And people would surprise you.
Ollie had surprised me; all I’d had to do was step outside my comfort zone, and it was scary as hell. I wondered if I would have appreciated his light if I hadn’t been through the dark. And the funny thing was, I would never know. But what I had learned was it wasn’t about what had happened in your past. It was how you let it affect you. There would be dark with the light, good with evil, lose with the win, and love with hate. How could you appreciate when you were up if you’d never felt the pain of the down? Each moment, beautiful or ugly, was never a wasted moment. Each moment was there to mold you: a lesson.
A purpose.
I accepted my past with my head held high, because it had led me here, and there wasn’t any other place I’d rather be.
“New Year’s Eve fireworks through the window at midnight, mate? What do you say?” Isaac asked Ollie in the community bathroom after dinner. Standing under the shower head, washing the soap out of my hair, I listened as Isaac, Bria, and Alicia made plans for tonight. Jake was in the stall beside me, singing “Pony.”
“No, not after what happened the last … I don’t know, every time we all get together drinking. Fuck. No,” Ollie slowly said after turning off the faucet. Through the mirror’s reflection, Ollie noticed a gap in my curtain, turned, and closed it.
“It’s fucking New Year’s, Masters. We have to celebrate.” Isaac wasn’t letting it go.
“I can’t come tonight, I have a hot date,” Jake said from his stall, and my eyes went wide.
“What? What about Bryan?” I asked over the water.
“Bryan and I agreed on an open relationship while I’m gone.”
“I can’t go, either,” Alicia said from another direction.
“What you think, Mia?” Isaac asked from the other side of my curtain.
Turning off the water, I wrung out my hair and grabbed the towel from the hook to dry off. “I don’t know …” I said, getting into my panties and pulling one of Ollie’s shirts over my head. Before opening the curtain, I stepped into my plaid pajama shorts. It would be nice to see Ollie tonight for New Year’s. Having a New Year’s kiss wasn’t something I’d ever wanted in the past. Something about a fresh new year with Ollie by my side made me giddy inside.
“Come on. I got a proper bottle for tonight.” Isaac punched Ollie in the shoulder, but Ollie’s lips never moved. “It will be laid back.”
Ollie glanced at me and back to Isaac. “Coming on strong, mate. Why do I get the feeling you’re up to no good?”
“Am I ever up to any good?” Isaac wiggled his brows. “Plus, I can’t see the fireworks from my window, so it’s either your or Mia’s room. I’m showing up one way or another.”
“Fine,” Ollie caved.
Isaac applauded.
Bria squealed.
And I spit out my toothpaste thinking this was going to be a good night with Ollie, or things were going to go horribly wrong.
During the holiday, the security checks had diminished, but the automatic doors still locked right on time. I’d been spending every night with Ollie. Him not wanting to leave my sight, and me not wanting him to. He insisted on walking with me everywhere and told me about the things Oscar had done in the past. Told me how bad it could get, and how dangerous he was.
It was ten minutes until midnight when Isaac and Bria fell through the vent hole of Ollie’s room. “Let’s do this!” Isaac said as soon as his feet hit the floor with a bottle of liquor in his hand.
Ollie grabbed the bottle from Isaac and examined it. “Where did you get this?”
“A hookup, Masters. You need to relax,” Isaac said, taking the bottle back from Ollie.
Ollie was on edge. Heat flared from his skin as he laced his fingers through mine and turned to face me. “Something’s up, Mia. I can feel it.”
Isaac popped open the top and poured some into Bria’s mouth. “Yeah!” he cheered, then came between Ollie and me and held the bottle over my mouth. “Come on, Mia.”
Shrugging my shoulders, I opened my mouth, tasting the bitter burn in my throat. It warmed me instantly. If there were one thing I’d come to learn about the students here, they were consistent. No one took “no” for an answer, and the badgering would only continue.
Bria grabbed my hand and pulled me aside as I swallowed the rest I was holding in my mouth. Her breasts bounced in her cropped shirt as she skipped to the corner and spun me around. “I’m doing Isaac tonight.” Her determined smile verified she was on a mission.
“Here?”
She nodded excitedly. “Yeah, where else am I going to have him?”
