The Writer

Chapter Seven

"A party?" Ollie asked me as he continued to run on the treadmill. We were in the resident gym, and I was standing by Ollie, talking with him since I wasn't planning to exercise myself.

"Yup," I said, watching Ollie for a reaction. He kept on running, but his brows c****d into a frown. His hair was sticking to his forehead due to sweat. Speaking of sweat, he was drenched in it. He eventually stopped the treadmill, slowing down with the machine until it came to a complete stop.

"Where?" he asked, taking the bottle of water from the treadmill's cup holder.

"Upstairs, on Maxwell's floor. Apparently, most of the music department students booked rooms there because of the soundproof walls," I said, watching as Ollie drank water. He nodded at me, humming as he covered his bottle before putting it back in the cup holder.

"So, today?" Ollie asked as I stepped away from the treadmill so that he'd have room to come down.

"Yeah," I answered as we made to leave the gym. It was noon on Saturday, and most people were either talking the lounge with others or had gone out. I stayed in my room with Ollie, writing as he practiced a dance on his side of the room. When the evening got closer, I started to get nervous, wondering if I should just go upstairs, or if I should wait for Maxwell to call me. As I pondered over the thought, my phone vibrated on the table, making me look over at it. I smiled when I saw a message notification, and I reached for my phone before unlocking the screen and checking.

It starts around five. Come up when you're ready. X.

Maxwell. 3:47 PM.

A smile made its way to my face as I stared down at the message — partly due to the 'X' added at the end. I put my phone away before trying to put my concentration on the Microsoft word sheet in front of me. I still had an hour plus, and maybe I could pump up about five hundred more words till then.

Time went by, and I only looked away from my computer screen when I noticed that it was becoming dimmer. I looked around the room, noticing that Ollie was nowhere in sight. I wondered where he'd gone for a bit, but I shook my head later, deciding it wasn't my business before I got up from my seat and checked the clock by the door for the time.

"I should get ready and leave," I muttered to myself, noticing that it was a little past five already. As I searched my wardrobe I wondered if there was such a thing as overdressing. I mean, the party was just upstairs. I found myself staring down at two plain, but dressy shirts and I ended up tossing them both aside and going for a loose sweater instead. When I was done dressing up I shut my laptop down, switching the light in the room off, and then I headed out.

As I made my way to my floor's lounge area I found Simon and Halimat, and a few other people from my floor playing cards against humanity. I smiled at them, slipping away until I was in the elevator area. I pressed the button and waited until the doors opened before I walked in and pressed the button for the tenth floor.

It didn't take much time for the lift to go up and open. I could feel the pit of nerves I'd been trying to ignore for the past two hours swell when I was greeted with the sound of music, and loud talking. I slipped into the crowded lounge, moving about the flood of people as my heart rate quickened.

Maybe I should have told Maxwell I was coming up first. I thought as I watched on as a couple of people played beer pong in the distance. Some people were dancing, and others were just sitting about on the floor talking and sharing blunts.

"Xander!" And just like that, the sound of Maxwell's voice made me ease up. I turned, finding his head of red hair in the crowd. He was waving, and he soon made his way to me with someone else on his tail.

"Hey, I've been looking for you," he said, smiling at me before he looked down to check his watch. "You're late," he said with a small laugh as the person that had been following behind him finally caught up.

"You must be Xander," the person, who stood probably a whole foot taller than Maxwell said with a smile. He had bronze skin with a nice roman nose that suited his long face and big eyes.

"Yeah," I said, looking at anything but him as I tried to zone out the sound of people talking and the loud music.

"Oh, this is Advik," Maxwell said, making me look up again. Advik winked briefly, making Maxwell laugh. I watched as two talked to each other for a bit, and Advik soon walked away, disappearing into the crowd that was only getting larger by the minute.

"Are you alright? You look dazed," Maxwell said, and it was then I noticed he'd stepped forward.

"I'm fine," I muttered, not meeting his gaze. He looked great this evening, and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to keep my cheeks from burning bright red from looking at him alone.

"You don't drink, right? Do you want to grab a snack in the kitchen?" he asked me, and I nodded at that, making him smile as he gestured for me to follow him. We made our way to the floor's kitchen, and I stood by the counter as I watched Maxwell each the fridge for some drinks. I could spot a handful of couples kissing about the place — heck, a couple was pressed against the fridge, but that didn't seem to faze Maxwell, he just laughed when he noticed, even getting them both a drink before he walked over to me.

"Here," he said, handing me a can of soda before standing beside me with his. "Do you still want to stay here? We can find somewhere else," he said, and I followed his gaze to the couple that was now talking and sharing a drink but had just about half their clothes off.

"Somewhere else," I muttered, feeling my face burn as the brunette girl adjusted her bra. Maxwell laughed, muttering a small come on, before pulling me by my free hand until we were back in the crowded lounge.

"They're playing truth or dare," Maxwell said, and I blinked watching as the group that was sitting in a circle laughed as a guy kissed someone's feet.

"Max!" someone said in the group, bringing Maxwell's attention to them. The girl was waving, showing off her set of pearly whites. "Come on, there's still room," she said, shifting and creating space beside her. Maxwell looked from me to the girl, and back to me again.

"You can stay on your own, right? Or would you like to stay in my room?" he asked, making me look down at the floor that was now covered in beer stains and snack wrappers. Staying out here in the crowd meant that I'd just awkwardly be standing until their game was over.

"Your room," I said, and I watched Maxwell nod as he searched his pants for his keys before taking them out and handing them to me.

"Room 1008," he said, and with that, he went over to sit by the girl. She wasn't the only one that seemed pleased, over people seemed to gravitate towards him, and it made my chest ache in a weird way.

It's not my business. I tried to convince myself, but I knew it was a lie. It was. This was the person I liked, and I guess I had to accept that jealousy would be a second nature. I turned my gaze to the keys in my hand, holding it tight before sighing. Okay, room 1008. I said in my mind as I started to love through the crowds, looking for the hallway that would lead to his room.

When I got to the door. I looked at it for a bit before looking down at the keys in my hands. Smiling, I unlocked the door before stepping in. The lights were off, so I had to slip the light switch on.

"Hmm," I hummed to myself, looking about the room. It was large, and he seemed to be the only one using it. Some of his instruments were sitting in a corner, and then there was his bed and study table. I didn't miss the bookcase, and I gravitated towards it, pulling titles out of the neatly arranged lines of books before tucking them back in. I looked over at the wardrobe beside it and pulled a couple of drawers open. The one that caught my attention was the one filled with books — those kinds of books.

Closing the drawers, I headed for his bed. I chuckled a bit, noticing the stuffed animals on it. I hadn't thought he'd be that kind of person. I sat at the edge of the bed covered with a green bedspread, wondering what to do. I sighed, looking up at the ceiling before taking out my phone and scrolling through my social media. I wondered what Ollie was doing at the moment. He probably had practice, or he went out with some other people.

I put my phone away for a while, getting up from the bed to look at the posters he had on the wall. Some of them were book posters, others were just decorative in nature. I found myself looking through his desk, touching the tiny violin figures he on it before heading back to sit on his bed.

What now? I asked myself before looking down at the black carpet. I noticed the drawers under the bed, and I reached for them, pulling them open. I froze when I investigated the third one, feeling my face flush at the contents.

Well, that explains things. Wait, is that a gag ball? My embarrassment soon turned to curiosity as I looked about the drawer, spotting item to item. I started asking myself if Maxwell had used them with someone, and although it was highly probable the thought made me feel jealous.

I shut the drawer close when I heard the bedroom door click open. I looked over to find Maxwell walking in. He smiled at me, and the laughter from the hallway and lounge filled the room. He shut the door soon after, heading over to sit beside me.

"I'm sorry I took so long," he sighed. "So, what do you want to do? Ah, I told you I'd give you the other books in the series," he said before getting up.

I smiled, not really knowing what to say, my heart was still pounding from almost getting caught looking through his stuff. "The party's so loud, when do you think it'll end?"

"Maybe at around three AM," Maxwell said as I watched him head over to his instruments. I smiled, realizing I haven't seen him play in a while. Back in high school he was in the orchestra and did solo performances from time to time. He was also sometimes practiced in the school's music room on his own.

"Three?" I said, frowning. "What about people with morning classes?" I asked as he bent down to take a closer look at his instruments.

"Well, they'll skip them," he said, making me let out a surprised oh.

"It's the first term of college. A ton of people will be put on academic probation at the end of it, trust me," he laughed. "And those who cheated their way through high school might not be able to make the cut off mark the term after. We'll be talking forced resignations and academic suspensions."

The way he said things so bluntly made a shiver run through my spine. I didn't say anything in response, and he soon got up before yawning.

"I'm sorry, I got a bit distracted," he said, looking over at me with a smile. "How about those books?" he asked, and I nodded, watching as he made his way to his drawers.