Lightning In A Bottle

Chapter Two

We stand across the street from the frat house. The music is loud enough for us to hear and it pours onto the lawn where a group of people are hanging around a couch and passing joints and beer between them. The house is white, the door wide open welcoming anyone. It kind of looks like a mini mansion.

I questioningly face Brenn, my new roommate. "So, do you actually know anyone here, Brenn?" She unabashedly opens up her front-facing camera and commences fluffing up her wavy dark hair.

She gives me a sly smile. "Um," Brenn pulls her top down just a tad. "Maybe not, but who cares! We're two very hot girls and it's a frat house, Andy." She ends the statement with a pronounced bounce, one last one to 'give her hair some volume.'

I slowly close and open my eyes. "Yikes." I'm slightly regretful.

Brenn sighs, looking me up and down. "You look great, I look great, I don't really see a problem!" She links her arm through mine as if we've been friends for years.

Looking down at myself, I guess I could be considered good-looking from someone else perspective. Black high waisted skirt, grey crop top (borrowed from Brenn) and my keds. Brenn did that winged eyeliner thing on me and I donned some type of light pink lipstick named 'Angel Babie.' I felt slightly ridiculous after learning the name of the latter.

"Let's go," Brenn starts dragging across the street and I let her. We walk past the group of people on the lawn. They seem immersed in conversation about zoos.

There's no one at the front door so we just step through the threshold and I think of the sea metaphor from earlier. Killer whales.

The music is loud but still manageable to have conversations without shouting. The house is huge, filled with people and kind of smells like cheese pizza.

Brenn looks around before dragging in a random direction. We find ourselves in the kitchen where a countertop is covered in red cups, beer bottles and a mix of hard liquors.

"You need a beer or something," Brenn says looking inside one of the coolers placed on the floor. I fiddled with my skirt, looking at the floor. There's a red stain on the white tile.

When I finally look back up I make eye contact with a guy. A very tall, attractive boy.

He's standing on the opposite side of the counter pouring liquid into a red cup. He's wearing a jean jacket and his brown hair is a total disaster. He looks right at me and smiles. His eyes crinkle at the corners.

Brenn is suddenly in front of me and I'm no longer looking at him.

"Here," Brenn hands me a can of beer. The cold feels good on my fingers and I realize my face feels really hot.

"T-Thanks," I want Brenn to move but I also don't make an effort to make eye contact with the jean jacket guy again. Brenn seems like the type that would shove me in a room with a stranger if she thought I liked him.

"You good?" Brenn gives my arm a friendly squeeze and I nod.

"Okay, good but there's his totally hot boy with mesmerizing blue eyes and I need to go snag him before this blonde chick who was cheeking him out," Brenn talks fast.

"Oh, go, get that dick or whatever," I wave her off and she gives my arm another squeeze before dispersing into another part of the house.

The kitchen is getting crowded so I make my way into the living room and find a wall to lean against. It's almost in the corner of the room. There's a keg stand a couple feet from me with people milling around it, a weekend song is playing.

I crack open the beer and take a sip. It's disgusting.

"You look like you could use something a little stronger than that," I look up and Jean jacket guy is handing me a red cup.