part 2.

for alex, the night had ended a few hours prior. he had gone out with the cute blonde girl who worked at the campus advising center. she was more than cute, really. blonde hair and one of those ridiculous bodies that hurt just to look at. alex had spotted her during the first few weeks of the semester. he found a good enough excuse to stop by and ask some questions advising. he couldn't even remember them now, but he was sure she knew he was full of it.

as it turned out, the girl knew his roommate's girlfriend pretty well. the girls were close friends in high school. alex made a mental note to ask about her later. when he did, he found out the girl was in fact single, a little on the shy side. after weeks of him wandering into the advising center and seeing her around campus, he asked her out. he honestly hadn't expected her to accept his invitation, to which she responded, "yea, sure"

unfortunately, the girlfriend forgot to mention that this girl was boring. alex picked her up around 8 so that they could grab some food before the movie. he asked her what she was in the mood for. he suggested sushi.

"I don't eat meat. Do you know what animals in the food production industry go through? It's disgusting, really..."

alex knew it was going to be a long night. she didn't talk much, but when she did, something condescending came out. why hadn't he noticed this before? he silently thanked God when his roommate called halfway through dinner to bail him out, if necessary. by this time, they had been eating in silence for several minutes. alex noticed that she occasionally looked around the restaurant with this smug, bored expression on her face. if anything, he should be the one disappointed. he hung up the phone and looked at her helplessly.

"that was my little sister. she's stranded on 85 with a flat tire. i'm sorry..."

"she can't change a tire? how old is she? that's like, the first thing my dad taught me when I started driving..."

alex didn't even have a little sister, but the comment still offended him. he resisted the urge to leave her sitting there with the bill. he waved down the waitress, and within minutes they were driving back to her place in silence. she didn't thank him for the meal or anything, just muttered a, "see you around" over her shoulder as she got out.

hours later, he was back at his place, sitting up with his roommate complaining about the evening he had. by 3am, he was crawling into bed, wondering why he couldn't find a decent girl to have a good time with. that's when his phone started blaring. he knew that no one could be calling about anything good at 3 am in the morning. who could it be? his mind shifted to his mother, maybe his younger brother had gotten hurt? or some other grave emergency back home.... which was hours away from his shabby apartment in charlotte's university area.

he grabbed the phone, hitting the silence key in the process. his eyes scanned the display. chloe anderson. he almost didn't recognize the name. then he remembered, the punk girl from his statistics class. she had been in his study group. an image of chloe slowly formed in his mind. her dark, short hair, the piercings. not his type, but really cute. what could she possibly want?

"hello?"

music blared into his ear, and he held the phone away from his face. chloe's voice finally came in from the other end.

"Hello? Hello.... Jess, I can't hear you. It's Chloe!"

from the first "hello" alex could tell she was wasted out of her mind. he chuckled a little, realizing she obviously hadn't meant to call him.

"Chloe... you have the wrong number."

"Jess! Look, if you can hear me, I really need a ride. I'm stuck at this party..."

Alex raised his voice, "Wrong number!"

"I think it's like, University Circle apartments, okay? It's like... off the boardwalk. Can you come get me? I really wanna leave... I don't know anyone..."

the last sentence came out as a wimper. her voice had steadily gotten more uneasy as she rambled on. she obviously didn't realize she wasn't talking to jess. his phone beeped to signal the end of the call. he laid back in bed, knowing that he probably wouldn't sleep now. even if the girl wasn't a close friend... he couldn't just leave her. university circle was practically a 15 minute walk from his own complex. the place was known for some pretty wild parties. the cops were out there every weekend busting underage drinkers. how old was chloe?

alex figured it wouldn't hurt to at least stop by the place. stay with her until she called whoever she meant to call. maybe score some free beer. the last thought was all the motivation he needed to slide on his shoes and a hoodie.