The Two Dogs

Part 1

The thick cloud of smoke that had emerged from Leo's lips began to clear. After passing the joint he collapsed into the corner of the couch and examined the room full of strangers. The house that hosted was not far from his dorm back on campus. He was told one of his frat brothers rented it. He watched someone spill a drink and he could only shrug his shoulders as the liquid splashed to the ground. "He knew what he signed up for," Leo thought wondering who the host must be.

As the drug took effect sound fell into the background. Leo's eyes examined the house and those within it. The walls were freshly painted white accompanied by just as fresh holes and dents. A bit of loose carpet that the furniture sat on was rolled over the wood floor. It looked new and was almost beige except for all the random stains and burns scattered about. Leo found himself staring at one of the burns for a moment, off and away somewhere. Then his eyes looked up. The house was relatively large but with everyone squeezed in it felt tight. He couldn't see the kitchen past all the bodies but he knew it was there. The flat screen nearby was on, displaying the artist and song that was playing over the stereo. Not his choice of music, simple beats, incoherent lyrics, but he was high enough to not be bothered.

Most of the people Leo saw were strangers. By one way or another they got the address to the party and walked in off the street. There were a few whose faces he had seen before but he had never spoken to. But this sort of thing is celebrated. A good party is judged based off how wild it can get. The more young people who do not know each other packed into a place where such behavior is craved... Anonymity plus alcohol sums up to a, "legendary party," as Connor might say. A prime example might be the crowd selecting out a dumb and drunk, usually male, participant to perform an idiotic stunt. The last party Leo was at, a participant, urged by the crowd, jumped from the roof of a single-story building onto a wood table cracking it, and luckily not himself, in two. "Stuff of legend" Leo thought sarcastically.

A beard suddenly blocked his view and broke his train of thought. It brushed into his face as arms went around him and Leo's mouth tightened as he was helpless to stop it. He felt the beard move and the distant sound of "Happy birthday." The beard disappeared before his full face could come into view. Leo turned around as the guy walked away to greet others. He had a Pi Sigma Delta shirt on but Leo couldn't catch his face. Yet there was something familiar about the back of his head, and the way he shuffled about the room latching onto the next person he knew after Leo. But his name escaped him.

"You might have been able to remember if you ever participated in any of the events," he told himself. "Rather than just going to a few here or there in order to stay in... Why am I even..." The thought disappeared as SHE walked into the room, capturing his full attention.

She was in only one of his classes but all it took was to see her that one time. When she strolled through the door just as she did now. There was something about her. He felt as if he was desecrating something sacred whenever his eyes ran up and down her body. She usually sat a few rows ahead of him in class and he could safely admire from the back. But now she was walking through the crowd in his direction. He tightened up, thinking about when they met at the door once before class his hands almost grabbing hers as they reached for the knob and all he was able to spit out was an "Excuse me." He wanted to say more but she smiled back and entered the classroom too quickly for his stammering brain.

His eyes followed her now as she walked past him without notice. He enjoyed her outfit and was always happy it was the common style. She had the body for her crop top plus the legs and rear for her shorts. But all of that, he had already taken note of. Leo would have liked to think such a thing would not matter. What he wanted to matter most were her green eyes and what was held within them. The way they flashed at him outside of class that day. Such a way one could not tell if it was a flirt or just... her. He wanted to see them again. The image was on playback in his mind as she walked through the sliding door a few feet beside him and disappeared into the crowded backyard.