The night passed on slowly as I sat in complete solitude on my bed, looking at Ben's side of the room. Colourful posters decorated with words and intriguing imagery showed his spirituality and highlighted the longing for exotic adventures that he has been storing deep within his head for many years.

A loud knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts, staring at the door before opening it.

"Need something?" I asked staring into a boy's amber eyes, observing his demeanour.

He was quite tall with a dark bronze skin tone. A wave of mistrust washed over me as an intense and overwhelming feeling hit me all of a sudden. It was like a subtle whisper or a nagging feeling of uneasiness, and one I couldn't ignore.

"I thought Ben lived here?" the guy replied, squinting his eyes as he observed the room.

I slammed my hand onto the door, pointing at the laminated piece of paper. "Read the sign."

I walked slowly closer to him as I closed the door behind me. Being a territorial person by nature, I hated strangers seeing the safe haven I lived in. Besides Ben, I wouldn't allow anyone else to enter our place of solitude.

The guy stared me up and down, ignoring my eyes as he backed a few steps away from me. "I just wanted to know where Ben was."

"As far as I know, he went to House Justine for some kind of party," I replied, watching him shift his weight from one side to the other.

The guy nodded his head and slyly walked away as I kept my eyes on him. As he disappeared behind a corner I immediately walked back into my room and grabbed my jacket from under my bed. I could feel in my bones that he couldn't be trusted.

From the open door of House Justine to the spacious corridor, the house exuded warmth. Photographs of previous girls who had stayed here hung on the walls. The walls were the greens of spring fields meeting a bold white border, and the floor was an aged hardwood with a combination of deep earthy browns. The staircase was a whirl of a branch softened by the carpenter's hand, its grain flowing in waves of soothing woods colours as if it were water. It was nature's beauty under the lamplight, something that eased the spirit.

As I walked down the corridor, I encountered my greatest fear: crowds. Around 160 people were crammed into this house, screaming, laughing, and drinking endlessly. The sight of red plastic cups and beer bottles were strewn across the ground, as well as people dancing- it was too much for me. I attempted to ignore the pathetic excuse of calling the songs they were playing, 'music' as the loud thumping sound buzzed in my ears.

Where is he?

I felt extremely overstimulated, struggling to take everything in. The partygoers looked up at me as they whispered to one another - fangirling. I needed to see if Ben was okay. When sharing your territory with one, you tend to become protective of them.

2, 4, 6, 8 - 2, 4, 6, 8

With my mind occupied and my eyes focussed, I stumbled into a girl. The girl. Her hair was still braided in a loose plait, wearing a casual outfit complimented by a leather jacket.

She turned around to look at me and I immediately felt like a namby-pamby. I let out a soft gasp and took a step back. "My apologies."

"Don't worry, the amount of alcohol on my shirt is uncountable," she said with a sincere smile.

"Well, it's pretty difficult counting liquids..." I responded with a raised eyebrow.

"You're funny," she grinned as she punched my arm.

I wasn't trying to be funny. How are you supposed to count the amount of liquid on your shirt?

"You look quite determined to find someone in your stride," she noted as she saw my eyes skimming over the crowd of people.

"Have you seen Ben?" I asked with a slight panic in my voice.

"Oh, he and Arlo are over there," she said as she pointed towards them standing in a corner.

I stared at Arlo, taking in his behaviour towards Ben. He held Ben's hand tightly with Ben looking rather calm. Arlo was an interesting character to observe. He had a sense of insecurity surrounding him like a dog with his tail between his legs. He looked nervous as if he was doing something wrong. Forgetting about Sam standing in front of me, I pushed past her, aiming my stride toward Arlo and Ben.

"Wolf!" Ben called with a smile on his face. "I thought you weren't coming," he said as he let go of Arlo's hand.

I nodded my head, studying Arlo further. He quickly grabbed Ben's hand tightly and tugged him towards his side.

"This is Arlo, my boyfriend," he said as he looked at his nervous boyfriend.

"We met," I said with little to no emotion.

I don't find trust in this guy. His eyes tell a different story than his demeanour towards me.

"Well, do you want a drink or something?" Ben asked, slightly confused by my quietness.

"I'm on my way now," I said giving one final look at Arlo, turning around and walking through the dreadful crowd again.

"Why are you so shy?" Ben asked as he faced Arlo again. "You're not a reserved person."

"When I saw him in your room, I just felt a strong tension between us. He seems quite gruff," Arlo explained as he kept his gaze upon me.

I lit a cigarette as I walked through the hall towards the front door.

Am I overthinking this? They're dating, I'm sure Ben would've realised if he's a bad person or not. But what if he is and Ben doesn't realise it until it's too late? Would that be my fault then? My mouth is dry and this cigarette isn't helping. I'm sure he'll be fine, I just need to-

"Hey! Where are you going?"

I turned around with an angry frown on my face.

Who dares disturb my thoughts?

"Don't look so grumpy!" Sam smiled with two plastic red cups in her hand.

Why is she following me? Is she trying to get with me? Ugh, girls! Can everyone just leave me alone?

"I'm going to my dorm, what do you want?" I scoffed at her, staring blankly at her.

"You don't smile a lot, do you?" she said with a smug grin on her face as she handed me one of the cups. "Let's just have a drink together."

I downed the drink in one gulp and handed the empty cup back to her with no expression on my face. "There, I'm going to my room now," I grunted as I stomped off to the dormitory.

It's not like I didn't drink, I just hate feeling obligated to socialise with people and make small talk. And besides, I don't care for just anyone. Sam might be intriguing, but I have no intention of making friends with her.