Chapter 2: Bonfire Meeting

She passes by the food court and almost salivates from hunger. The growling from her stomach makes her look down, and she places a hand over it, attempting to ease the noise and muttering, “Shhh I’ll feed you soon. I gotta get stuff first…”

She looks up and charges into the bookstore, approaching one of the open registers with a purpose. An older man, beginning to bald and with blue eyes stares at her inquisitively. “How may I help you today?”

“I need to check on the status of my books. This is the order number.”

She pulls a piece of paper from her pants pocket and hands the receipt with the order number over to the man. He types in some information, pulling the status of her books up quickly.

“Well, it looks like we have a few of the books, but there’s one set of six books still not here yet. Do you want to pick up the first half of the order now?”

She gives a firm nod. The cashier has her wait for a few moments as he trots to gather Leila’s books, returning with a box of books too heavy for her to carry alone. Staring at the box, she asks, “Are there really that many books?”

“Well, it’s a package of books, and the records show that this box is for you.”

She groans internally, giving the man a half-attempt for a smile, and hefts the small, but heavy box of books from the counter. The further she walks though, the more the box slowly begins to make its way towards the ground. Leila definitely isn’t the strongest girl around.

She stops just outside of the store and hoists the box so that it would better fit in her arms, but now her field of vision is blocked. Exasperated with the ordeal, she decides to head to her dorm as fast as she’s able before she just completely drops the thing.

“Leila? Is that you?”

She pauses as she reaches the exit of the building, looking for the voice. A figure is approaching from her left. Turning and stepping to the side to keep from blocking the pathway, she barely makes out the face of her new roommate.

“Leila, it’s just me and holy hell! Are those all your books for this semester?! Come, come. Set ‘em down on the ground!”

Hayley… She could only imagination the expression on the freshman’s face and shamefully answers, “I can’t…”

“What? Why not? Just drop ‘em right here.”

“I won’t be able to pick them up again if I set them down now.”

A loud laugh escapes her. Leila frowns and casts her eyes to the side to try and glare at the girl, but this only furthers her laughter until the older one gives in as her arms scream for liberation, and the box of books collides to the dirty floor of the common gathering area for many students. She’d think about the germs later. The relieved expression says it all. Hayley grins.

“We can always get a guy to help us, right?”

Her cheeks flush in embarrassment. “No! I-I can get it by myself!”

Hayley snickers and points at her accusingly. “I bet you’ve never had a boyfriend. Are you that awkward around guys? Wait! Are you a lesbian?”

She nearly chokes at the latter most option. While the thought has crossed her mind once or twice, she was not a homosexual, and she blurts to further correct the girl, “I much prefer the d!”

“Now that I think about it… that technically means you’re a virgin, right? How would you know if you prefer dick over pussy if you’ve never sampled it?”

Leila’s face flushes further. She quickly whisks her box of books up and starts walking to the dorm as fast as she can. Hayley trails her step for step and giggles behind her like a schoolgirl all the way.

Neither pays attention to their surroundings, and Leila bumps into an object. She thinks it’s a wall at first with the way it just stands still as if never being touched, but a smooth voice responds, “Apologies,” There’s a pause and it continues a moment later, “Do you need some assistance?”

Leila’s face can’t show any more signs of embarrassment. She sets the box down once more and gives a head bow. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”

She finally looks at him and is taken aback by his appearance, mainly his amethyst-colored eyes. He seems vaguely familiar to her, but she can’t figure out why.

Tilting her head to the side with furrowed brows, she mutters to herself, “I swear you look so familiar.”

She shakes her head though and states aloud, “Sorry for running into you.”

He smiles lightly, flashing his pearly whites. “It’s quite alright.”

Standing there awkwardly for several moments, she finally states, “We should probably get going… Right, Hayley?”

“Yeah, we’ve gotta go grocery shopping.” She takes the lead and Leila follows behind her.

She can’t help but to take a glance back at the guy, his raven locks fading in the distance as the two girls exit the building and continue down the sidewalk towards their dorm. His purple eyes meet her honey-brown ones, and she quickly casts her gaze back on the set of books she’s holding.

Hayley snickers beside her, and if she could, Leila would elbow the young freshman. Hayley speaks up as she slides her student ID into the outer door, “He was cute.”

Leila doesn’t acknowledge the bait and continues to the room.

Once they get back to the mini apartment, Leila drops the box inside and grabs her car keys, stating, “Alright, grocery time.”

Hayley gives a thumbs up to the woman and snatches up her own wallet, leaving the room with Leila in the lead. They get to Leila’s four-door sedan and hop inside. The car revs to life, and they’re off to the store.

When they return from their trip, Leila helps put the groceries away and then collapses on the couch face first. Hayley giggles and comments, “You can’t be tired yet. There’s a party going on, and I don’t want to go by myself.”

The older roommate narrows her eyes and responds, dragging her eyes to the blonde, “You go. I have to study microbiology.”

She puffs her lower lip in a pout and retorts, grabbing Leila’s hand and pulling her to her feet, “Come on! Just for a little bit. It’ll be fun.”

Leila’s lips tighten and Hayley quickly responds to further encourage the woman, “I bet that guy will be there.”

Her cheeks redden. “That’s all the more reason to not go.”

Hayley shakes her head. “Tsk, tsk. Obviously, I won’t make you go, but I’m going. You’re going to miss out on a bunch of hot guys.”

Leila rolls her eyes but speaks up, “If I come, it won’t be until later. Go have fun, lady.”

The young freshman gives a small wave and leaves the room seconds later, giving Leila some time to herself. She exhales and grabs a small snack from the cabinet before heading into her room and collapsing in bed. She kicks her shoes off and switches on the tv and game system she had brought from home.

She scrolls over to the music on her game system and hits the play button. Music blares from the tv, and she sings along to the songs as she thinks.

Did she bother with going out that night?

Leila climbs out of bed and peeks out the blinds. A bonfire is seen brightly raging from her spot indoors with students running around in excitement.

She sighs.

What if she did come across that man?

She could just very well ignore him, but what if he spoke to her?

Leila shakes her head. Turning the electronics off, she places a hand to her chest, muttering, “It’s just a party. You can go check things out and then come back.”

She nods as she convinces herself of the plan and grabs her wallet. Slipping back into her shoes, she leaves the room and makes her way to the celebration outside.

Her honeyed eyes scan over the crowd for any familiar faces, but a sigh escapes her as she can’t find Hayley amongst the bodies.

Finding a spot off to the side, she plops to the ground and pulls her knees to her chest, gazing at the large fire.

“Is this seat taken?”

She looks to the newcomer and nearly chokes on her saliva as she recognizes the man instantly. She’d nearly taken him out with her books. How could she forget? Her anxiety wouldn’t allow it.

Leila shakes her head rapidly, answering his question, and he settles down beside her. Her eyes glance over at him for a moment, and he’s staring at her.

She inches further away from him and questions, “What is it?”