Lexi's Love & War

Chapter 7

Mid-terms seemed to arrive earlier than last year, much to the dismay of NYU students across campus. But by the end of the first week of October, they had finally come to an end. This gave Isaac and his roommates an excuse to hold a party at their house to celebrate. While Felipe and DeShawn looked forward to tonight, Isaac wasn't looking forward to it. The party was set to begin in a few minutes, but he considered hiding out in his bedroom instead of joining it. He sat on the couch, alternating between sighing heavily and fiddling with his phone.

"What's wrong, dude?" Felipe asked. "I thought you'd be excited 'cause you were so stressed from mid-terms!"

"I'm worried that the party will end badly for me," Isaac admitted. "Cassie's coming, and I don't want her bugging me constantly about getting back together again. I've had enough of that bullshit for one lifetime, as far as I'm concerned."

"Yeah, I can see that," DeShawn remarked. "I'll keep an eye on her tonight if that helps."

"I'll protect you, too!" Felipe bellowed. "Assuming I'm not too busy with the ladies, that is."

Isaac's content grin turned sour. "Fuck you, Felipe. But thank you, DeShawn."

People began to file into their home shortly after that exchange, thus starting a long night of loud music and alcohol. Among the growing crowd of people who entered within the first hour were Cassie and Mariana. They entered the living room to watch a sea of people mingling, dancing, and talking. Some had also begun drinking beer and other mixed drinks. Cassie spotted Isaac from across the room, but he was busy chatting with a girl she didn't recognize.

"Don't even think about it."

Cassie looked over at her best friend. "What?"

"Don't give Isaac give for talking to another girl," Mariana ordered. "Please, please don't make a scene. I'm not in the mood to deal with that tonight."

"I'm not gonna talk to him," Cassie revealed.

Mariana rolled her eyes. "I don't believe you."

"No, I'm serious— I just wanna have a good time tonight. I'll talk to Isaac tomorrow or some other day. I was planning on leaving him alone. I just need to forget about mid-terms and relax— even if it means not being able to try and get Isaac back again. Besides, there'll always be next time."

"I want to believe you, but I'm still gonna keep an eye on you tonight."

Cassie scoffed. "Jesus, you sound like a mom."

"Sorry, but I have to." Marian paused to smile. "I'm gonna go talk to DeShawn, okay?"

"You do that," Cassie said. "I'm getting a beer."

As the girls went off in different directions, Lexi and Nikita entered the home at about the same time. Lexi had a scowl on her face, but it had nothing to do with being at a party for once.

"Are you alright? You've been pissed off since this afternoon," Nikita remarked.

"My last mid-term was a fucking nightmare," Lexi answered. "It was nothing like the prof said it was gonna be, and it didn't cover half the material he said it would. I'm pretty sure that I failed the damn thing. Some of my classmates are also angry about how it was totally different from what we thought. So, I'm getting drunk tonight."

"Wait, really? I don't think I've ever seen you drink before."

"I don't usually get drunk, but I want to forget about my shitty mid-term."

The two found a cooler full of beer a couple of feet away, so Lexi plucked out two bottles. She handed one off to Nikita, and they promptly toasted to the end of mid-terms. The taste of beer was slimy and gross but Lexi pushed the discomfort out of her mind anyways.