A Wild Night's Encounter by Sweet and Special Books

 
    Chapter One
    BOY, ARE YOU GOING to regret this, Eric told himself. He was standing on the roof with a red cup in his left hand and a plastic container full of beer in the other.
    The mass of attendees swarmed below to watch him cheat death.
    And almost thirty feet up with alcohol in his system, Eric was not feeling particularly keen about what he was about to do.
    Some idiot started a chant somewhere in the crowd to egg him on. He was a senior member now, and this was the Alpha Kappa Omega!
    Eric emptied the yellowish liquid into his cup and drank it up.
    The mass of lightheaded onlookers below erupted.
    “Fuck you!” he said, screaming at the crowd, and jumped.
    ***
    The gathering went silent.
    Time stopped.
    It was almost silent, save for the screaming bunch located further back, near the row of bushes where Laila stood, amazed at this dazzling and terribly unsafe display of machismo.
    Her eyes followed the trajectory of the drop up to a quarter into it before she closed her eyes.
    She saw him sway while he was still up on the roof. Laila knew that if the idiot failed to supply just a little bit of the push he needed into his jump, he would miss the pool entirely. That thought made her close her eyes.
    Not long after closing her eyes, the crowd started screaming.
    Laila opened her eyes and caught a glimpse of the idiot halfway down. In the same way our brains react in times of danger, Laila already knew – he would be a mass of splattered brain matter on the cement.
    ***
    Eric didn't have time to say his prayers.
    Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!
    That single word must have been repeated a thousand times before he landed hard – on the pile of airbeds stacked at a very subtle angle towards the pool.
    He almost missed the airbeds.
    Had that happened, though he would not have landed on the ground, Eric would have very little time to tuck his hands in before his toes hit the water. Either that or he'd lose his arms forever.
    His foot hit the airbeds at almost a forty-five degree angle. His downward velocity was absorbed and then thrown back at him.
    Eric was thrusted upwards once more, this time executing a couple of somersaults before he hit the pool, right at the center.
    The crown cheered once more. None but the ones closest to him noticed that as Eric hit the airbeds, another person sitting at the end of that arrangement also flew into the air at just a slightly different angle.
    When that fellow hit the water, that's when most of the onlookers realized just how well-coordinated that stunt was.
    And if they were cheering earlier, this time they went nuts.
    ***
    “And that, ladies and gentlemen, is one example of what we engineers do. Not the best example but you get the picture,” a mocking voice over the mic announced.
    The cheering lot erupted in laughter. Raised cups, bottles clinking and alcohol being sloshed around quickly followed. The party began close to two hours earlier and, with the excitement added by the stunt, was looking like it had already peaked.
    From where she was, Laila could only shake her head.
    Idiots, she muttered.
    "Ashley? Can we get out of here and go somewhere spacious?"
    Ashley, the dorm mate who dragged her here rolled her eyes. "Come on girl, that was impressive," Ashley reasoned.
    "You wouldn’t be saying that if there was a team of paramedics hoisting him to a backboard right now," Laila replied.
    "Don't be a party pooper alright? I want to get laid tonight!" Ashley declared with a giggle towards the last word.
    Laila caught the look in her eyes and recognized what it communicated; it was halfway between "I could get hurt" and "fuck it".
    Laila let out a sigh and rolled her eyes.
    "Just don't get into any trouble ok? And don't take long, I'll hang out by the front door – away from trouble, " Laila said, emphasizing the last phrase.
    "You are such a great friend! Promise, this won't take long!" Ashley declared, disappearing into the throng of half naked males gathered beside the