Lennon.
Junior Year
"You wanna come to a party with me tonight?" Tayen asks from the open doorway of my bedroom.
I'm stretched out on my stomach across my bed with season 2 of Emily In Paris playing on my laptop and an open bag of sour gummy worms beside me.
"Who's party?" I ask, pressing pause before glancing up at her curiously.
I could use some fun, especially tonight of all nights since it's New Years Eve but I hate Frat parties which is why I'm watching Netflix instead of getting dressed. Sigma Phi always has theirs in the basement and it's musty, hot and reeks of mildew. I go in smelling like a flower and come out smelling like road kill, it's awful and I try to avoid going but sometimes the frats are the only places throwing parties. Plus the guys in Sigma Phi are all douche bags, I'd rather not ring the New Year in surrounded by them in their matching baby blue polos.
If it weren't for cheerleading I wouldn't be back on campus before the start of the new semester, I've only been back for a day and I miss my family already. Tayen doesn't always fly home during breaks because she doesn't have the extra money to spend on flights so she never left our apartment.
"Ace's. His roommates are throwing a New Years Eve party, it shouldn't get too crazy." She shrugs.
My eyes widen comically large. "You mean I finally get to meet him?"
Tayen and Ace have been dating for months now but she refused to bring him around, adamant they weren't 'official' when really she's a commitment-phobe who didn't want to believe she was falling in love. She's smiled more in the last few months than she has since I met her freshman year, that told me all I needed to know when it came to him but I'd still been dying to meet him.
She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. "Do you want me to change my mind?"
"Hell no!" I laugh and jump off the bed quickly before she gets a chance. "I get to meet your beau, this calls for dressing up!"
She groans and leaves my room muttering, "Why am I already regretting this?"
I throw open my closet door and start searching through the over stuffed clothes I have on hangers. I have an obsession with thrift shopping so I tend to over buy. How can I pass up a shirt for three dollars and jeans for five? It doesn't take me long to find what I want, I had purchased the pants with a fun night in mind. I don't know what suddenly changed Tayens mind about me meeting Ace but I'm happy for it, maybe she's finally admitting to herself that she's in love with him.
"Lennon, you look like a disco ball." Tayen laughs when I exit my bedroom.
"I'll take that as a compliment." I flash her a smile and give my hips a wiggle, the lights reflecting off the sequins on my pants and onto the walls in response— just like a disco ball.
I go to the bathroom and pull my honey blonde hair up into two space buns. I don't normally wear makeup, there's nothing wrong with it and I do have to wear it during games and competitions for cheerleading but I'm not very good at it and usually end up having one of my friends on the squad do it for me, tonight is a special night so I swipe some mascara across my lashes and red lipstick on my lips. I grab Tayen from the living room and pull her into my room to my full length mirror so I can snap some pictures of us.
Tayen is beautiful. She has long, black hair and she's pulled the top half back in a braid, she has brown eyes that are so dark they look black sometimes and flawless golden brown skin that she was blessed with from her Native American genes. Even dressed simply in a long sleeved black crop top, boyfriend jeans, and sneakers she looks like a goddess.
I'm dressed in a gray cropped sweater with a black cami underneath just in case I get hot, high waisted bell bottoms covered in silver sequins and the black cowboy boots my parents got me for Christmas. I squeeze us together and snap a few pictures before releasing her.
Tayen shakes her head, eyeing my pants in disbelief. "Only you could pull off sequined bell bottoms."
I grab her hand and pull her out of the bathroom. "Come on, let's go before you change your mind."
We grab our coats and Tayen gets her keys before I drag her from our shared apartment. After sophomore year we were beyond tired of being stuffed in a tiny dorm so we found an apartment right off campus. It's not fancy but we have our own bedrooms so it definitely gives us more privacy than the dorms.
It's snowing when we make it outside, a thin sheet of white covering the ground. Tayen tells me Aces house is only around the block from ours so it's a short walk there. By the time we make it to their door my legs are covered in goosebumps, the bitter wind piercing through the thin material of my pants easily and I'm regretting not pregaming before braving the cold, alcohol always warms me up.
Tayen doesn't bother knocking, she turns the knob and I follow her inside. The house is already packed with people. All the furniture has been pushed back against the walls to make room for dancing and theres a speaker placed on the end table playing music. The lights are off in the living room, LED strip lights taped at the top of the wall the only lighting on, bathing the room in a red hue. I can already tell the house is bigger than ours and the furniture is nicer too, maybe Ace has money.
Tayen pulls me over to a muscular dark skinned guy leaned against the wall talking to someone. His hair is styled in tight cornrows and he's dressed in a dark blue Wolverines Football t-shirt and jeans. He wraps his arm around Tayen's waist and presses a hot kiss against her lips.
"Ace this is my best friend and roommate, Lennon." Tayen introduces us.
I give him a smile and pull him into a quick hug. "You have no idea how happy I am to finally meet you!" I pull back and glower at Tayen. "Although she could've told me we've already met since you play football."
Ace chuckles. "Tay said you'd been bugging her to meet, I told her to just tell you we already knew each other but she refused."
I arch an eyebrow at her over the nickname and she narrows her eyes at me in response. She refused to let me call her anything other than Tayen but Ace gets to call her Tay, I see how it is.
"Come on, I'll make you two a drink." Ace says, grabbing Tayens hand and I follow them into the kitchen.
The kitchen is dimly lit by the lone light above the sink but you can see more than with the light strip in the living room. Ace looms above everyone we pass, Tayen gazes up at him with hearts in her and I can't help but be happy for her. Ace is a genuinely nice guy and if I knew he had been interested in Tayen I would've introduced them freshman year, Tayen deserves the best.
Ace makes us a drink and then I fire questions at him. Tayen had told me about the dates he's taken her on, the sweet things he says and how good he is to her but I want to know where he's from, what he likes to do when he isn't playing football and what his plans are after graduation. Freshman year Tayen and I grew close after being placed in the same dorm room, now junior year she feels more like a sister than a friend and I'm very protective of my family.
Ace is telling me about his home life in Georgia when a familiar face enters the kitchen. My heart races at the sight of Jax, I've seen him a few times at Frat parties and around campus since my incident freshman year but each time was a shock to my system. He doesn't remember the incident freshman year or my name, even though I've introduced myself each time I've seen him. Surprisingly it doesn't diminish my crush or the pull I feel toward him though. Jude says I'm more stubborn than a mule but I just think of myself as tenacious.
