Breathe

Chapter Two

When I return to my dorm at quarter past four, Luce is sprawled face down on her bed reading a book but she places it down when I enter. "How did your appointment go?"

I shrug my shoulders, "As good as an appointment can go, I suppose. Nothing all that interesting to be honest."

I walk towards my bed and sit on the edge of it, facing her. "How was lunch with the guys, did you have a good time?" I'm extremely tempted to ask if she knows anything about my mysterious man crush, but I manage to restrain myself. I barely know the guy and I don't want Luce to get the wrong idea.

"It was really good actually, you definitely have to come next time. I guess you can say I'm the saviour of the world as we know it because I prevented the guys from starting World War III after Will stole a slice of Ben's pizza, so you can decide whether you're glad or disappointed you weren't there." Her eyes go glazed as if she's picturing the exact events in her mind right then and part of me wishes I had been there, but another part of me is happy not to be in the middle of a pizza war.

"Oh! I almost forgot the guys invited us to their frat part for 'O week'. You know how guys can be, can't pass up an opportunity to show off their big houses to compensate for other not so big things," she winks and I choke on my own breath at her words. Although I have only known Luce for a small time, I already have a feeling she's going to become a regular in my life and every single part of me looks forward to that.

Then I remember where she invited me. A party. A frat party. Although I've never been to a house party in my life, I know without a doubt that this will not be small and it will be overflowing with people, drunk people, intoxicated people, where elbows will constantly bump into other elbows and numerous other body parts. I try to convince myself that I was in a crowd today, but I know deep down that is not on the same scale as this party. Today I had a field of space. Something tells me the house isn't that large.

"I-I'm not so sure about that. I'm not really the partying kind of person, not my kind of scene." Whilst I know other girls my age sneak into clubs, get tits over ass drunk, and hurl the contents of the night up a few hours later I, myself, prefer to settle into bed with a movie or a book, depending on how I feel.

"Come on, it'll be a good time and it's not like you won't have me. Can you think of a better person to spend the night with?" She comments, her eyebrow arched perfectly. To be completely honest I can. Shall I name all the drool-worthy characters from books I'm reading and shows I'm watching? Seriously, who wouldn't want to spend a night with people like Ian Somerhalder, Steven R. McQueen, and Josh Duhamel. Luce must take my silence as an agreement and continues, "at least think about it, yeah?"

I nod, not meaning it at first but then my appointment with Kate reminds me that slow steps lead to big achievements, so I nod again as a promise to myself. "I hate to switch the subject and be cringe—and I also hope your boyfriend doesn't come after me for this—but can I have your number?" I cheekily stick my tongue out.

Luce immediately grabs her phone and I retrieve mine from my back pocket as we exchange numbers. Afterward, she asks about my life prior to attending Waymouth. I briefly mention living with my aunt and uncle and she doesn't pry too much into things I'm not quite comfortable sharing yet. I'm not exactly keen on sharing the deepest darkest parts of my past in case it scares her off. I already know all too well how much it sucks to lose people before you've come to terms with the fact and I'm not ready for a repeat.

I ask about her and Charlie and how they ended up together and she tells me multiple stories both sweet and funny and somewhere inside of my mind, I'm envious. She also talks about the other guys and even though I cannot put names to faces, I can tell that she loves them, and from the sounds of it, they feel the same.