Endless

The Party

SAGE'S POV

"Love don't come easy, when it's a game of give and take..." I hummed along to the tune in my ears as I walked down the empty hall. I pushed my key into the lock and turned, pushing the door open. 

I came to an abrupt halt, though, when I stepped into my apartment.

As I stared open-mouthed at my roommate and best friend Leo in shock, he was shimmying there in his boxers with wild sunglasses on, while My Boo by Usher and Alicia Keys blared. He didn't notice me initially, and continued dancing until he turned around and saw me, jumping two feet into the air. He hurriedly snatched off his glasses and turned off the radio, pulling on a pair of sweatpants. Meanwhile, I was gaping at him, fighting back a grin, and quite utterly unsure of what to say.

"I thought you had classes all day," he began bashfully, his face a shade of crimson red. I beamed then, unable to hold it in any longer.

"And miss this?" He rolled his eyes. "My last class got cancelled because my professor had to go out of town for some last minute business meeting... Are these good?" I waved an apple at him and he nodded.

My other roommate and best friend — Ben —Leo and I recently moved into an apartment on campus. With three bedrooms, three en-suite bathrooms and a nice kitchen and living room, we'd made ourselves right at home. Ben, Leo and I all got part-time jobs in places around campus; Ben in the convenient store, Leo at the movie theatre and me in the library.

I grew up in Pennsylvania, now in Rhode Island for school. I was in my third year, happy to finally feel completely independent.

I picked up the apple, rinsed it off in the sink and took a bite. I padded off to my room, closed the door behind me, plopped onto my bed and pulled out my books. I was rushing a little, wanting to quickly finish my homework. Leo was throwing an early Christmas party before break in the apartment and I didn't want to have to miss it because of homework.

After two and a half hours of studying, I shut my notebook and sighed. I looked up to the light buzz of music playing outside my room and stood to find the source of the sound. When I got to the living room, I found Leo walking around the dining room with three bags of chips in his hands.

"What are you doing?" I inquired, sitting on a stool in front of the island. He ripped open one of the bags.

"Chip bowl."

"Where are you putting the drinks?" Leo looked at me, for a while actually, his face flat and gradually sheeting itself in panic. "...What?"

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God." He was looking around frantically, as if beer and tequila would magically appear if he looked hard enough. "I remember chips, I remember cups, but I forget the drinks? That's the only reason anyone's coming!" Leo set the bowl and half empty bag of chips on the table hastily and snatched his keys off of the counter. He sprinted to the door, slipped on a pair of my shoes and pulled his winter coat on, preparing himself for the December weather.

I smiled at this, ignoring the fact that he didn't ask to wear my shoes. He opened the door and ran so loudly down the hall that I heard his footsteps all the way until he got to the elevator. I glanced at the oven and saw that it was 6:30, three hours until the party, and I understood then why he was rushing; the store with the drinks we liked was nearly forty-five minutes away from campus. Ridiculous? Yes. But hey, we were picky guys.

I went into my bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. My dark black hair was ruffled from running my fingers through it so much when I was doing my homework. My emerald eyes were narrowed in the bright bathroom, and I yawned, my hidden sleepiness shining through. Not wanting to risk napping and waking up in the middle of the party, I opted for taking a hot shower to wake myself up.

I turned the bath water on and adjusted it to a satisfying heat before pulling the knob. I undressed and stepped in. I took my time washing my hair and body, then just stood under the hot water for a little while, letting it sink into my skin and give me the alertness I desired. Once I knew I was fully awake — or at least as much as I'd get — I shut off the water and stepped out, wrapping a towel around my waist. I grabbed a comb out of the middle drawer and ran it through my dripping hair.

I exited the bathroom and headed straight for my dresser. I decided on a distressed jean jacket and black jeans with a white t shirt. Before putting the outfit on, I removed the towel from around my waist and used it to dry my hair and make sure it wasn't dripping. I got dressed and went back into the bathroom to attend to my hair. I combed it back again, this time to keep it controlled, but didn't do much else to it. I was always simple with my hair; I usually didn't put any product in it and I basically just let it do its own thing.

I went back out into the living room and plopped down on the couch, watching TV while I waited for Leo. It was 8:00, and I guessed he'd be returning in about half an hour. I watched some random show that was on cable for a little bit before I heard the key turn in the lock.

Leo busted through the door and nearly tripped over his own feet trying to scramble into the kitchen. He had four large bags full of various drinks in his hands, plus three brown paper bags with three more bottles of alcohol. He stumbled into the dining room and gently set the bags down, careful not to break any of the bottles. He turned to me with a look of sheer panic on his face.

"Please help me," he pleaded with big brown eyes and a pout on his face. I laughed before moving around him to unload the drinks. He sighed in relief and patted me on the shoulder. "Okay, if you do the drinks and set up the keg, I can set up the lights and the playlists for the speakers." I nodded in agreement and began setting the drinks out on the table. I then got the keg out of Leo's room and put it on the left balcony that led out through the kitchen. I felt the bitter winter breeze on my skin and breathed it in for a moment, taking in the view over the balcony. I smiled softly to myself before turning around and going back inside. Leo was just finishing up with the red and green fairy lights when he called me over. "I can't decide on which playlist to play."

After sorting out the music — which translated to me merging multiple playlists to make one big party one — Leo beamed at me gratefully.

"This is why we're friends." I placed a hand over my chest.

"I feel so used," I teased. He laughed loudly and slipped his phone into his pocket. I looked down at my own phone to see the time — 9:20 — and realized people would start coming pretty soon. I went to my room and locked the door with the key I had for it, making sure anyone that wasn't me wouldn't and couldn't go in.

"What are you doing?" Leo questioned, smiling amusedly as he watched me.

"Last time we had a party, people thought it was okay to go... do things in my room and someone even threw up in there." I cringed at the memory, remembering how long it took to get the smell out. I refused to sleep in there for over a week, resorting to the couch.

Leo and I sat in the living room and started a movie, awaiting everyone's arrival, but just fifteen minutes later, there was a knock on the door and I groaned, having actually formed interest in the movie. Leo stood up and headed to the door, me following behind. He opened the door to a group of five or six people that I vaguely recognized from the last party. We let them in and soon after, people were filling up the apartment, bodies everywhere.

In no time, the party was in full swing, and the lights were flashing as everyone danced around.

After attempting to dance with a few girls — key word, attempt — I left the 'dance floor' to get a drink from the kitchen. As I was heading back to find a seat on the couch, I slammed into someone, knocking us both over. I peered over at the guy I'd crashed into and my chest tightened, for reasons that I didn't understand at the time.

Wow.