The welcome party
“I’m so excited, I'm finally here,” I squealed as I made my way up to the porch of the building. Moving closer to the house I could smell the alcohol and feel the vibration of the music. My heart raced with excitement as I looked at Anne. She shared my happiness but suddenly looked straight at me worrisome
“Remember the rules?”
she asked. I nodded in agreement but to be sure, she decided to quiz me.
“Tell me?”
“Don't drink from the open keg, only canned beers,”
I replied. She nodded satisfied.
“Why?” she pressed on.
“Because it's probably roffied, and don't accept drinks from random dudes.”
I looked up, searching my mind for anything I might have missed.
“Uhmm, always go into the toilet alone,” She nodded again, this time fully satisfied.
“The place is huge and quite luxurious,” I said, and Anne nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, it belongs to a sorority. They’re well-funded, bunch of entitled brats.”
I looked around taking note of the people present, “Humm, for a party for freshmen, there is quite a number of frat boys here” I directed my eyes towards them and Anne followed the stare,
“Who, them? As expected, they are always out here looking for fresh bodies” she said
“Boys never beating the allegations even in college” I murmured.
“I’m gonna go check out the buffet and see if it's any good this year. Don’t get lost without me.”
Before I could respond, she disappeared into the chaos, her words lingered behind.
Great, I felt stuck all alone , “ What does one do at a party like this?” I thought to myself walking towards the table where the drinks were set out. Remembering Anne’s instructions I tried to stay away from the kegs, “where are canned beers”
I mumbled, fortunately a guy at the table stretched out his hand offering me a beer, I grabbed it without hesitation, “ thanks”
“Not a problem, most of the drinks are out by the poolside anyways, no need to stand around like some prude” he said,
My brows knitted in annoyance, “ A what?”
“I mean and the guys and I are hitting a joint in the other room, the best in the city, wanna join?”
“For a second I thought you were nice but you're simply a jerk” I said, moving away from him in disgust, now I understood Anne’s warnings.
“Asshole” I thought to myself. For a moment, I silenced my own thoughts and I could listen to the blonde girl in front of me, complaining to another girl nearby.
“I don't know why I even bother,” she said. That caught my interest, so I listened a bit more.
“Making a fool of myself attending this party…” she continued.
“bunch of 18-year-old freshman sluts.” she hissed
Oops, I announced myself behind her by accidentally choking on my drink. Trying to clear my throat, she turned around in surprise, like she didn't expect anyone to overhear her stereotyping an entire group of girls. She analyzed me closely, almost apologetic but curious about my reaction. I finally cleared my throat and responded to her stare.
“You needn’t worry about me , I'm not a slut... so not offended.”
She tilted her head, still not saying a word but giving off an air of admiration.
“Impressive, most girls would take offense,” she finally said.
“Well, I'm not most girls, not 18 years old, and I’m definitely not a slut, so that statement clearly doesn't apply to me.”
I stood confidently, hoping she’d be some mean girl as I would expect, but then she reached out her hand for a warm shake and introduced herself. “I'm Tatum Hale”
I was genuinely stunned at such a gesture, I found it a little odd that a gorgeous blonde wasn’t a mean girl. I froze for a moment before shaking her hand. “Mia Wolf.” Her palms were soft, the highlight on her hair was spot on, her perfume? Ugh smelled like expensive vanilla.
After a long night of fun and excitement, I couldn’t find Anne anywhere, I dialed her number and as expected went to voicemail.
I had an early class the next day, and honestly, I was tapped out
“Sixty-eight dollars for a ride?” I blurted looking down at the uber prices on the app to get back to campus, “No way I’m paying that”
so I made the unthinkable decision to walk home. The campus was only about 5km away, I thought I could catch a taxi eventually and it would be a lot cheaper. Just as I was about to leave Madison Square, a black vehicle started approaching behind me. I glanced back cautiously, trying not to look obvious. I had a few drinks, but I recognized a BMW even in the dark given my history with car auditions. There was no mistaking it. I started to tremble and picked up my pace, clutching my bag to my chest like I was holding on to my life. Meanwhile my only valuables were my ID, lip gloss, and a few dollars for a cab. The car also sped up. At that moment, I realized I was being stalked, alone in a dark alley at 11pm