Page 72 of The Pinkie Pact

Hmm, okay. Maybe I should ask more open-ended questions. "So how would you feel about going out tonight with me and some of my friends?"

Her eyes went wide as she stared at me. She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, and I found myself holding my breath. But in the end, she shook her head, looking deflated.

"I promise my friends are nice." Bear would be there! "And it's nothing too crazy. Just some music and a few beers."

The look in her eyes totally got me. It seemed like she really wanted to, but something stopped her.

"I-I c-can't," she finally said.

God, did she let the stammering stop her? If that was the case, how awful. I really felt for her. Knowing she lived in Mitchell Hall in a single with no roommate made it even worse. Did she even have any friends here?

But there was only so much I could do. I couldn't exactly force her to go out with us. I knew not everyone in college liked to party. And of course, that was okay. But I sensed it was more than that with her as we both headed for the door.

She waved goodbye before we went in different directions down the hall. Turning back to look at her, I saw that her head was down, making me decide right then that I wouldn't give up on her. We saw each other every week anyway, and I had her phone number. So I could be a real pain in her ass, I thought, smiling as I walked the few short blocks back to our dorm for a little pre-party session before going out.

The next several hours flew past as a big group of us danced, drank, and otherwise acted obnoxious. Hanging out with Amir, Bear, Kara, and Gen, plus the girls from down the hall was an absolute blast and helped me forget that someone was missing. Well, not really. But it definitely helped.

The only problem with drinking was I became a little looser with my phone and texted or called Kieran more than usual, definitely more than I did during the day when I was completely sober... a classic drink and dial situation.

After reading through my cringey texts, I always apologized to Kieran the next day. But he'd insist that there was nothing to be sorry for, that he had been bored or hanging out alone in his room, and my texts made his night.

One thing I never told him though, even after my three drinks, was how much time I spent sleeping in the study lounge. I had an inkling that would piss him off, and again, I found myself not wanting to throw Kara under the bus and get her in trouble.

Plus, it didn't bother me all that much, especially since Kara was so thankful to me each and every morning. And at least I had a warm, dry place to sleep... something I knew firsthand so many people in this city, in this world, didn't have.

Sometime in the very early morning hours of Saturday, Amir and I both stumbled into the study lounge together, and he pointed to an extra couch opposite the other.

"Lookie what I brought up from the third floor earlier today."

"What?" I gasped. "How the hell did you get another couch up here?"

He shrugged. "Where there's a way, there's a will."

I giggled because he kind of had that backwards. Amir had way more than three drinks tonight.

"You're the best! I love you, man."

"Love you too," he mumbled as he flipped off the lights and flopped down on the couch closest to the door.

I put my head down on the newest addition to the room, which was somehow softer than the other. Maybe it was newer... or maybe it was more worn in. Ew.

My phone lit up, and I looked to find it was Kieran texting me. "Did you make it home okay?" he asked.

"I did. What are you doing up?"

"You know I can't really sleep until I know you're home safe."

Fuck, he was so damn sweet, but I couldn't resist being a smart-ass. "Okay, Dad."

"Do you know how much I miss you, how much I miss kissing that sarcastic mouth?"

I started to say, "This sarcastic mouth would like to do a lot more than kiss you," then erased it quickly.

But I was busted. "What did you just type and delete?" he asked.

"You don't want to know," I wrote back. "It was maybe R-rated."

Silence for a few moments as I wondered what he would say to that. Finally, a message came through. "Speechless."

---