Chapter 2

"Wake up pledges!" Mason shouts​ from​ door to door.

I wake up​,​ rubbing my eyes​.​  ​I ​quickly glance at my phone to check the time. Looking up, I see Chris, who is dressed and on his laptop. In my opinion, he had a good taste in fashion. He​'s​ wearing beige pants, with a plain black regular tee.

"Why do we have to wake up so early?" I ask, sitting on the edge of my bed exhausted.

"It's parent visit day," Chris explains, closing the screen of his laptop, laying it on his dresser. "Are your parents coming?"

"Uh... no we don't talk too much," I explain dismissively.

"They drove you away​,​ huh?"

I pause for a moment, "I drove them away..​.,​" I mutter. I sit there thinking about my parents for a while and felt the pit of my stomach getting gloomy.

I quickly hop out of bed trying to shake off the memories, "I'm go​ing to​go and get ready," I announce, grabbing my necessities.

On the way to the bathroom, I see Brett and a girl arguing in his bedroom.

"Girls aren't toys that you can play with whenever you feel like Brett!" She​ yells as she​ storms out of his room.

I see Brett lazily flop back into his bed​ and ​she exchanges eye contact with me coming out of his room​ while​ I stand there awkwardly for a moment then attempt to play it off like I didn't see anything​,​ quickly pacing into the bathroom.

After getting ready​,​ I go downstairs, walking towards the kitchen.​  ​"Can I help with anything?" I ask some of the guys in the kitchen.

"You can help set the table, parents will be here soon​,​" ​o​ne guy says.

"Okay. Hey​,​ what can I call you?" I ask in curiosity.

"Rubin​,​" ​h​e answers. "Plates, go​,​" ​h​e instructs, moving his head to point me in the direction of the plates.

I spot parents coming through the door, I ​flash​ them a light smile on my way out.

It's so hot in there​,​ I fe​lt​ like I was going to pass out, I sit there on the front porch steps catching my breath, watching as pedestrians walk pas​t​the house.

"You okay?"

I look up ​and​ see it's the girl who was arguing with Brett from this morning.

"I'm fine​,​" I reply.

She t​akes​ a seat down beside me on the steps.​ "You're the guy I saw this morning right?"

"I didn't hear you guys arguing​,​ don't worry​,​" I reply.

"Who said anything about arguing?" She teases, arching her eyebrow.

I shake my head then laugh, "Your guys' relationship isn't any of my business. I just walked out of my room at the wrong time​,​" I assure her.

"Whoa​,​ easy there cowboy. Brett is not my boyfriend​,​" ​s​he says getting defensive.

"Girls aren't toys that you can play with​,​" I quote her.

"I ​can ​see how you ​would​misinterpret that​,​" ​s​he confesses. "But no, he's my best friend's boyfriend."

She g​ets​ into a story mode position​; w​iggling to get herself comfy on the wooden steps we sat on.

"It's a long story​,​" ​s​he continues. "I caught Brett making out with one of the girls from campus last night and then confronted him about what I saw."

"Last night?" I scrunch my eyes in confusion.

"Pledges weren't invited to that party." She shrugs.

"Ah I see​,​" I say, feeling a bit excluded, but it's not the first time.

"But there's a party tonight at Alpha Chi Omega. My sorority's house​,​" ​s​he adds.

"Oh​,​ pledges invited this time​,​ huh?" I chuckle.

"Every Greek fraternity member is coming, so yes, pledges invited." ​ ​She stands up. "My name's Sarah​,​ by the way."

"Holden."

"See you at the party Holden​,​" ​s​he taunts as she fades away into the campus.

I go upstairs and drift​ off​ to sleep as the rest of my fraternity e​ats​ with their parents.

Hours pass until I hear the door knob move and ​I get ​​​up only to see Chris.

"Wow you're a light sleeper​,​" ​h​e comments.

Seconds later​,​ Rubin bust​s​ in​to​ our room.​ "Guys there's a party tonight." Rubin seem​s​ like the type of guy who isn't that wise, but still has a good heart. His big muscles indicated he worked out.

"You heard about that?" I ask.

"Everyone knows," ​h​e answers."We're going to get drunk tonight boys​!​" Rubin yells leaving the room.

***

"Looks like no one showed up​,​" Chris says, staring at the house.

"Have you guys ever been to an on campus party? You can't let the school know or else it's going to get shut down​,​" Rubin explains walking towards the house. "So that's why parties happen inside." He opens the door revealing tons of people.

"The only party I've ever been to is for birthdays​,​" Chris confesses stepping in staring at everyone in the house.

"Same​,​" I reply.

"Real shit happens in college," Rubin states. "Like that for instance." He points to a drunken couple heading up the stairs, probably looking for a more discreet place.

"Let's start this night off with beer pong." Rubin leads us to the living room.

It's fairly small, but th​e​n again​,​ so many people are crowding the area. There's no furniture, only a big black table in the center of the room​ which is apparently​ used for the display of all the rum, and beer.

"I don't know​,​" I hesitate.

"You don't know what?" Rubin questions.

"I'm not a big fan of beer." I shrug.

"Then don't lose." He pushes me into the center of the room. Everyone's eyes in the room are now glaring at me, I'm the next contestant in line for beer pong.​  ​There are 12 cups on the the table, six on each side.

"Who's my opponent?" I shout into Chris's ear. The music is incredibly loud. How ha​ven​'t the campus administrators found out about this yet?

"Her!" ​h​e yells, pointing to a girl who stumble​s​ on her heels coming to the table. Someone​'​s had quite a few drinks.​  ​I take a deep breath, here we go...

"Oh yeah, this is warm booze you're drinking​,​" ​a ​random guy from the crowd announces.

"Great...​,​" I whisper to myself.

I flick the tiny white ball, lightly aiming for the closest cup near me. In it goes.

"Yes​,​ Holden! Get it in!" Rubin yells.

Chris g​ives​ him a look ​and ​then his attention turns back on me. The girl lifts her cup taking one sip and I s​ee her uneasiness taking it down.

She smiles​,​ being a good sport, then chucks the ball into my cup.

"Shit...​,​" I mutter before chugging the half full cup of beer into my mouth.

The taste of cheap beer is awful. Imagine it warm, it's twice as worse. My face cringe​s​ as I gul​p​, my cheeks lit up from the bitterness. It was like eating really sweet strawberries that made your cheeks go numb, except this was unpleasant.

Minutes past and I was on my fourth cup in a row, it was disgusting. Consuming alcohol so quickly, putting my body at risk, for what? People's entertainment.

I struggle on my fifth cup, which has me wondering... does this girl have experience? Because she is putting me to shame.

There is so much pressure, I can't take it. My life was in harm's way to accomplish nothing. I wasn't gaining anything here but a hangover tomorrow morning.

"I'm done." I slam the leftover cup of beer on the table, fleeing the room.

I hear a couple of guys yelling ​'​pussy​'​but I could care less. I storm out of the house feeling nauseous from all those drinks I had. I thought going to this party would help me get what's really been bugging me all day out of my head​ which was​ my parents. So many things triggered, past recollections and memories of them and it was driving my emotions insane.

Frustration, guilt, and pain.​ It's all building up. My mixed feelings are wanting to unleash the fury.

I begin running, first at a slow pace, then faster and faster.

I ​can​'t stop.

The sounds of m​y heavy breathing were signals I was out of breath, but I kept going. I've never felt like this. It was like I've never run before and I finally have the chance to stretch every muscle tissue in my leg, and run forever.

I r​u​n into a forest, following the trails as I challenge my legs to take it further, and dare my lungs to keep up increasing my stamina.​  ​As I'm running​, ​I stumble on a tree stump, falling face first into the wood chips laying on the ground.

I grunt in pain. Exhaustively​,​ flipping myself over onto my back. Laying in the woods​,​ emotionless, and feeling completely dead inside.

Just when I thought I was alone I hear somebody's voice​,​ it startles me, causing my heart to beat faster than it was originally from all the running.

I'm not alone​.

Hey guys if you're reading chapter 2 I just want to thank you! This book is about depression, but I'm showing you the actual views. Depression is a dark topic, but not everyday you experience being in dark rooms and feeling 'Hollow' I'm showing the realism, and that not all days are gloomy.