"CHEERS TO ANOTHER year of all-nighters, endless essays, and crying ourselves to sleep!" I raise my red solo cup in the air soon followed by the rest of the partygoers in the room who joined me before throwing back whatever filled their cups.

The alcohol didn't burn my throat like it used to in the past. I think my body has grown immune over the years to the rubbing alcohol taste and the chest-burning feeling it leaves. Thankfully I'm not a lightweight and can handle my alcohol fairly well, especially for someone my age. Froy on the other hand . . .

"Alpha Tri! What kinda man looks at all of the Greek options and decided to join Apple Pie!" Froy is saying loudly. His arm is slung over some black-haired girl, his red solo cup sloshing dangerously close to the girl's head.

Everyone surrounding them—me, Caleb, Idris, and some girl he brought along —barely suppress a groan. Every single one of us has heard this same joke no less than five times apiece. Even the girl, who I just met about ten minutes ago. Froy continues his drunken rant about the fraternity name and I use the break to lean over to Caleb.

"Ten bucks he ends up laid out in the backyard with nothing but his shorts on again."

"Make it fifteen and I bet he ends up in one of the sorority houses front yard with makeup on him again," she says, sipping her beer with a frown.

"Bet," I chuckle and Caleb manages to hide his snicker by gracefully taking another mouthful of shitty frat party beer, returning his attention to the drunken group in front of us. Everyone raises their red solo cups filled with God knows what at this point and lets the vibrations of the music that boom from the speakers of the house overtake them.

My eyes roam around the crowded fraternity house and land on a particular brown skin girl on the couch nearby. A black leather skirt leaving little to the imagination and a white top that hugs her nicely and shows off her curves. I watched from the other side of the room as she threw her head back in laughter, covering her mouth as her body shook and her eyes squint under her raised cheeks. Lourdes laughed with her in the small huddle group across from me, slapping her arms to whatever funny joke was said.

I sipped at the red cup filled with the burning brown liquid, tongue poking out lazily to wet my pink lips as my eyes drank her in without her even knowing. Oblivious to my stare, unknowing of the haunting thoughts plaguing my mind as my eyes trained on her in the light fog of smoke hanging in the room as laughter trapped between four walls. She's gorgeous and with this liquor running through my system my mind could only wonder about all the filthy things we can do tonight once we leave this place.

But then a buff figure comes up beside her, a grin on his face as he begins speaking to her. The alcohol in my mouth suddenly turns sour at the sight of the tall, broad-shouldered, and with a face seemingly crafted from a God himself. The lights flashed again and I got an even better look at his sharp jawline, straight nose, and carefully parted brown hair. Now, which Calvin Klein magazine did she pull him from?

Then the guy shifted, laughing in response to something that someone else had said. Karina glanced at him, mouth twitching in amusement, and the taller guy's hand fell on her shoulder. He left it there as he laughed, the move reeking of easy familiarity. Karina didn't even flinch at the sudden contact, still smiling.

Who the hell is this bitch? She told me she was coming to the party tonight but she didn't say she'd bring some dude with her. What the hell?

Then she glanced up and her eyes met mine.

Caught, I froze. Karina seemed shocked too, her own face expressionless. But then she blinked, the corner of her mouth curling into a low smirk, and she raised the drink in her hand slightly. She tipped it, a salute. My expression tightened as a flush of indignant heat rolled through me, anger sparking inside of me. What the fuck, I seethed inwardly.

Is that how she wants to play tonight?

We've always had a mutual understanding in our situationship or whatever you wanna call it. We fuck, we do our thing and go about our business. That's always been our thing, and that's that, but we've always said to never bring any of our other flings in the other's face. It's a rule she came up with after catching me with Lilly-Clair Westbrook at last year's campfire at the beach and yet here she is doing the same thing she critiqued me for?

My cheeks burn from embarrassment and I only have a moment to collect before anyone notices the puzzled look on my face because Jaylen Park doesn't get puzzled — I solve them.

I guess that's the kind of game we're playing tonight. I look at the girl from across the room and finally return the salute with an empty cup of my own, forcing up a sly smile that rivals even the greatest Oscar-winning actor. She owes me nothing, I remind myself. But as I watch Karina's figure grind into the guy's large build, I can't help but feel a little resentful. I close my eyes and heave a long, heavy sigh before turning on my heels and making my way towards the kitchen where the drinks are being served.

I see a couple making out in the corner, pressed against the refrigerator, completely oblivious to their surroundings. The space between the counter and the refrigerator is narrow and I have to awkwardly tap them on the shoulders if I want to walk past.

The couple, plastered as they are to each other, steadfastly ignore me.

"Um, excuse me," I try again, with another tap to their shoulders.

They don't come up for air.

"Don't bother," a girl on the other side of the counter says. Ash-brown hair that cascades down the back of her black dress are the first thing to catch my attention, then it's her full lips and brown round eyes that immediately draw me in like a bird to a storm. In short, she had my full attention tonight. She must be new here because I know everyone and I definitely would remember seeing someone like her around campus especially another Asian in a school like Columbus University but yet I can't put a name to the gorgeous face.

"You been here long?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Just a few hours," she says, a bit dryly. "It's fine. I've always wanted to live in a frat house, behind a counter, while two drunk-crazed college students go at each other against the fridge."

A girl with a sense of humor. Nice.

"Do you uh, need help? Getting out of there?" Suddenly, I don't really care that much about filling my cup back up. The only thing that can quench my thirst right now at the moment is her.

She looks at me with a steely expression, brown eyes darting from me to the people blocking her way.

"Sure."

I smiled at her as I offered her a hand over the counter. She places down the red solo cup in her hand before taking her hand in mine, and I help lift her over the counter with ease. It isn't until I got her over that I notice the long legs coming out of a fitted black dress that hugs her frame nicely.

She says with a laugh as she fixes her dress, grabbing her cup off the counter. "Thanks for that . . . "

"Jaylen Park."

"Oh, are you Korean," she asks with a grin as she moves her cups to her glossed lips.

"Yeah, you?"

She hums lightly and I smiled. The minority pool at CU is small, especially for Asians and even more so for Koreans. I can count on my hands how many I've encountered over the years here and none of them have come close to looking like Mina. I feel myself unwind as I drink some more, talking to the girl and watching the crowd ebb and flow around the house. I have no misconceptions about my popularity here. I'm The Jaylen Park, I'm handsome and I could charm a rattlesnake into giving up its sound.

"I'm Mina."

"No last name?" I laugh raising a brow at her teasingly.

"Do you really care?" she sends me a playful look and I don't fight her on it and instead lean against the counter, eyes landing on her but she only met my glance for a second before pulling away and turning her attention elsewhere.

"You new here?"

"Yeah, I just transferred from a school in Utah," Mina moves around the clear liquid in her cup, eyes moving around with it before looking up at me. "pretty stupid to change colleges during junior year, huh?"

So she's in the same class as me. "No, that's not stupid at all. I actually think it's pretty brave because not too many people would do that. They'd either just drop out or stay and suffer." We finally make eye contact for what seems like more than a second. Her lighter ones lock on my brown ones, lingering slightly before trailing down to my lips. I do the same and don't try to hide it.

"You know your way around this?" Mina asks, her turning around to the scene around her.

I nodded. "A little."

"Do you know somewhere we could go that's a little more quiet . . ." her glossed lips takes a swig from her cup, eyes bouncing around innocently like she didn't just say the one thing I've been wanting to hear all night. It never ceases to amaze me how many girls have asked him that question, or similar ones. Am I really so sure of patriarchal stereotypes that I'll forever be astounded when a girl makes the move in picking me up? Apparently.

"Uh, there's rooms upstairs," I start, offering a sheepish smile. "I'm sure one of Tri guys won't mind if we head up there—"

"How about I met you up there," she cuts me off instead. "I have to find my friends real quick."

I blinked at her, but I don't protest. "Uh, sure. I'll be upstairs waiting for you don't keep me waiting --"

"Trust me," Mina interrupts. "I won't," she says, turning on her heels and making her way through the crowd of people. I look at her for a while as she cascades through the drunken college students. Once she is out of sight, it's my turn to go through the stampede and I don't hesitate to push them out my way as I head up the stairs of the frat house.

It's a lot quieter upstairs, even with the music from downstairs causing the floors to vibrate there's no one up here, or at least from what I can see, lord knows what's behind these room doors that lined the walls of the corridor. There's one door at the end of the hall with caution tape on it that causes me to tilt my head. I walk down the hall until I hear a faint voice behind it.

"Help!" a voice called out at the door at the end of the hall. I raised a questionable brow, but then the voice sounds off again and I moved towards it.

"What the fuck . . ." I mumbled to myself when placing a hand against the doorknob to see it stuck. I push against it again with all my strength but nothing happens.

"Help! I'm stuck in here!" someone banged a fist against the door so hard I jumped back at the sudden banging.  "I'm locked in here!" they repeatedly yelled and I grabbed at the doorknob with two hands and yanked it with as much force as I could.

"I'm trying!" I yelled back through gritted teeth, the heels of my shoes digging into the carpet and I pull and push with all my might.

I'm surprised when the door swings forward, a little faster than I had anticipated and I guess the person on the other side was doing the same as me before the door openings sends them flying onto their back, head hitting the carpet with a thud and throws me forward in the process. It catches me off guard, but not more than Cassian Bergman's body that was thrown on the floor. I assume he was on the opposite end of the door trying to open it and was caught off guard by the force of my end, because he flies into the carpet, my big frame landing directly on top of him causing him to wheeze out from my weight crushing down on him.

I try to blink away the oncoming concussion but then I see the door of the room slowly closing again and push myself off ball player and head towards it but I'm too late and it slams in my face leaving me locked in the room with the most worst person in the world.

Cassian Bergman.

••••
EXCUSE ANY MISTAKES OR ERRORS