The Bachelor

Four

The weekend consists only of studying. On Saturday I get together with the same friends from my Exercise Physiology class, that exam is on Monday, my first one. We take a break and go out for lunch. That's where I tell them about my new and improved plans for the next couple months. They all have a good laugh, with me, not at me. After lunch we part ways, Jack hugs me and says quietly,

"Just be careful alright?"

"I will," I say. I don't really plan to become too invested in everything. But the more concerned people seem, the more it starts to rub off on me. But I can't be worrying about it. I have to focus on school, so that's what I do.

I don't leave the apartment at all on Sunday. I make sure that I go to bed in good time and surprisingly my swirling thoughts don't keep me up for long.

The next five days, with the exception of Wednesday, have similar agendas. I wake up with lots of time to spare and make myself a good breakfast, eating it while taking one last look over my completed course summary review notes. Then I take the bus into campus, make my way to the building where I will be writing, and then stress for two hours while I complete the tests. After I complete that test I go home and study for the next one. It was a hard week, but I feel proud of myself when it's over.

Saturday, I don't even change out of my pyjamas. I sit on my bed and watch all of the TV shows that I have fallen behind on over the past couple weeks.

But on Sunday, Becky decides we're going to a party. It's in a frat house, I don't know them, but they've invited practically everybody. That evening I get dressed, with some help from my more fashionably inclined friend. I end up wearing white jean shorts and a floral print tank top, leaving my hair down. I text Jack and he tells me that he's going to be there.

We walk over to the bus, a walk that I've taken too many times this past week. As we bump along the road Becky says,

"Maybe you'll meet someone cute." I look at her, rolling my eyes.

"You know, for some reason I don't think that this is going to be the best place to meet someone," I joke, "Besides, in a week I'm going to meet the love of my life remember?" She laughs.

"It wouldn't kill you to have some fun at least," she says.

"Hey!" I retort, "You know I can have fun."

"I hear Eric is going to be there," she says wiggling her eyebrows up and down. I roll my eyes, for the second time. Eric is my ex from first year, we were in the same residence.

"You know we're done," I say. It didn't end badly, we just realized that we didn't have a lot in common and we could barely carry a conversation.

"I know..." she sulks playfully. She has been trying to get me to meet someone ever since we broke up. Her act is interrupted when we arrive at our stop which is not even a five minute walk from our destination.

When we arrive, we can see that the party is well under way. The people spill out of the house onto the yard in front and I can see that there are people in the back too. We walk up to the front door,

"My friends say they're inside," Becky shouts, over the already loud music. Right when I go to follow her inside I feel a hand on my arm I turn around to see Jack, and Emily with him.

"Hey!" he greets me, rather loudly, and I infer that he's already been drinking. I say hello to Emily and she politely says hello back. I don't think she drinks much.

"Everyone is out back, come on," he says and I say bye to Becky, promising to find her later, and follow him around back.

Sure enough, most of our friends are there. I say hi to them and grab a cup from someone, taking a gulp of what's inside. It's a strange mix and I can't pick out what's in it but I drink it anyway, I'm not really picky at this point.

"Carrie!" I hear from behind me. Only two people call me that. I turn to see Eric. He's kind of stumbling over to me, clearly far from sober. He comes up right beside me and wraps his arms around me. I can't really return the hug so I stand there awkwardly in his arms.

"I miss you Carrie," he slurs, and I laugh out loud.

"No you don't you idiot, now get off me," I laugh, and lightly push him away. He stumbles a bit but then regains his composure. He addresses my friends, some of whom he doesn't know.

"She seems nice now but you'll see, she's an animal," he says before staggering off into the crowd. After a second of silence we burst out laughing. That was actually a fairly normal encounter for us. We broke it off on good terms, so we mostly just joke about things. I would consider him a friend.

After a few drinks I can feel the buzz kicking in and we all go inside. the living room is clear of furniture and people are dancing. I'm not much of a dancer, so I stay off to the side while the rest of the group makes their way into the crowd, Jack holding Emily's hand. I kind of bounce along to the beat but keep my hands clasping my cup. I've been told that I have awkward hand movements when I dance, so I try to keep them otherwise occupied.

Suddenly I feel hand on my waist, I turn around and find my face at chest level on a guy I don't know. He's so drunk I can tell after one look.

"Hey how about-" he starts, but I interrupt.

"Walk away bud," I say, turning away. I'm not taking any shit tonight. But he's not listening and he tries to grab me again. I roll my eyes.

"I really didn't want to have to do this," I say and I send my elbow flying back and hit him right in the gut, hard. He let's out a strained grunt.

"Bitch," he mumbles as he buckles over a bit, clutching his stomach. I wear a triumphant smirk as I see Jack walking back over.

"What was that about, are you ok?" he asks, watching the guy walk away.

"I'm fine, it's him you should be worried about," I reply. He looks almost proud of me as he smiles. Then he grabs my hand and drags me, against my will, into the dance crowd. I actually remain there for quite a while, surprising myself.

Eventually Becky finds me again and has clearly had too much to drink. I apologize to my friends and I walk her out the door. She can walk, with minimal help from me, and I manage to get her home. I was starting to get tired of the party anyway. After a very difficult trek up the stairs, I tuck her into bed and after drinking about three glasses of water, I go to bed too.