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."

"Yeah," I answered guardedly. "Are you her boyfriend?"

"I wouldn't call myself her boyfriend, or at least, not anymore," he snorted and I immediately narrowed my eyes.

So here was the asshole who broke up with the girl over a phone call.

I suddenly remembered the girl's promise to punch his lights out if she ever saw him again and I couldn't help it as the plan in my head formed itself. I smiled at him sweetly before giving him the directions, "Bathroom. First door on the right. She's waiting for you."

He gave me a weird look like he was surprised at my sudden change in behavior but he didn't question it. He just nodded once as he turned to leave. "Thanks."

"Oh, it's my pleasure. Trust me."

Giving me another strange look, he disappeared behind me, and I simply made my way down the stairs as I looked for my friends.

"Riley!" Matt called out, waving to me from the side of the front door. "Over here!"

I narrowly dodged a cup of beer being swung across the room at someone and looked around for any other potential threat before sprinting towards Matt.

"Thank God," he said when I joined him and guided me outside with a hand on my back. The outside air was incredibly refreshing, to say the least. The music was muffled as the door was shut behind us and the mere peace I felt getting out of that house was inexplicable. And no one was hurling cups of beer across the place, so that was an added plus too.

"I'm calling Noah and Mac. I'll let them know you're here and we're all ready to go." He announced before pressing his cell phone to his ear. "They were inside in case we'd have to find you ourselves. Why didn't you answer your phone?"

I just stared at him. "I think it was on silent?"

"You think?" He raised his eyebrows. "Either it was or it wasn't."

"It had to be an accident, okay?"

"Jesus, how do you accidentally put your phone on silent?"

"It's a habit!" I defended myself. "I always put it on silent when I'm studying, you know that. Where's Ella, by the way?"

"Locked in Mac's car."

I frowned in confusion. "What? Why?"

"The girl needs to be physically restrained, that's why. I swear, it's the atmosphere here or something. It definitely affected her."

Completely baffled, I raised an eyebrow and turned behind us to see Ella glaring daggers at him through the window of the car parked out front.

I left Matt there and walked over to her quickly, watching her trying to look out of the part of the window that was lowered a bit. "Okay, I have no idea what's happening, but I'm glad they've cracked the window open for you a bit."

"Like a dog," she snarled, squeezing in another glare behind me at Matt, who I could faintly hear talking on the phone.

"Alright, what happened? Why the hell are you locked in a car and why do you need to be physically restrained as Matt put it?"

"A cute guy finally asked me out after Josh—so what if it was at this weirdo party, okay? He's cute and did I mention he was a redhead? Can you believe Matt didn't even let me get his number? He honest-to-God dragged me out here like a parent catching a child doing the dirty."

"I hardly care about whatever poor sucker you go for normally but you ought to be thanking me for saving your life this time," Matt shook his head as he pocketed his phone, coming up the path towards the car. "I keep telling both of you, don't trust a guy who wears more jewelry than you do. That shit just isn't right."

"Oh, whatever," Ella crossed her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes.

I just fought a laugh.

Right at that moment, the front door opened and a haggard looking Noah and a laughing Mac exited.

I perked up at the sight of Noah, but all he did was give me a cursory glance before holding a hand out to Matt, who dropped Mac's car keys into it. Then Noah opened the door and slid into the driver's seat, starting the engine without any further delay. Ella moved over in the back for us while Matt climbed into the passenger seat.

A little confused at the pace, I scrambled with Mac to get into the back.

"Don't worry about it," he whispered to me, looking almost like he was holding back laughter. "A girl just horribly propositioned him on the first floor and I don't know if he's pissed or just extremely disturbed right now."

Horribly propositioned him?

That might've been funny to watch.

"Where are we going?" Ella wanted to know once we were all inside.

"Well, I don't know about you," Mac began with a sigh, "but after the night I just had, I need to decompress stat. We're heading for burgers at Shack's."

Shack's diner it was.

I turned to look at the back of Noah's head, definitely more than curious. He was tweaked about something and it couldn't be a bad proposition.

Maybe I'd find out at Shack's.

After some fries and a chocolate milkshake, of course.

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Dedicated to Dell because she's the best. Thanks for the unfailing support. ❤

And chapter nine is up! Any thoughts?