Sensation (h.s)

Chapter Six

✺ K A T E ' S ✺ P O V ✺

"I'm so happy you made it! You look so pretty!" Lena shouts over the loud music of the club as we order a third round of drinks. We began with shots, moved onto beer, and are now busying ourselves with some fruity drinks that should add even further to our buzz that's just beginning.

"I'm happy I made it too. I needed this more than I realized." I admit back, laughing along with her.

After leaving Professor Styles apartment earlier this evening, I sat curled up on the seat of the bus and analyzed the entire evening in my head. He seemed happy and sure of everything when we first began, but it was like the second that he came, we were back to his apprehensive awkwardness and inevitable regret. It hurt, but I got exactly what I asked for. Sex with no strings attached. I'll have to get used to it if I really want that sort of relationship from him.

"Well then down your drink and let's dance, or something. All I ever do anymore is hang out with Steven and cry over homework. I want to get wasted." Lena's giggles fill my ears again and we both grin as we clink the rims of our cups together. Steven, her boyfriend, is the reason that she's almost never staying the night in our dorm. He lives in a frat house a few blocks away from us and she finds herself much more comfortable staying with him in his room rather than bringing him to our dorm where we don't even have the privacy of sleeping in separate rooms. I've only met the guy a few times, but from what I can gather, him and Lena are completely smitten over each other.

The night seems to pass in a blur of dancing, singing at the top of our lungs, and drinking until we can't see straight. Lena is even more of a lightweight than I am and by the time we're ordering our fifth drink, I know that if I'm wasted, she's beyond wasted.

I waltz around with her to the beat of some song and giggle like madwoman over nothing. My hair is all over and my eyesight is blurred, but I feel weightless, and I love it. My brain is finally free from the constricting thoughts of school, my afternoons spent with Professor Styles, and him. I feel sometimes as though if I think about all of the insane components that make up the one big joke that is my life, my brain may explode.

When we close out our tab at the bar and finally decide to call it a night, we stumble out to a cab and make our way back home. My short dress gives me chills on my legs when I'm outside. In the cab I busy myself with lazily staring out the window at the beautiful city passing by. If I hadn't ended up here under such strange circumstances maybe I could actually learn to enjoy myself. This is the opportunity of a life time and all I've done since I've got here is pout and rearrange half of a bookshelf for an ungrateful jerk that can't even talk to me after I get him off.

When we do finally get to the dorm, I practically fall into my bed without even taking off my shoes. It's pushing three in the morning and I'm beyond the point of exhaustion. Lena takes the time to brush her teeth and remove her makeup while I barely put in the effort to unzip my dress and crawl under the sheets of my bed.

My cellphone sits on the nightstand beside my bed and taunts me to do something stupid. My body is swimming with an undeniable buzz from my consumption of alcohol and I want to stir up some ruckus, even though I know it may get me in trouble tomorrow.

My fingers slide effortlessly across the screen to pull up my email. I'm tempted to message Professor Styles and tell him off for earlier this evening, but as soon as my new emails are loaded on the screen, I'm surprised to see he's already taken care of it for me.

-
From: h.styles@uchicago.edu
To: Kate Stevenson

Kate-

Don't bother coming over tomorrow to work on the bookshelf. Enjoy your day off.