Affliction

Chapter One.

If there was one thing I could change in this very moment it would be agreeing to come to this party. I don't know why I thought it'd be different from every other party I've been to. They all go the same way.

First Alma, who I guess you could call my best friend, convinces me to come with her to some frat party. She pulls the whole "it'll only be a couple hours. Please don't make me go alone" bit. Then within 20 minutes of being here she runs off to do god knows what. Then I'm stuck alone, making small talk with people who I know I'll never see again. I don't drink, or do drugs, and I sure as hell don't socialize. So really there's no point in coming to these things. Being the only sober one does have its perks though, like being able to actually remember the imbecilic things people do.

The smell of booze was beginning to get overwhelming and my lungs were begging to get away from the smoke that was billowing in every inch of the mansion. I finished the last remaining bit of my soda before crushing the plastic cup in my hand and heading to the kitchen to throw it away. I entered the kitchen that was big enough to be my apartment and made my way towards the trash can. But much to my dismay a lip-locked couple blocked the way of the one simple thing I needed. Out of all the areas in the house they had to pick the area where people cook food.

"Excuse me I need to throw this away." I resist the urge to add an anxious "sorry" to the end of my sentence.

I rocked back and forth on the heels of my black boots, patiently waiting for the couple to respond to my words. After a few seconds I assume that they must of not heard me. The music was pretty loud. It was a party after all.

"Hello?" I said in a bit more of a stern and determined tone. The girl unlocked her lips with the boy who was a few inches shorter than her and locked eyes with mine. At first I was expecting her to move, even just an inch to the left would have been enough for me to throw this cup away. I thought I was doing the decent thing by throwing the cup in the trash rather than on the floor.

But instead of simply moving out of the way like a normal, common-sensed human she raises her right hand and uses it to push my head away from her. The action was harmless, but the way it made me feel was not too short of furious.

The tightly clothed girl turns back around to kiss her boyfriend without a second glance. Now a normal person would leave this situation alone, right? I should just walk away. I should set my cup on the kitchen island and be on my merry way. No conflict is needed. But she laid a hand on me. She physically took her hand and pushed me away like an annoying toddler.

I begin to walk away, the sound of my leather shoes making a low pitch squeaking noise, but something in my subconscious convinces me to stay put. I turn back around to face the rude girl and notice she was holding a bottle of corona in her left hand. I turn to my right and hastily grab an empty beer bottle.

"Hey, excuse me." I say much louder this time and if looks could kill I would be dead right now. Her icy blue eyes, that were most likely artificial contacts, pierce into my green eyes.

"What the hell do you want you annoying freak?" She steps closer to me. I was about 3 inches taller than her, so it was pretty amusing that she had to crane her neck so much to look up at me.

"Just wanted to say cheers." I force a wicked smile before taking the empty beer bottle and tapping the top of hers with the bottom of it. Almost instantaneously her beer bubbles up from the carbonation and sprays her directly in the face, the alcohol drenching her clothing.

I slyly turn around, ignoring the copious amounts of onlookers as I passed through the kitchen and up the stairs to go to my usual hiding place.

I know I might have overreacted just a little with that girl, but what can I say? I'm a bitch.

I easily find the room I was looking for on the third story of the house. It was an empty bedroom and has been the same for the past 2 months. Cobwebs collected in the corner and the only source of lighting was the moonlight that was shining through the window. The window was already open, which I found odd, but I climbed through it anyways to access the roof. The roof slanted downwards, but not so much to where you can't easily walk on it. I easily scuffle up the left side of the off-shoot so I can step up on the very top of the house's roofing.

"Hello?" The sudden sound of a deep voice from above me startled me. I wasn't expecting anyone up here. There's never anyone else up here.

"Oh hi. Sorry, I didn't realize someone was up here. I'll go back inside." I manage to not trip over my words and begin to turn around, but before I can step back down on the slanted rooftop the silhouette speaks out.

"I don't mind the company."

His voice was deep and alluring, but the sincerity in his voice was the first thing to stick out to me. I feel like most people would be creeped out that a random person was asking me to join them at one in the morning on a fraternity's rooftop. How niche of a situation...

"I'm Eden, by the way." he speaks out again as I sit next to him, leaving about a 3 foot gap.

"I'm Arabella." I smile even though I doubt he could see me in the night.

"Like the song?" The now named boy piped up with slight enthusiasm in his voice.

I furrowed my eyebrows together in confusion, racking my brain of all the songs I've heard in my 19 years of living.

"There's a song with my name?"

"By the Arctic Monkeys?" He questions again, only this time sounding bewildered that I've never heard of this song.

"Oh no, I don't listen to them. I've only heard that one song that got overplayed on the radio." Now that song was going to be stuck in my head for the rest of the night.

I pull my feet up to my chest and hug them loosely within my arms. It was weird how comfortable I was around this stranger. I couldn't make out his face in the faint lighting. For all I know he doesn't even go to this school and is just some serial killer. But that theory didn't scare me. There wasn't really much of anything that scared me nowadays... and dying wasn't one of them.

"They're pretty good if you like alternative music." His head turns to look at me, but I keep my gaze fixed in front. I was trying to count the amount of bugs congregating by the street lights bulb.

"So do you go to this school?" I change the subject to the question that's been bothering me.

I had recently decided to drop out of college this year. It was my second year here and I wasn't enjoying it at all. I have my own apartment off campus and a full-time job, so class on top of that for a degree that wouldn't even benefit the career I want would just be a waste of money.

"No my brother does. He dragged me along to this thing. I don't go to school, I just work."

"Same." I boringly responded. I laid my feet back down and flopped on my back to look up at the stars. They were faint from all the light pollution, but some of them were bright enough to awe you.

"Your twin brother also dragged you to this frat party?" Eden chuckled.

I just laughed in response and muttered a "yes" before going silent again. I wasn't in much of a talking mood. In all honesty I didn't want to get to know him. I would most likely never see him again. I didn't have a good track record with boys.

Eden laid down next to me, only about 4 feet of space between us, and we just fell silent. An hour must have gone by without either of saying a word. It was a comfortable silence. The sound of us breathing overtook the sound of the crickets. We'd take turns occasionally turning to look at the other. The roof slightly shook with the vibrations of the party raging just below us. It was almost perfect in a whimsical way.