I could hear the party from down the hall. I looked at my phone. It was nearly midnight. Normally quiet hours would be in effect, but it was Thursday. Unofficially dubbed Thirsty Thursday by the partygoers of this campus, I hoped it would live up to its name.

I should have turned down his invitation. I hated parties. I was never good at them. I wouldn't call myself a wallflower, because at least those are pretty. I was more of a wall hugger.

I shook my head and walked over to the suite. My hands were slightly trembling as I tentatively knocked on the door. No one answered.

I thought about walking away and going back to my room, but I wanted to see that guy again. I decided to jiggle the doorknob and to my surprise it gave way. The door slowly swung open and I nearly lost my hearing.

My body vibrated to the beat and the ground shook beneath my feet. I peeked inside and some people who were hanging out in the suite's common area stared at me. I felt embarrassed but I slid the rest of my body through the crack in the door. They quickly turned back to their drinks and conversations.

There were four doors in the suite and all of them had different cliques of people. I went into one of the rooms where most of the people stood. The music was the loudest in there and I wondered how anyone could hear anything.

I saw some of the guys from the store but not him. My eyes continuously scanned the room for any sign of him, but it didn't look like he was there. There was a light tap on my shoulder. My heart jumped in excitement.

I turned around and frowned instantly. "Oh! You're that girl from 7-11." I recognized him as well, but the disappointment was made clear on my face. "You okay?" He yelled over the music.

I gave him a thumbs up and a tight-lipped smile. I looked around for a way out of the impending conversation. "You looking for someone?"

I reluctantly shook my head and quickly crossed my arms around my chest. "Yo Alex!" A familiar voice rang out. I froze as I felt a presence walk up behind me. Alex grinned and high-fived the guy.

I turned my head slightly and he was looking right at me. My heart thumped as we kept eye contact. "Are you gonna say hi?" His lips twitched and his eyebrows came together briefly. "Don't be weird." He scolded me for my silence.

"Sorry!" I blurted, pivoting my body to completely face him. "Hi. Sorry." My chest felt like it was going to explode the longer I stayed. He held back his laughter while Alex looked back and forth between us. Without a word, he excused himself from the conversation and disappeared into the crowd.

"Are you nervous?"

"Yes," I admitted, opting to look at his shirt. "Parties aren't my thing."

He crossed his arms and bent down so that we were at eye level. "Hey, my eyes are up here." My eyes traveled to his and we held our gaze for only a few seconds before I decided to look away.

I blushed and stepped backward, nearly toppling someone over. I felt their eyes burning into my back as I tried hard to concentrate on the man in front of me. "I'll go get something to loosen you up." He laughed and left before I could protest. I found a wall to cling to while I awaited his return, but it would be a while before I saw him again.

Thirty minutes had passed and he was nowhere to be seen. I had been abandoned. The music around me continued to thump loudly and I watched as some girls started grinding on their dates. I frowned and wished that was me too.

I waited around for another ten minutes before deciding to leave. I shimmied and maneuvered around people, slowly making my way towards the door. Once I was out in the general suite, I almost kicked myself for attempting to scan the room again.

I was a desperate idiot for believing he'd come back. I left the suite as a ball formed in my throat. He ditched me. He probably invited me because he felt bad. My eyes were glued to my shoes as I trudged back to my room.

A pair of feet quickly came into my field of view. Before I could veer out of their way, I collided with their chest. Their phone landed on the back of my head as I fell on my ass. "My fault, you okay?" My assailant offered me his hand.

I looked up and to my dismay, it was him again. I took his hand and he helped me up. "Were you about to leave?"

"Yeah." I groaned as I rubbed my head. "Someone told me they would get something to help me loosen up."

His hands shot up in defense. "I'm sorry. Something came up." He cautiously bent down to pick up his phone, as if he was afraid I'd hit him. "Let me make it up to you right now."

"No, it's cool. I'm feeling pretty tired, I'm just going to go to bed." I forced a nonchalant shrug.

"No, you're going back inside with me so we can get drunk." He grabbed my arm and led me back inside the suite. I considered protesting briefly, but my mind went blank when he wrapped his hand around my arm.

Somehow, the number of people in the suite had doubled in the few minutes I had stepped out. I almost lost him to the crowd a few times. We turned into a different room in the suite.

His hand left mine as he went to talk to a girl. He bent down and put his mouth by her ear as he spoke. She pointed at me with a questioning look on her face and I flinched. Without another word, she walked over to a drawer beneath the bed.

She pulled out a colorful, giant bottle of alcohol. She walked up to me. "Hey is this your first time getting drunk?" I nodded silently. "Oh, we're gonna get you lit tonight." She laughed loudly.

Her laugh was so contagious that I couldn't help but smile. "Open." She said as she positioned the bottle over my mouth.

"Oh, we're doing this now?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes." They both said in unison.

"Relax." He said as he walked over to me, gently pushing my chin up. "Tip your head back, and open that cute mouth of yours." He said in my ear. I blushed violently and closed my eyes as I opened my mouth.

Immediately, my mouth was filled with a burning liquid. My throat was hot as it traveled down my esophagus. My tongue slowly grew numb. "Keep going." He reassured me.

As soon as I realized I didn't want anymore, she pulled the bottle away. "How are you feeling?" He rubbed my back as I coughed.

"That sucked."

"You get used to it." He laughed as I continued to choke on air. I stood up straight but the room spun. "Oh yeah, you're lit." He said as I stumbled into him. His hands snaked around my waist.

I snorted and exploded with laughter. "No way." I threw my head back and put my hands on his chest. Every time I thought I had it under control, I'd look at his face and burst into laughter again. Eventually, he started laughing too.

"Be careful!" I almost toppled over as I leaned to the side. "You might be too lit." He said as he struggled to keep me upright.

"But I feel great!" I slurred.

"Alright, it may be time to take you back to your room." He angled my face so that I looked at him. All I could think of was how cool his hands were. I felt so hot. I had to share what I was feeling.

"You're so hot—I mean I'm so hot and you're so cool." I stuttered as I clasped my hands over his.

"Oh yeah?" He gave me a smug smile.

"Yeah, this is great," I yelled over the speakers, leaning into his chest. His hands fell away from my face as he caught his balance.

I grabbed his shoulders to steady myself, but I was frozen in place. The smell of his soft cotton shirt had put me in a trance. "I think she's sniffing me." I heard him say. "She's gone, bro."

"How much vodka did y'all give her?" Another familiar voice said.

"It doesn't matter, just go get some water."

I pushed myself away from him, but the room was swaying as if I was on a ship. My limbs felt like jelly and I wanted to melt. "No, no, no. Stay here." His arms wrapped around me again. I was pulled backward, bumping into him, but he left a considerable amount of distance between us.

"I wanna sit," I complained. The room was stifling and I was getting dizzy by the second. He held on to my hips as he gently led me out of the suite. Many people gave me dirty looks as I awkwardly stumbled into them, slurring apologies to the door. We couldn't reach the hallway soon enough.

Instantly, my skin cooled. I hugged the wall like a lifeline as he stared at me. He silently pressed a bottle of water into my shaking hands. I slid down the wall and slumped on the ground.

He took a seat on the ground beside me as I struggled to open the bottle. He twisted the cap off and pushed it towards me. I couldn't help but laugh at my sudden weakness.

As I drank the water, I looked over at him. The man was casually scrolling through his phone. What the hell is his name?

"Elijah." He answered without looking up. "What the hell is your name?" He smiled, meeting my bewildered gaze.

"Verona."

"You have a beautiful name, Verona." Sploosh. I never knew my name could sound so sensual.

"Thank you, Elijah."

"Are you ready to go?" He brought his knees up to his chest while flashing a lazy grin.

"Go where?" I didn't know why I bothered to ask. I was ready to let him lead me to the ends of the earth.

Eli stood and dusted himself off. After which he offered me both of his hands and that charming smile of his. "To my place."