does that mean?”
“I’m short and chubby, Delia. I can’t get guys like that.”
“You aren’t chubby! Are you kidding me?”
“I’ve been invisible all my life. Guys like that don’t look at me.”
“Apparently they do because they’re making your life hell,” Delia smirked. “You know what, there’s a party tonight to celebrate the new semester. Let’s get dolled up and go.”
“I don’t really want to go to one of those parties. They get too crazy for my taste.”
“Sabrina, we’re going. We’re in college. College girls go to parties.”
Sabrina sighed and conceded. She felt down from the disappointment of the day - what could a party really hurt?
Delia possessed a strong talent for make-up and enjoyed primping her roommate. Sabrina didn’t mind, of course, though sometimes it made her feel even more insignificant next to the pretty, tall Delia. Still, Sabrina admired herself in the mirror with the perfectly applied cat eyeliner tracing her brown and effortless red lipstick making her full lips look even fuller.
“Look at you,” Delia grinned. “Look at all that potential. Now let’s go break some hearts, huh?”
III.
The party’s music could be heard from blocks away, leading Delia and Sabrina like a trail of breadcrumbs. As the music became louder and they came closer, Sabrina could feel her nervousness growing. She’d never been to a party before.
Delia had invited her the previous semester, but she declined in order to focus on her schoolwork. Now, she wanted to kick back and put the abuse of the Bogart brothers behind her - at least for the night.
As they entered the thumping house, it was so packed that it seemed people were coming out of the walls. Sabrina took a deep breath, attempting to hide her fear. Heads seemed to turn as she and Delia walked through the house.
“Okay, I’m going to scope the place for that cute guy from my English class last semester,” Delia whispered. “Don’t take drinks from anyone, and if you get a drink, don’t leave it unattended. Make sure you get a drink that you pour yourself as well. Got it?”
“Got it,” Sabrina answered, though she felt terrified by the thought of being left alone.
“You can do this, Sabrina. Just start a conversation with some hottie. The worst he can do is turn you down.”
Sabrina nodded. She decided she didn’t want to risk getting a drink at all, so she grabbed a cup and pretended to drink out of it. She surveyed the scene - a group of boys were having a raucous beer pong tournament, some girls were flipping their hair and giggling to each other, a couple was making out in the corner…. It was all as she expected a college party would be.
She felt her social anxiety rising as she considered joining the group watching the beer pong game. She started to make her way toward them, but at the last moment, she noticed a deserted couch, so she changed her direction. She wished Delia had stuck around to keep her company, but she figured her roommate wanted to step out of her comfort zone.
Sabrina didn’t enjoy stepping out of her comfort zone. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, hoping she’d settle into the party mood and become more sociable.
“Well, hello! Fancy seeing you here?” that familiar (and grating) male voice she heard earlier.
She opened her eyes to see David Bogart. If she had anything in her cup, she would have thrown it in his face. “Hi.”
“Can I sit next to you?” he asked before he sat anyway.
“I guess so,” she responded, as if it mattered. “I’m waiting for my roommate to come back.”
“Ah, I’m avoiding my friends at the moment,” he took a drink from his own cup, so she pretended to drink as well. “You usually don’t come to parties.”
“No. I’m not very social.”
“Lucas isn’t either. He stays in and does homework most of the time.”
“Hmm.”
“I wanted to say, I’m sorry I’ve been so unkind to you,” he said softly.
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