Page 10 of The Very First Night

“Yes, we are!” Jenna’s voice is significantly more enthusiastic than it was minutes ago—before Marcus came over.

I almost start questioning what they’re talking about…and then I remember.

The Lambda party.

The party I meet Elijah at. Suddenly my enthusiasm matches Jenna’s.

“Sounds great,” Marcus says as he smiles down at Jenna, clearly not that concerned with my attendance.

Tanner’s usually bright and wide smile is missing, replaced with a tight-lipped frown. His usual exuberance for parties is nowhere to be seen as he stands next to his friend. Marcus elbows him in the ribs, causing Tanner to grab his side on instinct.

“Rude,” he mumbles.

“Gotta rally, man. I don’t care that you didn’t get much sleep.”

“I didn’t get much sleep because Rebecca wouldn’t leave this morning. Do you remember why she wouldn’t leave this morning?” The glare he shoots Marcus has me suppressing a laugh, enjoying the tension between them.

“Touché.” Marcus then presses his lips to Jenna’s cheek before whispering something inaudible to her. She simply nods her head before looking over at me.

We exchange pleasantries and the guys disappear toward the bookstore, Tanner going on and on about how he needs to try to get his hands on a used copy of a book for his International Marketing class.

“So?” Jenna smacks my arm with a cheesy grin.

“What?”

“Tanner,” she says as she rolls her eyes.

“What about Tanner?” While I know where she’s going with this, I can’t for the life of me figure out why.

“He’s cute.”

“There are lots of cute guys on campus…”

“Yeah, but this cute guy seems interested.”

“One: no, he’s not. Two: I’m not interested.” I glare at her and a pause settles between us.

She finally cracks. A huff passes her lips. “Ugh, fine. One day we will find you a guy that actually keeps your interest for longer than two seconds.”

Little does she know that is exactly what is going to happen.

Tonight.

SIX

KAT

“Have you seen my pink liquid lipstick?” Jenna’s voice carries from our shared bathroom with a franticness the situation doesn’t call for. We’ve been trying to get out the door for half an hour, but Jenna’s nervous energy keeps pulling us back inside.

I gnaw at my thumbnail as I stare down at my phone, sitting on the floor in front of my full-body mirror, scrolling through the pixelated photos from last semester littering my photo gallery. A short video of Jenna doing a keg stand during a homecoming weekend Kegs and Eggs party last year pulls a chuckle from my lungs.

Without looking up from my phone, I yell, “Didn’t you have it last night?”

I remember because we both wore the lipstick and Jenna threw it in her crossbody bag for us to touch up throughout the night. It proved to be ineffective, though, as Jenna quickly disappeared from the party. Therefore, I was left walking back to our dorm with the worst butthole lips in existence.

Absolutely no one likes butthole lips.

“Oh shit, you’re right!” Jenna says excitedly as she steps into my room, wearing a romper and white sneakers.

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