Elitease

Chapter 6

While walking back to the dorm, I still couldn't get that damned kiss off my mind. Nearly a full day has passed, and I can still feel the touch of her lips on mine. Whatever; if she doesn't think about it much and doesn't freak out every time she sees me and flees, then why should I? I should just get over it. I enter the room and immediately jump back while pulling the door behind me when I see her lying on my bed. Then I do that thing that therapists often tell you to do when your heartbeat is racing and you're panicking: take three slow breaths and exhale. Inhale, exhale; inhale, exhale; inhale, exhale, and go back inside. She hasn't moved, although I don't think she even heard me entering when she had both of her AirPods in. She slowly lifts her head back to take a look at me before jumping out of my bed and into hers and going back to scrolling on her phone, as though nothing had just happened. I chuckle to myself, thinking back to just a few moments ago when she was comfortably cuddled up in my blankets.

I put my bag down and try as much as a human possibly can to ignore her. Mission accomplished; I lay down where she was and then wrapped myself around the blanket that she had wrapped herself in. Without bothering to look back, I put my timer on for 30 minutes and thought that I should take a power nap—or as much as I could with her being in the same room as me. To my surprise, though, I quickly forget all about the timer and her and fall sound asleep. Only waking up did I realize that it was already dark. Jesus, what time is it? "It's 7:30 pm, for your info," says a voice across the room. I get hit with déjà vu from that time she had woken me up at 5:56 in the morning to give me a tour. She is still with her phone in her hand, facing me. "My god," I say grumbling while trying to get up. Heading straight towards the bathroom looking away from her gaze, I look in the mirror and see my hair completely dishevelled and mascara slightly smudged on my cheek. I groan while splashing my face with cold water to bring me back to reality. I then head back, attempting to put my pyjamas on when she interrupts:

-What do you think you're doing?

-Changing so I can sleep better?

-No. We are going to another party tonight, without that much alcohol this time.

-Oh, so now you make decisions for me too?

-It seems so.

I couldn't say no if I wanted to, but I didn't. So, I put my uniform pants back on and went back to the bathroom to tie my hair and remove my makeup. Wasting no time to leave, Aaliyah opens the door and waits there for me while I take time dragging my steps until I finally reach the exit. She sighs and mumbles something that I can't quite hear and then closes the door while I wait for her. She leads me to someone else's dorm. Number 403, which was, according to Aaliyah, Chloe's room number. She knocks before someone unfamiliar opens up and lets us in while yelling at someone in the back, "They're here!" We enter, and slow music is playing from two speakers. This dorm is bigger since it has two rooms, and it's more simple than mine and Aaliyah's. Its dim lighting makes it so that everything is darker and more... intimate? It's an enjoyable atmosphere until I spot the table in the middle of the living room laid out with alcohol bottles. Did she lie on purpose? If she did, then I would've been pissed, so I grab her by the arm and spin her so she is facing me, "Did you know about this?" I ask. "No. No, I swear." And I believe her then looking further down; I see that my grip was so tight it could leave marks. "Fuck, sorry," I said letting her go. The warmth of her skin leaves mine.

Someone comes up to me later on asking if I want to join a game some of them are playing in Chloe's room. At first, I declined, but then I changed my mind and thought what could be harmful in playing a little game? So I follow the girl and see a circle of them surrounding a bottle. No. Fucking. Way. They are playing spin the bottle as friends? If they are okay with it and see nothing wrong with that, then I should act like them. Even if the concept of it makes me feel uneasy within myself, I have to admit that if I had a chance to kiss Aaliyah again, even as a stupid dare, I would take it. So I sit down between two unknown girls as Chloe spins it. It lands on the girl beside me. "I dare you to kiss...", says Chloe as everyone is trying to guess who she would choose. "Raven!", letting out a giggle, everyone turns to me and then the girl sitting at my left. Okay, I can do this. I will do this. Thinking that some fun couldn't ruin or do anything, I cup her jaw and press my lips to hers. A quick peck at first, but when she can't stop and spears her tongue in my mouth. I pull off and leave the room. Her taste is inside me, so I go to the nearest sink, take water, and spit it out multiple times trying to wash it off. Turning back when I heard footsteps, I turned to see the girl who had just kissed me. "Listen, I get that this game is not for everyone, but no need to overreact like a bitch and run away," she spits. What should I have answered to that?

Someone else then appears from behind her, spins her around, and smacks her. Wow, I never knew she had that much strength. Something else new about her. She takes my hand threading her slim fingers through mine and says something like "Party's over" or "Time to go." Although I couldn't be sure what she did say when she dragged me out, I did know that, as soon as we entered our dorm, I smashed my mouth onto hers.