College Fiend [A$AP Rocky]

Three

“This is college math,”

Mr. Skeezer (I kid you not) stood before the class, standing beside the blackboard filled with equations that we would get away with disregarding. He just stood and stared at us, not protesting when we conversed freely. Wayne and Brian were the most blatant, videotaping themselves in class with Brian’s phone.  Today was a good day for everyone; our former math teacher recently quit his job, so Mr. Skeezer was his replacement. Our old math teacher, Mr. Ramos, was the strictest teacher one could ever have. Mr. Skeezer was the complete opposite.

So now, we actually had a chance to talk to each other. And all everyone could talk about was this party.

“Yeah, it’s college math, but no one cares.” Wayne responded to Brian’s statement. Brian held the camera on Wayne, who was predictably good in front of a camera. A guy like him could never be shy. “What we’re really filming for, is the upcoming event that everyone needs to know about. So we’ll make sure this video is everywhere, on every website, and everyone will be there.”

I glanced at Sheena when he said that, but she didn’t seem to understand my concern. Everyone will be there? I thought only freshmen were invited. With a sigh, I tried my best to divert my attention from Wayne’s video-in-the-making and try to figure out the work on the board. Mr. Skeezer probably wouldn’t have a problem if I didn’t complete it though; still, just to avoid any surprises, I was going to turn in my assignment before the end of the period.

“Of course, ladies get in free. And we know there’ll be a lot of pretty ladies at this party.” I could feel Wayne’s eyes on me when he said that. I didn’t dare look up.

“Yeah! I can’t wait.” Sheena yelped enthusiastically. She had never been the always-cheery type around these boys; I guess everyone changes when a party is near. Brian had the camera on her when she spoke, and then he directed his lens toward me. Again, I didn’t look up at him. Just solve this problem…

“This girl’s name is Sabine.” Brian said behind the camera. I didn’t hesitate in rolling my eyes.

“Yeah, she’s one of the pretty ladies coming to our party. You wouldn’t want to miss this party when girls like her are there.” Wayne added. Finally, I neglected my work to glare at him. He had that look plastered onto his face, the look I guess he thought was seductive—slightly biting on his bottom lip, his eyelids hanging just a little bit low, and his head cocked subtly to the side.

“And how can you be so sure that I’m going to your party, Wayne?” I asked him. Sheena nudged me and shot me a questioning look, but I didn’t entertain her.

“Because you have to.” He declared quite confidently. “What else could you do on a night when no one else is in the college?”

“No one else will be in the college because they’re visiting their families. How do you know some of us freshmen won’t be visiting our families?”

“Because of our party! Use that brain, girl.” Brian shouted. Wayne, Sheena, and a few other surrounding students laughed. Now filled with fury, I slammed my book closed and stood up. Wayne just kept looking at me with that expression on his face until I left the room after asking for permission to use the bathroom. The hallways were full and intimidating in this hour, when many students had some free time. They travelled the halls, laughing with each other, some even hand-in-hand. None even glanced at me. I didn’t want them to, anyway. If they did, I would probably be more nervous than I was now. This was a sickness that I had. I just couldn’t be around people older than me. I’d feel like I was a target waiting to be fired at.

But no one would bully me. Not now; the nightmares from elementary school wouldn’t dare come back.

All it took was a bit of walking for me to get to the bathroom that I preferred. I called it the ‘green room’, because the tiles on the walls in this bathroom were green and it always smelled like plants in there. It was the cleanest bathroom in the building, bathroom 4 on the fourth floor. One wouldn’t believe that I could walk two flights down just to use the bathroom, yet I did anyway.

The bathroom was empty—another favorable aspect. I stole into the middle stall and used it rather quickly, for I didn’t have to use the bathroom that badly in the first place. The only reason I left the class was to escape Wayne, Brian, Sheena and the rest of them.

When I exited the stall with my bag resting on the sink to begin applying more makeup, someone walked out of the last stall. Hadn’t I checked all of the stalls? I could have sworn that no one was in there.

This was none other than the Notorious Neffie, as I learned was her nickname around here. She came out of the stall and just calmly leaned against the wall. I looked at her and then quickly looked away. In the short moment that I looked at her, all I saw was skin. She was clearly wearing some trampy outfit today, like every other day. I pulled out some lipstick and other neutrally-colored makeup that had faded from my face since morning. As I smeared Citreuse over my plump, pouty lips, something appeared behind me in the mirror.

“Even though we’re all new here, I feel like you in particular are a newbie.” The ‘something’ informed me. I shrugged.

“Yeah, I tend to feel that way too.”

“I suppose it’s because most of us knew each other from our previous high schools, while you were somewhere else.” Neffie continued. The way the words ‘somewhere else’ rolled off of her tongue was as if she knew exactly where I was, where I had always been. My eyes fell to the floor, to the stream of water coming from the faulty toilet in the first stall, to my decrepit Oxford shoes.

Neffie tilted her head and proceeded.

“There is a party coming up, a party that Wayne and Brian are throwing in the backyard of their apartment building. All freshmen are invited,”

“I know all about the party.” I stated, my two hands on either side of the sink and my face nearly pressed against the mirror’s glass. I was growing nervous for some nameless reason.

“So I assume you’ll be attending?” Neffie asked. Now she was closer to me than I remembered. When had she approached me? I could feel her hungry breath on my neck—yes, she was hungry, craving to see me falter or for any hint of intimidation in my body language. No matter how much I chanted to myself that I wasn’t going to let her see me in a vulnerable state, my actions showed otherwise. My breath was forming a blurry cloud on the mirror and my hands, which were barely supporting me up on the sink, were shaking. It was all because she had this way about her…she was one of those girls, the girls that have the potential to ruin your life just with a few hurtful words. I shied away from her.

“I don’t know.” I murmured. I stared down into the sink and my hair fell at my sides, shielding me.

“Oh, so there’s a possibility that you won’t be there?” She paused. “Wayne would like it if you attended.”

“You know, you’re a lot more articulate and outspoken than you look.” I snapped.

“Thank you; I don’t get that often.” Neffie smiled elegantly, and I backed away only two or three steps, preparing to walk out of the door if she demanded a steady answer for me as to whether I was attending the party. “Are you going to disappoint Wayne?”

Indirectly, she was asking me the dreaded question. This should be the part when I walk away, but my feet just wouldn’t budge. Oh, how convenient for me to turn to stone at this very moment. I sighed.

“I don’t want to disappoint him,” I started. She squinted her eyes at me, trying to anticipate the rest of my sentence. “But I think I have to. Don’t tell anyone this—seriously, don’t—but I won’t be making it to the party because I have to visit my parents like the older crowd does. I can’t cancel meeting up with them since they’re super-strict, and there is no way of getting around it—”

“Sabine, you don’t have to give me an explanation. I mean, it’s not my party.” Neffie remarked, smiling with a hint of a chuckle in her voice. I stared at her long and hard, trying to ward off and ignore the bad vibe I was getting from her. I could only pray to God that she wouldn’t tell.

“Good. Now you know my secret. Shut up about it, will you?”

“Sweetie, your secret is safe with me.”

I blinked a few times, and then stumbled out of the bathroom. By now the period was over, and I didn’t have classes for another hour. Maybe I could take a trip to the café, get my mind off of things for a while with my favorite drink, the Vitamin C Special. Yeah, that’s what I would do.

Just forget about it all.