The Professor

Chapter Two

I let Jessica fix my makeup and hair for the frat party.

I decided on dark skinny jeans with holes, an olive green loose shirt, and tan wedges.  Jessica styles my brown hair in loose waves and mixes colors of shimmery dark brown and tan eyeshadow to give my brown eyes a smoky look. I've never seen myself look so good. I almost feel like a new person.

When she's done with me, Jessica straightens her silky blonde hair and dresses in a cute denim skirt and purple crop top. Jessica touches up her mascara and applies a light pink shade of lip gloss before standing back and smiling at herself in the mirror.

"Ready?" She asks me with a perky smile.

I take a deep breath and try to not talk myself out of going. "Ready."

We grab our purses and keys before leaving the room. After I lock it, we head to the stairs and walk down to the first floor.

"Chelsea just texted me and said she was waiting outside. Chelsea's my friend that I went to school with." Jessica says.

When we walk outside, a white Jeep Grand Cherokee is waiting on us. Jessica opens the door to the passenger seat and the two girls squeal with hello's. I climb in the seat behind Jessica as she starts to introduce me to Chelsea.

"Chelsea, this is Claire, my roommate."

"Hi, nice to meet you." She says with a warm smile. Chelsea is very pretty. Half of her midnight colored hair is pulled up in a bun with the rest falling down her shoulders. She drives us to the frat house and I do my best to get to know her on the way there.

"Do you live in a dorm, Chelsea?" I ask her.  She shakes her head at my question and keeps her eyes on the road.

"No. I live in an apartment that's like five minutes from here. Well, according to my mom, that's where I live. I basically stay with Connor every night at the frat house." She says.

"How long have you and Connor been dating?"

"Two years. We're high school sweethearts." She says proudly.

The drive is short and when we arrive, I feel out of my element all the way in the car. The yard to the house is littered with red solo cups and people. Some are laying in the grass, some standing around, and some making out with each other; this is a scene i'm not used to. I can feel the vibration of the music coming from inside. It's loud and obnoxious already.

There's three letters painted on a huge blue flag hanging from one of the windows outside at the top of the house. I don't know my greek letters so I have no idea what fraternity i'm at. 

I step out of the Jeep nervously when Jessica and Chelsea open their doors. I'm intimidated and scared, this is so new to me. Sensing my nervousness, Jessica nods at me gently and looks at me concerned. 

"Are you okay, Claire?" She asks sweetly.

I nod my head and gulp, still taking in the scene before me. "Honestly, i've never been to a party. Ever." I tell her.

Her mouth drops open and she looks to Chelsea. "Well then," She loops her arm through mine and pulls me closer to her. "We're going to have some fun tonight."

We walk up to the steps of the porch and into the door where more people crowd the small house. Seriously, this has to be a fire hazard. 

The music is much louder and I can already tell that i'm going to have a severe headache in a matter of no time. People are yelling over the music which doesn't help and the whole house smells of nothing but strong alcohol and weed. The smell of beer instantly meets my nose at a sickening, strong pace and I make a face, already turned off by the thought of it. I've only had one alcoholic beverage in my whole 18 years of life and that was one sip of my mother's champagne at our Christmas party two years ago. I liked it but wasn't craving my own glass after the small sip I had.