Fluctuate - Van McCann

2

7:00 rolls around quickly. I spent most of my time unpacking my clothes and accessories and making my bed. "You ready?" Anna asks, walking out of our bathroom. It looks like she just applied some more makeup, but not too much that it was obnoxious.

"Yup. I hope my outfit is fine," I laugh, noticing that Anna was wearing a nice skirt and pink top. "I didn't know this was something I'd have to dress up for."

"Nah, you'll be fine. I just dress up all the time," she says, reassuring me. "By the way, I love your shirt. I didn't even notice it until now."

I look down at my grey Strokes T-shirt and smile. "Thanks!" I say. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I never would have guessed you would listen to them."

•~~~~~

Anna and I arrive at the first floor main room and I look around. There were probably twenty other people here already, and more would be coming later, I would  assume. There's about 50-60 people per building.

"Oh! There's the guy who told me about this. Let's go say hi," Anna suggests. Anna is obviously very outgoing. I almost feel out of place next to her. Back home I never really went to parties like this. When I did go to parties, it was only if my closest friends went too. I follow her over to the group of guys who she pointed to.

"Hi, Bondy," she says, getting the attention of the man, who is named Bondy.

"Oh, Anna, what's up?" Bondy says with a smile.

"The usual," she shrugs. "This is Peyton. She's my roommate." She makes ways for me to step closer, so I do.

"Hey, Peyton. Nice to meet ya. I'm Bondy, as you probably know," Bondy says.

"Yeah," I chuckle. "It's nice to meet you too."

"Hey, lids, this is that girl I told you about, Anna, and her roommate, Peyton," Bondy says, tapping three others on the shoulder. They were all faced away from us, having their own conversation with some other people.

The three men turn around and greet Me and Anna. "Nice to meet you, ladies. I'm Bob," the guy with curly brown hair says. "This is Benji right here," he adds, pointing to the guy next to him. "And over here, we have—"

"Van," the last guy says, cutting off Bob. "I'm Van," he repeats and holds his hand out, which I shake. "You're Peyton?" He asks for clarification.

"Yeah, that's me," I smile at Van, looking him in the eyes and realizing how blue they were. He was very attractive, to say the least.

Van ran his fingers through his hair and looked over at Anna. "Nice to meet you, too," he says, extending his hand out for her, which she shakes.

"You too," she chuckles. "You two should go talk." Anna looks over at me and then Van. Van and I make eye contact again and then I look down. "Go on, don't be shy," she persists.

"Yeah, Van, you need some more friends anyway," Benji says, jokingly, causing the rest of us, especially Bondy to laugh.

"Go have fun, Van," Bondy reassures Van.

Van looks over at me and raises his eyebrows. "Come on, I'll get you a drink?" He asks.

I nod my head and smile. I step closer to Van and we begin walking toward the kitchen area. He grabs two cans of coke from the fridge and hands one to me. "You like Coke?" He asks before letting go of the can.

I nod my head. "Of course," I tell him.

"At least someone has taste. Bondy over there hates it," he chuckles, releasing his grip on the can.

"You can't hate coke. It's just sugar and water," I laugh, popping the can open and hearing the fizz.

"That's what I tell him!" Van exclaims. "Come on," he motions with his hand for me to follow, which I obviously do. I walk behind Van and pass Bondy and Anna as we do. They seem to both like each other a lot.

Bondy pats Van on the shoulder. "Hey, show her you like her. Hold her hand or something," he tries to whisper, but I could still here. I think Bondy might be a little drunk, unless this is just how he acts.

I look over at Anna and she winks at me. I roll my eyes and look away, trying to hide the smile on my face. Sure, I had a crush on Van, I guess, but it was just a crush. And I doubt he even likes me, anyway.

Van opens the door that lead to the outside campus. "A little loud in there, no? I could barley hear us talk," Van says, taking a sip of his coke.

"Yeah. Who knew fifty people could make that much noise?" I say. Van slows down his pace so I can catch up to him. His long legs give him a huge advantage.

"Exactly," Van sighs. "Anna and Bondy seem to be getting along," he adds.

"Yeah, they have perfect personalities for each other," I laugh. "I don't think I'll ever be outgoing like that."

"That's not a bad thing, ya know?" Van stops moving once we reach a small park. He sits down on one of the benches, leaving room for me to sit next to him. "I'm the same way."

"Really?" I chuckle. "Someone who spends that much time with someone like Bondy must pick up on some stuff eventually."

Van laughs. "Nah, I'm a pretty simple man. I just like to hang around and listen to some music. Maybe smoke a cigarette or two while I'm at it," he says with a shrug.

"Speaking of music," he says, glancing down at my shirt. "Ya like the Strokes?" He rests his arm on the top of the bench and turns toward me.

"Yeah!" I say, a little too excited. I feel my cheeks heat up and I look down. "Sorry, it's just, you're the second person to mention my shirt today. That never happened back home," my voice now quieter.

"Well, you must have been living 'round a group with a pretty terrible music taste. Where'd you come from?" Van asks, brushing my shoulder when he asked the question in attempt to get me to look up at him, which I do.

"I'm from Maine. What about you? Not the United States, I'm guessing," I say, considering he seems to have an English accent.

"Yeah, I'm from England. Wanted to get far away from there. The weather was just nasty," he explains his long distance. "Why'd you come from so far?"

"I got a good scholarship and figured I'd save some money," I tell him, not going into more depth about my parents low income.

"Makes sense. This college thing is a little expensive, isn't it?"

I laugh. "Mhm, just a little," I say.