Ch.3.

"I'm Adonis," he said, ignoring her statement.

"Nice to meet you," she replied.

They went through the rest of the night playing drinking games and getting to know themselves.

Mariah discovered that they all just met themselves a few days back but they were all very nice people so they had no problem with getting along.

Mariah felt that the only stone in the crate of eggs was herself. She did not fit in. She was not nice or friendly and she hated gatherings.

Thelma spent her time getting acquainted with the others and only Mariah watched as their lives played out in front of her eyes like a movie. It was as if she wasn't experiencing the events take place first hand, but rather she was sitting on her sofa, in her apartment, watching it on TV.

They ended the night wasted, all except Mariah, Henry and Tanya, a senior that barely said a word except when spoken to. Her looks were average but the air around her was demeaning. She spent most of her time playing on her phone and chipping in if asked a question. Mariah noticed that the only people she managed a conversation with were Henry and Luis, another neighbor.

Mariah did not bother trying to start a conversation with her.

When she noticed most of them were already asleep or almost knocked out, she stood up from the couch she had been sitting on all through the night. With no baggage other than her phone and keys, she proceeded to walk out of the room.

"Are you leaving?" Henry asked as he walked out of the kitchen with a trash bag, possibly to pick up the used cups and chips bags lying all around the place.

"Yes," she replied.

He instantly dropped the bag "I'll walk you down to your door. I hope you don't mind?" There was a welcoming smile plastered on his face.

Mariah smiled then shook her head. Henry smiled brightly then walked up to her, he opened the door for her then she walked out of the apartment.

The hallway was brightly lit, it was hard to decipher whether the sky outside was dark or the sun was hanging up in the middle.

"So, what's your story? You barely said a word in there" Henry asked as he slightly nudged her with his shoulder.

Mariah chuckled. "There's nothing worth mentioning, I'm majoring in Economics and minoring in art. I like being by myself and I have zero friends"

Henry smiled as he looked down at his feet "you're such an introvert"

"I actually am"

"What about you, what's your story?" Mariah asked "Well, let me guess, with the way you were with the others in there, you seem to be the alpha of the pack. And you're awfully nice"

Henry laughed then gestured to himself "Do I give off alpha vibes?"

Mariah scrutinized him once again, his rudiment flannel shirt and his faded jeans, he did not in any way give off alpha vibes, she suddenly started regretting why she had said it.

However, she could not lie, he seemed to be well aware that there was nothing 'alpha' about him, so she resigned to tell the truth. "No you do not"

They both laughed.

"Thank you for being honest" he sighed. A trace of relief showing in his eyes.

"I think the person that looks like an alpha is Adonis, he even has an attractive name," Henry said.

Mariah recognized a hint of jealousy in his tone "he's not all that. Sure he's attractive but, he's not like everyone's dream come through. He's nothing like those fictional men"

Henry laughed. His laughter sounded like marshmallows dipped in chocolate, wrapped up in sprinkles. Mariah could feel the warmth spreading to her cheeks.

"Fictional men?" He asked. "Am I anything like those fictional men?"

Mariah nodded "You're like those boys from next door that are cute and endearing"

Henry scrunched his face in confusion "aren't those boys boring?"

Mariah laughed "they're not. They're homely and promising and definitely not toxic like those mafia men"

"I heard somewhere that girls liked toxic men, they keep them on their toes"

"Well, most girls do, however, I don't. I like reassurance and straightforwardness and all the sweet things from the boy next door"

"The boy next door can't fuck as good as those toxic men"

Mariah's voice got hitched.

The way he turned to her before saying those words, how his eyes glinted with dark lust and his jaw tightened. And even after he said those words, he ran his tongue over his bottom lip.

Mariah felt a tightness in her chest, for a moment she could not breathe. She only stared at him with round eyes and slightly agape mouth.

Henry smiled at her expression. "Well, we're here"

It was only with that statement that Mariah realized they had been standing by her door for minutes. After looking around the place to be sure, her cheeks tingle once again before she bid goodnight and opened the door to her apartment.

The way the night ended was not something she anticipated but she was more or less grateful for it.

Henry was so soft and gentle, unlike most of the people she had gotten on with. It was quite a shame she wasn't really ready for anything serious at the moment. If not, she'd really love to hop on that ride.

After locking her door, she walked to the kitchen, for a late night snack but all that she could find were bags of potato chips. The image of half eaten potato chips from the party creeped into her mind. The number of people who passed out from eating those chips and how they looked while eating it was not a sight one would love to behold.

Utterly disgusting.

She tried not to remember all the details as she poured herself some water to drink.

After drinking from the glass, she leaned on the kitchen counter then brought out her phone from her back pocket.

She went through her Instagram Feed then stumbled on a post from an old friend of hers.

In the picture was a girl standing in front of the same college Mariah had gotten accepted into. It wasn't a surprise to Mariah, there was a time they vowed to go to the same college and live together.

Now it had all become memories and it wasn't nobody's fault but her own.

The girl had mid-length brown curly hair, her hands were spread apart and a big smile plastered on her face. She was wearing a short A-line simple black dress and a pair of white sneakers. She looked beautiful as usual. She looked happy.

A lump grew in Mariah's chest as she stared harder. A part of her did not expect that girl to become so happy that she would even post it on her Instagram with the caption: "I'm so fucking happy".

There was a possibility that she was faking her smile, still, Mariah felt envious, she couldn't even fake a smile ever since that day and tonight was the only time she laughed out so much and then there was this girl that could fake a big smile and even an Instagram post.

Mariah scrolled past the picture without double tapping on it.

She walked to her windowsill with her glass of water and took a seat there.

The night was even more beautiful than the day.

The sky was illuminated by the beautiful yellow lights from the buildings. The sounds of cars driving around filled the air, there was a chill in the air that she loved and the stars shined brightly despite being almost overshadowed by the artificial lights from the buildings around.

The moon was crescent and soft and standing beautifully in the sky. It called out to Mariah.

She lifted her phone and took a picture of the moon, the stars and the city lights all fitting into the picture.

The result was nothing like the live view and so she enhanced it to look a bit better than the live view on an editing app on her phone.

She posted the picture on her Instagram story before locking her phone.

She folded her legs up to her chin before laying her head on her knees, as she stared out to the sky, tears flowed down her eyes.