Chapter Text
Mel was in her junior year of college when she transferred to University of Pittsburgh. Her whole life she knew she was going to study Biology in college with the goal of becoming a doctor. Family Medicine… Pediatrics… Emergency Medicine, the type of doctor she wanted to be changed throughout the years. Mel had done her first two years at community college to get her prerequisites done. It was only $1000 a semester to take all the basics such as Anatomy, Organic Chemistry and Physics at a smaller school. The labs were taught by great professors and usually were right after lectures. Mel loved the structure of community college, how the small lectures helped her really learn the material. Mel maintained a 4.0 GPA and knew how much debt she was going to be in with med school so it was important to save money where she could. Her future self would thank her.
If she had started as a freshman at UPitt, she would have to deal with 500 others taking those same classes. The lecture halls crowded with people only half paying attention or scrolling through their phones mid-lecture. She would also have to enroll in a lab class separately, usually taught by a TA instead of a professor. They usually fill up fast. Sounds like a massive headache. Mel was glad she only has to take smaller upper division classes now.
She met Samira on a Facebook group when she had been looking for roommates the summer before fall semester. They bonded over the fact they were both biology major transfers who didn’t know anyone else in Pittsburgh so far. They ended up joining a 5 bedroom apartment with 3 other random girls but it was only $600 a month so it was a good deal.
The day she met Frank Langdon is one she’ll never forget, she considers it love at first sight. Maybe it’s because he was her first real adult crush. Mel never believed in those romance tropes before, thought they were a bunch of fantasies that never happened to regular people. Her favorite Disney movie for years was Tangled. She loved it as she always imagined herself as Rapunzel and that her own Flynn Rider would come to save her and swoop her off her feet.
Mel’s BIO 110 Genetics class professor sent out an announcement stating that the midterm project would be done in randomly assigned groups The project consisted of the 30 person class being divided into groups of 6, each group assigned a different research publication that relates to the field of genetics. Mel read through the assignment details: 12 short answer essay questions relating to various topics such as findings, flaws and setbacks of the assigned publication. Create a visual powerpoint to accompany your essay and tie it into what you’ve learned in lecture. 50% of the grade
Mel checked Canvas to see who Group 4 consisted of:
-Frank Langdon
-Trinity Santos
-Victoria Javadi
- Dennis Whitaker
The class itself was remote. Optional zoom lecture meetings that were recorded, Mel attended every single one from 6-9pm on Mondays. She just didn’t know anyone in the class since there wasn’t anything to attend in person. None of the names in her group sounded familiar but to be fair it was only her second semester at the school.
Frank had been the first to send everyone a message in Canvas asking for phone numbers to make a group chat. She admired how quick he was to reach out, especially since it wasn’t due for another week.
Once everyone emailed him their numbers, he had sent out a group text message:
Hi all. This is Frank. Is everyone free on Thursday? If not, let me know when. I think we should all work on everything in person so we can get a better grade rather than communicating over text.
That was the first time she met him in person. A sunny March afternoon in one of the study rooms in the library.
Frank had gotten there first to stake out the room (and was the one to reserve on the website for 3 hours). Mel was the second person to get there as she has never been late to something a day in her life. Frank had told everyone to come around 2 and Mel had shown up precisely at 2:00pm.
“Here for genetics?” A deep voice called out as she opened the door to the study room. He was drawing some practice problems on the whiteboard when Mel had opened the door.
“Yes I am.” Mel said as she stood in the glass doorway.
“Hey there, I’m Frank.” He turned around and waved in her direction. He was wearing a black hoodie with yellow Sigma Chi letters in the middle. The first thing she really noticed about him was how the sunlight beaming in from the windows had brought out the blue in his eyes.
“Hi, I’m Mel”. She waved back at him as she took a seat at the big table in the room and took out her laptop. Mel watched him carefully as he pulled out his Macbook and connected it to the big screen next to the whiteboard.
“Even though we’re waiting for the others, I wanted to run some ideas by you.” He pulled up an organized Google Doc that had all the assignment questions spaced out, bullet points and notes under each one.
“What’s your email so I can share this with you?” He clicked on the small button on the top of the screen that says “Share”.
“It’s [email protected]”
“Melissa… King.” Frank said both words slowly as he typed them into his laptop. Mel was a little confused. She couldn’t tell if he was making fun of her name. It wasn’t the first time she had been made fun of for having an “older” name or wearing glasses. The list went on and on.
The stereotype about frat guys being douches had been proven right to Mel last semester when Samira and her ended up at a frat party during Welcome Week. A random guy handed her a red solo cup with some dark liquid and encouraged her to drink it. “It’s just our jungle juice, you look like you need some loosening up”. Mel begged Samira to leave right after and they both vowed they would never go back to another frat party.
“Wow, that is such a pretty name.” He turned to smile right at her. His eyes wrinkled a little when he smiled, which made him that much more attractive.
“Thanks, I’ve always gone by Mel though.” Mel blushed to herself, hoping he couldn’t see, and then nervously adjusted her glasses. She never liked going by Melissa. It had always Mel since she was a little kid but she knew she should appreciate the compliment. It sounded genuine. It’s not often that a guy like Frank says the word “pretty” to her.
The Gmail notification that [email protected] had shared a document titled ‘Genetics Midterm Project Guide’ dinged on her phone 10 seconds later.
Victoria knocked on the door of the study room right after. She was a bit quiet like Mel was, said hi and that was it. Frank had shared his project guide with her and she had started typing into it without saying much out loud. Dennis and Trinity came in even later at 2:15 with matching cups of iced matcha.
“If you guys were going to be late fucking around at a coffee shop, you could have asked the rest of us if we wanted anything.” Frank yelled out as Dennis and Trinity walked into the room.
“Oh fuck off, Langdon.” Trinity grunted at him. Mel kept staring back and forth at the two of them. She realized that they both clearly knew each other.
Mel squinted at Trinity’s t-shirt to read the fine print on it as Trinity sat down across from her. It was dark blue with “Kappa Delta Pittsburgh” written in cursive light blue font layered on top of black long sleeve T-shirt. Trinity had paired it with baggy ripped black jeans and Doc Martens. She was in a sorority… Frank was in a fraternity. The pieces instantly connected in Mel’s mind.
Trinity continued. “I had to take down KD’s table by myself and got Dennis to help me. The girl running the coffee popup table saw us struggling and gave us free drinks”. There was something about Trinity that almost seemed intimidating to Mel. She seemed like one of those super cool girls who have a talent for finding the most stylish pieces at thrift stores.
“Whatever you say.” Frank smirked back at her. It had an undertone to it that he was implying Trinity was lying. Mel has a weird sixth sense of picking up on unspoken social cues. Mel was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable but couldn’t pinpoint why.
“Guys, can we start working already?” Victoria interrupted them. She sounded young. She also had purple themed everything. Purple backpack, a purple cover on her Macbook and she was even wearing a light purple hoodie. Purple has always been Mel’s favorite color her entire life.
“My mom is supposed to pick me up at 4 so I’m going to have to leave early as it is.”
A part of Mel wanted to ask how she was somehow in an upper division class for juniors and seniors.
“Your mom?” Trinity and Frank asked at the same time. Trinity rolled her eyes at Frank yet again, seeming mad he beat her to that joke. Trinity and Frank stared at each other for a few seconds, creating a thick atmosphere like quicksand. One sudden movement and everyone is sinking in.
“Um yeah… I- uh don’t have a car so my mom has to pick me up and she starts work at 5.” Victoria said.
Trinity had her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. Something that felt kind of distasteful in Mel’s mind. Mel’s mom always worked weird shifts growing up and she never saw anything wrong with it. In fact, she and her sister Becca ate dinner alone most nights as their mom had to work 12 hour days.
“So Victoria.. is it? What does your mom do for work?” Dennis, who had said maybe 3 words leading up to this, piped in.
“She’s a general surgeon at UPMC. She got paged in to work tonight.” Frank and Trinity both perked up at the same time.
“Surgeon…? Does she have any shadowing opportunities? I have always wanted to specialize in general surgery.” Trinity scooted her chair to be closer to Victoria’s. Her mood had instantly changed. The tough exterior magically faded and now she was smiling and laughing at Victoria. The air in the room started feeling a lot lighter.
Frank sat up straighter as he clicked around on a few tabs on the screen.
“Ok let’s get started, I say we divide and conquer. Mel and I can work on questions 1-4 and you three can divide up 5-12. Then just add them to the power point. How does that sound?”
“Fine with us.” Dennis replied, speaking on behalf of him and Trinity.
Despite the weird tension in the beginning, this ended up becoming one of Mel’s favorite study sessions she had ever been to. Usually she goes to a study session and people just talk about the assignment and that was it. She never felt like she made friends in class until today.
Frank was nice and charismatic. He was very smart, a bit cocky, but never made Mel feel dumb for sharing her opinion. In fact, she felt comfortable around him. He cracked jokes that made Mel belly laugh multiple times and even complimented her for how smart she is.
On top of that, he looked straight out of the romance novels she had read throughout high school. She stole glances at him when she thought he wasn’t looking, wanting to drown herself in his ocean blue eyes. The 3 hours they had together flew by yet they had only finished half of their portion of the assignment. He seemed as academically driven as she is, and she always wanted to date someone who had goals. Intelligence is the biggest thing she considers to be sexy.
****
Later that night, Mel came home to her apartment where Samira was cooking up a meal that made the entire apartment smell incredible.
“Mel, do you want some? I have a lot of leftovers.” Samira called out as Mel walked through the front door.
“Yes, please!”
Samira had put together a plate of chicken, rice and roti bread for Mel. Mel never really learned how to cook so she felt super blessed that Samira would always make extra so she could give it to Mel. She wouldn’t consider Samira her best friend but they were roommates and talked about their lives, so probably the closest thing to a friend she has. Both of them weren’t really close to the 3 other girls that they lived with. Mel would see them in passing but didn’t have any sort of relationship with them.
It probably was for the best.
“How was your study group?” Samira asked as they both sat down at the table to eat. A dingy brown 6 person table that was scattered with coupons, magazines and had a random candle in the middle. It had been there when they moved in. It’s been a nice tradition they have on nights when they’re both free to sit and eat together.
“Oh.. it was great. I met this guy in my group who is super smart and funny. He’s also really cute.”
“Really Mel? I’m happy for you!” Samira said. Mel’s iPhone that had been face down on the table dinged at that exact second. Like by talking about him out loud had magically summoned him.
Frank (Genetics Class)
Hi Mel! I had a lot of fun meeting you today. I know we still have to finish Questions #3 and #4 so would you want to meet up tomorrow afternoon on campus to finish everything?
“Oh my god, he just texted me!” Mel squealed as she showed her phone screen to Samira.
Mel looked around the kitchen thinking he was standing there or had installed some secret camera in her apartment. She somehow thought it was possible he was listening in on her conversation even though they had just met earlier that day.
Mel King
Of course! It was fun meeting you too. I’m free all afternoon tomorrow :)
Her hands were practically shaking as she sent her reply. He wants to hang out with her again tomorrow? Alone? Did she really make the same impression on him that he made on her?
His response came within seconds. Almost like he had been sitting in the chat awaiting her answer.
Frank (Genetics Class)
Perfect. Would 2pm work? There’s a coffee shop in the library we could meet at.
She covered her mouth and turned the phone screen back around to Samira.
Mel King
Yes, that works for me! See you then.
Mel didn’t want to sound too eager.
“Woah he does seem super nice. I want to see what he looks like,” Samira laughed. Mel pulled her laptop out from her backpack and decided to look him up on LinkedIn. Maybe he was also pre-med the same way she is.
“Frank…Langdon.” Mel read out to Samira as she typed his name into the search bar.
His profile, featuring a professionally done headshot, shows up immediately in her feed.
Frank Langdon
Biomedical Student at the University of Pittsburgh
“Social Chair of Sigma Chi. Football Team. Works as a Research Assistant at one of the Biology Labs. Used to work as a Physical Therapy Aide.” Mel kept reading out loud as she scrolled through his page.
“Wow, impressive,” Samira chuckled to herself.
Mel knew how Samira felt as she was also fascinated by his never ending resume. She spent most of community college either studying or working. The first semester at Pitt was just her acclimating herself so she hadn’t gotten involved in anything on campus. Mostly because she doesn’t know where to start. Mel soaked up every detail she was reading about him. He was also a junior the same way she and Samira are. Good thing he wasn’t a senior. The worst thing she could do is develop a crush on someone who’s leaving in 3 months.
Her phone dinged yet again:
Frank (Genetics Class)
Looking forward to it :)
Mel’s head was practically spinning. She felt like she had just won the lottery.
****
The next day, she got to the coffee shop at 1:55PM. She assumed he was probably going to get there early to stake out a table, like he did the day before.
Mel awkwardly paced around the coffee shop tables looking for him. She couldn’t see him. Maybe he was sitting here already and she had walked by him. How embarrassing that would be. She stood in a corner and nervously fiddled with the straps of her blue backpack.
Was he standing her up? Maybe he didn’t want to study with her anymore? Maybe he forgot that he planned this? The thoughts pounded into Mel’s head like a hammer.
At 1:58, her phone dinged and a sense of relief washed over her.
Frank (Genetics Class)
Hey Mel, My research lab ran a little behind and it’s across campus so I will be there in a few!
He arrived at the coffee shop at 2:10, a little out of breath and disheveled. He was wearing a different hoodie this time, a navy blue Nike one that said “Pitt Football”.
“Hey Mel, I am so sorry for running late.” Frank said as he brushed the loose strands of his hair away from his face. Mel studied his long fingers, visualizing how they would look brushing against her face.
“It’s okay!” Mel was still trying to process the fact that he was in front of her again, somehow looking even better today than he did yesterday.
“Let me get you a drink. My treat”. He smiled a goofy grin as he nudged her over to the line of people waiting to order. He was so caring and sweet.
He ordered himself a plain black iced coffee. Mel got a peach iced tea since she has never enjoyed the taste of coffee. A table in the back corner of the coffee shop opened up and Mel immediately snagged it.
Frank and Mel took out their laptops at the same time and finished the rest of the assignment in a record 30 minutes.
The conversation between them evolved from their homework to both of them being biology majors. He wanted to work in either sports medicine or emergency medicine because he dealt with lots of sports injuries as a high school athlete. He thought physical therapy would be too boring and not enough stimulation for him.
She told him about how she always wanted to be a doctor too but she can’t decide on a specialty yet. There’s always time, he said. He told her about how he was recruited from his high school in North Carolina and she told him that she used to attend community college. She learned that his birthday is exactly 3 months before hers. The conversation felt so natural between them like she had known him a lot longer than she actually did. There was something so welcoming about him that made her feel like she could open up about everything.
Two hours later, Frank got out of his chair and apologized to Mel, saying that he had to go to a meeting for his frat. She stood up the same time he did and somehow his arms ended up around her. He was so close to her, she could smell the clean scent of his hoodie mixed with his cologne. She felt the toned muscles in his shoulders. It was intoxicating.
*****
Spring Break was the week after. Mel had no grand plans except to make MCAT study guides and spend time with her sister Becca. Mel flipped through her booklets imagining laughing about these with Frank. Imagined him telling her “Good Job!” if she solved a chemistry problem right. She would go to bed, pretending he was cuddled up next to her. She daydreamed about his nice big hands and blue eyes, how they would feel touching more of her.
One afternoon, she texted him asking:
Mel King
How’s your spring break going?
He never replied. Probably was just busy, Mel thought to herself to feign off the disappointment.
The Tuesday after spring break, Mel finally got a text from him. But instead of just texting her, he had created group chat with her and Victoria from class.
Frank (Genetics Class)
Hey girls, Sigma Chi is hosting a big party this Friday and it would be awesome if you all could come!
“I don’t really want to go to another frat party, do you?” Mel asked as she showed Samira the text message when she got home later that night. Mel made Samira her unofficial wingman when it came to the Frank situation. She wanted someone else to help her decide what to say, as the last thing she wanted was to accidentally say something weird and scare him off.
“Hmm… maybe this could be fun. He seems like he really wants you to come. You should ask him if I could tag along too, you know just in case.” Samira said, shrugging her shoulders.
Mel King
Hi Frank, Thanks for the invite. Can my roommate come too?
Mel was still on the verge of not wanting to go to this party. If he said no, then that would be her excuse to get out of it.
Frank (Genetics Class)
Absolutely! The more, the merrier
“We should go then!” Samira sounded a little too excited at the prospect of going. Why not? Mel thought to herself. Maybe he’ll hug her again.
Mel thought back to their study group and how Victoria reminded Mel of her younger self. How she wanted friends and wanted to be included, even though she had other obligations. She privately sent her a message. Even if Victoria says no, it's still the thought that counts.
Hi Victoria! My roommate and I were wondering if you wanted to come with us to the party on Friday?
*****
Victoria came over to Mel’s apartment a few hours before they were going to head over to the Sigma Chi house. Victoria had originally said no, that she couldn’t come with because her mom is super strict.
Samira was the one who came up with the master plan of framing it as a “study session”. This included Victoria telling her mom she’s studying for the MCAT with a nice Desi girl who also wants to work in surgery.
Part of it was the truth.
Victoria’s mom and dad were both working that night so neither were free enough to really question her story.
“What do girls usually wear to these types of parties? I’ve never been to a party this big.” Victoria asked both Mel and Samira.
Mel had also wondered the same question and had looked up “what to wear at a frat party” the day before. Every social media post she found mentioned wearing old sneakers that she wouldn’t mind getting dirty. She settled for wearing a brown tank top and jeans and curled her long blonde hair. Perhaps it wasn’t the best to wear something colorful.
“Here, you can borrow one of my shirts.” Samira said as she let Victoria borrow one of her nicer black crop tops. Samira ended up wearing a cropped grey tank also paired with some jeans.
****
Mel knocked on the front door, thinking it would be weird to just walk in. Frank told her it would be okay. But there was a part of Mel that didn’t want to awkwardly walk into a house where she knew only one person. The music playing in the house was so loud so she knew no one had heard that knock.
“Should we just ring the doorbell?” Samira asked, a bit confused.
“I guess so?” Mel said as she clicked on the white button and heard a loud ringing noise playing in the distance.
A few seconds went by before the door was opened by a buff guy with finely cut black hair who had to be at least 6 feet tall. He was also really good looking. Mel wondered if there was something about frats that made every guy in them super attractive.
“You here for Sigma Chi? It’s invite only.” He stared at the three of them for a hot second. Mel’s hands started feeling sweaty, like not ringing the doorbell of a frat house was on a list of unspoken things she should have known already at the age of 21.
Mel gulped, a tightness appearing in her throat. Maybe they should have walked in. No one would have interrogated them if they just acted like they were undercover.
“Yeah um…”, There was a sense of doubt in her voice, which is probably not helping her case. The words tumble out of her, her voice getting hoarse. “Frank invited us”. He was staring at Mel specifically like she’s at the wrong house.
“Yo, Langdon. Three girls at the door are here for you.” The random guy turned around and shouted into the hallway of the house.
Frank appeared out of thin air. When he caught sight of Mel standing in the doorway, he flashed a big smile at her.
“Hey, Mel.” He said as he pulled her in for a side hug, squeezing her waist. A warmness spread throughout her body.
“Glad you could come, Victoria. How’s your mom doing?”
“She’s good. She’s working again tonight but she doesn’t know I’m here.” Victoria blurted out, nervously running her hands through her ponytail. Samira told Victoria to leave her phone back at their apartment, just in case Victoria’s mom decided to check her location in between cases.
It happens more than you think, Victoria had told them.
“Well, that can be our little secret. She doesn't have to know.” Frank smirked, looking in Mel’s direction.
“You must be Mel's roommate, right?” Frank reached out to shake Samira’s hand.
Wow, so formal already.
“Yes! I’m Samira.” She shook his hand back. Mel exchanged her a look and smiled to herself. Her heart was pounding inside her chest, like she needed Samira to approve of him.
“Well it’s nice to meet you, Samira.”
“This is Shen.” Frank patted Shen on the back, letting out a big laugh. “Don’t be scared of him. He doesn’t bite.”
Frank leads them into the hallway, the house smaller than Mel had assumed. “There are drinks in the kitchen. We have water, pop, beer, and seltzers. Feel free to grab anything you’d like.”
This was already one step up compared to the last frat party where the only two drinks they had on hand were the suspicious jungle juice or beer.
Mel, Samira and Victoria silently decide that the first act of business is to walk in the kitchen. They need to form a plan for the night. A girl with long brown hair who was standing near the kitchen island turned around and looked in their direction. She was drop dead gorgeous with the cropped black tank she was wearing and form fitting blue jeans.
“I’m getting a drink out of the fridge, do you guys want anything?” The brown hair girl said.
“Just water for me, please,” Mel responded as Samira also asked for water. Maybe they’ll drink later but right now Mel wanted a feel for this party. Her and Samira had secretly made a pact that if things get weird again they would leave right away.
The brown haired girl took out two bottles of water, handing them to Mel and Samira, and a can of White Claw presumably for herself. The can hissed as her red fake nails clicked it open.
“Oh I’ll take a White Claw too.” Victoria chimed in, staring intently at the white can. Maybe it’s a good thing Mel and Samira aren’t drinking anything, they need to make sure Victoria safely makes it back to their apartment.
“We have Black Cherry, Lime or Mango”
“I’ll have a Black Cherry.” Victoria clicked the can open and began chugging the seltzer. Samira warned her to slow down so she doesn’t choke.
Another guy, presumably from Sigma Chi, walked into the kitchen to grab a beer from the fridge. He had long curly brown hair, dark stubble and was checking Victoria out.
“Yo, are you having fun?” He asked Victoria as he closed the fridge. She had been hovering right next to the door.
“Yes, this is so much fun. I love frat parties” Victoria’s big brown eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head.
“Want to come outside and play table tennis with me?”
“Sure!”
Without saying anything else, Victoria ran off with the mystery man. Mel probably should have told Victoria to not run off with a frat guy who is obviously drunk. But then she would sound hypocritical since that was the sole purpose of being here.
“Should we be worried?” Samira asked the brown haired girl, sounding very concerned about Victoria’s safety.
“Not at all, Mateo is a sweetheart! He’s my boyfriend’s best friend. Trust me he would never hurt anyone.”
Mel and Samira hovered around in the kitchen to snack on some pizza slices that had just been brought in. There were people dancing (mostly jumping) to Lady Gaga in the crowded living room. Multiple light machines were flashing blue and red strobe lights all over the house. The kitchen was honestly the safest place to just hang out for a bit.
“Abs! There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you.” Frank made a beeline for the fridge, opening it to grab a bottle of beer. His brown hair was glistened in sweat and his breathing was rapid like he had just ran a marathon.
He walked up to the brown haired girl and rested his hand over her shoulder. Mel felt her stomach knot up just at the sight of it.
“Mel and Samira, this is my girlfriend Abby.”
****
Girlfriend???? Girl… friend? His voice bounced around Mel’s head as she tried to process the news that just dropped.
Mel took a second to really get a good look at Abby. Her straight long dark brown hair was laced with caramel highlights, which looked expensive to maintain. Her eyes were a mocha brown and she had such a perfect tan, which made no sense to Mel considering it was constantly cold and overcast outside.
The thing is she couldn’t get herself to hate Abby because of how nice she was to her.
“Abby, this is Mel and Mel’s roommate Samira.” Frank said, pointing at both of them.
“Oh- H-Hello!” Mel nervously stuttered. She was squeezing a little too hard on the plastic water bottle she was holding.
“Oh you’re Mel? It’s so nice to finally meet you!” Abby smiled as she walked over to hug Mel. Mel’s never been much of a hugger ever in her life, except that one time Frank hugged her. She doesn’t protest the unexpected touch as she doesn’t want to seem rude.
“Frank’s told me all about your study group sessions, it’s so nice to see him so motivated.”
“He’s a great… study buddy. ” Mel said, the words hanging on her tongue. What would she exactly call him? Her friend? Her situationship? Clearly she had overthought what their connection was.
“Are you also a STEM major?” Mel asked as she wanted to desperately switch the conversation away from Frank. She didn’t want to make her school girl crush on him obvious to his girlfriend of all people.
“Noo…” Abby laughed, a bit of self-deprecation in her tone. “I’m a Marketing major.”
There was a bit of an awkward silence. Mel felt paralyzed. The air thick with the unknown, the unspoken or maybe Mel was just imagining things. The reality is Abby was super nice 10 minutes ago plus Mel had only hung out with Frank twice.
Before Mel could say anything else, Abby pulled away from Frank and shrieked at someone from a distance.
“Baran!! Come here! They have a bunch of cheese pizza slices.”
Another girl who had long, curly brown hair came sprinting into the kitchen.
“Thank god!” Baran- presumably- squealed as she stacked 3 slices of pizza on a paper plate.
Mel turned on her heels to walk out of the kitchen. She wanted to run, to hide, to get away from all of this. She didn’t want to keep asking Abby more questions about her life or keep observing her.
How could she be so gullible? So stupid? Of course this was too good to be true.
The blaring music and flashing lights were making her feel more dizzy. Her heart was pounding, feeling like it was going to explode with how fast it was racing. She ran through a sea of people until she found the door to the patio.
How is she going to survive the rest of the night?