been to a halloween party like that, it was thrilling.
i stepped out of my room, i actually felt really pretty in this. clay stepped around the corner, huge smile, his hair fluffed up. he stared at me for a moment as if i wasn't right there watching him, but he snapped out of it and nodded, "are you ready to go?" i responded with an eager smile, and turning to the door, "yessir." we walked out into the hall, and could already hear the booming music from here, clay turned and locked the door, and we walked together up to the "party door." we knocked, but it was almost immediately swung open by a big-eyed guy with fluffy dark hair, holding some sort of drink in his hand. "ayee! buddy!" he said loudly, patting clay on the back. he turned to me and inspected me, "who's this woman?" he said with a smirk. "i'm y/n." he shook my hand with his free one, and opened the door wider for us to get inside, "i'm zak nice to meet you."
as soon as we stepped inside, we were greeted by a crowd of jumping people, a few surrounding us cheering. i even got a halloween feather scarf type thing wrapped over my shoulders. i looked up to see a nervous smile on clay's face. "hey i'm going to go check out the food, you go socialize." i instructed him with a laugh, turning to the kitchen. "so, y'n," i was run into by zak on my way there, "i heard you stream?" i tilted my head and laughed, "ah, yeah i do actually. not as much lately though." he walked in front of me, facing me as i made my way to the food. "wow really! i do too, ever heard of skeppy?" i stopped in my tracks and widened my eyes. "no way, what?! i'm good friends with darryl, i don't know how i didn't recognize you-- he talks about you quite a bit." zak snorted and chugged the rest of his drink down, "it's fine, it'd be hard to recognize me anyways in this costume." he was right, he had his face paled with powder, fangs in his mouth.
i smiled and grabbed one of the halloween desserts. zak leaned over the counter, refilling his cup. "may i get you a drink?" he offered. i wanted to be polite, so i accepted, even though i had no clue what was in that "punch" bowl. he stepped away for a second, coming back with a cup for me. "there you go, hey i'm gonna go over there," he pointed to the crowd of people bouncing around a loud sterio, flinging cups around. i watched as he left and brought the cup to my nose. i breathed it in and was immediately struck with the burning strong smell of alcohol.
someone from across the room flung some sort of object at the wall, making a loud bang and causing everyone to cheer drunkenly. where was clay? i took a gulp of the drink, it actually wasn't bad, it certainly burned but it had some sort of fruit or candy. the whole apartment felt stuffy with the amount of people, it wasn't the best. but i was excited for this moment, so i might as well make the best of it. i set down my cup and headed towards the crowd, in the middle they were playing stupid drinking games, i wasn't keen on the idea of those. i just sat down and watched. i scanned the room, finally noticing clay sitting over next to someone chatting. he wasn't drinking thank god, i didn't want to go home with someone crazy drunk tonight.
i was watching so intently that i hadn't even realized someone plop down right next to me. "you're y/n?" the guy asked me. i nodded, "yeah! and you are..?" he laughed obnoxiously, ignoring my question, gulping down half his drink in front of me. i squinted disgusted, and stood up, but i felt him grab my hand, "wait.. don't leave me!" he cooed in a desperate voice. i pulled my hand away, "i just want something to drink.. i'll be back." i quickly turned away from the crowd and headed back for my drink. i grabbed it quickly from the counter, drank it down and refilled it, heading back over to the living room. i didn't want to talk to that guy, but i told him i'd be back, so i just walked back over to the couch and sat down, trying to sit as far pressed against the opposite side as i could. he immediately saw me and scooted closer, "enjoying the entertainment aye?" he grunted, looking at the people screaming and chucking cups around as they played their games. these people were gross, i didn't think by "party" it was going to be this crazy. i raised my eyebrows and nodded, taking a sip. the guy chuckled, scooting even closer to me. i could tell he was trying to hit on me, continueously eyeing my dress. i tried to finish my drink as quickly as possible so i had an excuse to get away, he was uncomfortably staring at me at this point. i sighed.
(hour later.)
about 5 different games later, everyone was now blasting their music and jumping around, flinging drinks in the air. i still sat on the couch, clutching my cup in my hand. i don't know why i had barely seen clay this entire time, but i knew i would want to leave soon. they guy i was sitting next this entire time stood to his feet and held out an arm, "cmon princess," he smiled at me, "let's dance. you look distressed." he chuckled, i took his hand. why not. i wanted to have fun so i might as well. he pulled me into the crowd, i dropped my drink and trailed after him. we immediately got to the middle of the whole thing, right where we could be shoved back and forth. i felt really dizzy, but also light as if i could dance the night away. i laughed loudly and bounced around with them, feeling the vibrations of the music drum through my body.
i suddenly felt hands grasp my waist, and i slowed my dancing, turning to see who it was with a light smile on my face. it was the guy. the SAME damn guy. he was also incredibly close to me. "hm?" i questioned weakly. i could feel him pushing against me, trying to get me out of the crowd, "let's go princess." he muttered, i stumbled frustratedly confused, and couldn't get stable enough on my own to fight against him. we got out of the crowd and he was still dragging me with him, "hey i dont want to-" i argued against his pulling, but he just shushed me. i could tell he was trying to pick me up, "hey get off me!" i shoved at him weakly, his only response was a grunt. my weak little pushes had no effect on him, he took me further and further from the rest of the people.
"hey!" i heard a familiar voice shout. clay. thank god. it was about time too, i didn't know if i could last another minute in this place. i could hear him walk up, and shove the guy off of me, but i was too zoned out to even realize what was going on. "get off her, can't you tell she doesn't want to do that?" he shouted defensivly, standing in front of me. at this point i didn't even know if i was still on my feet, i felt so dizzy and disgusting. i leaned against the wall, i don't know if i passed out or if i just sat down, but i felt like i was flying, i heard the shouting of clay stop, and hefty arms lift me off the ground. fear shot through my body; i really hope this is clay.
even though anxiety was pulsing through me, i couldn't stop giggling as i was carried away from the rest of the noise of the party. i was gently placed down into a bed; my bed. i opened my eyes, pain immediately shooting through my head as i opened them, everything swirling in front of me. but yes, it was clay who had brought me here. he was so amazing, through everything he was always there-- right there to save me. i was so overly emotional, but i couldn't keep the tears from streaming down my cheeks as i looked up at him. he set down a glass of water next to me and sat down next to me. "drink. please," he sighed as i weakly sat up to take a sip, "i'm sorry we ever went to that party, you were so excited and it was all just crazy drinking and crazy.. people." he smiled faintly. i nodded at him, and laughed. "it wasn't that bad, it actually kinda distracted me from every overwhelming anxiety causing thought i usually have." he stared at me with concern, and i went from smiling, to dramatically crying in front of him. he leaned foward and hugged me into a tight embrace, reaching up and pulling the panda ears off my head.
he finally stood up and helped me into the blankets, "you really need to sleep. you're gonna have a nasty hangover in the morning." he said with a light smile, pushing my water closer to me and heading towards the door, shutting off the lights.
i watched him leave as i slowly drifted to sleep.