The Taunting (College Life #1)

I attacked Andreas Chen

As we sat around the island talking and eating, a small radio was playing on the counter. I whispered to Bridget why they were playing the radio when Spotify is a thing. Turns out Monica, the fiery pink-haired girl I met when I first showed up, works at the campus radio station. Once a week she has her segment where people call in and she gives them advice on their problems. She makes all of them tune in to listen and give her feedback. I didn't even know the campus had a radio station.

All in all, I had lots of fun getting to know Bridget's roommates. They're all so different from each other, but find some way to all get along and relate. I helped wash the dishes and wipe down the island marble counter. We all said goodnight and headed in our own directions.

Now, it's 11 at night and I'm staring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on Bridget's ceiling as I lay in Bridget's bed. Her loud snoring keeps me awake; I groan. When I tell you I tried everything, putting on music, smushing a pillow against my eyes, and even tried out the tub, but it was so uncomfortable that along with my anger for not being able to sleep, my back started aching.

I'm so close to grabbing a decorative pillow and smothering her in her sleep. This idea leaves my mind once I realize jail won't be good for me, I don't do well in small spaces, and Orange is not my color. Instead, I grab a pillow and blanket and head for the stairs to the couch. Orientation is tomorrow and I need to be wide awake for it. The campus is huge, being lost is not something I need on my, about to be, huge plate.

I lay on the suede couch, wrap the blanket around my body and quickly fall asleep.

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2 AM

My body awakens once I hear a loud crash, it came from the kitchen. I can't see anything in this living room but darkness. There's an intruder in this house, I need to catch him before he gets away. Feeling around in the dark, I find a solid object; a smirk comes on my face. It's a beer bottle, probably the one I saw when I came here earlier. Do they even clean?

I unwrap the blanket from my waist and tiptoe to the kitchen. I can't believe no one else heard that loud crash. They maybe couldn't hear over Bridget's loud ass snoring. Hiding on the side of the kitchen entrance, I peek around the corner. A tall and broad shadow moves around letting out small grunts and moans. It's a man, maybe in his late 20's early 30's. What are the chances that I would be stopping a robbery, I wonder if Monica will have me on the radio show so I could tell my story.

The shadow moves again, a crunch sounds under his boots.

Glass.

He broke the small little window in the backdoor. That's why he's moaning and groaning, he must be bleeding and looking for a towel or something to stop it. He's too close to the door, I need to go in now.

Taking a deep breath, and preparing myself for the worst, I let out a battle cry and charge for the kitchen. The shadow doesn't have time to react once I hit him on the head with the beer bottle. It makes a thud sound and falls to the ground. It was PLASTIC! I hoped it would be glass, damn it. I wanted to be like Fez from Euphoria.

The shadow stumbles and tries to hold onto the countertop. He grunts loudly and moves towards the door, not letting him get away, I jump on his broad back and lock my arm around his neck. When I learned to kickbox, they taught me the basics of how to stop an attacker or robber. With my arm being secured around his neck, he isn't going anywhere.

The shadow talks, "What are you doing!" He mumbles angrily.

"Don't act dumb," I whisper in his ear. "You break into this house and ask me what the hell I'm doing? You're not getting away with this, Vigilante." He thrashes under my grip, but can't get away from me. My legs are also secure around his waist. I can feel his ridged abs under my calves.

"Are you ser- what are you? I'm not some DC character." He stumbles back and my middle back hits the counter, I bite my tongue from the searing pain that warps up my back. He can slam me against the door if he wanted, I'm not letting go.

My eyes blink rapidly once a bright light illuminates the kitchen. Four human beings stand, staring at me like I'm some psycho. Bridget's wrapped in a pink robe, Doug only has on boxers, the tight kind that shows the bulge, I quickly look away from that. Daniel wears no shirt only plaid pants, the most basic outfit a guy wears to bed, Monica and Carlee both have on shorts and a tank top.

"Eliza! What in the world is going on!" asked a confused Bridget. Her eyes flash to me and the robber I'm currently hanging onto for dear life.

"Yeah, I'd like to know?" Doug crosses his arms, pumping up his chest. Monica, Carlee, and Daniel stand to the side slightly laughing. Why is this funny? A guy broke into THEIR house, they should be madder than I am.

I explain myself, "From the living room, I heard a loud crash coming from the kitchen. I came in here to this-this vigilante going through the kitchen, most likely looking for alcohol or drugs even. Anyway, he isn't going anywhere since I have him in the headlock, as you all can see." I gesture with my head to the lock around him.

Doug snickers, "Damn girl."