3. Madelyn
As luck would have it, I stumbled across the cutest little coffee shop on my way to class.
The scent of freshly brewed espresso and baked bread had my mouth watering, and I couldn’t help but stop inside.
Thankfully, I still had enough time to grab some coffee and breakfast after crashing into Miles this morning.
Miles.
Just thinking about his name makes my stomach twist in the most delicious way. No matter how hard I try to focus on anything else, my mind keeps circling back to him. How his body was a solid wall of muscle when I walked into him, the heat of his body, and those tattoos.
God, those tattoos. They were almost impossible to ignore.
The dark ink crawled up his neck, disappearing beneath the cotton of his shirt, leaving just enough hidden to send my imagination spiraling.
I wondered how far they traveled, my mind eagerly filling in the blanks as it traces invisible lines beneath black fabric.
With my bain stuck somewhere between lust and fantasy, I nearly trip on my way to my seat.
Way to go, Maddie. That would totally be a great first impression—eating shit in front of the whole class.
My first lecture is English, which I’m very much looking forward to since it’s always been one of my best subjects. I choose a seat in the middle of the room, not wanting to sit too close to the front and appear overly enthusiastic, and set up my desk with everything I think I’ll need.
A cute girl with long bleach-blonde curls and bronze skin sits next to me and excitedly introduces herself.
“Hey! I’m Kaitlin. I hope you don’t mind me sitting next to you.”
I smile at her, trying to appear friendly. “No, of course not. I’m Madelyn, but you can call me Maddie.”
“Oh, what a pretty name! I used to know a girl in high school named Maddie, she was a total bitch, though.” We laugh and I can already tell I’m going to like her.
Meeting and making friends has never been my strong suit.
All the assholes back home gave me terrible social anxiety, convincing me that people should just be avoided in general.
I know I give off awkward energy, which makes people stay away from me too, and I honestly prefer it that way.
Kaitlin seems extremely bubbly and quirky, the complete opposite of myself, so maybe this is the kind of friend I need in my life.
My own personal extrovert.
Since moving to town a couple months ago I haven’t met any new people, not that I’ve really tried.
I mean, I guess there’s Gabby, but I hardly see her anyway.
The few things I’ve managed to put together are she stays out extremely late every night and she almost never talks—to me at least. She must love scary movies, because her side of the room is plastered with movie posters.
One of the posters is of the Exorcist, which is perfectly aligned facing my bed and gives me the creeps.
Nothing like waking up in the middle of the night and staring into the face of bright green eyes and a creepy smile.
And don’t even get me started on when she falls asleep with one of those movies still playing on her laptop. Talk about night terrors.
“Shit, somehow I knew I would forget something on the first day of class,” Kaitlin says, ruffling through her bag. “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to have a pen, would you?”
“Yeah,” I laugh. “I have a weird paranoia of never being prepared for things, so I always make sure to have extras. You can keep that one.”
“Oh, so you mean like me?” She teases with a giggle, accepting the pen. “Thank you so much!
“You’re welcome,” I say, returning her smile.
Kaitlin immediately flips to the front page in her notebook and begins doodling. Within seconds, her name is written across the top in bubbly letters surrounded by tiny stars, hearts, and flowers. I bite back a laugh as she adds even more swirls around her name.
“You know, I don’t think anyone’s going to forget your name if it’s taking up half the page,” I tease.
She gasps dramatically and places a hand over her heart. “It’s called artistic expression.”
I laugh and settle back in my seat, going back to what I was doing before she got here.
“Hey, there’s a party this Friday,” she says, twirling the pen between her fingers. “It’s kind of like a ‘Back to School’ thing. I really wanted to go, but I haven’t made any friends yet, and I don’t want to show up alone.”
She glances at me hopefully.
“Would you want to come with me?”
A party?
Absolutely not.
And on the first weekend of school, no less.
People will come up with any sort of excuse to have a party and then slap a random label on it to make it sound legitimate.
Welcome party, back to school party, the day ends with a ‘y’ party.
As far as I could tell, they were all just different names for the same thing.
Trash music, a lot of alcohol, and strangers packed into a house like sardines..
To each their own, I guess. Personally, I’d rather spend my Friday night doing just about anything else.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “Parties aren’t really my thing.”
“Aw c’mon!” She groans dramatically. “It’ll be fun!”
I open my mouth, trying to come up with a good excuse not to go, but Kaitlin barrels right over me.
“Besides, you’re literally the first friend I’ve made here. That automatically means we’re besties now.” She points at me with the pen. “And as my new best friend, I need your help finding something to wear.”
A grin spreads wide across her face.
“And who knows? Maybe there’ll be some really hot guys there. Or girls, whoever you’re into, I don’t judge.”
I giggle. “Well, I appreciate your commitment to inclusivity.”
“Absolutely. Lord knows I didn't choose to like men.”
I can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of me. Kaitlin is impossible not to like. And for being someone I just met, she is making it remarkably difficult to keep hiding inside my shell.
The truth is, parties make me nervous. And maybe it’s just past trauma, but every ‘hang out’ or party Austin used to drag me to would end up with me in tears because some kid was an asshole. Now the thought of them practically gives me hives.
I toss the idea around in my head, trying to decide if there’s any benefits to actually going to this thing, other than pleasing Kaitlin. Right now, that seems like enough. She seems super sweet, and maybe it wouldn’t be so bad having at least one friend here.
“Please.” Kaitlin drags out the word, her puppy dog eyes staring into mine.
What the hell, I guess I can give it a go.
“Alright, fine! I’ll go!”
“Yay!” She cheers as another wave of students walk through the door. “Do you have anything to wear, or should we go shopping?”
I don’t. When I moved across the country, I hardly packed anything. Then again, I barely owned anything to pack in the first place. I’m not exactly rolling in cash, but clothes are kind of a necessity, so I guess shopping wouldn’t be a terrible idea.
“We can go shopping. Um, would you happen to know of any places? I just moved here.”
Kaitlin claps with excitement, a large smile plastered across her face.
“Yes! I saw a shop when I was walking to campus earlier. It’s right up the road, and everything in the window looked super cute. I’m sure we can find something there.”
Our professor finally arrives, dropping her briefcase on her desk, signaling that class is about to start. Kailin and I try to quietly make plans to meet up after class, but she catches us and gives us a pointed look.
Quietly, we face forward once again, pretending to focus on the lecture she just started, but the weekend plans were already forming between us in silence.
The week has flown by now that I have Kaitlin to spend time with. We spent the last few days trying on so many different outfits for the party tonight, but decided it was best to wear something simple. We didn't want to seem overly eager at the first party of the year.
Now that Friday is finally here, we’re both standing in front of the mirror, hair curled and makeup perfected. We both have on shorts, only I’m wearing a black tube top to match my vans, and she has a rich, brown tank top that perfectly accentuates her bronze skin tone.
As we approach the party, an overwhelming sense of dread and regret washes over me. I don’t think I can actually go through with this. I shouldn’t have told Kaitlin yes. This is really out of my comfort zone.
Pulling into the driveway, the feeling intensifies as I catch a glimpse of all the discarded red solo cups and trash scattered across the yard of the three-story frat house.
Of course, it’s a fucking frat house.
Several people are outside mingling in their little groups, most of them seem drunk off their asses.
A group of potheads pass around a glass bong on the side of the yard, giggling as the smoke twirls around them.
They either don’t care enough to get caught, or the cops around here don’t usually patrol this side of town.
I’m white knuckling the door handle, not wanting to get out of the Uber, but I don’t think I have much of a choice. Maybe this guy will take me back to the dorms, but I know Kaitlin would be so upset if I just left her here.
“C’mon, we’re not gonna find any hot guys by staying in the car!” Kaitlin exclaims as she starts to climb out, and I suddenly feel bad for the poor Uber driver. He was seriously eye fucking Kaitlin the entire drive here.
Not that I can blame him, she looks amazing tonight.
Loud music booms from inside the house as we walk through the front entrance and I notice just how crowded this place is. In seconds, I’m back in high school, alone at a party while everyone laughs at me.
Trying not to panic, I loudly yell towards Kaitlin, “Let's go find some drinks!”
Maybe if I get a few drinks in me, I’ll finally calm the hell down.
We walk through the crowded living area where the DJ is playing and make our way towards the kitchen.
The countertops are cluttered with several bottles of various liquors and a large bowl in the center filled with a red liquid that I assume is Jungle Juice.
Coolers filled with beer and wine coolers line the floor underneath the island and I grab one, twisting the top open and taking a long swig.
“Woah killer, I definitely didn’t expect to see you drinking tonight, let alone drinking like that.” Kaitlin giggles as she takes a wine cooler for herself and twists the top open.
“Liquid courage I guess. I don’t usually do well around crowds.”
“Well, at least you don’t have to do it alone. Let’s go look around,” she says as she grabs my hand and starts to walk us back toward the living area.
The scent of earthy smoke assaults my nose as we walk past a group of guys smoking weed on the large couch in the center of the room.
I’ve never really smoked weed before, a couple hits here or there at parties.
Austin was the one to let loose and have fun, and I was the one who had to stay sober to make sure he got home safe.
Maybe tonight should be the night I stop worrying about other people and just let myself have fun.
Walking outside to the gigantic backyard, there’s two folding tables placed on the left where people play beer pong, and a large pool towards the right of the yard.
Lights are strung above us in a zigzag from the house to the fence around the yard.
For this being a frat house, this place is really nice.
I wouldn’t expect frat guys to keep a place like this looking this extravagant, but I guess there’s a first for everything.
Kaitlin grabs my arm, a bright smile on her face. “Do you want to play a round of beer pong?”
I don’t. Beer pong always makes me think of Austin.
All the late Saturday nights when he would text me drunk after playing several rounds at parties.
Every time he texted me, he would flirt with me, but I never thought anything of it because the next morning he would forget about it and act as if nothing ever happened.
“Uh, I don’t know. I’ve never played before, so we’ll probably lose.”
“Well, there’s still fun in losing! At least we’ll get to drink. Hey! We play winner!”
As soon as she says that, my eyes land on the beautiful tall guy dressed in all black who just sank the winning cup.
Shit.
Miles meets my stare, a dark expression on his face that sends shivers down my spine and warmth pooling between my thighs. He smirks as he says, “Line up the cups, Princess.”