build me up.

ELEVEN

chapter eleven.
hell night

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THE CLUB WAS PACKED AND THE BLUNTS WERE ROLLED.

Tonight is hell night, the time of year when thousands of people come out on the night before Thanksgiving to bring in the holiday. Everyone knew about it, either because they attended when they were young or because someone who had been a few years earlier invited their friends to attend.

We all stood shoulder-to-shoulder in London's, bumping into people and spilling their drinks, apologizing for touching people accidentally, and trying to get the bartender's attention. It was already a hectic night; all I wanted to do was smoke and dance.

Natasha, Ezra, and I had been waiting for this night all year.

I was staying the night at their shared apartment, which happened to be a few blocks away from the bar strip downtown Our plan is to enjoy a night out on the town free from any parental scrutiny with access to copious amounts of alcohol and weed. We had pregamed before arriving but only a little as we still had to walk to our destination.

It was relatively warm out tonight as the weather had been quite erratic this year. Just yesterday it was in the 50s, and now it's nearly 80 degrees out, so I decided to wear something a little more breezy and light.

I had on a metallic green cropped top that tied in the front with matching boot-cut leggings. I had gotten passion twists installed a few days ago and had put them up into a bun to keep me from getting too hot inside the venue. I don't normally wear makeup, but I put on a little concealer to hide a few of my blemishes, winged eyeliner, mascara, and a layer of my favorite lip gloss.

Before leaving the girls' apartment, I had looked at myself in their body mirror.

By no means am I a slim woman. Since college started, I gained almost 20 pounds. My stomach grew to be pudgy, and my thighs jiggled a little more than they used to, but at some point, I learned to accept my thicker body in a way that I could make changes if I wanted to. But at the moment, all I could worry about was eating better and getting through this last year of school.

My dark skin glowed from the olive shade of the clothing I wore, and the combination of my hair, glitter-sprayed skin, and gold jewelry made me look like a fairy.

Honestly, I want to be a fairy.

Nonetheless, I hadn't gotten this dressed up in a while and felt beautiful. I knew once I got into the club though, the setting spray would only work for so long, and my 48-hour deodorant would have to be reapplied within the first 30 minutes. But I felt good and my planned to be completely stress-free tonight.

While we walked our way to the club, Peter had texted me. He told me he'd be coming out with a few of the guys from the intramurals later tonight, which naturally included Ezra and Natasha's partners.

Since dinner a few weeks ago, we have hung out a few more times on campus. He had walked with me to class and sat with my friends and me at lunch. We had quickly become closer as friends, and I was quite happy to have mended our friendship.

I started growing feelings for him pretty quickly after that dinner.

I would catch myself waking up thinking about him, eagerly checking my text messages at any second, and hoping to bump into him while delivering packages to his work. It's slowly becoming apparent to me that my feelings are growing stronger, but I can't let myself act on it, not when our friendship just got off the ground.

It had been about an hour since we found our table, and it was my turn to get shots for us.

"Hey honey, what can I get for you?" the bartender, Brooklyn, asked.