Saturday I slept in til noon. Oops. Except it was awesome, so I'm not actually all that sorry. Ever since I've been back I've fallen into my old schedule of homework/procrastination until 2 or 3 in the morning, then 4-5 hours of sleep before I have to get up again. I'm generally a pretty energetic person regardless of how much I sleep, but it was still so refreshing to wake up when my body felt like it instead of when my alarm went off.
I got to the dining hall just before brunch was about to end, so I grabbed a few muffins and pastries and took them back to my room, balancing a glass of chocolate milk on top (the first dish I've stolen from the dining hall sophomore year - if the year goes anything like last year I'm gonna have to recruit some friends to help carry it all back in May). I hung out on my computer while I ate, still in my pajamas - one of the best things about college is that no one bats an eyelash when I walk around campus in my sweatpants and ratty old tank top.
Kida had left a note saying she was gonna go swim for a while, so after an hour or so of doing nothing on my computer, I decided to join her. I took a quick shower, and since I was the only person in the bathroom I got in some quality shower singing time, and then I grabbed my stuff and headed to the gym.
When I got there, Kida was the only one in the pool, and for a while, we both just did laps in silence. We were taking a short break, chatting about our plans for the week when the men's locker room door opened, and out stepped someone I really did not want to see.
Eric - I've mentioned Eric before, right? Well, he and I are supposedly friends now. But it's still awkward sometimes. And making everything ten times worse was the person who followed him out, saying something that made Eric laugh and look back adoringly.
Kida came up beside where I had stopped, treading water and trying to pretend I wasn't staring. "That's Phillip, right?"
Phillip Shirley. Senior, golden-brown hair, honey colored eyes, and currently dating one Eric Barnes. And they're absolutely adorable together, as I found out yet again watching them walk towards the pool, hand in hand, talking quietly and gazing into each other's eyes.
Like, what is this, a fairytale?
I realized Kida had asked a question. "Yeah. Let's just keep swimming, I'm fine, it's not a -"
"Ariel!" Oh, shit, he had noticed me.
Kida and I had a silent conversation ("You okay?" "Yeah, it's fine, I'll be right back.") and then I swam to the side of the pool, where Eric was standing waiting for me, smiling and waving. Phillip was behind him a few feet away, looking about as awkward as I felt.
"Hey, Eric. How's it going?" I said, lifting myself out of the water so I could sit on the edge. He sat down next to me, and oh right did I mention he was shirtless in just his swim trunks? It was slightly better than the Speedos he and the other guys wore at swim practices and meets, but still.
"I'm good. How was your summer?"
"It was good, yeah. Spent some time with the family, so, um, good, you know?" What is wrong with you Ariel are those even words.
"Oh, cool. Phillip and I spent some time at his family's place up in Maine. It was fun, even though we were basically in the middle of nowhere."
Of course he had spent his summer with Phillip. I couldn't really think of anything else to say, so I just hummed in response and an awkward silence fell between us.
"Hey ARIEL! Get your butt back over here! I wanna race!" I had never been so grateful for the fact that Kida knew me well enough to read my emotions on my face from halfway across a pool.
I laughed, seemingly at Kida's outburst, but honestly mostly in relief. "I guess I should get back, then." I went to slide back into the water, when Eric stopped me by touching my arm.
"Hey, so, um, Phillip's roommate's having this party tonight? It'd be cool if you could come. I mean, I miss hanging out with you, you know? I know things are kind of weird, but you're still my friend."
My mouth hung open really unattractively for a while before I gathered up my senses enough to answer: "Oh, um, yeah, sure. I mean, um, I might have other plans, but I'll see if I can swing by." I totally didn't have other plans, but you can't tell your ex that.
After that supremely awkward encounter, Kida and I only swam for a little bit longer. I kind of wanted to just leave, but I didn't want to make Eric and Phillip feel like we were leaving because of them, so we stuck around for a bit.
That night, I was super conflicted. I like partying okay? And I hadn't really been to any parties yet, since my adventure with Kida on Friday left me too worn out to really feel like going anywhere else. I mean, there was that thing with Naveen and Flynn, but really, three people doesn't really count as a party.
So I kind of really wanted to go to the party Phillip's roommate (I think he's one of the Charming twins, though I cannot tell them apart at all) was having. But it also had the potential to be super awkward. I got dressed and ready even though I still wasn't sure, and was contemplating whether my outfit was appropriate when there was a knock at my door.
Kida was on her bed reading, so I got up to get it, and found none other than my freshman partners-in-crime on the other side. "Ariel" Naveen shouted, leaning forward to hug me. It was obvious he was already a few drinks in.
"Whoa there," Flynn said, prying him off me when it became clear that Naveen wasn't intending on letting go. Kida laughed from her spot on the bed as Flynn struggled, finally succeeding in pulling Naveen towards him.
They told me they were coming from a party at one of the frat houses, and were about to go hit another party in Rice Hall. I asked them if they had heard of one in Ashman (where I knew Eric and Phillip lived), and they said they were planning on going there afterwards. They had come to ask if Kida and I wanted to join them.
Kida turned them down, engrossed in her book again. I was still a little conflicted, but I figured I'd be a little more calmed down (and somewhat inebriated, let's be honest) by the time we got to Ashman, so it probably wouldn't be that awkward. Plus, Naveen and Flynn would be there, and really, how awkward could any situation involving them get?
Okay, yeah, don't answer that.
But anyway, I decided to just get over myself and go have fun, and I really did. The party in Rice was kind of crazy, just a lot of people crowded together in the main lobby and spilling out onto the stairs outside. We stayed there for a long time, long enough that someone cleared off a table and got the ancient karaoke machine to work somehow. I was halfway through a not so on pitch version of "Express Yourself," with Naveen as my backup dancer (mostly he just wanted to dance on the table), when I noticed Flynn frantically gesturing at us.
Turns out he had been flirting with Esme, and making some, well, inappropriate comments. Loudly. Within earshot of Phoebus, Esme's now very angry boyfriend.
So we hightailed it out of there, Naveen and I giggling at the half-accomplished half-terrified expression on Flynn's face. We wound up getting a teensy bit lost (this is what I get for letting the drunk freshman lead us around - most of them can barely make it around campus sober), but eventually we did make it to Ashman.
Where at first, there was absolutely zero sign of either Eric or Phillip. We danced and drank and mingled and it was so much fun because by now it was maybe 1 or 2 in the morning, and there was just enough of a crowd to keep it fun, since a lot of people had cleared out by now. The party was supposedly in room 214, but it kind of spread out throughout the hallway, all the way into the lounge, where most of the dancing was happening.
After a while, I got tired of dancing so I sat down on one of the armchairs that had been pushed aside to make room for a dance floor. i debated texting Flynn or Naveen, but before I could decide I found myself face to face with one Eric Barnes. One very drunk Eric Barnes who then decided to drop down to the floor and start hugging my legs.
"Ariel! I missed you so much. Why aren't we friends? I wanna be friends. You're so cool. I'm so happy you're here because you're really cool and awesome and I know I did a shitty thing but I miss you. Even if you do have boobs."
Maybe it was the booze, but instead of feeling weird or awkward or any of that, I just started laughing. Eric's a really cute rambly drunk, okay? And it reminded me of hanging out with him, going to parties and dancing and him going on and on about how awesome everything was.
Eric started laughing with me, and we hung out there for a while, talking about nothing in particular. I told him about Arista stealing all my stuff all summer and he told me about his Uncle Grimsby holding out hope that he'd find a nice young lady to get married to.
"I mean, I'm just, I'm gay. Like, so gay. Like he kept calling and being all, oh I have a friend who has a lovely daughter, and I would just be thinking in my mind about how nice Phillip's eyes are and like his muscles and he'd just be going on and on and I'm just like totally not listening."
And surprisingly, I didn't feel jealous or weird. And when, at the end of the night, Phillip came up and rolled his eyes and pulled Eric up to lean on him, all I could think was how cute they looked as Eric nuzzled into his neck.
I decided to call it a night after Phillip and Eric left, and texted Naveen and Flynn to let them know. They ambushed me as I was leaving, hugging me and telling me my hair was really really red (apparently Flynn is also a rambling drunk). Once I got back to my room, I basically fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow. It was a good night.
Sunday was less good. I had neglected to drink much water the night before, and I was paying for it with pretty much the biggest hangover ever. What made up for it, though, was the text I got a little while after I woke up.
Eric: Hey, Ariel. I had fun talking to you last night :) Do you wanna come to brunch with me and Phillip?
I guess I had spent so much time first mad at Eric, then awkward around him, that I kind of forgot that we were basically best friends last year. I mean, less so than like me and Kida, obviously, but still. We might have been dating, but we were definitely friends first. I finally felt like we were back to normal, especially after brunch where Phillip and I teased Eric about his drunk ramblings and he retaliated by bringing up the time I smacked Shang's ass (while drunk, in full view of his girlfriend) and told him he had the cutest butt ever.
After that, my day was filled with catching up on all the homework I had neglected all weekend, but even that couldn't bring me down. I have one of my best friends back (as well as a brand new one; nothing forms a friendship like embarrassing the crap out of a mutual friend), and it was the icing on pretty much the most perfect weekend ever.
We had our first hall meeting tonight. Snow, our RA, started the meeting by going over the basic ground rules: quiet hours, no pets, no underage drinking (Flynn caught my eye on that one and I had to pinch myself to keep from giggling), no smoking in the building, all that boring stuff. Then we had to introduce ourselves. We had to do our name, major, year, and a fun fact.
I already knew or knew of most of the upperclassmen, but aside from Flynn and Naveen, there's these two Southern girls who are like, best friends, this kind of cocky guy with shoulder length black hair, and then two redheaded girls, one of them with super curly hair, like really really curly. It was kind of awesome.
It was kind of weird, though, because growing up I was basically the only redhead I knew. Like, I got it from my dad, but I guess he had gone grey early, because I can only sort of remember him with red hair. None of my sisters have it. And now there's three of us in the same hall. I wish Aquata had been there to see it; she was always the worst about teasing me about my hair and how I was the only one who had it.
That's what I was thinking about when Kida jabbed me with her elbow, telling me it was my turn. I waved to everyone in the circle and then said, "I'm Ariel! I'm a sophomore, majoring in archaeology. I'm on the swim team and in choir, which everyone should join because it's awesome. That means you, freshmen!" I pointed at the side where all the freshman had concentrated for emphasis. "Oh, and a fun fact - I have six sisters, and all of our names start with A!"
After the introductions, we filled out these little cards with our info, and then we played this game called Categories. Basically Snow would ask a question and we would sort ourself out into categories based on our answer. Some of the questions were kinda boring, like "What's your favorite color?" but some of them were more interesting, like "Which eye do you usually wink with?" (Blue, and my right)
After the game, Snow ended the meeting, but a lot of us stayed and hung out for a while. Kida had a paper to work on, but I saw Flynn and Naveen were staying, so I hung around. I walked over to them as Naveen was getting up from his spot in the circle on the floor, and took his space right before he could flop down onto the couch behind. He sat next to me and poked me in the side, and I stuck my tongue out at him.
"You snooze, you lose, Maldonia."
He rolled his eyes at me, but he was grinning. Flynn snapped his fingers between us. "Hey, lovebirds, quit flirting!"
I was about to say something when Naveen turned to him and went, "You are just jealous because you can't have any of this," gesturing down at himself. I started laughing and Naveen and Flynn were joining in soon enough.
"What's so funny?" The non-curly redhead girl came over to us and sat on the armrest next to Flynn.
"Oh, nothing," I said, still giggling. "Just these two being idiots as usual."
"You've known us for like, a day!" Flynn protested.
"It's totally been longer than that. And really, it doesn't take very long to figure that out," I teased.
The other freshman didn't look all that amused. I realized we were being kind of cliquey, so I said to her, "Hey, you're Anya, right? That's a cool name."
"Thanks, it's short for Anastasia. You said your sisters all had A names, right? That must be cool."
"Yeah, Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Attina, Adella, Alana, and me, Ariel!" I said, counting them off on my fingers. "And my mom was named Athena. Do you have any siblings?" I said, trying to turn the conversation back to her.
"Um...no, I'm an only child. But my parents died when I was younger, so I lived in foster care for a while. The family I was with had a whole bunch of other foster kids, and a lot of them were little, so I kind of know what it's like."
"Oh. Um, yeah, my mom died when I was little too. But I'm the youngest out of my sisters, so I was always the baby."
"Oh." There was kind of an awkward silence. She seemed like a really nice person, but it's like, what do you say after you talk about your parents being dead. I hope she didn't think I was being insensitive by mentioning my mom. I mean, I have my Daddy, so I really can't know what it's like, but I guess I can relate at least a little bit.
We were saved from our awkwardness by the other redhead coming up and joining us. "Hey," she said, casting a glance at Anya, who I assumed was her roommate.
"Hey!" I said, "You're Merida, right?"
"Yeah, and you're Ariel? Nice to meet you."
"I love your hair, it's gorgeous." I kind of blurted it out, but really, her hair is awesome. I couldn't help it.
"Oh, um, thanks. Yours too," she added. "It's really red. It's redder than mine, which is not something that happens often."
"Thanks!"
"Oi, ladies!" I turned to see Flynn and Naveen, who'd been chatting with the other freshman guy, Kuzco, while I was talking to Anya and Merida. "We were thinking of taking this party back to our room," Flynn said. He looked over at where Snow and her friends were sitting on the other side of the lounge before leaning in and whispering, "We have booze."
Anya and Merida didn't look too impressed, but the boys were basically bouncing up and down in excitement. Anya shrugged and said, "I think I'll pass. Maybe some other time."
Flynn looked at Merida next, but she said, "As much as I'd like to get the full college experience, I have way too much homework."
Flynn huffed. "Well fine then, I know Ariel wants to party with us, right?"
I almost said yes, but then decided against it. "Sorry guys. I promised Kida I'd filled my quota of dumb things for the week. But we should totally hang out this weekend," I added quickly. Flynn's smolder may need work, but damn that boy can work the puppy dog eyes.
So I headed back to my room, where I have totally just done all of my reading for my classes tomorrow, and done the dishes, which is like my least favorite thing ever, and I've been rewarding myself with youtube videos. Kida's asleep, and I should probably go to bed soon, but after this video. Or the next one.
There we go. This is Ariel's roommate, Kida. I've confiscated her computer and am making her handwrite her creative writing assignment because she fell asleep right after classes and has been looking at pictures of cats ever since she woke up a couple hours ago.
...Ariel stop making that face you are not a cat go do your homework.
