Chapter Text
Walking into a Chili’s at 9pm was already punishment enough. One of my friends, Eren, was high out of her mind and was whining about the coveted “Chipotle Honey Chicken Crispers” so we reluctantly joined her for a cheap meal at Chili’s.
The restaurant was relatively empty, despite being just off of a college campus in the middle of Austin on a Sunday night. We got seated rather quickly, the four of us filing into a booth. Eren didn’t even order a drink, immediately requesting her chicken, while the rest of us ordered our drinks and waited patiently.
“So, have any of y’all found some parties for next weekend, hell, even the rest of the week?” I asked my friends.
“Well, one of the frats was having a themed party on Friday. I’m not really sure of the theme, but I bet there’ll be enough talk of it by then.” Victoria answered.
I sighed. The party scene at UT was usually pretty good, but this time of the year was always super dry. Most people were leaving for winter break early, specifically the trust-fund boys that occupied frats.
Sage interjected, “Do we really wanna spend another weekend at a frat party? I mean we’re all finally legal and we could go to an actual club.”
“True, Eren finally decided to turn 21.” I sarcastically shot her a glance. She was sinking down the booth onto the floor, Victoria reluctantly pulled her up to sit properly. She didn’t even answer, probably because she was on a different planet at the moment.
We continued chatting about what we could do next weekend, our drinks (and Eren’s chicken) being brought out shortly after. Small talk and quiet laughter filled our Sunday night until a group of 6 guys were seated near us.
We didn’t even notice at first until the fucking laughter started. I couldn’t even hear the jokes that were being made over the obnoxious giggling. I finally dared to look in their direction and noticed one man that I have definitely seen in my data structures class. The rest were complete strangers to me, but that one was definitely in my class. Which confirmed the fact that they were college students.
I nudged Sage who sat beside me, “See that one with the arm tats?” Sage nodded, a confused look on her face, “he’s in one of my classes.”
“Okay? So what?” Sage rudely replied.
I scoffed, “Just saying that those annoying douches attend the same college as us.”
Victoria turned her head around in the direction of the boys’ table. She turned back around after rolling her eyes, “I’m sorry, but what the fuck could be that funny?” I shrugged, finishing off my lemonade.
Immediately after Victoria said that, one of the boys turned his table’s attention toward us by pointing and laughing hysterically. Great. At least they couldn’t see Eren, who was absolutely destroying her chicken crispers, which did not do the poor girl any justice as her face was covered in sauce.
I spent the rest of the meal trying to figure out what could possibly be so damn funny over there. Specifically about us that made them start laughing so hard. None of us were doing anything so interesting to warrant an absolutely absurd reaction like that. We finally decided to get our check and start heading back to our apartment. I covered Eren, but the rest of us just paid for our own food.
On the way out of the door, I finally got a good look at the boys who plagued my night. The one with arm tats I already knew, at least slightly. He definitely went to the gym, based on the size of his arms. The other 5 were complete strangers to me. One looked younger than the others, possibly a freshman?
The only one who stuck out to me was a man with a rather deep voice, and I could just tell was considerably taller than the others, by the way his legs were crammed under the table. He was wearing a white wife beater tank top in winter, which was a bold move on his part, and black sweats. That was about all I noticed before Victoria dragged me out of the restaurant.
***
One of my absolute least favorite things about my schedule were my Monday classes. My first was my data structures class, which was pretty early at 12pm. That may not be early for most people, but waking up before 2pm last semester would’ve been a miracle.
I drug myself out of bed at 10 in the morning after being woken up before my alarm by the TV. The extra time allowed me to do a little bit more than the bare minimum, which was light makeup and getting myself a coffee.
I finished the short commute from the coffee shop to campus with time to spare, so I scrolled through my phone. I opened a few texts from Eren and Victoria before heading to class. Putting my stuff down at a seat, I noticed the boy from Chili’s sitting a few spots down from me. I quickly looked down, hoping he didn’t notice, but he did.
I could feel him approaching me. “Um, hey. This is going to sound kind of weird but I think I saw you at Chili’s last night?” He chuckled.
Welp, no hiding now. I looked up and flashed a fake smile. “Oh yeah, I think you did.”
“Again, not trying to sound like a creep, but I could tell that you and your friends were annoyed with us, so I just wanted to say sorry.”
This couldn’t be real. Why was this kid so outgoing? What was he even doing, I was getting second hand embarrassment. “Oh, it’s no problem, really.”
“Well yeah, I could just tell your friend with the curly hair and the glasses was annoyed so I thought I should apologize.” The boy said.
I shook my head, “Please, it’s no big deal, don’t worry about it.”
He finally nodded, “Okay, I’ll leave you alone for now. My name's Nick, by the way.”
I gave Nick my name, which apparently he took as an invitation to take the seat next to me for the lecture.
The lecture was pretty boring, but now I understand what got those boys laughing so hard last night. Nick was hilarious. He actually helped the time pass by with his out of pocket comments and fighting back giggles.
When the class concluded, I gathered my stuff and started to exit, when Nick stopped me.
“Hey, are you and your friends busy on Friday?”
I shook my head no, “Why?”
“Well, there’s a party at Theta Chi and I thought maybe your friends would wanna come.”
“Are you going?” I questioned.
“Oh yeah, all of us are going except for Jack.”
I must’ve given him a puzzled look, because he immediately clarified. “He’s one of our friends, sorry, but yeah all of us from Chili’s minus him are going to be there.”
“Yeah, I think we’ll be able to make it. Is there a theme?”
“Oh, yeah. The theme is ‘ski lodge’, so you know, come dressed up.”
I gave him another nod, “Are you and your friends down for a pre-game?”
“For sure! Let me give you my number, and we can discuss the details later.” Nick exclaimed.
We exchanged numbers and I finally left the class. I didn’t have another class till 5 so I had some time to go back to the apartment. When I got there, I immediately got all of the girls’ attention.
“Guess what!” I squealed.
“You went to class high like I’ve been telling you to?” Eren jokes.
“The fuck? No. I found a party on Friday!”
My roommates screamed in excitement. “Yeah, so it’s at Theta Chi and the theme is ‘ski lodge’” I explained. “Oh, and we’re pregaming with the guys from last night.
They stopped all of their cheering. Sage was the first to speak, “And how the hell did you manage that?”
“Well the guy with the arm tats, Nick, invited me and I asked if they wanted to pregame with us.”
Victoria sighed, “Not at our apartment, right? I’m not trying to get murdered.”
I shook my head, “He offered their house.”
This time Eren spoke, “House?! How the hell do they have a house?”
“I didn’t ask him that, but they probably rent it out. But aren’t you guys excited?”
They finally continued their cheering and praising, which was the satisfaction I needed.
***
The days leading up to the party were long and boring. I had no clue why I was looking forward to a party so much, but I was.
Friday finally rolled around and I was more than happy to start getting ready for the party. Nick and I agreed to meet at his place at 8:30pm. I did my makeup, which I thought looked great, and then picked my outfit.
I started with a pair of black cargo pants which I thought could pass off as snow pants. Next, I put on a hot pink bikini top. To explain myself, there’s hot tubs at ski lodges, right? And, it’s a frat party, you have to dress at least a little slutty. I finished my outfit with a pair of cheap ski goggles, a light coat, and a hot pink beanie to match my top.
The rest of my friends were dressed similarly, and I expected most of the girls at the party to be matching us. There was no way in hell any of us were being designated drivers, so we opted for an Uber.
When we arrived, Eren eagerly ran up to the door. Eren is easily the most outgoing out of the four of us. Right before she knocked on the door, she combed her fingers through her long blonde hair, and then knocked.
A bearded man opened the door, someone who I was not acquainted with. He looked at the four of us and smiled, then screamed, “Nick!”
Nick fully opened the door to their home and invited us in. The first thing I noticed when I walked through the entryway was that this house was pretty big for some college students. I mean, there were probably 6 of them living here, but still.
The next thing I noticed was a kitchen counter absolutely loaded with bottles upon bottles of alcohol. Damn. One of these men had to be on a trust fund.
Nick finally introduced us to the rest of his roommates. The one with a beard was Tanner, the short one with long hair was Larry, the one who I could pin as the cause of the laughter on Sunday was Blake, and the tall one was Isaac.
They were all pretty cute, and all seemed about the same age as my roommates and I, so juniors. The one continuously catching my eye was Isaac, though. He was wearing a white tank top (again) with actual snow pants and a long faux fur coat. Now that I got a good look at him, it was evident that Nick wasn’t the only one who worked out. The thin material of the tank top was doing absolute wonders for his muscles.
I was snapped out of my trance, though, by Tanner reaching for a bottle of Malibu and pouring himself a double. I grimaced at the thought of the taste, but he downed it like a champ. This started a chain reaction, everyone starting to take shots and drinks. I took a spot by Isaac, deciding I’d be trying to charm him tonight.
I watched as Blake and Isaac made a disgusting combination of Sprite, Tito’s, and whatever they could find in an empty water bottle. They took turns water-falling the concoction until handing the bottle to me. I gave them a glance, before deciding ‘fuck it’ and taking a huge swig. I immediately regretted it, but everyone was cheering at my “braveness”.
“Damn, took that like a fucking champ,” Isaac laughed, nudging me in the arm. The rest of the pregame was a blur of laughter, screaming, and shots.
After we were all decidedly tipsy, we called for Ubers and decided who would ride with who. Each Uber could seat three so I let Eren, Sage, and Victoria ride with each other and take one for the team. Tanner, Blake, and Larry called going with each other from the start, so I was stuck with Isaac and Nick. Not that I’m complaining at all, but I was stuck with them, even if I didn’t like it.