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√FIVE.

CHAPTER FIVE.

I followed Karina into the mansion, trying my best to take the image of Draken and Amanda kissing out of my head, but I just couldn't. For some reason, unbeknownst to me, the scene ticked me off. As Karina and I navigated our way through the crowd, I noticed people staring at us, particularly at me, and I didn't miss how the name 'snorter' flew around. They all had seen the video. I mean, who hadn't? I was currently the meme on campus.

Someone from nowhere suddenly handed Karina and me a red cup, and before either of us could even fathom it, the person left like a warm autumn breeze.

Karina stared down at the cup and dropped it on a nearby counter. "You can't drink that," she told me, taking the cup from my hand. "It might be spiked with drugs or something. In this party, you trust no one. The majority of people here are looking for their next meme."

I nodded gently like a child that had just been scolded. It wasn't like I could argue back with Karina. I was in a foreign space, and she knew better how to fit in at parties. We reached another part of the house, one which was less crowded. There was a pool table where some guys were playing a game of drunken snooker and a huge sofa next to it. On the sofa sat a group of people who I immediately assumed were Karina's friends. I noticed Yuri and Dylan by the end of the sofa and they were openly making out. It grossed me, but not as much as the sight of seeing Draken and Amanda make out.

"This is Eline, everyone, my roommate," Karina announced - in a singsong voice - to the group of people on the sofa. "Where is the booze?"

Before Karina could get her needed response, she left towards where I suppose was the kitchen, leaving me all alone.

"Nice to meet you, Eline," one of them said to me. He was a male with tattoos all over his exposed body.

I awkwardly waved at him and those around and they all passed me a smile and a nod in response. One of them even dragged me to sit with her on the sofa. She had a septum piercing and another piercing on her eyebrows. She reminded me of a character from a romance anime I watched during the holidays.

"Irene is my name, you attend NYU?" She asked, overly enthusiastic. I noticed her eyes took in my outfit, down to my Crocs, to which she smiled without saying a thing.

I nodded. "Yes. I'm a philosophy major." I replied proudly.

"Oh, I offer history. Sophomore year."

"Nice." And just like that, the conversation ended.

Irene began to press her phone while I sat, fiddling with my purse. I looked around the whole place, trying my best to leave out a horny Yuri and Dylan from my view. The whole place was bubbly, but I felt so out of place.

With two cans of beer in hand, Karina returned, handing one can over to me. "I promise you'd love this. It's one of my favorite beers."

"What's the alcohol content?" I quizzed, trying to find the answer on the can, but it wasn't written anywhere.

"About 80%?" Karina answered with a doubtful look on her face.

"I don't indulge in beer," I protested.

"Just for tonight, Eline, let loose," she insisted, urging me to hold on to my reservations and embrace the partying.

Karina left again, but this time with Irene. I was left all alone with the rest of her friends, whom I had barely shared a word with. Putting all my thoughts aside, I opened the beer and took a sip of it. The beer, fizzy and a bit malty, tasted like nothing I'd ever tasted. I loved it.

"If it isn't Miss Snorter in the building!" a resonant voice reverberated from a distance, followed by a cheer.

Lifting my gaze, I discerned Topper making his way toward me, brandishing his phone with an air of significance. He was not alone; Killian and Draken Gallagher flanked him. At least, they weren't with Amanda. An exasperated sigh escaped my lips once I noticed the crowd that was beginning to pool around them, and since Topper's attention was on me, I knew the crowd would also put their attention towards me — one I wasn't looking forward to.

"How are you doing?" He asked once he finally got to my front. He spoke like we were friends.

"Fine, I suppose," the last two words barely audible, a soliloquy muttered under my breath.

I took a sip of my beer again, trying to act unbothered by the scent emitting from Draken Gallagher who was right in front of me. I knew he probably didn't remember me from philosophy class.

"I am Topper," he introduced himself, a radiant smile gracing his countenance as he stowed away his phone.

Topper fell more into the beautiful category, rather than handsome. His ivory skin, amber eyes, upturned lips, and towering height of at least 6’5 coalesced into an arresting visage. Yet, it was the ineffable grace enveloping him that set him apart from others.

"This is Killian," he continued, patting the shoulder of his other friend. I found it quite funny that they were introducing themselves as if they weren't the most popular kids on campus.

"Hey," Killian greeted me with a nod and I smiled at him, hoping my smile didn't look too stiff. Killian was tanned and pudgy, with dirty blonde hair similar to Draken's.

"And this is Draken," he finally introduced.

Draken didn't say a thing as he threw me a glance, and that made me feel angry if anything, but I chose to ignore. When Killian left to play snooker, Draken settled beside me on the same spot once occupied by Irene, while Topper claimed the adjacent seat, and once again I was sandwiched; but this time in between the guy that made me unironically famous and myself proclaimed nemesis.

"The video I posted about you on my Tiktok got me over seventy thousand followers in less than 24 hours," there was a glint in Topper's eyes as he spoke to me, excitement in his voice.

He brought out his phone and showed me the video on his page. It had amassed a total of ninety million views. The last time I'd checked it, which was just a few hours ago, it was just at ten million.

"What did Amanda even do to you?" He asked, putting his phone away.

"She was being rude and mean."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"She reminds me of a high school mean girl," I said.

"I thought I was the only one who thought of her like that," he exclaimed, glancing over at Draken who snorted. "I don't like her."

I frowned. "You don't?"

"No one does. I don't know why my best friend still talks to her," he said, giving Draken a side-eye.

"But isn't she like your best friend's girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Draken, breaking his silence, met my gaze with matcha-clear green eyes, dispelling the misconception perpetuated by campus gossip. "Amanda isn't my girlfriend."

Topper's laughter made me break the eye contact I was sharing with Draken. I watched Topper stand up from the sofa, handing me his phone. "Punch in your digit. I have a feeling we'd make good friends."

I gave him my number and watched him leave. I was left alone with my beer and Draken Gallagher. We both sat quietly, neither of us saying a thing.

After a while, a guttural groan emanated from Draken, breaking the taciturnity. "You look nice, by the way."

"Eh? Excuse me?" I said, turning to look at him. I wanted to confirm if I heard him correctly.

"I said you look nice," he reiterated. "I almost didn't recognize you from philosophy class. I didn't get to know your name either. I was so confused when you left the class in a hurry."

I blinked once, then twice, gripping onto my can of beer tightly. My brain tried to process all that was happening. Draken Gallagher did remember me from Philosophy class, and not only that, he also complimented me. "The name's Eline. Eline Kadesh. And...thank you for telling me I look nice."

"It's fine," he offered a reassuring smile, adding a curiously unexpected remark. "Eline, has anyone told you that you smell?"

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