Chapter 9: Not Even Ten Minutes Later:

“Alright you kids ought to know that if there's a party going on up in that dorm room I’m going to have to check around midnight” The campus security guard said to us as we scanned our guest badge into Miller Hall. 

I froze, not knowing how to react. I wasn’t going to get in trouble over some dumb dorm party. 

He laughed hysterically and then reversed his sentence. 

“Didn’t ya hear me kid? I said yall have until midnight to get out of there!” This time he winked. I sighed in relief and we continued on our way inside. 

“They do not care too much here unless things get out of hand, which they normally do not.” Rami led the way. He was a sophomore at SRU and knew the ropes better than the three of us freshmen did. 

“I will make sure we leave before 11:30 and no harm will be done.” 

Once we were on the right floor he searched for their room number until finally he found it and knocked. Knock-knock knock-knock. 

“The campus security tends to knock twice, so if you ever want to know it is not them you need to learn to knock like that.” 

 I noted that as a large black man opened the door. 

“Ayo Rami and Lucy are here!” He announced to the rest of the people in the room, “What are ya’lls names?” He looked down at Grace and I. 

“I’m Casey, this is Grace…” 

He cut me off. 

“Yall like to drink?” 

“Hell yeah!” The two of us replied in unison. 

“Get in here then!” He said, grabbing my hand and pulling it into the room. 

In the small small three room suite there were already way more people than it was designed to hold. A white folding table was set up in the “living room” area, but between the table and two couches there was barely any room left to stand. A small area of the room was empty so our group took the opportunity to stand there before it was taken. A moment later the guy came back up to us. 

“I fo’got to tell y'all my name. I’m Josh. This is my room.” He held up his red solo cup. “Drinks are over on top of the fridge. Can I get y’all anything specific?” 

Grace looked at me in a confused way. 

“I’ll get it, thanks though.” I replied to him. 

Someone called Josh from across the room and he was gone again. 

“I normally just mix whatever sounds good.” Grace chuckled. 

At that point I’d looked over to see Lucy fixing herself a Jack and Coke. 

“I want to drink but I have gum in my mouth…I don’t see a trash can anywhere…” I said, scanning the room. 

“Just swallow it.” A voice said. 

I looked to my left to see Spence walking up to me. 

“Oh hey!” I was happy to see another person I kind of knew. 

“Unless you don’t like to do that. In that case you can just spit it in my mouth and I’ll swallow it for you.” 

I laughed. 

“I’m serious!” He smiled. 

“I mean…if you’re sure…” I shrugged and stood on my tiptoes to align with his mouth. 

Sure enough Spence did take my gum and swallow it for me. 

“OH MY GOD, that's DIS-GUSTING!” Grace shouted over the loud music. 

She was a bit of a drama queen. She liked to play the rough-around-the-edges goth stereotype, but deep down she was definitely a city girl. In the past few months she had made sure to correct me on anything that I did that was “DIS-GUSTING” as she always put it. She didn’t seem to be feeling the alcohol yet. 

“Awh come on Grace, it’s just like kissing someone,” Spence laughed off his actions. 

“No, it definitely isn’t!” She fake gagged, “I need another drink, you guys are too much.” 

Spence and I kinda just rolled our eyes at each other and laughed as she walked away towards the fridge, which Lucy was sitting next to now. 

Just then a tall girl with split dyed hair (half black and half silver) stumbled up to Spence. 

“I think…” She looked me up and down. 

“HI!” and then focused back on Spence. 

 “I think I need to…go home. I'm SO sleepy!” 

Spence laughed and held his arm out for the girl to balance on. 

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“Casey, this is Alex… and they are VERY drunk.” He laughed again. 

I knew I shouldn't have assumed their gender, but I didn’t ask so it was my mistake. Alex, they/them I noted. 

“I would love to stay and chat, but I promised them I’d babysit if they got too drunk. All you baby freshmen can’t hold your alcohol yet.” 

Alex slid down the wall into a sitting position, and then glanced up at Spence. 

“Oops! UPPIES!” They outstretched their arms. 

“See you Monday Case,” Spence said as he reached down to scoop Alex up. 

I walked away in search of Grace or Lucy or even Rami if he was around. Ever since the part at Lucy’s apartment when Rami and I had kissed I felt a little awkward around him, however he and Grace had bonded really well. They hangout in the dorm together a lot. I was friendly wherever she invited him over, but I didn’t go out of my way to make him one of my close friends. I was starting to think that they were going to be a bit more than just friends in the near future. 

“BAH!” Someone came up behind me and quickly cupped my shoulders. 

I jumped up and turned around, ready to swing. 

“It is just me!” Rami laughed. “I’m sorry Casey. You look like you have something on your mind.” 

“Oh, no. I was just… looking for the girls.” I was still startled by him scaring me. 

“They are both in the hallway. Another security guard got word of the party and is about to come up. We should get out of here.” 

The guy standing next to me, who was obviously eavesdropping, quickly looked at me and Rami and then back up and yelled, 

“SECURITY! EVERYONE OUT OF THE DORM!” 

The room erupted in panic and people started storming out the door. 

“Oh SHIT!” I sighed as I grabbed his hand and tried to weave my way to the door. 

A swarm of very intoxicated college students flew down the stairs in a not-so-subtle fashion. I tried looking for Lucy and Grace but Rami just kept pulling me down the stairs to avoid being run into. 

We ran with the crowd out the door and passed the security guard who had let us in. He was laughing again as we all panicked, trying to escape before the other security guard got there. 

Lucy was slumped of the sidewalk with her back against the red brick dorm building and Grace was kneeling down next to her. 

“Are you guys okay?” I asked, thinking Lucy had fallen and hurt herself in some way. 

“CASEYYYY!” Lucy smiled up at me. 

“Yeah, we're fine, but someone es una perra borracha.” Grace said, standing up.

“DRUNK BITCHHHH!” Lucy added.

“We just need to get her to the dorm room and we’ll be fine,” I told them. 

I took one of Lucy's arms and Grace took the other as we made our way up the hilly sidewalk to Borris hall. 

It was one of the most difficult things I had ever experienced. Lucy was stubborn and wanted to walk on her own, but every time she tried she stumbled too much to make a substantial distance. Finally, after what felt like forever, we were unlocking the door to room 457. 

“You guys should make her eat something.” Rami suggested, “It might help her sober up.” 

“I think I have some peanuts in that tote.” I pointed to a blue storage tote that sat next to my bed. We had come to refer to it as The Food Bin. 

He sat a bowl of peanuts in front of Lucy, who was sitting on the floor. 

“I don’t need peanuts!” She pushed the bowl away from her, spilling them all over the carpet in the process. 

Then she got up, stumbled over to the bathroom, and closed the door. 

“She’ll feel a lot better in a few minutes at least.” Grace laughed. 

“I think I need to lay down,” I said. 

Grace turned off the light, and made one final remark to Lucy. 

“You can sleep in my bed tonight, I'm going to Rami’s room for the night!” 

Huh, I thought to myself, so I was right about them. 

I heard the door shut and passed out minutes later. 

The next morning I woke up to Lucy asleep on the bathroom floor. She had used our bath mat as a pillow. 

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