Ray is leaving as I get home.

"Hey where are you headed? I'm throwing a party tonight," I say to him.

He rolls his eyes and laughs. "You're partying again? We basically had a party last night."

"Come on it's for Becky's birthday," I say. "Plus event parties are different, we're not supposed to drink at them since we're in charge."

"Her birthday? Isn't it not till next Friday?"

I pause, "Well yes but I thought it'd be fun to celebrate sooner than later."

He looks at me suspiciously. "Alright, have fun. I'm staying over at Stephanie's tonight, we're meeting with her parents for brunch."

I can't remember the last time I've introduced a girl to my parents.

After Ray leaves, I take out my phone and text all my friends about the party. For students, we have a really nice place, and everyone loves coming to parties hosted here, so I expect a large turnout.

__________________

The music is going, people are drinking and socializing, bottles of alcohol are scattered everywhere, and I'm pretty sure some lewd things are going on in the guest bedroom.

I'm a bit tipsy, but in much better shape than most of the people here. Becky comes over to me, obviously having drank too much.

"Jason! Thanks so much for this!" she shouts, pulling me into a hug, nearly spilling her drink on the floor.

Before I can answer, I see the front door open, and Lincoln comes in, looking confused. I release myself from Becky's grasp and quickly go up to him.

"What the hell is this?" he groans tiredly. His hair is messier than usual and the top couple buttons of his dress shirt are undone.

"Just throwing a little get together for Becky's birthday," I say.

"Aren't you going to get in trouble? It's already past midnight, and it's so loud," he shouts, having to raise his voice after someone changes the music.

"You know I won't," I say, "my parents own this building remember?" I get away with more than I probably should here.

"Whatever. I'm heading to bed, I'm exhausted from work," he mutters, heading towards the hall.

"Aw come on man, just stay for a little bit. Say hi to Becky at least," I say, waving at Becky, who comes over.

"Lincoln!" she shouts and hugs, "It's so good to see you!"

He smiles weakly. "Hey Becky, happy early birthday."

"Have a shot with me!" she exclaims as she hands him and myself shot glasses.

"You heard her," I smile, and he reluctantly drinks.

I pull Lincoln towards the counter covered with bottles. I pour us some drinks. "Come on Lincoln, we haven't partied like this in over a year," I say.

He looks at me wide eyed. "I haven't, you still go to parties all the time."

"Well OK that's true," I admit, "but the two of us haven't! Remember how we used to be."

He looks thoughtful for a moment, "OK OK, just for a little bit though."

__________________

It takes me giving him a couple drinks, but Lincoln starts to resemble the old him I remember. The Lincoln from senior year in high school, and freshman, sophomore, and junior year in university; Rowdy, social, and flirtatious.

After a couple rounds of beer pong, I decide to go check up on him. He looks like he's enjoying himself.

He's sitting on the sofa, surrounded by girls, all of them obviously trying to flirt with him. I can tell he's had a lot to drink; his face has turned red - thanks to his quarter Asian genes, the top few buttons of his shirt have been undone, he's speaking loudly, and being super social with everyone who passes by.

"Having fun Lincoln?" I call to him from the side of the sofa.

"Hell yeah," he shouts back, as I hand him another bottle of beer.

A few hours later, the party has started to die down and only a handful of guests remain. I find Lincoln talking to Becky, both of them seem pretty out of it.

"Hey Lincoln, I'm heading back with Stacy to her place," I say, nodding towards the redhead waiting for me by the door, "are you gonna be alright?"

"Of course man, have fun," he slurs and winks.

I check my phone again, Lincoln was supposed to be here 30 minutes ago.

My friends and I sit at a large table in the specialty tea house I had to make a reservation at weeks ago. The walls are painted pastel yellows and blues, the teapots and cups have tiny details and engravings, the furniture is rustic, and there is quiet classical music playing in the background.

They all smile sympathetically.

"We can totally wait as long as we need to for him," my best friend Leena says, patting my wrist.

"No it's OK, I've kept you all waiting long enough, let's just order," I say quietly. I'm so embarrassed.

"Hey Katie."

I look up from my menu and am surprised to see Jason, who is carrying a large gift bag.

"Jason? What are you doing here?" I furrow my brows.

"You said it was your birthday right? What kind of friend would I be if I didn't get you a gift?" he asks, smiling.

I'm suddenly aware of my friends watching. "Oh everyone this is my friend Jason from the arts student association I mentioned."

"President of ASA, actually," he says smugly.

"Why don't you join us?" my friend Kelly asks, gesturing towards the empty seat.

Jason gives me his signature charming smile. "Katie?"

I want to say no, but everything feels awkward enough with Lincoln not showing up. Telling Jason to leave would make things even worse. "Sure, sit." After he sits, I lean over and whisper to him, "Where's Lincoln?"

"I'm not sure, I went out and stayed at someone else's place last night. I came here directly from there," he replies. "There was a party last night though."

I frown, but he continues before I can say anything.

"Let's talk about this later, don't let him spoil your mood on your birthday," he smiles, "I'd stop calling and texting him for now for that reason too."

He's right, I should enjoy my time with my friends. I turn my phone on silent and put it back into my pocket. I look up and notice all my friends dreamily staring at Jason.

I roll my eyes. They have a point though. He's wearing a light blue dress shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing off his toned forearms. His dark brown hair is styled back, perfectly like always. His stubble has grown out a little bit. He's also wearing glasses today, they make him look distinguished and dignified.

Soon the servers bring us our tea and fancy towers of food. Jason gets along well with my friends, and we all have a fun time.

I open my gifts, everyone was so thoughtful and kind. I get to the last one, and see it's the gift Jason brought. "You didn't have to get me a gift," I say to Jason, "my friends honestly got me more than enough stuff."

"Nonsense, I think you'll like it. Open it." He hands me the bag.

I move the tissue paper out of the way and feel a box. I take it out, and it's a new high end laptop. "Jason, I can't accept something like this," I gasp, wide eyed.

"You seemed like you needed a new one," he chuckles. I recall swearing at my laptop multiple times for freezing during our last meeting. "Don't worry about it."

I smile and give him a quick hug. The scent of his cologne is slightly intoxicating.

The bill comes and Jason snatches it out of my hand. "Nope, you're not paying," and hands his card to the server.

I pout. "I was treating my friends."

"It's your birthday," he flashes a charismatic grin to my friends, "and you guys can take it as a thank you for being so welcoming to me."

They giggle.

__________________

I wave goodbye to my friends as we leave the shop.

"About last night," Jason begins, "it was a party for our friend's birthday and Lincoln partied a bit too hard."

"How so?" I ask.

He shows me his phone, and swipes through a couple pictures. They're all of Lincoln around a bunch of different girls. Girls kissing his cheek, sitting on his lap, hugging him, and Lincoln looks happy and excited in all of them.

I feel my heart break and I hand the phone back to him.

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Oh no Katie 😭

I remember my first university party. Went more or less like this lol.

Thank you for reading!