Asylum

"Are you still deciding between Steven and Jasper?" my best friend and roommate Claire asks me as she sets down her tray of food. I look in her big, round baby blue eyes. She sits down across from me, her beautiful short, platinum blonde hair bounces as she sits. She runs her fingers through it to smooth it back out. "Yes," I groan. "It's so hard." "No. It's really not," she takes a bite of her apple. "One of them is your weird ex-boyfriend who only uses you for s*x, and the other is a nice hot guy who has been nothing but kind to you." "But Steven--," I start. "But Steven-- nothing. I know you've known him for years and 'you still love each other', but he is so not worth it," she calmly explains. "I know. You're right. It's just so hard to deal with," I sigh. I take a bite of my pb and j sandwich.  "Guys, did you hear about the group's plan for tomorrow?" our other friend Candace asks as she sits next to me with her tray of food. "It's so cool," our other friend Iris adds as she sits next to Claire. Candace's pushes her long, red hair to one side so it is not in the way. Her dark green eyes stare at us waiting for an answer. "What plan?" I ask. Iris's face lights up with a smile. Her brown eyes turn to slits as her smile grows. This week, her shoulder length hair is baby pink. "So, I guess someone in our group made plans to play hide and seek in an abandoned insane asylum about an hour away," Iris says. "Most people in the group are invited, but we are supposed to keep it on the down low since Kelly and Brad broke up, and they don't want Kelly to be there," Candace tells us. I stare at them dumbfounded. "That sounds super fun," Claire says with excitement. "Who all is going?" "Um, The four of us, Jasper, Brad, Kirstin and Reggie, and Kenji. Oh, and Steven, if that is alright with you," Candace says. "Sure that's fine with me, because I am not going. Are you people crazy? An abandoned insane asylum? That's absolutely ridiculous," I rage. "What if we said Jasper is going?" Iris smiles at me. I suck in my mouth and think. "Now she's interested," Candace says. "No. No way. I'm not going to go get murdered playing hide and seek with you fools," I decide. "Oh, come on, Luce. It'll be super fun. Maybe you can pair up with Jasper and get some alone time together," Claire teases.  "How many people are going?" I ask. "Most of the group plus the four of us would be ten," Candace counts out. "You mean nine. I'm not going," I adjust my glasses on my face and hold my ground.  "Lucia, you have to!" Claire groans. "No, I do not," I reply, grabbing my tray and getting up. "I'll be studying in my room while you people go die." I walk away. I grab my apple from my tray and throw the rest away. I make my way out of the dining hall and begin to head towards our apartment. "Hey, Lucia," a familiar voice calls to me. I turn around and see Jasper running to me. His dark hair almost looks brown under the sun. When he reaches me, he has his bright blue eyes squinting against the sun. "What's up?" I blush as I ask him. "I just wanted to see if you were going to go tomorrow," he smiles at me. "To the hide and seek game at an abandoned insane asylum? No way," I say as I continue to walk. He walks in step beside me. "Really? I thought maybe we could hang out while we are there. Maybe take the same car," he says innocently.  "I don't know," I crinkle my face, unsure. "I'll be right there beside you to protect you," he flashes his teeth to me in a grin. "What do you think?" "Ugh. I don't know. I need time to decide," I say to him as we reach my apartment building. It sits right on the outskirts of campus and is shared between Claire, Candace, Iris, and me. We normally meet at the school cafeteria to each lunch as we get it for a discounted price our senior year. "Okay. I really hope you decide to go," he opens the door for me. "Thank you," I smile at him. I give him a small wave and head inside the building. He waves back at me. I feel butterflies in my stomach. He's always so sweet to me. I definitely like him, but I'm still involved with my sometimes boyfriend Steven. We've known each other since high school. We just have this inseparable bond. Recently though, that bond has become severely severed. I found out that Steven has slept with numerous girls at our college. Mostly when we were on one of our breaks, but a few times when we had gotten back together. If you can call it getting back together. It's just when he gets lonely and convinces me to stay with him for a couple days, then he is back to the same old bull. Speaking of the devil, he is standing outside my apartment door. He's leaning against the wall. His hand rests in his light brown hair. He looks up at me with his amber eyes and smiles. "Hey, Lucy. I've been texting you all day, but you haven't answered," he walks up to me, trying to grab my hand. I jerk it away and walk past him. "Come on. You're not still mad at me, are you?" I get my key and unlock my door. I open it and run in. He tries to enter, but I shut the door in his face. He knocks on the door repeatedly.  "Lucy, answer the door," he demands. "No," I yell back to him. "Please?" he asks. "Go away," I yell as I set my apple down on the kitchen counter.  "Lucy," he knocks more. I sigh. He's not going to go away unless I forgive him. I open the door and lean against the doorway. "What?" "Luce, I'm really sorry. I promise it won't happen again. You know you're the only girl for me. Forever, remember?" he gives his signature half smile. "How do I know you are for real this time?" I ask him, still not certain.  "I mean it this time. I promise I'll make it up to you, I swear," he reaches for my hands. This time I let him hold them.  "If it happens again, we are done for real. This is your last chance," I threaten. "Thank you, Lucy. You're the best," he pulls me in for a kiss. "You owe me big time," I smile at him and push my glasses back up my face. "I know I do," he smiles back. "Excuse me," Claire demands as she, Candace, and Iris walk up. "Sorry," Steven says and moves out of the way. Claire gives him a disgusted look and makes her way through the doorway. As she walks by, I look at Steven. His eyes drift down and stare at her very revealing booty shorts. He bites his lower lip as he stares. "Are you kidding me, Steven?" I yell. "What? I didn't do anything," he lies. I slam the door in his face and lock it so he can't get in. "He is infuriating!" I exclaim to the room. "What did he do now?" Candace asks as she sits down on the couch. "He just straight up stared at Claire's butt and got off on it," I yell. "I'm freaking done with him." "Sure you are, Lucia," Iris rolls her eyes at me. "I mean it this time. I'm done," I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and sit down on the adjacent couch. "Maybe it's time to take things to the next level with Jasper." "Girl, yes," Claire squeals. "He would totally treat you better than Steven ever has." "He's very sweet," Iris adds. "He really is. I ran into him on the way here and he asked if I was going to the asylum with you guys," I smile. "Dude. You have to go. You and Jasper can just flirt it up and you can really stick it to Steven that you are done," Claire says as she sits next to me. "That's actually not a bad idea. Give him a taste of his own medicine," I ponder. "But seriously. That place is probably so dangerous. Whose idea was it anyway?" "Um, I don't know. We heard it from Kirsten and Reggie. I'm not sure if they planned it or if they heard it from someone else," Candace thinks. "So you are going, right?" Claire grabs my hands. "Please. It's going to be so fun." I let out a huge sigh. "Fine." "This is going to be so great!" she squeals and hugs me. "Kirsten and Reggie said that we are supposed to wear all black so we blend in," Iris chimes in. "Ugh. Do we need flashlights or anything?" I groan. "Probably just the light from your phone," Claire guesses. "This is such a stupid idea," I feel a pit in my stomach. "Hey, if you get really scared, maybe you and Jasper can find a nice hidden closet or something and have some fun," Claire elbows me in the side. "Whoa. That's not what I meant by the next step," I hold my hands up. Iris and Candace look at each other then laugh. "We'll see about that," Candace says. "Whatever," I groan and get up. "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when it is time to go." "We'll probably stop for dinner along the way," Claire yells to me as I reach my bedroom. "That's fine!" I call back. I shut my door and sit on my bed. I let out a huge sigh. I can't believe I was about to forgive Steven. I should have known better. Not even a minute after I agreed to give him another chance, he just checked out another woman's butt. Ridiculous. I close the curtain to make my room dark. I slip my shoes off and plus the charger into my phone. Don't want it dying in the middle of the game. I lay down on the bed and take off my glasses. I snuggle up against my stuffed alligator I got when I was a kid, and drift off into sleep.