Chapter Text
The party was loud. Too loud in Liana’s opinion. If she was completely honest with herself, she didn’t even plan on coming tonight. It was Kegan who had convinced her. Her gorgeous boyfriend, whose friends had thrown this party for, as a celebration of their latest win against their rival team.
Liana wandered around, having lost Kegan earlier in the night. She wasn’t a big drinker, and she was Kegan's ride home, so it was just water tonight. The lights were a blinding contradiction to the dark feeling she had in her stomach, something always went wrong when Kegan was nowhere to be found, and she was always the one left to make peace.
They had arrived at the party right on time, 8:30 on the dot. It was now midnight, and Liana realized she hadn’t seen Kegan for at least a few hours, but between the blaring music, the flashing lights, and the swarm of drunk bodies, it was almost impossible to pinpoint anyone, really.
As Liana sipped her drink, slouched in the corner of the couch next to a guy who smelled of an alarming amount of weed and booze, she saw him. And her.
Kegan in the kitchen, pressed up against a girl Liana cannot see. Liana felt the floor drop out from underneath her. That… no, that couldn’t be. Kegan? Her Kegan? She looked down at the bracelet he had given her just this morning, as a gift for being his “lucky charm” during the game. Her Kegan?
She walked over to them, each step feeling heavy and dragging. She finally saw the girl's face: Alina Thorn, a girl from Liana and Kegan’s shared English class. She had never seen the two of them speak before tonight, but now she had seen a lot more than that. Alina blinked as she pulled her lips away from Kegan's, clearly flustered.
“Liana? Hey, what are you doing here?” She didn’t even look ashamed, just genuinely surprised. “Kegan told me you dumped him after the game last night, I thought you were staying home?”
Liana turned to Kegan, having had enough of looking at Alina’s pitying face. “You told her what?” Her voice was calmer than she felt, her heart hammering and her head spinning. “What is wrong with you?”
Alina looked at Liana for a few seconds, but when Kegan failed to answer, she turned to him. “You told me you broke up. Please tell me you weren’t lying, or I swear to God, Kegan”
Kegan’s face had been slowly becoming more and more red as the conversation went on, finally turning on Liana, keeping his voice low but loud enough to be heard by just the three of them. “Why can’t you just leave me alone? Can a guy not have fun after winning? God, you’re always so clingy and jealous. I should have actually broken up with-” He was cut off by the slap of Alina's palm across his cheek.
“God, you are such an asshole.” She hopped off the counter, walking away into the crowd, twin braids swaying behind her.
Liana stood frozen to the spot. She watched as Kegan's eyes left Alina’s retreating form and landed on her again, his eyes filled with nothing but disdain and annoyance. “Liana, we are done. You ruined a perfectly good night to be a jealous bitch.” And with that, he stormed off in the direction Alina had headed.
Liana stayed frozen, staring at the floor, eyes watering, before she regained awareness. There had been another person in the kitchen the entire time. A handsome stranger she had never seen on campus before. He looked at her with something resembling sympathy as he slid a shot glass across the table. “He looked like a jackass before I even heard him speak. I think any girl is better off without him”. The man smiled, downing his own shot before pouring another.
Liana looked down at the shot glass being offered to her, feeling her keys in her pocket. The man caught the movement and shrugged, “Can always Uber home later, have some fun, you look like you need it”
Liana sighed, picking up the glass and downing it, wincing at the taste before pouring another. And another. She got cut off before she could get too drunk. The stranger pulled the bottle from her hands. “Alright, I think you’ve had enough for one night. Come on, I’ll call you an Uber and wait with you”. He helped her up, his hand brushing the bracelet. Liana took one look at it and tore it off right there, alcohol numbing her enough that the straining against the sensitive skin of her wrist didn’t hurt. The man caught her as she lost her balance, looking between the mark the bracelet had made and the bracelet, broken and dangling from her other hand.
“Jus’ needa get rid of this,” she slurred, throwing the offending garment onto the ground and leaning on the man as he led her outside.
The Uber ride back to her dorm was agonizing. Liana spent the entire 45 minutes staring out the window and wishing she were anywhere but here, in this car, freshly single, drunk, and utterly humiliated.