—

Gary hands May another can of mild-alcoholic drink and she grins at him as thanks. she opens the can, eyes observing the small group of friends she had just made. there is an exciting buzz inside her stomach and she is full of the adrenaline rush, with all the alcohol inside her system paired with the groovy music in the background, May for the first time in months has never felt this buzzy and exciting.

it was a good change for someone who was always stuck inside their studio, working on something or the other.

she spotted Leaf among the crowd, swaying her body to the beat lazily and finds Gary muttering something gruffly when some student tries to approach her. she tsks, shaking her head as Gary goes to Leaf, holding her close to him, and soon they are chatting giggly.

May leans on the kitchen counter behind her, too shy to walk ahead onto the dance floor.

Misty and Dawn had to take Ash upstairs into a bedroom to make him sleep since the guy was extremely wasted. it shocked May because considering the small amount of alcohol Ash had drunk, it was surprising to see the guy have pink blushing cheeks, a red nose, tips of ears burning paired with incoherent slurred words, and a jelly body.

"he's way too drunk, May, me and Dawn will take him upstairs to get him to sleep, so till then will you be okay enjoying the party downstairs?"

Misty had asked her with concern and May had figured that Leaf had also told them that she didn't like parties because they mostly overwhelmed her sometimes.

but May had smiled back softly, telling the orange-haired girl that she will live.

and now here she was,

leaning on the kitchen counter, sipping a drink and swaying to the music, a slow reverb version of a song by a famous band. so far, she is enjoying the party well, sometimes greeting a few of the students who were surprisingly from the Animation Dept. and some were from either Liberal Arts or Performing Arts or Business Dept, etc. everyone has been quite friendly with her and she feels that after the winter break, the university won't be so bad as she has imagined.

"what's a stylish spectacles doing here, huh?" a rather thick voice asks her, the person approaching the kitchen counter May is leaning on and she barely has time to not spit out her drink because of the shock.

May looks to the side, eyes widening when she sees Drew approach her, hands inside his pockets and a loose button-up adorning his torso, paired with some baggy jeans and dark sneakers. he leans next to her, keeping a respectful distance between but still close enough for May to smell a waft of his perfume, a mix of rainwater and hibiscus, it's strong but somehow, she likes how it suits the guy next to her.

she raises her eyebrows, looking at Drew who's looking ahead.

"what?"

she hears him ask over the thrum of the beats in the kitchen. she shakes her head, willing her mind to form some words which she can utter but she is too caught up with the alcohol in her system and with the way how Drew's voice sounds soothing to listen to.

"why'd you call me 'stylish spectacles'? i don't even wear them."

"is that really what you got from my question?" an amused chuckle leaves him and he looks at her, the second time this night, with a small smile adorning his lips. "and besides, i've seen quite a few pictures of you with our Leaf, where you seem to be in spectacles almost all the time. they are fancy, by the way."

May laughs, throat clenching as her laugh ends and she is about to mutter thanks when something else slips her lips. "wow, 'our' Leaf? and why did you see Leaf and my pictures?"

"woah," Drew draws back from leaning on the counter and holds his hands up in surrender. "i was just saying, besides Leaf is my friend too you know? and about the pictures, well," he rubs his neck, eyes drifting somewhere away from where he is standing, "i happen to see them accidentally when she left her phone."

"you mean to say, you invaded her privacy when she left her phone attended?" May grows a bit angrier, she can feel herself getting warmer and warmer until she cannot handle the heat.

"no?" he furrows his brows, "i never said that!?"

"oh, but it sure sounds like it when you told me how you saw Leaf's and my pictures." May huffs, crossing her hands as she takes her ground in front of Drew, who looks way too shocked at the sudden accusation, "and god knows what else you saw."

"look here, spectacles, you" Drew takes a step forward, irritation flared in his eyes, he points a finger at May, "have crossed a line and are also assuming the worst of my character. who do you take me for? a friend who'd sneak and invade another friend's privacy?"

"well, there!" she glees, throwing her hands in the air and Drew stumbles at her reaction, "you said it! you did that so. and about your character, i can assume enough because of the way how you were there grinding on some girl's ass."

and it breaks the string inside Drew. he looks May dead in the eye, walking forward to crowd her in the corner until she can feel his anger seeping off of him. "you, a girl cooped up in her studio for months, a girl who hasn't known me like how the others including Leaf do, have no right to be so judging to someone you just met."

May scoffs, turning her head to the side. "just shut—"

"Drew!" "HEY, MINTY BOY!"

Misty's loud voice cuts May off as she and Dawn come barrelling toward Drew with wide smiles. May's eyes flick from Drew to the girls as she watches Drew switch his expression from furrowed brows to a surprised happy look, catching the two girls in a hug, squeezing them.

"Hi Orange, Blueberry," he mumbles into the hug with a laugh, "we came to the party together, what are you two so happy about seeing me?"

they break the hug as Dawn returns with a witty remark, "well tell that to the guy who went off to party as soon as he entered, leaving his cronies," she dramatically leans on Misty's shoulder alone, "ALONE!" Misty and Dawn say in union.

"and now you are chatting with our new friend?" Misty nods toward May, who immediately stiffens up, and makes a face towards Drew, "haw... how rude to us"

May scrunches up her nose, places her can on the counter behind her, and plans on scurrying away from the three of them when Dawn calls her.

"Oh May, you look so red." she reaches up to touch May's cheeks which, for a fact, are extremely red. they could even make a strawberry shy if Dawn were to compare them. May looks at Dawn and slowly her eyes dart towards Drew and Misty, who is approaching her with concern plastered all over her face

"Is your throat burning, honey?" Misty inquires as she places one of her hands on May's neck to carefully check her pulse.

May gulps harshly and nods, hand bringing up the can of mild alcoholic drink and raising it up to the three of them as a hint.

Drew snatches the can from her hands and casually drinks it, later looking at its alcohol content. "ah," he hums, swirling the can in his hand as he smirks, looking at May through the corner of his eye, "it's only 10% alcohol, how come you are already getting high?"

May hisses at him, startling Drew and the other two girls. Misty giggles beside Dawn, her hand moving on auto pilot to slap Drew's forearm, she snaps softly, "Drew! don't anger her."

Drew, bewildered at his friend's comment, makes a face and side eyes May as he retorts, "come on, Orange. she is drunk, I am just commenting on that" he raises his hands, a quite show of saying that he did nothing wrong.

May slurs, feeling body feel heavier and heavier with each second passing. she stumbles in her place as she tries to stand straight against the kitchen counter but her hands feel too light and jelly to properly hold herself. she couldn't pay much attention to what Misty, Dawn and Drew were talking— laughing about after Drew took the can from her hands. her body felt too hot and the music in the room felt too loud, even though it wasn't; May could feel herself grow heavier, her eyes feeling heavy as if asking her to just close them and let her body sleep. it was getting difficult to keep her eyes open but May tried to focus on Misty's voice and Dawn's blackberry scent to keep herself awake.

until she can't.

"May? May?"

"Are you sleepy?"

"Dawn, I think we should take her to bedroom, she is already drunk and sleepy..."

"Yeah, i'll talk to Leaf an—"

"it's fine, how about i—"

—————

2nd Chapter is here!

And we finally have our first conversation (more like argument) between Drew and May! even though it is not some sweet talk, this conversation sets a base for their relationship ahead in the book :]

This chapter might not be much, in terms of content, but I hope it was a good read for you guys :3

Do comment about how you like it and don't forget to like :]

— eve (2901_a)