Avery had been to plenty of parties in high school. She had never been the most popular in high school but her best friend Michaela had been. Dragging her to parties and introducing her to alcohol. Of course, she’d never gotten past the mike’s hard lemonade they stole from her mother’s refrigerator. They’d arrive at the party and Avery would spend the entire night being Michaela’s awful beer pong partner or with her friend group, sipping slowly on the bottle of Mike’s.
As for college, it was unlike anything she’d seen before. Her freshman roommate had convinced her to come out. Ice luges and a all sort of alcohol, girls drank for free, the frat boy explained to them before they entered. Of course, there were no Mike’s Hard Lemonades to be found so she took a solo cup of beer from the keg, which tasted disgusting but Avery didn’t want to seem like a party pooper.
It wasn’t more then five minutes into the party where her roommate ditched her for some semi attractive upperclassman giving her attention. So she settled into a corner and attempted to sip at the beer that was quickly growing warm. The corner had been a bad decision, giving her no room to escape as the frat guy from the entrance came and stood in front of her. The guy gave her some creepy vibes, offering her a drink which she quickly denied. She knew all about date rape drugs and she was not about to take that chance.
The look on her face as he continued to talk and move closer to her was of clear frustration and apprehension. Her exit was blocked and even if she did leave, he was sure to follow. If she didn’t make a move soon, she knew he’d try to pressure her into doing something she didn’t want to do. As if by a miracle, the front door of the party opened and she saw Enzo walk in the room.
She immediately recognized him, her eyes widening in relief as she moved right under his arm. “I’m sorry,” She said, not even bothering to feign any remorse as she headed right for Enzo. “My boyfriend is here.”
Sure, she had told the creep she didn’t have a boyfriend but that didn’t matter now. “Enzo!” She called out to him once she was close enough that she was sure he would hear her over the music. “Hi!”
And then just in case Enzo had no idea who she was, she put her hand out for his friend who looked obviously confused by her approach. “Hi, I’m Avery. I went to high school with Enzo.”
It’s not like he thought he’d be the only one from his high school to go Fordham, but like… he kind of had. The private school he’d gone to in the city was renowned for the number of students that went on to Ivy league schools, and even the students who struggled were fucking geniuses. When he’d first seen Avery on campus he’d honestly pretended not to notice her. They weren’t friends, but they did have more than a few friends in common. He hadn’t gone out of his way to avoid her or anything, but they’d been here for a couple months by now and he still hadn’t given her more than a head nod in passing. It was an unspoken understanding, that they knew each other but were doing their own thing now that they were in college.
He’d thought they had an understanding at least, but the minute he walked into the party with a couple of guys from his dorm, he was practically bum rushed by her. She was hot though… ridiculously so, even, so he didn’t actually mind that she’d joined him. It was weird though, and he was about to ask when he saw the guy she’d just left sizing the two of them up. He had female cousins and other female friends, he put things together quickly and realized that Avery was using him to save her from the frat douche. His friend was polite enough, introducing himself as Tony before he went to go find the other guys they’d come with and Enzo was able to turn his full attention to Avery.
“So what’s the story? Friend? Boyfriend? What did you sign me up to be tonight?” he asked her casually, already leading the both of them to where he was pretty sure the drinks were.
