Hey, Noah

n i n e | Aftermath

n i n e | Aftermath

"...and then he just said see you around. See you around? Who fucking says that after a break up?"

I sat still, completely engrossed in the story as the brunette went on. Sometime in between, she'd stopped crying and started to get up to move towards the sink. Now, in between cleaning her raccoon eyes and muttering curses under her breath, she was finishing up telling me the story of how her asshole boyfriend broke up with her over the phone just an hour ago.

At a party they came to together.

"Sounds like you need to get over him," I told her sagely. "He so doesn't sound like he's worth crying over, especially not after everything you've just said."

"You got that right, sister from another mister," she murmured, her now make up free eyes meeting mine in the mirror. "Thanks, girlie."

I managed a smile. However short on time and out of my element I'd been before entering, I'd actually kind of enjoyed myself. The girl was witty even when heartbroken and pissed. Maybe, just maybe, Kappa Phi might not all be the complete mess it was downstairs. Maybe there were others like her around too.

But then again, true as all that could might be, I had taken too much time here and now I definitely had to go.

"Are you okay now?" I asked her with a note of seriousness in my voice.

"Oh I'm okay," she went back to wiping her make up. "But I'll be even better when I punch his lights out the next time he even looks in my direction. And trust me, I will do exactly that."

Yep, she was okay.

"Good luck with that," I stood up, and made my way to the door. "And see you around."

"Ha, funny," I heard as I closed the bathroom door behind me.

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I was retracing my steps as I kept my eyes on my phone, reading a text from Matt (which he'd sent over ten minutes ago) asking me where I was. Fretting about that and finding my way to the staircase, I crossed a guy climbing up the steps who managed to shoulder-bump me. He grabbed my arm before I could lose balance and he swore loudly in return before looking up.

He looked dumbfounded. "Seriously?"

My eyebrows knit together as I looked at him too, the face eerily familiar. "You again?"

His shock didn't last long, replacing itself with a grin that was easy and immediate. "Well, I'll be damned. Looks like we're meant to bump into each other every now and then."

It was the rude guy from the football game.

Granted, he'd tried to make peace back then, but he was the one who bumped into me in the first place and then had the audacity to blame me for it.

So yeah, I wasn't all that completely charmed.

"Didn't think this was your type of place," he commented like we were old friends or something.

"It isn't." I replied pointedly. "And I was just about to leave, so..."

"Oh, sorry for holding you up," he took the hint and got out of the way, coming to stand at my side instead. "Though there's a little something I'd like some help with. Have you seen a girl around here probably crying her eyes out? Tall, brown hair, green top? I think she has my car keys."