Lee was paying complete attention to Ruby as was evident to Hannah. Though Hannah felt a bit taken aback, the girl named Lakshmi chuckled at the scene. She said, "Welcome to an amazing year at May Flower University."

The party went on for another hour. Hannah was sure Maya would have left by now. But she could see Sheila and Mary getting bored without her. But she didn't want to leave the company of Laksh and Lee.

Hannah tried her best to talk to Lee and Laksh. She was a delight. Her best party blouse, ironed hair and top notch make up made her a sight for sore eyes. She was sure that a lot of eyes were on her. She had caught a lot of boys checking her out as she walked in. She was even catcalled on the way. It had made her night. But all this would have been secondary achievements if Lee would have given her the attention she wanted.

But Lee was in full conversation with Ruby, not taking his eyes off her. Ruby was flirting back with equal interest. Playfully touching his arm, offering him drink, she knew what she was doing. First Ted and now Lee. Ruby really had no limits.

"Where were you?" Hannah turned her head and saw Laksh asking a now returned Sara, who had gone missing for a few minutes.

"I was upstairs. I was just organising their event. You know, getting it started," Sara winked.

"Getting what started?" asked Ruby. Even Hannah was curious.

Sara eyed her for a second, leaned in and said, "Stuff." She placed her forefinger on her lips and gestured to keep it quiet. Then she said, "Do you want to try?"

Hannah watched Ruby to see her response. Ruby, on the other hand, looked at Lee and then at Hannah. She shook her head and said, "Not tonight. I don't think this is a night I'm willing to forget."

"You are one of those good girls, aren't you?" Lee chuckled at Laksh's remark.

A few more minutes went by. Music blared loud in the speakers and Hannah had too many a drink down her throat. While returning from the washroom, she heard a strange noise. She rushed to the living room immediately, but on the way itself, she saw many panicking.

"Lower the volume!" Yelled a voice on top of all the noise.

A neighbour had showed up at the party and was threatening to call the cops. He kept yelling about the loud volume on the speakers. Though most were fleeing, very few stayed back and tried to handle the situation, possibly the owner of the house. Hannah did not wait to see who the owner was, though she wanted to, but ran to find Lee and the others. But she couldn't find anyone on the spot she had left them. Suddenly a hand caught her arm and she turned to see that it was Sheila.

"We need to leave before he calls the cops! Apparently there is weed in this house. Come on!" Said Sheila as she dragged Hannah behind her. Mary was following them close behind. "Where is Ruby and the others?" she asked Sheila amidst their flight.

"Ruby and who else? I don't know Hannah. She'll be fine. She can come on her own. Let's just go," Sheila replied. It was difficult to navigate with everyone running about randomly in all directions. Hannah even tripped and fell twice, hurting her ankle the second time.

Hannah frantically looked around and then something caught her eye. She saw Ruby hurrying down the stairs. But what shocked her was the person who was holding her hand, leading the way and saving her from the mess. It was Lee.

Hannah, Sheila and Mary returned to their hostel within an hour. Maya was already in the room when Hannah had walked in.

"Back so soon? Did the boys not give you any attention? Or was the party as boring as it was when I had left?" Maya asked mockingly, leaning against the headboard, her computer resting on her lap.

"Don't ask. A neighbour showed up and threatened to call the cops. Everyone scrammed like ants on fire," replied Hannah as she fell back on her bed.

"Where is Ruby, your 'best friend' for the night?" Maya asked again.

"Don't know. And frankly at this point, I don't care," Hannah replied. Maya smirked and asked again, "Why? What happened now?"

Hannah shrugged and said, "Oh my god, you should have seen. First she waves at this one guy. Five minutes later she was flirting with another one. I saw her coming from upstairs with him. There was weed upstairs."

Maya furrowed her eyebrows and asked slowly, "You don't think she-"

"She might have. Why else would she go alone with an absolute stranger in an unknown house?," Hannah completed Maya's suspicion.

"She is a weird little girl isn't she?" Hannah asked after a moment of silence. Maya sat up straight, her face full of amusement. Watching Maya's interest, Hannah went on, "She was flirting with this guy, Lee. He is gorgeous. The minute she laid her eyes on him, she started using her magic."

"Really?" More than a question, there was more interest in Maya's voice, "These small town girls are the worst. They pretend to be all good when they are actually the opposite."

"Not just him. They were two girls, Laksh and Sara. Seniors. She was kissing their ass throughout the night. I stayed because I didn't want her to feel lonely or be taken advantage of. Also because I didn't want her to create a bad image about our year. But the minute I left their side, they disappeared with them!"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Maya yelled.

The door opened, revealing Ruby on the other side. Hannah froze at the sight. Ruby walked to her bed after closing the door behind her. She said, "I didn't see you when the neighbour dude came. Where were you? I tried to call you too but nobody picked."

"I...," Hannah hesitated, "I didn't see you either. None of you were there when I returned from the bathroom. I thought you had left."

"How did you get back to college?" Asked Maya brimming with curiosity.

"Sara dropped me," Ruby replied as she stood up. "I'm tired. I think I'll have a shower and get some sleep," Ruby said as she grabbed her bath towel and walked to the washroom.

Hannah turned to Maya as soon as the bathroom door closed. She whispered, "Maya, you don't think she heard what I said?"

"No. I don't think so. Even if she did, it's the truth, so why care?" Maya replied, returning to her computer.

It was March. The sun danced overhead, it's hot rays sucking out even the last drop of water from the body. Warm wind blew away the fallen leaves that dried in the scorching heat. Summer seemed to have come early this year. There was no shade in sight and even the birds seemed to have disappeared.

Hannah cursed global warming as she wiped the beads of sweat forming on her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Hannah bae!" Said a voice as a hand swung around Hannah's neck.

"Get off me!" Hannah tried to wriggle herself out of the grip, "It's so hot already, without you trying to make it worse."

"We are going to Ted's tonight. He is having a party. Are you coming?"

Hannah freed herself and turned around to look at Ruby. She replied, "A party? Maya didn't tell me anything about a party."

"Umm... yeah. I didn't invite her," Ruby shrugged.

Hannah raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"You know how she gets," said Ruby as they walked together to college, "She doesn't like hanging out or going to parties. She'll whine about leaving half the time, keep scrolling on her phone and try to drag us with her while she leaves."

"If she is not going, exactly whom did you mean by 'we'?" asked Hannah.

Ruby, refusing to meet eyes, mumbled, "Laksh and Sara."

Hannah breathed fire and said with a raised volume, "LAKSH AND SARA!?"

"Stop overreacting! They are so much fun! You remember that Friday night, don't you?" Ruby asked hopping on her spot.

"Of course I do! They brought weed to the party Ruby! Because of them, all of us almost got caught by the cops! First years aren't even allowed to be out that late let alone at a party where they get high on illegal stuff. Had we been found, we would have been straight away expelled!" said Hannah.

"Not expelled, maybe suspended. But we didn't get caught! Even if we had, I'm sure Sara would have handled it. She has got connections, you know!" Ruby now sounded desperate.

"We are not going. We have got to study Ruby. So much to do over this weekend!"

"But Hannah-"

"Nope. We are not going and that's final. If you want, you may go, but I'm not going. And I'm not helping you with your assignment if you do."

Hannah's decision was final. And Ruby knew that Hannah would not change her mind no matter whatever, or whoever would try to convince her otherwise.