Words & Whiskey

EDITED VERSION: Chapter Two

"Audrey?" Darian's voice echoed throughout the hall of our apartment.

Standing in the shower, I sighed, the green tea shampoo in my hair dripping into my eyes. "What?"

"Do you want anything to eat for breakfast?" he yelled back, his voice sounding distorted from me standing under the water.

"No, I'm good thanks, we can stop at a Starbucks to get some coffee," I answered, rinsing the shampoo out of my hair. Quickly, I added, "We don't have much time, we're gonna be late if we eat anyways."

"M'kay," I heard Darian respond and he began to hum to himself once again.

Shutting off the water and grabbing a towel, I started to dry off and get dressed in my first day of university outfit, which didn't really consist of anything fancy, just some leggings and knitted emerald off the shoulder top.

Two weeks have gone by and Darian and I fell into a nice routine of having breakfast together every morning and binge-watching Netflix for most of the day. Grey's Anatomy in particular, has been our go-to show for the past week. Sometimes we go to the bookstore by the apartment, but for the most part, we haven't gone out much. Mainly because we're too anxious to go out and actually enjoy ourselves. Classes start today, Darian was majoring in Film Studies and I was majoring in English Literature. Despite being in different programs, we luckily had our first lecture together, which I was extremely grateful for.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I stared at my reflection in the foggy mirror and sighed. My honey-coloured hair was a tangled mess that I really did not want to deal with at the moment, so I bundled it into a bun on the top of my head.

When I got outside the bathroom, Darian was already dressed in his light denim jacket, beanie, and boots. He was fidgeting with the sleeve of his jacket and bouncing on the balls of his feet. I laughed seeing him standing at the door looking completely unnerved. "Hey, it's going to be okay. At least we have this class together, we'll get through the day, alright?"

Darian gave me an uneasy nod. "Let's just get some Starbucks. I need me some mocha."
Nodding my head, I grabbed my bag and keys. "Let's do this."

A few minutes later, Darian and I were outside the university, sipping our coffees, and attempting to muster the courage to go to the class that starts in ten minutes. I would be lying if I said I wasn't intimidated. The building where our lecture was taking place was one that was made of grey masala stone, standing tall and cold looking. Despite it looking quite modern, there was something about it that made me feel as though it held the same importance as the older buildings on the campus, as there was English Ivy creeping up on the sides, which I found pretty ironic seeing as it was the English building.

Darian's phone chimed, bringing my internal thoughts to a close. "Oh, for shit's sake."

I turned to my roommate, who had his blond brows knitted together, clearly not amused. "You good?"

Darian rolled his glacial blue eyes and sighed. "My brother wants to hang out tonight."

"I take it you don't like him all that much?" I responded, taking a sip of my coffee, peering at him over the cup as I did so.

"No, I do, I guess." he groaned, tilting his head back with his eyes closed. "But I can only take him in small doses."

"Why's that?"

Darian opened his eyes once again and took a moment to text his brother back, then looked at me. "He's an egotistical ladies' man who never fails to make fun of me whenever he gets the chance."