Rho House Party II

Maya couldn't help but worry when Elena was out of both Maya's and Keith's view. It was almost a certainty she was stirring trouble somewhere. They were at a party, after all, and she was terrible at self-control.

"I think I saw her outside smoking," someone answered.

"Yes, she was with those junkies."

"Ugh, if she's dating someone as reputable as Keith she should keep away from those bad guys…"

Maya unwittingly sparked a gossip session, but she didn't stay to participate. If Elena was in bad company, Maya needed to intervene.

Contrary to Maya's fears, Elena was just at the front door, engaged in a light conversation with students smoking outside. After she noticed her, Elena returned them their joint and joined Maya.

The fresh air soothed Maya who felt her cheeks burning from alcohol, and Elena almost seemed like a kind friend keeping her company. In her one hand was a cup full of clear liquid that, knowing her, was most likely clean hard liquor. And in the other was a cigarette.

The outside was surprisingly lively with people seeking refuge from the noise inside. Out of nowhere, a guy casually joined them, lighting a cigarette. By his dark unruly mane for a hair, and a dark shirt with a faded band logo, Maya assumed he was a metalhead.

As he blew out smoke, he focused his attention on Elena.

"So you like Nirvana?"

"What's that?" Elena's response was unexpected.

He seemed taken aback, "It's the band on your shirt."

Elena raised her eyebrows in surprise, glancing down at the shirt she was wearing. As if for the first time, she attempted to read it out slowly.

"Nir-va-na… You're right! It's a band? Never knew."

Maya blinked at her in confusion. Is she being sarcastic? But it sounded way sincere. Elena's surprising ignorance made the atmosphere quite awkward.

"Anyway. I happen to get my hands on the new Lo Stones album…" the guy continued.

The mention of Lo Stones sparked Maya's interest. They were an authentic Mellgrah band, and quite popular. Because of the absence of the internet and streaming music, distribution was a bit old-fashioned. So if someone acquired a new album, it was quite common to share it with friends.

"It's in my room. How about we get a couple of drinks and listen to it upstairs?"

Maya was excited, but it somehow felt like the offer was only directed towards Elena.

"I'm more interested in this band's music, now," Elena pointed at her shirt, still under the revelation it was a music band. "Do you have any new albums of theirs?"

'How did she manage to sound so airheaded?! A new Nirvana album? In this day and age?'

Even Maya couldn't believe her ears and she was a complete outsider to that music scene. The guy was also flabbergasted. Maya stared at this girl giggling next to her as if at a complete stranger. "Elena?"

The guy furrowed his brow and cleared his throat. "You're much more different than I thought… Did you hear me when I offered drinks?"

"Why would I take your drink when there's plenty around?" Elena smiled, swirling the drink in her hand. "I'm not that mean," she claimed, innocently.

Maya looked at them one after the other as the guy stared speechless at Elena and her oblivious smile. She had a need to rub her eyes to what she was seeing. Since when was Elena this bubbly? It may have been quite fresh on her, but it only frustrated the guy.

"You know, Keith likes Lo Stones. You should invite him to your room, senior," Elena's kind suggestion didn't lessen the awkwardness of the situation.

His expression turned aghast.

"You're even dumber than they say," he promptly turned and abandoned the conversation. As he fumbled away in embarrassment, he brushed on someone from that group of junkies. "What are you glaring at, freak!?"

Maya felt as though she was missing something in their conversation. Why was Elena acting this way, and why did it anger him?

"I thought you listened to that kind of music? Why did you pretend you didn't know who they were?"

Elena's expression abruptly shifted to her usual cold self. She rolled her eyes. "You're so gullible, Maya."

With those words, Elena abandoned her. Being left with unanswered questions Maya returned to her friends inside. The night proceeded and Maya had forgotten all about Elena's weird interaction with that guy.

Feeling tipsy, Maya decided to step outside the service kitchen door for some fresh air. As she opened the door, still hiccupping, she bumped into Elena.

Her near collision with foul-mood Elena earned her a glare from her roommate. Elena quickly flashed a complacent smile at Maya and left. The only other person outside was another unfamiliar guy.

He was holding his face, looking ruffled as if he had just been punched in the mouth. After spitting on the ground, he brushed past Maya.

'Was she alone here with this guy?'

Maya was feeling too light-headed to figure out what were they up to. Taking a deep breath, she glanced toward the fence of the Headmistress's mansion nearby. A shadow of a seemingly familiar figure moved behind it. It gave her a bad feeling so Maya decided to quickly return back inside.

The party was winding down, giving Maya an opportunity to find herself alone with Adam on the couch. They were talking casually, with Maya questioning why do guys keep trying to approach Elena despite everyone knowing she was dating Keith.

"You haven't heard?" Adam seemed to know the reason, "It's an unsavoury rumour." He cleared his throat. "They say she would ride any guy that offers her a drink."

Maya was horrified. "And people believe that!?"

'What a bunch of shameless creeps!'

"I guess it doesn't hurt to try when her allure's in question."

Maya pitied Elena for having to deal with such deluded ideas. Before she realized it, she found herself very close to Adam's face. She was a little drunk, and the mood wasn't perfect, but it didn't seem too bad for a first kiss.

They leaned in closer, but were suddenly interrupted by shouts coming from the kitchen.

"Haven't your parents taught you to keep your fingers away from things that aren't yours!" it was Elena yelling.

"What would you know about parents? Yours threw you away the first chance they got!" the other voice snapping at her was Sarah's.

It was those two, having a heated argument. Maya sighed.

"I still turned out better than a dense stuck-up bitch you are!"

"Who are you calling dense? I'm not the one failing, not just the classes, but basic things like waking up in the morning sober!"

"Shit. Here we go again," Adam groaned.

Maya got up to intervene before it escalated further. While making her way through the people gathered around them for a spectacle, she got to hear a bit more of them arguing.

"At least I don't sleep with professors to get better grades," Elena yelled.

"You're far worse. You sleep with them just because you're a slut," Sarah quickly snapped back, red with fury.

To that, Elena unexpectedly smiled, satisfied with the answer.

Sarah realized she unintentionally admitted it was true. "For the record, I don't do that," Sarah had a need to deny so her reputation wouldn't get tarnished.

"Oh, yeah," Elena was swaying drunkenly. "And what's the reason you escaped Vetus Orbis? That's right. You slept with your high-school teacher and the whole school found out, so you were too ashamed to face your mommy that you ran away to a fairy-tale land."

There were a couple of gasps in the audience spectating. The cat was out of the bag. This was Sarah's trauma?

"You're lying," Sarah screamed.

By now, people had to hold them away from each other. To stop them from pulling on each other's hair and turn this into a catfight. Maya got there and took over for Elena. She could barely stand.

"I think it's time we go," Maya said to Elena.

"Yeah, It's about time. She's hammered," someone said in the background.

"Fuck off, Lisa!" Elena yelled back.

"Elena, you're drunk. Let's just go, before you make more enemies," Maya said in a lower voice.

"What are you talking about? I'm friendlier when I'm drunk."

"No. You're really not." Maya made some progress in driving Elena away. She wondered if Keith was around to help her.

"And that, everyone, is what happens when you bring an alcoholic to a party," Sarah announced, pointing the negative spotlight at Elena.

Elena growled and reached back to grab her, or scratch her, but Maya yanked her away before she could do or say anything.

"Poor thing, she gets so jealous over nothing."

"You can't blame her too much considering how higher Keith is in social status than her."

"Isn't she ashamed every party eventually turns into a disaster the longer she's there."

"They look picture perfect together but in the end, they are just vastly different people."

Maya could easily overhear the bystanders talking about the incident as she dragged Elena outside into the cold. Elena vomited into the nearby bushes, nearly collapsing into them if not for Maya's quick reaction.

Half-dissolved pills were visible in Elena's vomit, leaving Maya speechless. Elena was under the influence of alcohol, and likely overmedicated with a variety of substances found at the party.

As they neared their dormitory, Maya helped Elena sit on a bench to rest. Elena managed to light a cigarette during their silent intermission. Eventually, Maya called Jenny, the dorm rep, for assistance in navigating the stairs.

Upon reaching their room, Jenny offered Elena a glass of water laced with sleeping pills. Despite Elena's initial resistance, they managed to convince her to ingest the pills. That night, Maya got little sleep, staying awake whilst Elena wrestled with nightmares.