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lea| unknown
REFUSAL WAS the only thing that entered Lea's mind when she heard someone say the word 'parties'. Parties were something for the weak-minded - as she would put it - that people went to for losing and forgetting themselves; she didn't like forgetting herself, she didn't like losing herself.
If someone wanted to find Lea, one could find her sitting at the university library, buried between books of the world and the supernatural or cuddled up between the sheets wearing her glasses, with her laptop sitting on her lap binge-watching a show on Netflix.
Where you wouldn't find her was at a frat party, with a drink in her hand and grooving to the heavy EDM on the dance floor.
But, that was exactly where her best friend, Carrie found her on a Friday night.
"Lea, that guy's totally looking at you," Carrie's voice bombarded across the loud room. She was loud enough for everyone to hear, but everyone was too busy to care.
Lea's neck slowly turns to see the guy with the black hair sitting on the couch with an overtly cute smirk plastered on his face. Her legs stopped working on the dance floor when he gestured her to go over to him. She did as he asked. A tiny hint of color started to grow on her cheeks as she walked closer.
"I'm Bash," he declared with a refrained grin on his face and she could tell that her lips were twisted into a grin too. She raised her eyebrows to ask him if that was his actual name, when his mouth instantly opened to state, "I know what you're thinking. My name is Sebastian but I prefer to be called Bash."
The corners of her lips twitched to produce an insignificant smile as she said, "I like Bash."
Before she could continue, he grabbed a tissue from the table next to him and scribbled down something, that Lea couldn't see because it was being written on the table with his back a few inches in front of her. After what it felt like seconds, he handed over the paper to her and her eyes shined as she read the numbers on it only to realize that it was his phone number. "I need to get going, but this is my mobile number. Give me a call," he added and before she could say another word, he was already on his heels walking through the door.
Embarrassment flooded Lea's features; she hoped they could have had a conversation - at least a small one - but she immediately pushed her thoughts away whilst brushing her fingers on the paper sitting on her hand.
She was not the kind of girl that met random guys at parties and exchanged phone numbers and therefore, all of the spontaneity seemed new to her. She wished she could say that she was dragged into all of this by Carrie but it was she who decided that she needed to have fun because a little fun never bothered anybody.
It's 1:00, she realizes and her eyes move around to drop out of her window. Her eyes flutter at the tiny drops of water running through the glass like tiny, little rivers. A smile curls up from her lips as she slightly opens the window to let her hands meet the rain.
Her roommates Carrie and Leighton are fast asleep and a sound of boredom escapes from Lea's lips. She spots her bag sprawled across her bed in a dirty mess and her hands slowly crawl to pick the paper that the cute boy at the party had given her earlier.
Her cheeks start to glow red as she picks up her phone. Her fingers start typing.
hey, this is lea.
All of a sudden, she finds her fingers fidgeting as she scratches the back of her neck. She immediately regrets sending him a text - at an ungodly hour; she doesn't want him to think that she was that kind of a girl - and hopelessly waits for him to text back.
Her forehead grows sweaty as she stands up from her bed. She paces slowly by tapping her phone on her hand tirelessly.
After what it feels like hours of embarrassment and hopelessness, she buries herself in her blanket and closes her eyes to fall asleep but her eyes simply won't shut.
She feels her pillow vibrate beneath her head and her heart starts to pound on the clinging sound of a notification. Without giving herself a moment of thought, she unlocks her phone.
i'm sorry. i don't know anyone named lea.
Thing was, she didn't exactly tell him her name and there wasn't a moment of introduction between Bash and her, so she feels relief flood her veins as her fingers type back a reply.
we didn't properly introduce. we met at a party last friday.
i don't remember going to a party last friday. i think you've got the wrong number.
She picks the paper with Bash's handwriting and double-checks the number she typed on her phone. Embarrassment is the only thing she feels as she realizes that Bash had given her the wrong number. Knowingly or not, she doesn't know.
oops, yes. i did get the wrong number. i'm so sorry.
no worries. it's not like you were disturbing me.
Lea knows that it is beyond the boundaries of decency to talk to a stranger in the middle of the night but her fingers cannot refrain from typing back a reply - she feels the need to push away the thoughts that Bash actually gave her the wrong number.
what are you doing this late at night?
studying.
oh, so you're a student.
ha, congrats.
i'm sorry i don't even know why I'm talking to you.
you apologize too much.
It was only after the last text, she realizes that she's been texting a complete stranger who could be a serial killer or an eighty-year-old man. Fright fills her nerves as the light on her phone goes off. She swallows a lump in her throat and reminds herself to never text strangers ever again.
