So What Now? | TSLOCG

same old

"Whitney, is your mom coming to visit for parents weekend next week?" Bela asked excitedly, as I poured myself a bowl of cereal.

"I don't know, she might," Whitney replied with a shrug.

"Shit, I'm really hoping my parents bail last second! I still haven't told them I'm not majoring in, like, neuroscience," Bela added. "If she does come, tell her I need a recommendation for a women's rights internship!"

Whitney laughed and rolled her eyes. "Okay, liar. Will do."

"Speaking of internships, I've got a fashion internship off campus this week, so I probably won't be around most of the day," I said, as I sat down on the couch.

"You? A fashion internship...?" Leighton walked out from our room, giggling to herself. "Well, if that isn't something."

I rolled my eyes. "Sorry I don't shop strictly designer."

"I don't think you've ever worn designer," She replied.

"I'll have you know I thrifted Loubitans last year."

Leighton giggled, sitting down next to me on the couch.

"I didn't even know what a designer brand was til I got here," Kimberly admitted.

"I pity you people," Leighton scoffed, shaking her head.

✩✩✩✩✩

My internship turned out to be fetching coffee and chocolates til eight, then trying to find a ride back to campus, as the person who'd said they'd drive me had left without me. I sat in a starbucks next to the office I'd been in and waited for the uber app to redownload.

While I waited, I popped open the latest lesbian hookup app I'd downloaded. I'd only made my profile that morning, yet I already had a dozen requests. I scrolled for a second, til I spotted someone I recognized. Leighton.

"She is not real," I mumbled in disbelief, clicking on the familiar blonde's profile to confirm. As I did, though, I accidentally sent her a request. "Fuck!" I tried to unsend it, but in the process I accidentally sent her a prompted message. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

My heart was beating so fast I thought it might fly out of my chest. I went to delete my account, but before I could I got a notification that my message had been read. In the heat of the moment, the only solution I came to was to toss my phone into my coffee, and walk back to campus while trying to think about anything but what I'd done.

By the time I made it back to our dorm building, the sun had set. I decided I'd stalled as long as I could, so I walked into our room, only to find all three of my suit mates sitting on the sofa and chairs, several cans of seltzer on the table between them.

"Madison!" Bela exclaimed as I closed the door behind me.

I smiled in her direction. Leighton was glaring at me, a bottle of vodka in her hand.

"Someone's home late," Whitney added, a textbook open in front of her. "How was your internship?"

I shrugged, trying to avoid making eye contact with Leighton. "It was fine, I guess. It was mostly just-"

"I'm going to bed," Leighton interrupted, her words slurring together as she stumbled up from her chair and into our room.

"She may have had a bit more to drink than the rest of us," Whitney explained, with a small laugh. "She kept asking when you were gonna be back."

"Oh," I managed, as I followed Leighton into our room. She was sitting on her bed criss cross applesauce, taking a long swig out of her bottle.

"Look, Leighton-" I began to explain myself, but she cut me off, holding out her hand to shut me up.

"I don't care what you have to say. If you're trying to out me to everyone, or something, just fucking do it," She hiccuped, looking like she might throw up at any given moment. I walked over to our mini fridge and grabbed her a water, unscrewing the cap and holding it out to her.

"Here," I offered, but she shook her head. "Leighton, please. I didn't even mean to hit anything, I swear."

She continued to shake her head. "If you came here just to humiliate me, hurry up and do it so I can transfer sooner."

I stared at her with a confused expression. "Do you seriously think I came here just for you? To make your life miserable?"

She shrugged, staring down at her vodka. "Maybe."

"I didn't even know you'd be here, Leighton," I mumbled, sitting down next to her on the bed and grabbing the vodka. "Honest. I was just getting offered the most financial aid here."

"Oh," She mumbled, grabbing the water from my hand and taking a small sip. "So it was really just an accident then?"

I nodded, placing the vodka down on the floor. "Swear to God."

"So you were just... on there for other reasons then...?" She asked, following it with another hiccup. I felt my face growing red.

"I was, uhm," I stammered for a moment, but was cut off by her giggling.

"It really is still the same as highschool, huh Mads?" Hearing her use the nickname she used to made my face redden even further. No one else ever had called me that.

"It would seem so, Leight," I whispered in response, wishing she'd remember this the next morning.