Chapter 2: She's Attractive

The pungent smell of bagels and coffee fills my nostrils as the three of us enter the door under the neon sign flashing Cafe.

The walk was relatively short, with the occasional crosswalk and group of already drunk college students.

Conversation consisted of trivial things, such as our favorite color, bands, our taste in music, our birthday. Of course, it was Amy and I talking, Cole remained quiet with a few snickers here and there, mainly aimed at me and my choice of answer. I ignored him though, just focusing on my new friend and roommate.

Different cliques litter around the cafe, all consisting of multiple conversations, it's hard to decipher which.

A particular group is sitting at a booth in the far corner, chatting amongst themselves until a guy with red dyed hair looks up into our general direction. He smiles widely and motions Amy over.

"This way," Amy leads us over to them, stopping at the end of the table so all gazes turn to us.

All eyes look at me with curious expressions. I begin to feel awkward, biting my lip out of nervousness.

"Hey guys. I want you to meet my new roommate, Amara. Amara, this is Ralph," she points to the red haired guy and he waves to me, stating a greeting. His eyes are a green color, almost like a pine tree, and his skin is pale, but not in a bad way.

"This is Rachel," she gestures to a beautiful girl sitting closest to the window, crystal blue eyes and wavy ombre hair look back at me. Her frame is small, much like mine and Amy's, and her smile is pearly white as she aims one at me. I return her gesture.

"And this is Brandon." Amy motions to the guy sitting next to Rachel. His hand is holding hers and their fingers are intertwined. He glances at me with dark blue eyes and short brown hair. He gives me one small grin and returns to Rachel, whom I'm guessing is his girlfriend. They make a cute couple.

"Hi guys," I wave once to everyone and sit down at the free seat next to Amy and Ralph. Cole takes a chair and pulls it up, sitting it the opposite way so his legs spread against either side of the back of it.

"I'm in the mood for a party. What about you guys?" He asks, cutting his eyes when they meet mine. I roll my eyes and look away, instead choosing to look out the window at the setting sun.

I tune out Cole's voice as my mind travels back to home. I wonder what my dad is doing right now, if he's drinking or still passed out from too much alcohol consumption. I wonder if he's called out for me, and if he frowned when no one answered. I wonder if his bed is made or if he even left his room today after I left. I wonder if he has even realized that I'm gone.

Even though he ignored me and neglected me, I still love him and worry for him. It isn't his fault that my mom left, but it is his fault that he let his grief overtake him and turn him into a depressed alcoholic.

I shake my head to clear my thoughts of Phurry. My life is now in Cascade, and I need to focus on it. My dad will always be apart of me and my life, but at some point I need to accept that this is who he is now. And I cannot change that.

Shaking my head again, I turn back to the group, tuning myself back into the conversation.

"So as I was saying before I was interrupted," Ralph says, sending a playful glare to Amy.

She blushes and gives a bashful smile. He glances at her and I see emotion flash in them.

Do these two like each other?

Interesting.

"There's a party tonight at the Kapa Mui frat house. Starts at 11, but we plan to crash at midnight. You guys in?" He looks between Amy, Cole, and I for agreement.

"I'm in." The two siblings answer at the same time.

Then, it seems like everyone is watching me.

I shake my head, "I'm not the partying type."

I didn't like them even when I was in high school.

"Of course you aren't." Cole laughs bitterly, shaking his head in mock amusement.

"Why? You're a stoner. Stoner's love parties." Amy questions.

"You smoke?" Brandon interjects, aiming his question at me.

"Yea," I nod, licking my lips as I play with an empty straw wrapper.

"Damn, you sure don't look it." He mumbles.

"I've gotten that."

"Why don't you like parties then?" Rachel asks me.

"No reason. Just never been that into them." I shrug.

Truth is, I'm scared I'll end up like my dad. If he can get addicted to alcohol, who says that I can't? I mean, I have drank before, but the night didn't end up so spectacular for me. A cold chill travels down my spine as I think about it.

"Everyone loves parties though! It's like...I don't know but they are awesome!" Amy exclaims, throwing her hands up dramatically.

"You guys go have fun. I have no problem staying in tonight,"

It's not like I am a homebody, I still like to go out, just not for the reasons they do.

"Please? I want these guys to get to know you. Don't make me beg again." She pouts, pleading with me.

I debate it.

I could go to the party and not drink.. Right?

"Fine." I end up groaning after tossing scenarios around my mind.

"You girls wanna come to my dorm to get ready?" Rachel asks us, a smile forming on her face.

"Sure."

Might as well look nice.

"Totally," Amy replies at the same time.

"Well, now that it's settled, let's have Amara tell us more about herself." Rachel says kindly, folding his hands over the table.

(Cole's P.O.V.)

She's attractive, I'll admit.

Her eyes are a fierce gray color, she has curves in the right places, and long, toned legs. Her hair is long yet thick, with ringlets flowing within its strands. As my eyes trail down to her red, plump, curved lips, I bite my own as images of what she could do with them cross my mind.

Oh, who am I kidding? She's fucking hot.

But, she has a smart mouth; she argues back with me when I make fun of her or say something slick. It honestly pisses me off, yet I want to mess with her more for it.

Kinda a contradiction, but I'm going with it.

I like the anger that flushes across her face when I'm being a dick. I only just met her, but I can easily see she's gonna be my new target for fun. Of course, that's more than she can say about me.

Obviously, she is not my best fan.

Oddly enough, that makes me wanna mess with her even more.

She keep things small as she tells the rest of the group about herself. I heard enough when we were walking so I tune her out and pull out my phone. I begin scrolling through mindlessly on Instagram, ignoring all the questions and answers being tossed between the table.

An icon appears on my screen and I swipe it up to reveal a text from one of my contacts.

Jules: Wanna meet up somewhere?

I smirk down at my screen, but try to remember who the chick is. Probably one of my booty calls. I mean, that's who most of my contacts are. I only call when I need to blow off steam, and I rarely call twice.

It's just who I am, who I became to be.

Memories flow back through my mind, thoughts of my past and the girl who sometimes haunts me brings me to reply to the desperate girl.

Me: When and where?

The reply is almost instantly.

Jules: Now. My dorm.

Me: And that is where..?

Jules: Girls North Dormitory. Room 317. You should remember.

Me: Too bad I don't.

I pocket my phone and stand to my feet, clearing my throat. Everyone stops talking and turns to look at me.

"I gotta go." I say shortly, already beginning to walk away.

"Wait, bro. Where you going? What about the party?" Ralph asks.

"I'll be there," I catch Amara rolling her eyes as I turn to leave again and I send her a wink when our eyes connect. The shade of her gray orbs is dark yet light at the same time, an alluring sight, and I find myself flicking my gaze back to them.

She stays looking at me too for a moment before she cuts her eyes away from me, shaking her head.

I shake my own head and walk away again, retrieving my car keys with one goal on my mind, a release.

...

"Good to see you!"

Jules smiles once she opens her door for me to come in.

"Yeah," I say, looking around her room.

It seems vaguely familiar; I recognize the pink lava lamp on her nightstand.

I must've came here when I was wasted or something.

"So, wanna get some food or something?" She asks, biting her lip and looking up at me through hazel eyes. I glance down at them and lick my own, approaching her slowly.

"You know that isn't how this works." I tell her, wrapping my arms around her waist. She leans into me, her Auburn hair brushing against my chest.

"I know," She bites her lip again, bringing her face closer to mine. "I just wanted to see what you'd say."

"Mhm." I hum and brush my lips against hers.

She shivers and I repeat the action before trailing them across her jaw and to her ear. I nibble slightly, causing her to moan quietly. I smirk cockily and blow on the skin, using my tongue. Her breaths start to become shallow.

"I'll make it quick and give you your fix."

I press my hands to the backs of her thighs and she jumps, swiftly landing in my grasp.

She whimpers when I take her bottom lip between mine, sucking roughly with conviction.

I throw her on her small bed and crawl on top of her, parting her legs with my knee. "I look forward to it." She flirts back, bringing a leg to my thigh.

Damn, this should be good.

(Amara's P.O.V.)

"You have such pretty eyes," Rachel comments as she applies more blush to my cheeks.

After drinking coffee and telling everyone about myself-which was slightly awkward at first- We all parted ways after Cole left to his unknown location, and agreed to meet at the party.

Rachel claimed she had a dress that would look good on me and asked to do my makeup. She asked the same of Amy as well.

I learned a lot about the group. All of them are cool and funny, and have good personalities. Rachel and Amy are best friends, so it makes me miss Lucy a lot. I'll have to call her sometime after classes start and I get settled.

I also learned about Rachel and Brandon's relationship. They met their senior year of high school and were friends until they began dating last year. The two are so infatuated with each other, I could tell because as they spoke to me, their eyes stayed on each other. It's the kind of romance that makes you either envy it or wanna puke at the sight of it. In my case, it's the puke part.

I am not interested in a relationship right now, and seeing lovey dovey couples does not change it. Sure, I've had my moments. What girl doesn't? But I am content enough in myself that I don't need a guy to be happy. I'm just fine with how I am.

Keep telling yourself that. My subconscious butts in my thoughts, but I push her away.

The party starts at eleven, and Ralph wants to meet at midnight. It's currently almost half past eleven, and my make up is almost done where as Rachel and Amy's is finished. Both of them are dressed as well. Since I'm the newby of the group, they wanted to spend extra time on my appearance and take more time to get to know each other better.

"Thank you. So do you." I reply and part my lips to an 'o' when she begins to swipe gloss on them.

"Seriously. They're a deep gray color, yet in some lighting's it's light. I'm so jealous." She pouts, jutting her bottom lip out.

"Rachel, your so weird. You're gonna scare the girl away!" Amy interjects from where she's sitting on Rachel's bed.

"It's not weird. It's called complimenting." The other girl fires back.

I can't help but chuckle a bit at their exchange. It's nice to see two friends joking and laughing together. It reminds me of my own back home, well, the few that I had. I wasn't popular in high school, but I wasn't completely unknown either. I was the one people said hello to in the halls despite not knowing their name. The one who hung out in multiple crowds depending on the mood I was in during the day.

"I know but still..Odd description." Amy scrunches her nose and both of them laugh.

"It was fine. It wasn't weird right, Amara?"

Rachel turns back to me, giving me a playful mock of a pleading look.

"..It was alright," I'm not sure what else to say so I grin slightly to push a convincing answer.

"Okay, enough bickering. Let's go meet up with the guys." Amy says, standing up.

"Wait! Just let me..Do this.." Rachel trails off as she applies one last swipe of mascara to my lashes. With a few swipes of her thumb over my eyebrows, she smiles triumphantly and pulls back.

"Okay. Now, put," she stops and walks over to a black dress hanging on her closet door. "This on."

It has lace all across the top and sleeves, and it looks to come about mid thigh. The fabric has a velvety texture that feels a bit rough on my palm as I run my fingertips on it, admiring the dress. It's beautiful.

"I really like this dress," I tell her, smiling.

"Thank you. I thought you'd look good in it. But we can only see if it's on you. So," she gestures with her hand for me to get into it. "And don't look at yourself in the mirror until it's on!" She points at me with a serious face.

I am confident in myself, but we just met, so changing in front of almost strangers is not my cup of tea. I walk into her bathroom and begin to change.

The dress is form fitting once I get it all the way on. As I look into Rachel's mirror, I notice the way the fabric outlines the curves I have and blends perfectly in with my hair as it falls loosely over my shoulders.

When I look at my face, I gasp slightly. My eye shadow has a smokey effect to it, making my eyes pop, and the foundation she used is great for my olive skin tone, not to mention how the lip gloss makes my lips look a deeper shade of red. The mascara gives the illusion that my eyelashes are longer than they are and the blush she applied gives my face a beautiful glow.

I love it.

It isn't my usual style, but one night can't hurt anyone.

I beam at the girl looking back at me.

Rachel did a fantastic job and I will make sure to thank her when I walk out.

"Hey!" Knocking breaks me of my trance of myself. "Come on girl, we ain't got all night! Well, we do, but still!" Amy says and I giggle, and walk to the door.

When I open the door, the two girls behind it widen their eyes and smiles cover their faces.

"You look great!"

"Damn." They both speak at the same time.

"Thanks." I beam, moving to put back on my combat boots. I took them off when I arrived.

"You want to borrow a pair of my heels?" Rachel asks and presents a pair of black stilletos.

I shake my head. "No thanks. I can't really walk in them."

That is an understatement. Seeing me walk in heels is like seeing a penguin doing the dance from Mary Poppins, you know, sans the cute part. More like the wish you didn't see it because it's so embarrassing part.

"Suit yourself, but the boots do look kinda good. Like the badass yet sexy woman look." Amy says, giving me a once over.

Amy and Rachel both look similar to me, and side by side, we're a striking sight. All of us have similar make up, and the dresses we are wearing are the same, just different colors. Amy's dress is red, and Rachel's is dark blue. Both of them have heels, and I'm clad in my boots. I couldn't feel more confident and alive. I might have just met these two girls, but so far they have treated me as if they knew me, as if I was already their friend, long before we'd met.

We make our way out into the parking lot and ride in my car to the address Ralph sent Amy for the frat house. I wanted to take my car in case I decided to leave early, or get bored. I doubt that will happen, now that I have them to hang out with.

The lawn of the frat is crowded with drunk teenage bodies, all either drinking or puking in the bushes. The sight makes me seize as flashes of my dad and his drunken passed out body flood my memory. I shake my head to rid them, though. Tonight I wanna have fun, and enjoy the beginning of the rest of my life.

We make our way inside the house and the scent of sweaty bodies mixed with a faint smell of marijuana and alcohol automatically smacks me in the face.

It's even more crowded in here, groups litter in every corner, girls laughing and flirting with guys, guys hitting on and picking up the same ones. It's a cycle of immature habits and illegal substance abuse everywhere. It reminds me of back home when Lucy would come to my house after a night of partying, boasting about all the shots and dancing she did, all the flirting and beer pong games she played. I didn't judge her, just because I prefer not to do it doesn't mean no one else could, and that doesn't mean I'd look down upon them just for that reason.

"I see them over there,"

Amy points to a spot somewhere across the room as she rips me from my thoughts. I turn to where she's pointing and all three of us walk in unison towards Ralph and Brandon.

I look around for Cole, but spot him nowhere. He said he'd be here, but I guess he decided otherwise. I can live without his attitude anyway.

"Hey guys. You look great." Brandon compliments, reaching out and taking Rachel's hand as soon as she's at arm's length.

"Thank you." We all say in unison.

"I wanna drink. Come with?" Ralph looks between Amy and I.

"I'm good," I reply, flashing a smile to soften my short response.

"Girl, you're crazy. I'm totally in," Amy says and pulls me with them toward the kitchen area regardless.

I glance behind me and see Rachel and Brandon chatting quietly in a corner, not even noticing were leaving. I cringe inwardly at the adorableness of them, though I'll admit, they are cute.

A little less people are in the kitchen, which is surprising because that's where all the alcohol is, but I do not question it.

We make our way to an island in the middle of the room, and gaze at all the bottles of liquor on the countertop.

"Shots!" Ralph exclaims and finds two shot glasses, setting them between the two do them.

Before he pours the shots with some dark liquor, he glances back at me, "Sure you don't want one? He asks and I nod.

He shrugs and does a cheer with Amy before they both down their shots.

I bite my lip and look around, gazing at all the people in here. A foggy haze has settled in the air from all the pot smoke, and just as I am about to turn my sight back to Ralph and Amy, my eyes come into line with ocean ones, who are watching me with an intent gaze.