The Writer | #4✓

Chapter 7

"A party?" Ollie asked me as he continued to run on the treadmill. We were in the resident gym, and I was standing by Ollie, talking with him since I wasn't planning to exercise myself.

"Yup," I said, watching Ollie for a reaction. He kept on running, but his brows cocked into a frown. His hair was sticking to his forehead due to sweat. Speaking of sweat, he was drenched in it. He eventually stopped the treadmill, slowing down with the machine until it came to a complete stop.

"Where?" he asked, taking the bottle of water from the treadmill's cup holder.

"Upstairs, on Maxwell's floor. Apparently, most of the music department students booked rooms there because of the soundproof walls," I said, watching as Ollie drank water. He nodded at me, humming as he covered his bottle before putting it back in the cupholder.

"So, today?" Ollie asked as I stepped away from the treadmill so that he'd have room to come down.

"Yeah," I answered as we made to leave the gym. It was noon on Saturday, and most people were either talking the lounge with others or had gone out. I stayed in my room with Ollie, writing as he practiced a dance on his side of the room. When the evening got closer, I started to get nervous, wondering if I should just go upstairs, or if I should wait for Maxwell to call me. As I pondered over the thought, my phone vibrated on the table, making me look over at it. I smiled when I saw a message notification, and I reached for my phone before unlocking the screen and checking.

It starts at around five. Come up when you're ready. X.

Maxwell. 3:47 PM.

A smile made its way to my face as I stared down at the message — partly due to the 'X' added at the end. I put my phone away before trying to put my concentration on the Microsoft word sheet in front of me. I still had an hour plus, and maybe I could pump up about five hundred more words till then.

Time went by, and I only looked away from my computer screen when I noticed that it was becoming dimmer. I looked around the room, noticing that Ollie was nowhere in sight. I wondered where he'd gone for a bit, but I shook my head later, deciding it wasn't my business before I got up from my seat and checked the clock by the door for the time.

"I should get ready and leave," I muttered to myself, noticing that it was a little past five already. As I searched my wardrobe I wondered if there was such a thing as overdressing. I mean, the party was just upstairs. I found myself staring down at two plain, but dressy shirts and I ended up tossing them both aside and going for a loose sweater instead. When I was done dressing up I shut my laptop down, switching the light in the room off, and then I headed out.

As I made my way to my floor's lounge area I found Simon and Halimat, and a few other people from my floor playing cards against humanity. I smiled at them, slipping away until I was in the elevator area. I pressed the button and waited until the doors opened before I walked in and pressed the button for the tenth floor.

It didn't take much time for the lift to go up and open. I could feel the pit of nerves I'd been trying to ignore for the past two hours swell when I was greeted with the sound of music, and loud talking. I slipped into the crowded lounge, moving about the flood of people as my heart rate quickened.

Maybe I should have told Maxwell I was coming up first. I thought as I watched on as a couple of people played beer pong in the distance. Some people were dancing, and others were just sitting about on the floor talking and sharing blunts.

"Xander!" And just like that, the sound of Maxwell's voice made me ease up. I turned, finding his head of red hair in the crowd. He was waving, and he soon made his way to me with someone else on his tail.