Chapter Seven: Violet

I pulled my shirt on in a hurry as I moved through the crowd and into the house. The bottle in my hand sloshed around as I looked for something new to do that would get me away from the captivating green-eyed bandit in the backyard. Something about him was familiar but also dangerous. I was intrigued, and that was never a good thing.

If it weren't for my mask, I probably would not have taken off my shirt. With it on, I felt like nothing could stop me. The way he held my gaze as I took off my top before he let his eyes roam my body made my entire being heat up. If that girl didn't lose her stomach on the table, I would have stripped right down to my birthday suit with the way he was making me feel as he watched me. It was invigorating.

I adjusted the strap of fabric around my eyes for the millionth time that night before I made my way up the stairs to locate the bathroom. There were a few downstairs, but they were probably disgusting at this point. The walk was quick, and I found the room I was looking for after I tried a few doors. A couple of doors were locked, and at first, I thought those could be it, but I kept searching for another one until I found the small line of people waiting around the corner.

When I was done, I began down the hallway once more only to stop at the top of the banister, the bottle still in my hand. My cheeks were flushed from the cool water that I had splashed on them before adjusting and pinning my mask back in place to ensure it was secure. The warmth from all of the bodies in the room had them quickly heating back up. I unscrewed the lid to the tequila before taking a quick swig as I observed the stumbling drunks below me. The music was blaring through the speaker, and it sent vibrations through the floor. Something about tonight felt different than last year. Someone somewhere was bound to do something crazy soon, but I learned my lesson after last year's catastrophe. I didn't want to deal with the backlash of being involved in it again.

Chloe and Teresa were nowhere in sight. I had to assume they were either still at the haunted house or that Chloe knew I didn't want to be around Teresa longer than I had to be and didn't return to the Kappa house. I did a quick check of my phone to make sure there were no missed calls or messages from Chloe. There were a few messages from my dad telling me to be good tonight, but no messages from any other friends.

I let out a deep, bored sigh and turned around to find something to do. I wasn't as intoxicated as the rest of the house, and for some reason, it didn't appeal to me to join them this year.

I turned around and walked back down the hallway before entering one of the rooms I had looked into before. It was the only clean room I had seen, and the Xbox on the dresser had caught my attention. When I came to college, I didn't bring mine, and I missed it. I looked around the room and noticed the hard, plastic chair tucked into the desk with a dark hoodie thrown over the back, but quickly decided against it as it looked hard and uncomfortable. The bed looked clean enough, and I crawled on top before I propped one of the pillows behind my back as the system came to life. I took another swing from the bottle before I placed it between my legs as I sat Indian Style (or crisscross apple sauce, to be politically correct).

I don't know how long I sat there playing, but I loved it. It was a third-person, online, player versus player shooter game. One that I was very familiar with.

With the door closed and the black-out curtains drawn, I was completely absorbed in the warfare. I just about jumped out of my skin when light flooded the darkroom from the hallway. The liquor that had been pumping through my blood did nothing to help my rapidly beating heart as I turned to the room's new occupant.

"I was hoping I would see you again, but I never expected to find you in my bed." His deep voice sent a shiver down my spine as our eyes met. Even with the liquor in my system, I could still feel the connection burn between us. "I hope you're not destroying my kill/death ratio." The way his cheek ticked was illuminated from the light in the hallway and made me think that he was holding back a smile.

I didn't bother hiding mine and let out a laugh as I looked back to the screen to see my character had been shot down by the opposing team. "Are you telling me that it can get worse?" The sass was thick in my voice as I asked him. He scratched the back of his neck almost in a nervous fashion as the door gently swung closed behind him. There was no reason to be nervous on his part though. It was clear enough to anyone who looked at us that he was way out of my league.

My body tensed as he stepped forward, and I started to climb out of his bed. I felt guilty for getting on it now that I had been caught, but only because I had been caught. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, as I always say.

As he got closer, I noticed just how tall he was as he towered over me. My feet hit the floor to stand as he reached in front of me to grab the other pillow and the smell of him made me take in a deep breath of the addicting aroma.

Thank God that he had put his shirt back on from the game of Blackjack earlier, or I would have jumped him right then and there.

I froze as he crawled into the bed next to me and sat back against the wall with the pillow behind him, the same position I was in a minute ago. In the light of the television, I could see him gesture for me to sit back down with a nod of his head.