The First Party

-Corrine-

Trevor unloaded my luggage from the trunk of his car and then caught up with me beside the car. I looked up at the four-story high red brick building that will be my home for the next few years. I officially started my life as a student at Golden Valley University.

“You know, your college isn’t that far from Wesgrove,” Trevor said. “I can drop you off and pick you up every day—”

I glanced sharply at my brother. “Stop it,” I grumbled. “The distance isn’t the only reason I moved here. You know it better than anyone.”

“Jerome will change his mind once he meets his mate. I’m sure about it.”

“Yeah, and neither of us knows when he’ll meet his mate, or if he’ll ever meet her someday,” I replied. “And as long as that doesn’t happen, he will continue to chase me.”

Trevor looked at me for a moment, then sighed. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”

My heart melted in an instant. The guilt that Trevor always expressed every time he couldn’t do anything to get rid of Jerome from my life touched me. I smiled and raised my hand to pat his cheek. “You’ve done your best.”

“Come here.” Trevor dropped the duffel bag from his arm and then stretched out to hug me. I returned his hug and smiled happily as I inhaled his distinctive scent. Just by hugging him, half of my anxiety is gone and I admit I will miss him.

“Take good care of yourself,” he said after we finished hugging. He patted the top of my head, then patted my cheek. “Call me if you need anything... or if you need someone to talk to.”

“Sure. Thanks.”

“And don’t forget, come home on your birthday. The first shift is very dangerous if done without assistance.”

I sighed while holding back laughter. “You sound like Mom and Dad.”

“I’m worried about you,” Trevor said with a sincerity that moved me. He even ignored my taunts and looked at me affectionately. “Promise to call me if anything happens.”

After giving some advice, he made me promise to not get wasted and do drugs, Trevor got into his car and started the engine. I watched him leave while waving as his car turned out of the gate.

I picked up the duffel bag that Trevor had dropped and turned around to take another look at my dorm. I took a deep breath and said, “Campus life, here I come.”

Each room in the dorm was occupied by two people and I really hoped to have a nice roommate, or at least she was not some weirdo who liked to bring smelly things into the room or had some horrible hobby like making human body replicas out of fried chicken bones.

There were no elevators here, so I had to climb the stairs to my room on the third floor. Students walked by and some smiled at me when we met eyes. Even though this dorm was specifically for female students, there was no prohibition for boys to come here. It’s just that they can’t stay overnight.

I stopped in front of a door marked with the number 305 and took a deep breath. I hope the Moon Goddess granted my wish. When I raised my hand to open the door, it suddenly opened from inside and someone walked out while looking down at the cell phone.

She was surprised when she looked up and found me standing in the doorway.

“Oh, hey!” she exclaimed. She grinned ear to ear and quickly shoved her phone into the back pocket of her jeans. After that, she reached out her hand, inviting me to shake hands. “Are you my roommate?” she asked. “I’m Evangeline. You can call me Eva.”

Her friendliness bodes well for me. She stepped away from me, giving me a way so I could enter our room. This room was twice the size of the room in my house. Two beds were placed on opposite sides. There were two study tables and two wardrobes, so we didn’t have to scramble to use them.

I looked around and smiled contentedly. Not bad at all.

“I’m using the bed over there,” Eva pointed to the bed on the left. “Do you want me to move to the other side?”

“No, you don’t need to do that. I don’t mind.”

I headed to the empty bed and put my luggage on it.

“So—um—is there anything I can help you with? Do you want me to help you organize your things, or—”

I turned and looked at Eva. “No.” I shook my head. “I can do it myself.”

“Oh, yeah, sure.” Eva shoved her hands into her pockets. She looked awkward and so did I. Eva turned her eyes toward the door and then back at me. “I’m sorry. I’m just trying to be friendly, you know. Sorry if you feel disturbed.”

“You know what? You’re not in the least bit annoying. You’re just too friendly to the point that I’m confused about what to do with you.”

We looked at each other, then both laughed.

Eva walked over to me. Her long, wavy black hair swayed as she sat on the edge of the bed. She took her cell phone out of her back pocket and placed it beside her. “I’m not really good at making friends. And to be honest, I’m so nervous today because I have to spend at least four years with roommates I don’t know.”

“You’re worried that your roommate is a weirdo who likes to collect gruesome things?” I guessed.

Her brown eyes widened, and she patted my arm. “You read my mind!” she exclaimed. “I imagined sharing a room with a Satanist who would put goat's horns on the head of her bed and draw devil summoning circles under my bed when I wasn’t in the room.”

Inside, I smiled wryly. Maybe Eva would freak out if she found out I was a werewolf. Even so, personality-wise, I was pretty normal.

“Then did I pass?” I asked.

“Yeah. You did,” said Eva. She patted my arm and grinned.

We chatted for a few minutes and gained quite a bit of information about each other.

Eva was originally from this big city and had one older brother and a mother. She liked spicy food and sometimes snores in her sleep.

The sound of a cell phone ringing interrupted our conversation. Eva grabbed her phone and read the message, after which she looked at me.

“You want to join the party?”

I blinked in confusion. “Party? Isn’t it too early to join the party? We haven’t even had one day as college students yet.”

Eva chuckled at my words. “Relax! This is a welcoming party for new students at a sorority house. My friend says the party is safe. But if something bad happens, we can leave right away.”

Eva looked at me expectantly, waiting for my answer.

“Sure,” I said then. “Let’s go to the party.”

*

The party wasn’t as wild as I imagined. Maybe I had watched too many juvenile delinquency movies, so I was imagining terrible things.

The sorority house we went to blew me away because it was so nice, like the mansions in Wesgrove. This place even had a swimming pool in the backyard, where the party took place.

Eva and I drank coke from red plastic cups. We stood by the pool, in a less crowded place. Eva introduced me to her high school friends, after which she chatted with them while I watched the people dancing by the pool.

“I’m going to the restroom,” I whispered to Eva.

“Do you want me to go with you?”

I shook my head and handed her my glass of coke. “Just hold this for me.”

“Sure.”

I headed to the restroom by the pool and cringed at the long queue. I then decided to go into the house to find another restroom.

And that’s when I saw something that made me sick.

Daniel and Kasey were making out. My ex-boyfriend and my ex-best friend.

I stood frozen at the end of the hall, looking at the two of them and feeling my stomach churn.

Not many people passed through this hallway so they could make out to their heart’s content. They were kissing as if they were going to devour each other.

Daniel had never kissed me like that, so passionately and with so many moans. He was like a mating animal.

They seemed to notice the piercing stares I gave them because they stopped kissing and looked my way.

Daniel was silent while Kasey smiled sinisterly.

“Oh, hi Corrine,” she greeted. She took Daniel’s hand and placed it on one of her breasts. “Watching something interesting?”

After that, Kasey kissed Daniel’s jaw, then her lips moved up to the corners of his lips. Daniel let out a low sigh, and that’s when I realized I should have gotten as far away from them as possible.

I kept my mouth shut and turned around, with hurried steps out into the backyard to find Eva.

She was still where we were standing earlier, laughing with her friends.

As I was about to approach her, there was a roar of engines from the front yard and everyone stopped talking.

“They’re coming,” said someone standing near me. “The trouble-making mob.”

The music was still thumping, but no one was dancing anymore. They looked agitated now, and I became uneasy, too.

I walked over to Eva and held her hand. “I think we should go,” I said.

Eva nodded, and we walked towards the exit, but we were stopped when a group of young men in leather jackets walked into the backyard. Each of them took a girl in a sexy dress and carried booze. Some of them even looked drunk.

One of them raised their drink bottle high and shouted, “Let’s get the party started!”

After that, he jumped into the swimming pool with his partner screaming.

“Who are they?” I whispered to Eva, but Eva didn’t answer.

I glanced at her and saw she was staring at the crowd. I followed her gaze and my eyes locked on someone who looked different from the others.

He walked alone, like a leader in a pack. His facial features were so defined and his body was bigger and more muscular than his friends.

Then suddenly he turned his head, and our eyes met. It was then that I realized something.

Werewolf. He was a werewolf.

The young man walked towards us. I widened my eyes and inched closer to Eva. He must have known that I was just like him, a shifter. Was he going to make a scene with me?

My heart raced, and I squinted and looked away as he stopped in front of us. Then I realized he was looking at Eva and not at me.

I looked at Eva and saw her shoulders tighten. “What are you doing here, Andrew?” she asked curtly.

I widened my eyes, surprised by Eva’s courage and the way she spoke to this dangerous-looking young man. And it seems like the people around us were just as surprised as I was.

He crossed his arms and tilted his head, then stared at Eva for a few seconds before saying, “Is that how you speak to your older brother?”