Mia Ardent sat on her bed, with her laptop precariously placed on her knees as she typed away, creating a fantastical world where she could be the hero of the story. She found it hard to concentrate as the late August heat found its way into her dorm room. Despite having both windows open and a fan blowing in her direction, she was still having a difficult time staying cool.
College was the point in your life where everything changed. You were supposed to find out who you really were and what you really wanted out of life. At least, that was what they always told you. Mia, in her third year at Elk Grove University, was still struggling to find herself.
She leaned back in her bed and groaned, wiping the sweat off her forehead and grabbing a hair tie from her bedside table. She pulled her long, wavy dark blue hair into a messy bun on top of her head before continuing to type, hoping to get away for as long as possible before her roommate, Thea, returned from class.
Lost in her made-up world, she jumped as Thea burst open the door to the room, music blaring from her headphones. She was jamming out with not a single care in the world, bobbing her head back and forth so that her strawberry blonde ponytail was bouncing all over the place.
Mia let out a small chuckle, watching as Thea danced around like a lunatic. Leave it to Thea to make such an entrance. She wondered how her glasses could stay on her face with all the head-banging she was doing.
The song finally ended, and Thea took off her headphones, looking in Mia’s direction.
“What, is it too hot for you outside?” she said as she caught her breath, nodding toward Mia.
“Uh, yeah, it’s boiling in here! You’re telling me you’re not dying of heat?”
“Not really.” Thea shrugged as she unpacked her drawing pencils from her bag and placed them on her desk. “But then again, I’ve never really had a problem with the heat before.”
“Lucky you,” Mia said sarcastically, turning back to her laptop and reading over what she had written.
“So, what are you working on over there?” Thea said as she walked over and hopped onto her unmade bed, pushing her discarded pajamas from that morning onto the floor. “It can’t be homework. It’s only the first week of classes.”
“Of course this isn’t homework. It’s a story I’m working on.”
“Ah, yes, another story you won’t let anyone read,” she commented as she took out her phone.
“Oh, shut up,” Mia joked. “You know I don’t like people reading my work, not even my parents.” Mia waved off her comment as Thea rolled her eyes. “And anyway, I don’t work well under time constraints, so you know I don’t like procrastinating until the last minute like you do.”
“Wow, I’m hurt.” Thea placed her hand on her heart, feigning offense for a moment. Mia just smiled and shook her head at her. “Go on.”
“Getting your homework done on Friday lets you enjoy the weekend without having to worry about all that work you will inevitably have to do on Sunday night. So I just get to relax instead,” she explained.
Thea thought about that for a moment. “Hm, you’ve got a point, I guess. Though I do have a talent for making masterpieces under a time constraint.”
“I wouldn’t really call that a talent,” Mia said, chuckling.
Thea threw a pillow at her in response and started laughing. “Well, that’s what I’m calling it!”
Mia threw the pillow back at her, and they laughed for a while before Thea got up to organize the art supplies on her desk. Mia turned back to her laptop and tried to remember where she was in her story.
It did not take long before her train of thought was interrupted again by Thea. “So, Mia, what do you think we should do to celebrate finishing this exceptional first week of our junior year?”
“What do you mean?” Mia said, looking away from the computer screen and toward Thea.
“We’ve gotta go celebrate! We’ve done something fun the past two years to finish the week off and bring those good vibes for the semester, so now we gotta make it three for three!”
“Yeah … If I recall correctly, last year we got some rank Chinese food, and I ended up puking most of the night.”
“Well … I guess that means it’ll be easy to top last year then!”
“Where do you get this never-ending source of positivity?”
“Not a clue!” she said as she made her way back over to her bed and hopped up. “Anyway, I heard there’s a party over at the Alpha Beta frat house tonight, and we should definitely check it out!”
“Ew, pass. You know parties aren’t my scene, especially not frat boy parties.” Mia rolled her eyes and turned back to her computer. “And what kind of name is Alpha Beta, anyway? Sounds like someone just got really lazy when he wanted to make a fraternity and chose the only two Greek letters he knew.”
Thea groaned and hopped off her bed. “Never mind the name, Mia,” she whined, walking over to Mia and shaking her arm. “Please reconsider going!”
Mia looked away from her, refusing to give in. “I’d really rather not.”
“Please!” She continued begging. “We can just dance? I know you like dancing! Or, hey, we could make fun of the drunk people—you love doing that! Please, let’s just go. It’ll be so much fun! Please, please, please, plea—”
Mia put her hand over Thea’s mouth. “If I say yes, will it make you shut up?”
She nodded enthusiastically in response.
“Then fine, I’ll go.”
“Yes! I promise you won’t regret it! And hey, maybe you’ll even meet someone there.” She raised her eyebrows suggestively.
“You know I don’t really care about being in a relationship right now, Thea.”
“I know, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still dream of my best friend finding some happiness with another human being! That’ll certainly give you something to write about, whatever it is you write about anyway …” she said as she tried to sneak a peek at Mia’s laptop.
Mia quickly grabbed it from her and held it against her chest. “No peeking!”
She huffed and walked over to her closet. “Fine, but I will see what you’re writing someday!” She started rummaging through her clothes, looking for something to wear for the night.
Pulling out a flirty floral print dress and holding it in front of her, Thea twirled in front of the mirror. She wrinkled her nose as she gave it one more look before tossing it to the side.
Mia could not understand why it was so important for her to find the perfect outfit for this party. It was not like it was anything special.
“Hm.” Thea stared at herself in the mirror, mulling over what was in her closet. She snapped her fingers as she came up with an idea. “I know just the thing!”
She pulled out a black high-necked crop top that zipped up the front and a pair of ripped, black skinny jeans.
When she finished picking out something for herself, she went over to Mia’s closet and started looking through it. Mia shut down her laptop and hopped off her bed. “Hey, what’re you—”
“If we’re going to a party, you’re going to need to wear something other than that ‘comfy nerd’ look you’ve got going on.”
Mia looked down at her comic book print tank top and black leggings, not understanding what was wrong with her outfit.
“I happen to like the ‘comfy nerd’ look.” She said defiantly, crossing her arms.
“And you rock it, but not for a frat party.” She said, handing Mia a black tank top with lace accents and a pair of jean shorts.
Mia groaned at her and reluctantly grabbed the outfit, already regretting saying yes to her. She brought it over to her bed and changed. When she finished, she turned around to see Thea had taken down her strawberry blonde hair, letting it fall loosely down to the middle of her back.
The crop top and skinny jeans she chose flattered her tall frame perfectly. It was a shocking change from her usually sporty look of ponytails, leggings, and sneakers. It made Mia feel self-conscious.
She walked over to her closet and looked at herself in the mirror as Thea put in contacts and fixed her makeup. She wasn’t exactly overweight, but standing next to Thea in her skin-tight outfit, she couldn’t help but think about how she could never pull off something like that.
“There you go, girl, looking ready to par-tay!” Thea said, dancing towards Mia and grabbing her hand. She twirled her in a circle and then looked her up and down again. “Are you gonna do anything with your hair, or is the messy bun a look you just can’t ditch?” she said, reaching for Mia’s hair.
“You already made me change. Don’t push it with the hair too.” Mia said, backing away from her.
Thea frowned at her. “And no chance at a little makeup then?”
“Absolutely not.” Mia crossed her arms defiantly.
“Not even just a teensy bit of eyeliner?”
“No.”
“Mascara?”
“Thea!”
“All right, all right, miss cranky pants, let’s go then!”
“You shouldn’t be calling me names when you’re the one making me go out tonight.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Come on, let’s get going!”
Thea grabbed Mia’s hand and pulled her towards the door.
