As A Friend

23: My Old, New Friend

I barely make it through syllabus week. The anticipation of all the homework I'll be getting this semester settled on my shoulders like an anvil and crushed me. It also didn't help that Kat basically attacked me the day she got back. She bombarded me with questions about Dominic and everything that happened right before break and during it. I tried to keep her updated through text but it's a little difficult to do a feeling dump through messages. I FaceTimed her a couple times but it was also short lived because she worked very often this break.

I'm not surprised when Dominic calls me after his last class to vent about his day. I pause my Netflix and answer his call. "I hate math." I know that's a lie.

"No you don't." I repress a laugh at how unconvincing he sounded.

"No, I do. It's so frustrating." I listen to him rant for a few minutes.

"It's okay. You're so smart. You can handle it," I assure him.

"You know, all I want to do tonight is go out. I just want to go out and party and have fun." He sighs loudly as if audibly releasing stress.

"Then why don't you?" I'll spend the night watching Netflix.

"You know, I think I might," he concludes. "Do you want to come?"

"Uh..." I would if I wasn't scared of what I might see. The last thing I want to bear witness to is Dominic drunkenly making out with some girl. I can't shake my slight fear that he'll have a little too much to drink and fall back into his old ways. That theory is unrealistic because Dominic rarely, if ever, drinks; therefore he can only fall back into his old ways if he makes the sober decision to, which scares me even more.

"Come on. It'll be fun," he sings. "We can watch West and Jack make fools of themselves."

I sigh and give in. "Sure, why not?"

"I'll find a party for us and I'll text you the details," he ends the conversation. I groan once I hang up and put my head on my pillow. I've been back a week and I'm already making plans to go out and make bad decisions. Perfect.

Dominic arrives at my dorm at roughly 9:00PM to pick me up for the party. I text him that I'll be downstairs in a minute as I assess my outfit in the mirror. I suddenly feel insecure. Am I showing too much skin? My shirt is both low cut and cropped and my jeans are severely ripped. I swallow my nerves and head out. I practically freeze during the walk from my building to Dominic's car, where I tug open the door. I find him staring at me with wide eyes as I get in and buckle my seatbelt.

"Wow." I can't tell if it's a good wow or a bad wow.

"Too much?" I ask nervously.

"No, you look good," he compliments as he assesses my outfit. "Like really good."

"Thanks." My face is red and my stomach butterflies are back to work.

"So, uh, what are your plans for tonight? Are you going to hang out with me and the guys or are you going to go off and do your own thing? Am I allowed to ask that?" he rambles as he drives us to the party.

I laugh at his nervousness. "I'm going to hang out with you guys."

"Good," he quickly replies. "Not that it'd be bad if you went off on your own. I was just saying- you know what? Let's just listen to music."

I chuckle quietly as he turns on the radio. We eventually arrive to the party and West and Jack are already there, waiting inside. Dominic and I enter together and we keep close and search for the guys. We find that they're already in the middle of a game of beer pong. West spots us through the crowd and grins. "Looking hot, Nova. Who are you trying to take home?"