The day dragged on.

By the time my classes were over, I was exhausted. Sarah was still pressuring me over text to go to that party. It was happening at a local girl's house, Amy, who was Maria's best friend. Everyone was supposed to pick a date. Maria was going with a guy named Jason, and Sarah was bringing me.

I wasn't exactly excited.

I took the stairs up to my floor two at a time, hoping I could find something cooler to wear before heading over to Sarah's building. We were all going in my impala, because I was the only one who owned a car.

All throughout high school, Sarah and I had never been partiers. On an average Saturday night, we could usually be found in her apartment, watching some movie with a bowl of popcorn between us.

But parties, according to Sarah, were a staple of college life. And so, to a party we were going.

The bathroom door was closed when I let myself into the room, but I could hear some movement inside, so I thought it best to announce my presence. "It's, uh, it's me!" I called. "I'm just about to head back out!"

Great, Michael's here, I thought. The last thing I needed was one of his absurd remarks right now.

I headed to the kitchen to grab a quick snack before I left. I'd gotten lunch in the cafeteria earlier, but none of it looked very appetizing. And drinking on an empty stomach was never a good idea.

I was opening the lid of a jar of peanut butter, yawning into one hand, when suddenly my eyes bugged out of my head.

Standing in the doorway was a short, topless brunette, her hazel eyes bleary as she stumbled into the kitchen.

"Shit," I hissed.

Her eyes landed on me and she shrieked, one hand flying to cover her chest while the other clung to the doorframe.

I quickly averted my eyes. "S-Sorry," I addressed the floor. "Shit, what are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" she snapped back.

From my view of the floor, I could see her thin, smooth ankles and bright red toenails. Cautiously, I let my gaze inch up to her snooty expression, ruby lipstick smeared, arms crossed over her chest.

Not much to hide there, I thought. The girl was probably an A cup at best.

A thin, lacy pair of black panties dipped low on her straight hips. I caught a glimpse of her pubic hair, shaped into a landing strip, before forcing my eyes away. "Um- uh-" I could barely spit the words out. "I-I live here. Did you think I was Michael?"

"No," she giggled. "He's here too." Then she did something odd. She raised both her hands and curled them into a sort of claw shape, like a cat, then hissed at me and pranced away.

What the fuck?

I stormed out of the kitchen to see Michael leaning against the wall, a crooked smirk on his face. "Um, excuse me!" I yelled. "Why is there a naked hissing girl in the kitchen?"

His eyes darkened. "You looking at my girlfriend naked, freshie?"

My jaw dropped. "Why is your... girlfriend naked? In my kitchen!"

"It's my kitchen too," he said. "My girlfriend can be naked wherever she likes." He gripped the little brunette by her elbow and turned her around. "Kitty, sweetheart, I want you to meet Benjamin. Or as I like to call him, Ben Dover."

Kitty made a clawing motion at me and flounced past us into the bathroom. I crinkled my nose as I caught a whiff of her flowery perfume. Michael gave her ass a slap as she leaned down to collect her skimpy clothes.

"Kitty doesn't take kindly to strangers," he explained.

"Kitty, huh?" I repeated. That couldn't be her real name, could it? "Does she also pee on you to mark her territory?"

I expected him to laugh. Instead, he squinted like he was deep in thought. "Well, only that one time..."

"Oh." I gulped. "Alrighty then."

"We can get pretty freaky when we're drunk." He chuckled as Kitty returned from the bathroom, now holding her clothes in her arms.

Oh, that's lovely, I thought. I had met this guy one day ago and now he was telling me about his sex life! His weird sex life.

"Pretty hot, isn't she?" Michael asked me.

"Huh? Her?" I looked at Kitty. Her winged eyeliner was smudged a little in the corner, and the scowl on her face certainly didn't help matters.

If I answered yes, I was attracted to his girlfriend, but if I answered no, I was insulting his taste in women. Either way, I was risking a punch to the face. "Um... sure," I said carefully. "But she's, uh, she's not really my type. I usually go for someone a little more... mature."

"Ah, I see." Michael nodded. "Oh, yeah, I'm picturing you with a smokin' hot cougar. A real MILF."

"No, no, not that old-" I sighed. "Never mind. Please stop picturing that."

"Too late." He tapped his temple. "Mental image: saved."

I groaned loudly. Michael grinned. "Okay, whatever. Look, I've gotta go. I'm going to a party tonight so-" I pursed my lips and pointed both thumbs toward the door. "Gotta bounce. But, uh... it's been real."

"Ooh, party." My roommate wiggled his eyebrows. "Have fun, freshie. Don't die."

"Or do," Kitty said.

I took a short breath. "Seriously? What's your fucking problem? Oh, sorry I came home in the middle of your little meow-meow thing or whatever thing this is. Bye. Have a great fucking life."

Michael laughed. "Meow-meow. I like that."

Kitty made a purring sound and pulled him forcefully back into the bathroom. "Fucking psychos," I muttered under the sound of something slamming.

On my way down the stairs, I pulled out my phone to text Sarah.

omw

🤍🧸 Oki!!

🤍🧸Hope ur ready to par-tay!!!! 🎉💃🥳🥴🎊🪅🧁🍹🎉💃🥳🥴🎊🪅🧁🍹

I shuddered at her prolific emoji use and pocketed my phone.

Jealousy spiked in my brain as I entered Sarah's dorm building. Her room was on a lower floor, so I didn't have nearly as many stairs to climb, and the hallways were clean and decorated with colorful posters and flyers.

I knocked on Sarah's door and waited for a few moments before it was opened by a petite blonde. My lips immediately curved into a smile. Short girls. I craved them like a magnet craved its other half.

"Hey," she cooed in an accent I couldn't place. "You Sarah's friend?" Her gum smacked loudly as she talked.

"Um, yeah, hi," I stuttered out. "I'm Ben."

"I'm Amy. Come on in." She left the door open and spun to face the room. "So this is Maria," she introduced, pointing to a second girl. Maria was a redhead with a septum piercing and a Juul in her right hand. She blew a cloud of vapor into the air.

Sarah was laying on the floor, one leg up in the air in an awkward position as she attempted to paint her toenails. "Yo yo," she said.

I picked an empty bed and sat on it.

"Want something to drink?" Amy asked. "I got a case of beer in the fridge my ex brought over. Little old, though."

"Ames, that thing's been in there since you were rooming with me," Maria cackled. She raised the Juul to her full lips.

"So, Amy, you're a sophomore?" I asked as she sat down beside me.

"Yep. Tried a year in the dorms, fuckin' hated it. No offense." She shot a look over at Maria, who laughed. "Now I'm living at home again. Parents are a nightmare but, hey, they go out of town a lot. How about you?"

I nodded along, mesmerized by her long eyelashes, her pink lips, the way her whisps of white-blonde hair settled over her bare shoulders. "Oh, I live in the dorms," I said.

Her brow pinched. "No... I meant, are you a sophomore?"

"He's a freshman." Sarah now had both legs up in the air. She wiggled her toes. "Just like me. We grew up together."

I glared at her, but she didn't see. Maybe there was a way I could have lied to impress Amy.

Maria scoffed and swung herself up to head towards the kitchen. "Don't waste your time with that kid, Ames. He looks braindead."

Amy giggled. Something inside me died.

Then she reached up and twirled a finger through the fluffy locks of hair that drooped down to my eyebrows. "Maybe I like 'em braindead."

"Actually, Amy," Sarah interjected. "I was thinking we should set him up with Alicia."

"Alicia?" The blonde's mouth formed a scowl. "No. Just no. They would never work."

"Who's Alicia?" I asked.

Both girls ignored me. "Why not?" Sarah continued. "I think she'd be perfect for him. And Ben really needs a girlfriend."

I flushed red. "Not really," I said quickly. Why was she making me sound so desperate? She was the one that wanted to go on double dates, not me! "I mean-" I started again as all three girls turned my way. "I mean, a girlfriend would be nice, I guess, but I'm not like-"

"Are you a virgin?" Amy asked lowly. Her fingers crept along my back.

"No," I forced out.

Sarah sat up, a shocked look of betrayal painted across her face. "You're not a virgin?" she gasped. "You didn't tell me?"

"No," I mumbled. In fact, there were quite a few girls Sarah didn't know about. "Remember Patty Hart-"

"You had sex with Patty Hartley?" Sarah screeched.

"I'm guessing you're the virgin, then," Maria said, pointing her Juul at Sarah.

My best friend was in sweatpants, her wet hair tied back in two pigtails to make it wavy, with an array of nail polishes spread out around her on the rug. She looked like a middle-schooler next to these other girls. "Well... yeah..."

"Saving yourself for marriage?"

"No, no, it's not like that." Sarah fiddled with the end of one blue pigtail. "When the right guy comes along, and I know he really cares about me, I mean someone I can really trust... well, I guess it'll happen then." She flashed a glance at me. I looked at my feet.

"Aww, how sweet," Amy said. She rolled her eyes when Sarah wasn't looking. "Alright, bitches, let's get moving. We've gotta be at my house to get everything ready before people start pulling up."

I waited behind for Sarah while the other two filed out of the room. She stared down at the ground.

"You okay?" I asked. She wasn't one to hide her emotions well.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She looked over at me with a crease in her brow. "How come you didn't tell me about Patty Hartley?"

I let out a breath and shrugged, my hands shoved into my pockets. "I don't know. I didn't know how you would react." And maybe, I just wanted to keep something to myself for a change.

"That's a really big thing to hide, Ben," she said cooly.

"Sarah, I wasn't hiding anything." I let out a heavy sigh. "I don't even get why you're mad about this. So what? I fucked some girl." She flinched at my words. "What's the big deal?"

"Because you and me-" She flicked her index finger back and forth between us. "We're supposed to be best friends forever. Best friends tell each other shit like that." Before I could respond, she shoved past me and hurried to catch up with Maria and Amy.

Eyes downcast, I hung my head and walked down the stairs alone.