Ally's Pov:

"Is it just me or is everyone looking at us?" I ask as Zoe, Claire, and I sit in our dining hall for breakfast. 

This morning, Zoe woke up to an empty room and a text from Sophia saying that her boyfriend came and picked her up this morning to see her.

I did find it a bit strange because I know that they fought last night over the phone at the party, and I later assumed that's why she left early.

They must have made up. 

I know Claire is still a bit upset at her for leaving last night without telling us because she shrugged her shoulders and muttered a 'surprised she actually texted' from underneath her breath before leaving us in the room to freshen up.

Zoe and I shared a look that basically said to not bring it up from that point forward. 

Last night, Claire was the one who was upset the most from her sudden disappearance, and I completely understand why.

I can tell that Claire is protective when it comes to her friends, and I know that it doesn't mean she will be mad at Sophia forever.

I don't want to hold a grudge against Sophia for leaving last night, but I know that one of us is going to have to bring it up because the three of us were worried. 

She got lucky last night that she made it back alright because that's not always the case.

"People are looking at us?" Zoe asks, lifting her head from the table and looking around.

She was still a bit hungover from last night. I couldn't help but hide a laugh this morning when she stumbled into our room with her eyes barely open.

She had a messy bun, wrinkled shirt, and even two different pairs of socks when she told us to get out of bed because she was hungry. 

We suggested for her to go back to bed and get a couple of hours of sleep, but she refused, saying that she was going to die of starvation.

So here we are. 

With her being in a different outfit all thanks to Claire's singular comment of "I didn't think I was eating breakfast with the homeless today."

I think it was a bit soon for that joke... 

But at least Zoe looks a bit less hungover now!

Somehow, I feel perfectly fine, granted, I wasn't that drunk by the end of the night.

"I noticed that too. It could be for two reasons, one, Zoe somehow got a tater tot stuck in her hair, or two, we were so hot last night that everyone wants to get to know us now. I personally think it's both." Claire says, dramatically flicking a piece of her hair off her shoulder. 

"I may be hungover, but I'm not that hungover," Zoe says, squinting her eyes at Claire.

Unfazed, Claire responds, "You want to bet?"

In an instant, Zoe's hand shoots up to her head, moving around until she indeed grabs a hold of a tater tot that was rested between her bun and her head. She throws it on her plate before putting her head back on the table in defeat. 

I laugh before turning towards Claire, "You know, you never told us about your little friend last night."

She grins, "You're right! He was a pretty interesting guy, had some long conversations, but none of that can be compared to the way he can use his lips-..."

"Actually, I don't want to know!" I hold a hand up to stop her.

Bold of me to assume that I would get a description that wasn't pushing past PG-13.

She shrugs, "you asked."

As much as I love Claire for her... honesty.

Sometimes she's just a bit too honest.

"What about you?" She nudges my shoulder as I look at her with confusion.

Me?

I don't recall making out with anyone last night.

Unless....

Oh gosh, I really hope I didn't.

Making out with a stranger is one thing, but not remembering is even worse.

Claire sees the panic in my eyes and laughs, "I'm asking about the guy who walked us back last night, chill girl."

Oh, thank god!

If I remember correctly, nothing more than talking happened last night.

"His name is Axel, " I smile, remembering how kind he was with everything that happened, "and he was nothing but nice last night. He's the one who helped with Zoe when she was..." I slowly draw out, giving Zoe a look as her head stays rested on the table.

"Yeah, he was a pretty cool guy." She throws a thumbs up in the air.

"That's it, just nice?" Claire asks, one of her eyebrows lifting.

When I left California, I thought I also left my sister's daily dose of interrogations behind, but with Claire, apparently not.

"Yeah," I giggle nervously, rubbing the back of my neck, "we talked for a bit and got to know each other, but that's about it. I wish I would have asked for his number though."

The events of last night didn't quite hit me until I woke up this morning. I kind of wish I did get his number because I really did enjoy talking to him. Not only was he super kind, but I've never connected so easily with someone before in such a short amount of time. As soon as I got to know him a bit more, talking to him was easy.

It was as if I was back home with my friends, it was a comfortable feeling. 

But then I remembered how strikingly handsome he was, and I refuse to believe that any guy with those kinds of looks could be single.

If he was, then that would be a hate crime.

"Well, who's to say we won't run into him again? I'm sure that we'll see him around some time, and if we don't, then nothing a good stalking can't fix." Claire says, her words putting a smile on my face.

She's not wrong, there are a lot of places that we can bump into each other around here. Class, library, or maybe even another party.

Even though he said he doesn't like them.

"You're right, and it is only the first weekend, there are many more to come." I agree. 

The rest of breakfast goes by quickly as we soon find ourselves heading back to the dorm.

There were still a few welcome activities going on throughout the day, but with Zoe still a bit hungover, we decided that it would just be best to chill out for a while in our room. 

For the next couple of hours, the three of us take a nap, talk, snack, and watch movies until dinner time when a knock on the door interrupts us.

The three of us share a look before Claire, the bravest of the group, answers it.

"Oh, hey Sophia," Claire says, moving a bit out of the way so Zoe and I could see her. 

The two of us wave at her from our spots on the floor. She comes in and takes a seat next to us, but by her posture, I could tell that she was a bit stiff.

It was hard to ignore the elephant in the room, which was the fact that Claire was still a bit pissed about yesterday.

"How was your day?" I break the tension in the room after a minute of silence.

"It was good, how about you guys?" She asks, looking around at all the snack wrappers and blankets on the floor. 

Okay... so we were a bit messy. 

"Good as well," Zoe says. 

After we all took naps after breakfast, Zoe was finally back to her regular self, with a promise that she was never going to drink again....

Until next weekend of course. 

Another silence in the room passes as Claire takes her spot on the floor so that the four of us were forming a bit of a circle. 

I go to break the silence again, but Claire beats me to it, "So do we want to talk about last night? I think a mutual agreement needs to happen if we all decide to go out again." 

Sophia lets out a sigh, telling me that she already expected this sort of conversation to happen, "I understand what this is about. I know I shouldn't have left the party alone as I did, and it won't happen again because I won't be going next time."

"Woah, back up..." Claire says, waving her hand frantically in the air, "I wasn't trying to make it seem like I didn't want all of us to go out again, I just wanted to make sure we would make safer decisions."

"I know, and I'm not blaming you guys. It's just something you don't quite understand right now since you are all, you know..." She draws out, looking away. 

"Single?" Zoe answers her. 

Sophia nods her head.

"Even if we are single, I've had ex boyfriends in the past. A bit too many if I'm being honest, but I can now see the red flags from a mile away. Being too insecure to let your girlfriend have fun is one of them." Claire says, trying to reason with her, but I can tell her words bothered Sophia by the way she took in a deep breath. 

"I don't mean to be rude, but I don't think our situations are the same. My boyfriend and I have been dating for quite a while now, and he's never done anything to purposely hurt me." She says.

"We understand that you've been dating for a while, but we are just voicing our opinions from our perspective as your friends."  Zoe says, putting a hand on her shoulder. 

"I know, and I appreciate you guys for caring, but it's not fair of me to worry my boyfriend by going." She crosses her arms over her chest, and I could tell it was taking every ounce of strength in her to not give in to what we were trying to say.

Because there is no possible way that the Sophia I partied with last night was the same Sophia I was talking to today.

Something changed, and I bet a hundred bucks that her boyfriend had something to do with it. 

"But you didn't talk to any guys all night, all we did was talk to each other." Zoe points out, and Claire and I nod our heads in agreement.  

"You guys wouldn't understand..."

"Sophia, we don't need to be in relationships to know that you are doing nothing wrong," I try to reason.

I've been in one relationship in my life, and it didn't last very long.

Granted, my friends didn't like him, which was the first red flag. But at the time, I thought they were just being protective since it was my first relationship. 

After only three weeks of dating, he started to make comments that I hung out with my sister and friends too much, so I broke it off immediately.

I don't like being told what to do. 

And when my friends found out that he said that...

Let's just say that by the following weekend, my friends Luke, Ashton, Jake, Zander, and Damien were on my front doorstep with pink spray paint covering their hands and a photo of my ex-boyfriend's car a whole new color.

Seeing how the five of them treat their girlfriends/boyfriend really raised my standards. 

I am the only one in the friend group who isn't in a relationship, and sometimes it does get a bit depressing. 

I would never tell them that though. 

"I know you guys care about me, but I promise my boyfriend wants nothing but the best for me. Plus, parties aren't my thing anyways." She says.

Claire goes to say something, but I mouth to her to just let it go. 

I can tell Sophia's starting to get a bit defensive, and I feel the more we try to help, the more likely we will accidently push her away. 

So instead I change the topic, and eventually we begin to fall back into how we usually are. 

And hopefully someday we can convince her that she deserves better.