Rare

Marie

Click Click Click

The repetitive noise of my keyboard as my fingers tapped on each key repeatedly while I write my English paper. My screen was split between my Word doc and my Google searches of information regarding what I need. I had the weekend to work on this, but I decided to start a rough draft and go from there, bookmarking certain websites that I was going to use for citations other than my textbook. I heard a knock on my door, but before I could answer, Dylan had already busted into my dorm room. “What are you doing??” She closed my door before approaching my bed. Luckily, the dorm layout is practically a small apartment. There’s a tiny living room with a tiny kitchen, then there are three small rooms, so each student assigned to this dorm will have their own room, and one bathroom. The room wasn’t the biggest, but it was probably a little smaller than an actual apartment bedroom. “I’m writing my paper, silly.” She rolled her eyes because she already knew what I was doing.

“Get up, we need to get ready to go to Mickey’s party tonight.” She leaned her body against my evaluated bed while she stared at me. I let out a sigh, turning my attention over to her for a moment. I shook my head, gesturing at my laptop in order to tell her I have things to do. “I’m not going to a lame ass party where I won’t have much fun. I have a paper to write and I would just like to sit in my room in my cozy pajamas.” I attempted to ignore the dramatic look on her face, but she slammed my laptop closed and pulled it from my lap to place it onto my desk.

“Shakespeare can wait until tomorrow. You need to live a little more.” I adjusted my blanket tightly around me to show her that I was not budging at her request.

“You know that I’m not writing about Shakespeare, dipshit. Now, give me back my laptop.”

She shook her head, grabbed my stuffed dog named Mr. James Lou from my chair and threw him at me, hitting my head. I mumbled an “ow” while rubbing at the area. I don’t know how I came up with the name Mr. James Lou, but when I was around five, it just came to me. He was a little worn from aging with me, I had sewed up his side when I was fifteen because I had gotten into an argument with my mom and she thought in order to hurt me, she would rip him. Luckily, I stopped her from tearing him completely apart. Safe to say, we are no longer in contact from a lot of shit happening.

“You’re getting out of this bed one way or another. Come with me, please. If an hour after being there, you’re not enjoying yourself then we can leave.” I had a feeling that she may yank me out of this bed if I say no again and I’ll only have to be there an hour, so it won’t be too terrible.

She smiled widely at me, already knowing that I was going to agree to her words. She began to tug at my legs, wanting me to hurry up and get out of the bed. I let out a dramatic sigh and pulled myself out of my bed, hopping down to the ground. She went to my small closet, browsed my clothes as I sat on my chair and pulled up one of my portable mirrors with small lights on it.

She already had what she was wearing on, but she still needed to do her hair and makeup, so we would be here a while. I grabbed my makeup bag, placing it onto my desk. “No! I’m doing your makeup. If I let you do it, you’ll go too casually and we need to show up HOT!” I already regretted telling her I would go because she was about to take ten years and I want to go, so I can come back.

After two whole long hours, we were finally finished. She dressed me up in a fuchsia mashed mini dress, the shoulder scraps were crossed and the back was lower than I would like. The top was a draped type collar that showed off my pink lacy bralette.

“You don’t have any heels here?” She looked through the small selection of shoes that I brought on campus. I shook my head, throwing my hair into a messy bun, pulling out my curtain bangs. “I can’t believe you.” Who brings heels to school?

I let out a laugh, looking at my makeup in my mini mirror. My eyeshadow was a light brown over the lid and a darker shade in the crease blended out to be more smooth, eyeliner drawn out into a wing with a pair of lashes glued up. It was very minimal, I don’t own any crazy lashes, so I didn’t look like a complete scare to the world. I rubbed my lips together, not enjoying the stickiness of my lipstick. I’ll rub them off when she isn’t looking.

She hummed as she looked at me and the shoes a few times. She tossed a pair of my white Air Forces at me, “This will do, I guess.” I put a pair of no-show socks on and slipped my feet into the shoes. Off we go.

I already don’t want to be here, the lights are low and the music is low. I could smell the alcohol lingering over people as I passed them. I kept messing with my lower dress, not the biggest fan of the slit revealing some of my thigh. I followed behind Dylan closely because I didn’t want to end up alone. We get to the kitchen, I go straight for a soda can and she goes straight to a White Claw.

“You’re so boring.” She laughed at me as my eyes wandered around the room.

“I don’t want to be here, Dyl.” I’m twenty and according to society, I’m supposed to be partying and being lively while hooking up with people instead of living in my dorm with a textbook in my hands. I promise I don’t only focus on school, but if I had the option between the two, I’d pick school any day.

“You said you would give it an hour. Have some alcohol and loosen up.”

I only nodded, not agreeing with her words but more deciding to not go back and forth with her. We’ve been friends since middle school, but as we got older, she enjoyed going out more than I did, and if she wanted to then she would pull me along. Sometimes, I feel like she doesn’t think of my feelings too much. We’ve been close for so long and I think she wants me to get out of my shell more, but it does sadden me when she does things like this.

I opened my Dr. Pepper, taking a sip of it before going to the corner of the corners. Dylan ran into Carmen, who is one of her “fun” friends, she didn’t say those words but I know it deep down. Carmen and I don’t get along because we don’t have the same interest, she’s also a stuck up bitch, but that’s besides the point. The only thing we have in common is our friendship with Dylan, who wants us to hang out all together. All the time.

“Hey, I’m going over there to meet some of Carmen’s friends, are you going to be okay for a moment?” Before I could answer, Carmen answered for me.

“She’ll be fine, she doesn’t need a babysitter, right?” She glanced over at me and I just smiled, while nodding. I gestured to her to go, which she did.

“Marie, I didn’t think you would come here… To a party.” A voice approached me from my side, but I didn’t look because I already knew who it was.

“Hello, Mickey. I just thought I would stop by and see what the hype is about.”

He let out a chuckle as he grabbed a few shot glasses and a bottle of Tequila. “Stop by? Dressed like a hooker? Are you here to finally lose your virginity? If so, I call dibs.” He made the thrusting motion and I rolled my eyes.

“You are so disgusting.” I sucked my teeth, shaking my head in disbelief of his words. He let out another chuckle, raising his bottle towards me before he began to walk away from me. “Let me know if you change your mind.” I won’t.

FYI, I’m not a virgin, I just don’t sleep around. I haven’t had sex since high school, I’ve only had sex three times with my boyfriend at the time and it was… okay? I wouldn’t say it was enjoyable, a lot of people hype it up, but I never wanted to sleep with someone I hardly know afterwards. It can be embarrassing being not too experienced and I would only want to be that vulnerable with someone I trust. I haven’t dated since my breakup, guys around here don’t care too much about relationships.

Mickey was your average looking dickhead, tall with tan skin, even a tan mark of a tank top he wears repeatedly. This is definitely where he’ll peak. I doubt there’s any future for him and by the way he talks to women, he’ll probably end up in prison. I hope any woman around him is safe, I pray for that. I felt gross at this moment, cursing Dylan for dressing me like this. I wanted a place to hide from the crowd, I knew better than to go upstairs to hide in a room, I already know there’s people hooking up there. I walked over to the back door, opening it before sliding out.

There were a lot of people here, but they were spread out due to the wide amount of space. I held my can closely to me as I walked around in order to find a spot away from everyone. I didn’t want to drift too far because I’m terrified of the dark and I don’t want to just disappear and no one will find me until my body just magically appears.

I noticed a tree over to my right and I grabbed one of the towels sitting in a chair. I’m sure someone was going to use this after ending up in the swimming pool, but at this point I didn’t care.

Once I walked to the tree, I noticed the smell of cigarettes before I noticed someone already sitting on the other side of the tree with their back towards the party as it rested on the tree. His head turned a little to look at me, I assumed he either heard me or sensed me.

He didn’t say anything, only turned his head back to continue smoking his cigarette and stared at his phone. I wasn’t sure I should sit down, ask him if I could, or just walk away. I would feel a little embarrassed if I just walked away but also if I just sat down without asking him. Maybe he came over here to be alone like I did, but here I am, interrupting his privacy. “Well, are you going to sit or not?” His voice was low and his words came off harsh.

I cleared my throat, placing the towel on the ground and sitting on it. I sat on the other side of the tree and pulled out my phone to do the same thing he was. Staring at it and counting down until it was time to leave. Obviously, he wouldn’t be here if he couldn’t leave either, there was someone keeping him here. It was quieter over here, I could still hear the music but it was calmer over here and I began to feel better.

I began to read a book on my phone, I didn’t have much else to do at the moment and I didn’t know what to do either.

You know that feeling of something being close to you? That’s how I felt at that moment and something told me to look down at the towel, so I did. I let out a scream, tiny but scared. It was a bug, I couldn’t tell what it was since it was too dark, but I saw the outline.

“What the fuck?!” The man spoke annoyed at me, turning to look over at me to see what was going wrong as I turned my body off of the towel quickly.

“S-sorry… There’s a… Um, there’s a bug on the towel.” I looked up at him, seeing more of his face from the slight lights from the house shining over into our direction. I don’t recognize him, I don’t know if I’ve seen him on campus.

“For fuck’s sake.” He rolled his eyes, standing up to I assume walk away from the crazy stranger freaked out by a bug coming close to her, but instead, he walked over to my side and flicked the bug away. “You’re welcome.” He dusted off his pants from the dirt that he sat on.

“Do you… Do you want to sit on the towel?” He looked down at me and huffed? Or chuckled? He went to walk away, but I stopped him. I don’t know why. I didn’t know him and to be completely honest, he kind of scared me. “Wait!” He didn’t turn around right away and I already knew he was rolling his eyes at me. “Can you stay?”

He turned his body slowly at me, tilting his head slightly at me with a confused look on his face. He didn’t say anything, so I did. “We don’t have to talk or anything, but I don’t want to go back to the party and I don’t want to be alone.” Why did I say that? I didn’t care to be alone, actually I came over here to be alone.

He took in a deep breath and exhaled it harshly. “Then leave.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Leave the party.”

“I can’t. My best friend and I walked over here, I don’t feel safe to walk back on my own.” There was no way I was going home alone on a Friday night near a house of drunk frat boys and I assume that this is not the only party in the area

He rubbed his head and I could tell how annoyed he was with me, like he didn’t know what else to say or even what to do with me. Stranger danger, Marie, we know this. He could be the drunk frat boy who I am attempting to avoid. He didn’t smell heavily of alcohol, so that’s a plus, but there was a hint of the scent. “Fine.”

I looked at him confused, I had no clue what he meant by that and I wasn’t sure what to do, so I just sat there. He sucked his teeth before letting out a noticeable sigh. “Are you going to get up or keep looking at me like a deer in headlights?”

I cleared my throat, quickly standing up and smoothing out my dress. He began to walk away, walking towards the sidewalk. The tree was in the backyard on one side of the house, so there was a straight shot to the sidewalk without going through a group of drunks. I assumed he wanted me to follow, so I did just that. I sped walked until I could catch up to his long strides.

We stopped once our feet plated onto the concrete and he gestured for me to walk. Is he walking me home? I’m not sure why I’m going to leave with a total stranger, isn’t that something people around my age do? I felt more comfortable with him than I would anyone else in that party, other than Dylan of course.

I have no clue why and maybe it has to do with the fact he didn’t seem interested enough to harm me in any way. Don’t some men who want to harm women try to show some interest in them? Or maybe that’s what he wants me to believe only to kill me, but I began to walk towards the left of us and I could hear his footsteps following behind me. I wasn’t the best in awkward silence, but he doesn’t seem like the person who enjoyed conversations.

After two minutes passed, the music was getting quieter, but I’m sure that the other parties around us were the reason there was still the sound of chaos.

“So, are you going to kill me?” I turned my head a little to look at him, seeing more of his face now that we were in more light. He had quite long lashes, the streetlights touched his eyes, allowing me to see more of them. It was too dark still to even see the color, but they seemed to look light brown. He didn’t respond to me, only following me. “Well, that’s comforting.” I nodded my head, now that I started talking, I wasn’t going to be able to stop.

“At least tell me your name if you plan on killing me. I would like to know my murderer.” Silence. Jeez, he is hard to be around. “Is it… Luke? Ew no, you do not look like a Luke. What about… Marcus? Timothy? Jacob? Daniel?” Staring back and forth between his face and our direction, I noticed a slight raised eyebrow. “Fine… I guess I’ll just introduce myself. I’m not sure if you have a list of women you murdered in order to keep track of them all. I’m Marie. Please say I’ll at least be your first Marie on your list. I can not compete with another in the afterlife.”

A smirk appeared on his face, my words seemed to amuse him. I surprisingly don’t feel weary of that reaction. I hummed, biting a little on my tongue to prevent myself from rambling on.

“Jason.” His voice shocked me? I wasn’t expecting him to respond, but I felt good that I got him to. I smiled to myself and decided that I was okay with not speaking further while our feet moved closer to my dorm.

I moved my fingers around my small purse and grabbed my keys once I felt them. I looked up at Jason, who was watching my every move. I assume he’s going to wait until I get inside to leave. “Why haven’t I ever seen you before?” I placed my key into the door, but I didn’t turn it as I spoke to him.

He took in a deep breath, leaning his body up against the side of the door. “I don’t go to school here.”

“Where do you go to school? How do you know those people at that party then?”

“I dropped out of this school. A friend who goes here wanted to go there, therefore, I went with.”

I turned my key, opening the door and stepping a foot in the door before stopping to look at him. “Will I see you again?” I don’t know what caused me to say those words, they kind of fell out. I’m sure my face showed some confusion towards my own words.

He shrugged ever so slightly. “Not likely.” He lifted his body from the building, turning his heels to walk away. “Thank you.” I wasn’t sure if he heard me because he didn’t stop. I closed the door, locking it before walking to my small room where I’ll lay unsure if I’d say I had fun or not.

My ringtone snapped me out of my sleep and I moved my hand over to silence it without opening my eyes or moving my head. A few moments later it went off again. I let out a loud groan into my pillow as I opened my drowsy eyes, squinting as I looked at my phone.

Three missed calls from Dyl-pickle

Ten messages from Dyl-pickle

Shit. I opened my phone, going straight to the messages.

11:56 PM

Dyl-pickle: Bitch where did you go???

12:06 AM

Dyl-pickle: Marie????

12:10 AM

Dyl-pickle: You better have a good excuse for ditching

12:11 AM

Dyl-pickle: I stg, you said an hour!! You dipped without evening saying goodbye

12:30 AM

Dyl-pickle: I’m so upset with you right now. I am worried SICK, why aren’t you answering your phone??? Why didn’t you even TEXT or CALL me if you were leaving?!

12:35 AM

Dyl-pickle: I’m going to kill you and if you’re already dead, I’m going to bring you to life and kill you multiple times

1:45 AM

Dyl-pickle: I just found out you left with some dude. If you didn’t get laid then I’m going to kick your ass. Who leaves with a guy at a party to not get laid? Who was it? No one knew

1:52 AM

Dyl-pickle: I don’t know why I even asked that, I don’t care to know rn. Anyways, I’m sleeping at Carmen’s. Text me asap

2:02 AM

Dyl-pickle: ????

7:32 AM

Dyl-pickle: Can’t sleep because my best friend is probably dead. This is going to be AWKWARD if they made a documentary about you and they showed these messages. Hey, media!! In all seriousness, please call or text. I’m going to come over to your dorm if you don’t reply by 10. I love you.