Campus 3: A Love Like Ours

6

Casper ↑

~

I unlocked the front door of my house and saw Nash standing behind it. "Right on time!" I exclaimed with a grin. He smiled too, and I hugged him tight.

"I really don't know about this, Cas." We let go of each other and I furrowed my eyebrows in concern.

"You don't wanna go anymore?"

He had agreed to come to the university-funded party with me, and I of course brought a little money to donate to the families who suffered losses this summer. I wanted us to get out and have some fun together; something we rarely ever did.

"No, I do. But we both know what happened the first time we went to a party. I hurt you." He entered the house and I closed the door.

I chuckled it off. "That's long in the past. Things have changed since then."

"Really changed," he agreed, scanning the interior of my house before looking back at me. "You're not the shy Casper who always hid out in our cramped dorm room anymore. You don't get scared when someone says hi to you or blush when you receive compliments."

I put my hands on my hips and lifted my chin with an amused smile. "I still am shy and I still very much hate talking to new people." I sighed, dropping my arms. "And you? How have you changed? Besides skipping classes and getting drunk at odd hours." I smirked to let him know I wasn't judging his choices.

"Hey, I went to class today and I only had three shots this morning."

"Well... Keep going to class. College isn't free, so don't waste it. You could do great things; that's what David often reminds me."

He scratched the back of his head. "We should get going."

"Yeah, I wanna be back before Dawn wakes up; we just put her to bed."

"Okay. We can take my car and I promise not to drink."

I smirked, opening the door again. "Good because I might."

"What, wait. Casper Larsen, drinking? It's not possible."

"Is that a dare, Mr. McAvoy?" I squinted at him mischievously.

He pursed his lips in thought then shrugged. "Do what you want."

"Hey, I had a few drinks my wedding night. Best night of my life, hands down."

"Oh, I bet it was," he laughed, gently pushing me out the front door.

**

Unlike my first party experience, the one we arrived to was quite tame. It made sense, considering the point was to honor the lives that had been lost over the summer and uplift the spirits of the living.

I placed the money I'd brought into the donation box and linked arms with Nash as we headed into the venue.

"This ought to be fun," he mumbled the moment we stepped through the threshold. I was impressed by the lighting if anything, which was in blue and gold to represent our school colors. There were balloons, flowers, tables of food, drinks, games, and a calm crowd of people. The music was appropriate and there was even a section of the building that served as a little memorial for the students who were shot, with candles and pictures. It was beautiful.

"I didn't expect it to be so laid back. I like it," I approved as we moved further in, straight to the food and drinks.

"Okay, Cas, spit it out."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"What's the real reason you brought me here instead of Lucas or Jon? They're your closest friends."