#nyuclosed

She always had a bottle, or three, of wine on hand. So, when Alex suggested they just stay in and drink a bit to celebrate his album, she was completely on board. Truthfully, she would’ve agreed to do anything just to see him at this point. She was tired of hibernating, of trying to put herself back together. She hadn’t been sleeping well for days and she couldn’t remember the last meal she had but, she knew she was ready to try to move past all the bullshit. Setting two wine glasses out on the kitchen counter, she’d left the door unlocked for him to let himself in, she poured two healthy glasses and promptly lifted hers to take a sip.

Hayden was curled up on her side in bed, deep under the covers and clad in the same CK set, as she absentmindedly scrolled through her Instagram feed. She was bored and beyond frustrated and she knew repeating the other night’s events with Alex while sober was probably a terrible idea but that was something she could worry about tomorrow. Her thumb pressed the iMessage icon before she tapped out a quick text to him, doors unlocked. She flicked her freshly washed and dried hair off her shoulder and let out a quiet sigh as she waited, returning to her Instagram feed.

With her red lipstick and sequin-y dress, Hayden looked every bit the part of Las Vegas. She would fit right in with the hoards of partiers now that the scorching sun had gone down. As she came to a stop in front of Alex’s hotel room door, knocking twice, she secretly hoped nobody else would answer, not wanting to have to explain what she was doing there or why she was all dressed up. She wanted the night to go smoothly from start to finish. 

Hayden was in bed in the sorority house, the lights in her room off only so that the sisters would think she were asleep and wouldn’t come knocking. In reality, she was wide awake. Scrolling through the last few texts between her and Alex, the last one particularly striking a chord with her, she knew he wanted to call him. She waited as long as she could, about fifteen minutes, in hopes that dinner would be over and pressed his contact name in FaceTime, chewing on her lip as she waited for him to answer. 

“But... sharks!” Hayden protested as she stood knee deep in the Pacific ocean. The water was beautiful, the perfect temperature and the sun was shining down on her already darkening shoulders, only emphasized by her white bikini, but no matter how inviting her surroundings were she was refusing to go in passed her waist. Even if it was a little bit for show. With her hands on her hips, she used her toe to splash a small amount of water towards Alex. “We’re going to get eaten by sharks.” It had been just over twenty-four hours since they settled into Los Angeles, and into his family’s home, and Hayden was beginning to think her skin would be permanently pruned from how much time she’d spent in the water. If it wasn’t the massive pool at the house, it was the ocean. 

With her hair up and her leggings and sports bra on, Hayden was ready for her ridiculously early run. This was her time, when campus was deserted, except for the few people trying to get their walk of shame over before prying eyes could see, and the sun was just on the verge of rising. After everything that had happened for the last few weeks she was more than ready to just get lost in the activity, crawl inside her head for an hour or so and try to clear out all of the dusty thoughts that had accumulated there. But as she descended the stairs of her sorority to head for the door, she spotted a figure she never thought she’d see in a million years up that early by the front door- and not even in a slinky dress from the night before. “Jenny?” She let out, coming to a stop. 

The cigarette dangled precariously from her lips as she fumbled with her electric blue lighter. She needed a night off, a night to chill out and forget that she even attended NYU- if she was honest with herself. It was bad enough that hadn’t been attending classes, people probably thought she’d dropped out or gone incognito a la Taylor Swift. But no, she’d simply been hibernating in her sorority house. That is, until she’d remembered the stash of tequila beneath her bed and had taken one too many swigs just to find herself texting Nate and forcing him to meet her at the nearest bar... that wasn’t on campus. She teetered in her heels, not quite drunk but definitely warm, as the cigarette fell from her mouth and landed on the sidewalk. “Dammit.” She hissed.