The mark.

Rose’s POV

It felt like I was losing my mind as I scrambled off the bed and picked up the pieces of my clothing scattered all over the floor. I was near hysterical with panic at the thought that I had drunken sex with some random person.

What was I thinking?

I could have gotten myself killed, or worse, by my carelessness on a night where I was celebrating being through with college finals. Sighing loudly, I looked around for my purse and was relieved when I saw it lying on a couch. I grabbed it and pulled out my phone, only to see that it was blowing off with calls and texts from Jade and Kayla.

My phone was on silent, so I had already missed all of the calls.

I was literally trembling as I picked it up, and Jade's voice blared into my ears. "Where are you, Rose? We've been going crazy searching for you all night!"

In the background, I heard Kayla groan. "Keep it down, I've got a splitting migraine."

"Well, me too, bitch," Jade huffed, then turned back to the phone. "Rose? Why aren't you saying anything?"

My voice was a whisper, because I was barely holding my panic in. "Where are you girls?"

"We are at my apartment, get a taxi and get over here. I'm ordering breakfast—"

I didn't even let her finish before I hung up and hurriedly smoothed a hand over my rumpled dress. In seconds, I was already out of the door, patting my ruffled hair and hoping I didn't look too bad. That hope was dashed immediately I got down some stairs and saw the near empty club. The few staff cleaning the place turned to look at me with raised eyebrows.

From the looks on their faces, I know I must have looked a mess. And they must know what I did. I did not bother to clean up in the bathroom because I was too panicked to think of that. I just wanted to get out of there real quick. I should not feel so embarrassed, because things like this are probably normal to them, but I just wanted to die under the scrutiny of their stares.

Keeping my eyes on the ground, I hurried to the exit door and stopped a taxi.

In a few minutes, I arrived at Jade's apartment but it was Kayla who opened the door. Her mouth dropped open as I brushed in and practically collapsed on the couch. She gasped, hurrying over to me,

"Oh my god, Rose! What the hell happened?"

Jade appeared behind the couch, frowning. "You look like you got caught in a storm. Or you just fought off a pack of beasts."

I let out a loud sound of agony and panic, pulling at my hair as I sat back up.

"What do I do, girls? What have I done? How did this happen?" I was literally screaming at the top of my lungs, my face pale with disbelief.

Did last night really happen? I heavily regretted it.

"Are you hurt?!" Kayla looked so alarmed, grabbing my arm.

Jade slided closer, and gently pried my hands out of my hair. I let out a high pitched noise and hid my face instead.

"Why don't you calm down and tell us what happened, Rose?"

I stared at the both of them, breathing hard, then I cried out. "I lost my virginity to a complete stranger last night! I just want to hit myself right now! How could I let this happen?"

They both gasped, and it made me feel even worse.

"The worst part is, when I woke up, the stranger had already left. I feel so dumb and used! I never wanted my first time to be like this! I was drunk and had no idea what I was doing. I thought I was going to feel so loved and special the first time I had sex!"

"Aw, it's not that bad, Rose," Kayla said softly. "At least, he didn't hurt you. One night stands happen a lot."

Jade nodded. "From the way you're blushing, I think it felt good. Look on the bright side, Rose, a lot of girls don't enjoy their first times even if they have sex with someone they completely trust."

I protested and hit Jade's shoulder. "Stop, I'm devastated right now. I'm not blushing."

She laughed. "From your disheveled appearance, I know that stranger was a beast in bed. If you enjoyed it, then it's a good thing."

I glared at her, but Kayla spoke up.

"On a serious note though, you should just accept what has happened and move on. At least it was not a bad memory, right?"

Jade agreed. "Things don't always happen the way we want, girlfriend. Just forget about it, okay?"

I felt way calmer after confiding in my friends, and began to see that they had a point. Losing my virginity after all these years, to a complete stranger whose name I didn't know and whose appearance I could not remember, was not what I wanted, but at least it felt good.

I was ready to forget all about it.

Sighing, I stripped naked in the bathroom, ready to properly clean myself up. Watching my reflection in the mirror, I grabbed a spare toothbrush, but as I reached for the toothpaste, my eyes landed on something on the skin of my neck.

I paused, frowned and moved closer to inspect it. Brushing my red hair away to reveal more of the two marks on my neck, I realized that they looked like a pair of something sharp punctured my neck. It was a very unusual bruise, and I had no idea how that could have happened.

I pressed a finger against the puncture marks, but felt no pain. It felt like there was absolutely nothing on my neck. Yet, the two marks were visible when I looked into the mirror.

Shrugging it off, I let down my hair and grabbed the toothpaste. I was in a hurry to shower and get some breakfast in my stomach.