WESTCOAST- T.Zegras

One

Real

My teeth but down hard on the flesh of my bottom lip as I reviewed my final essay for my last class of the semester. My head was hurting from staring at my laptop screen for so long, my neck hurt from leaning over my keyboard, and my body was wracked with anxiety. "Fuck just do it" I mumbled to myself as my mouse hovered over the submit button. I closed my eyes behind my blue light glasses and pressed the mouse down with a click, gulping as I blinked my eyes open and saw that it had been turned in.

I pulled off my glass and ran a hand through my hair, feeling a mix of nerves and relief flow through my body. On hand, the work portion of my first full year of graduate school has been completed. On the other hand, I still had to see how my grades turned out. At this point there was nothing more I could do, so hopefully soon all I feel is relief.

"You done?" I glanced over at my roomate who had already finished her work a week ago and was currently watching the Vampire Diaries on her laptop casually. "Are you done being a bitch with a stick up your ass?" She smirked.

"Yes, Ruby. I'm done being a bitch with a stick up my ass" I rolled my eyes. "This was the biggest essay so forgive me for being stressed"

"Oh you know I love you" she cooed, sitting up on her bed and sending me a mischievous look that made my stomach drop. "I say we celebrate" She twirled her dark hair around her fingers with a smirk on her lips.

"Ruby were too old to be going to frats" I argued.

"Bitch I'm older than you and still go. Your twenty, we're going. Plus my sorority is hosting a pre-game and those girls range from 19-22" she argued. "Now let's go grab some dinner, alcohol, and then get ready to get fucked up in honor of finishing the semester"

I groaned and leaned my head back against the wall behind me. I seriously was not a party girl, I would've preferred to stay home and read or watch some tv or movies. I was always the quiet girl. That is until I met Ruby. I met her two years ago when I first started school here and she's been my best friend and roomie ever since.

Here's the thing with Ruby, she's the textbook extrovert and I'm the textbook introvert. She's done a good job at breaking me out of my shell slowly, taking me to parties and school events where I'm forced to be social, and I appreciate that. I know I would never do this shit on my own.

I didn't utter another word as I begrudgingly got up and slid my feet into my shoes, grabbing my purse and dorm key. She smiled triumphantly and hooked her arm with mine as we left the dorms and headed down to the main portion of campus where there was tons of food places and strips.

She dragged me into this sports bar where we took a seat at the bar- me having to nervously flash my fake ID that Ruby bought for me as a 'gift' the first year. I turned 21 in only two weeks but still I was only 20 and not allowed into the bars legally just yet. Ruby ordered us both some beer from the tap, probably something local that wasn't absolutely putrid to drink.

"I do not understand that sport at all" she scoffed, pointing up to the large tv that was playing an NHL game. It was the Stanley Cup Finals game four so the bar was fairly filled with people, especially a good amount of Vegas fans. "Like Why do they just shoot the puck down ice all time? And why are they only on the ice for like thirty seconds- like shouldn't they have stamina? Oh and don't get me started on all the fighting" she ranted on.

I knew a thing or two about sports but I wasn't a girl who followed any one sport religiously. If it was on, I'd watch but it wasn't going to be my first choice to put on. My family was from Jersey so I grew up in a household split between Flyers and Devils as my mom was from up north and my dad south. They were passionate and so were my brothers but I just never fell in line with it. "To be honest Ruby I really don't know. I do know they fight because it's like, a part of the sport. That's honestly what makes it so interesting if you ask me" I hummed, sipping the beer which I discovered was a local IPA and actually was drinkable.