how to catch feelings

5

After playing on my phone for a couple hours, I returned to the dorm to have lunch.

Meg and Damaris were in the kitchen, reciting medications back and forth as they waited for their pasta to boil.

"Were you at the office?" Damaris asked.

"Yeah."

"Alone?"

"Yeah."

"Not texting anyone?"

I gave them both a dirty look as I grabbed a pot from the cupboard. "No."

"Just wondering."

I rolled my eyes. "Sure you were."

They moved over so I could get my own lunch going.

Even after a year of rooming together, it still hadn't occurred to us to make a single large batch of pasta in a large pot instead of us each using our own small pots.

The more dirty dishes, the merrier, right?

My phone buzzed again.

Damaris smirked at me. "Aren't you going to check that?"

"No." I hated having unread notifications on my lock screen, but I wasn't about to give them the satisfaction of checking to see who was texting me.

That being said, as soon as their pasta was done and they took their food out to the living room to watch Grey's, I had to check.

"Party?" Cole was asking.

Facebook Messenger. Mixing it up, apparently.

"Maybe," I replied.

Truth be told, I still hadn't decided whether or not I was actually going to go. Meg and Damaris were no doubt planning on going, if only to check 'college party' off the old bucket list, but just something about the thought of the party scene made my heart beat a little faster.

And that was saying something, because let me tell you, those antidepressants chilled me tf out.

My phone buzzed again.

A gif now – a cat tearing it up at a DJ turntable with the caption 'let's party!'

Ever the conversationalist, I sent back a dancing Minion gif before tossing my phone on the counter to free up my hands for completely destroying my uncooked ramen.

***

"What do people wear to parties?" Damaris asked.

I looked up from my laptop to see her standing in my doorway in her bra and underwear. "Home slice. Really?"

She blew me a kiss. "You love me."

"I hate you."

Meg joined Damaris in the doorway, unfazed by the lack of clothing. "I was just gonna wear jeans and that crop top I got when we went shopping last year."

"The red one?"

"Yeah."

"Yaaas, girl! You be smokin'!"

Meg rolled her eyes, but she blushed and I knew she was pleased with the compliment.

"What about you, Nat? What are you going to wear?"

"I don't think I'm going."

There it was, the metaphorical bomb. Although you'd think I'd dropped a real one from the looks they gave me.

"You have to! We have to go to at least one party before we graduate! Come on, Nat, this is our year!"

"Meh."