Pretty Poison - Saltburn

002

Time passed incredibly fast, here at Oxford and before Olympia knew it, it was winter.
The sun rose later and later with each passing day and each morning, she had to walk to her lecture in a pitch black darkness. Her hot breath forming fluffy, white balls whenever she exhaled before quickly evaporating into thin air and however warmly she dressed, the freezing wind still seeped through her clothes, sending shivers down her spine.

But as much as winter was straining her soul, letting her yearn for summer so badly it almost hurt, there was one good aspect about the depressing season.

It was as if the cold weather and falling snow had cast a spell on everyone.

The atmosphere at the Uni had gotten cozy and comfortable and everywhere you looked there were displays of affection, of love and care. It seemed as if the festive season had put everyone in a better, gentler mood and the winter magic had also struck Olympia and her friends. Felix and she spend almost every living minute together and even Farleigh seemed to have gotten, even of only a little, nicer.

All that Olympia's days consisted of at the moment was hiding away in her bed, most of the time having Felix's body right next to her providing a little extra warmth, studying as little as possible and reading all day, which she tried to convince herself, counted as studying.

The nights were filled with drinking and smoking and most evenings she found herself huddled together with her friends all the way in the back of the King's Arm, the small pub they had successfully claimed as their regular hang-out spot.

Those were usually the relatively calmer nights and although there had been a few times where someone had kicked over the traces it was nothing compared to the parties they attended or their frequent club visits.

And today was one of those times. The time where everyone let loose, alcohol and drugs were flowing, and cigarettes were smoked like they were their last.

Olympia had no idea whose idea the Christmas party was or who had organized it; all she knew was that she had found an invitation in her pigeonhole and because half of the campus had been invited as well, Felix, Farleigh and she had decided to go.

And now, about three hours in, she was way too wasted to even think properly at all. The room was drenched in flickering, blue-greenish lights and loud music was booming out of the vibrating boxes, echoing through probably the whole building. Everybody was in a frisky mood and laughter, horrible singing and chatters were blending together, creating an unintelligible mess in Olympia's ears.

She was currently on the makeshift dancefloor, her back pressed closely against Anabel's front, the two of them moving to the beat. Each of them with a big smile on their face, seemingly unaware of the attention they attracted.
Olympia was too far gone to even register anything; everyone's face a blur.

"I'm gonna get a drink." She slurred to Anabel, softly moving away from her.

Anabel nodded, such a blissful smile on her lips that Olympia wondered for a moment, if her friend had taken anything else besides alcohol.

She shrugged more for herself than anyone else. It wouldn't be the first time Anabel had done drugs and certainly wouldn't be the last. Everbody in her enviroment did drugs now and then which didn't justify it but it also made Olympia less worried. She just hoped Anabel had an overview of how much she took.

After one last glance at her friend, Olympia began to make her way through the crowded room, gently pushing past the people in her way.

She didn't know most of them, yet returned their greetings and fleeting hugs as she was passing and most of them just seemed to believe that she was way too drunk to recognize them.
And perhaps she was.