The smell of food hit me like a ton of bricks as soon as I entered the grand cafeteria of Dallas University. Unlike Queenstown, it had super tall ceilings and had glass panels everywhere that lit up the entire cafeteria which gave out a very pleasant vibe to the crowded atmosphere.
Surprisingly, although it was close to evening, the cafeteria was packed with multiple students eating dinner. I had a hard time following Belle in the cafeteria for awhile and she realised it when she couldn't see me through the crowd, when she finally did, she took my hand in hers and dragged me along with her. We found ourselves making a bee-line towards a circular table situated in the middle of the cafeteria, surrounded by at least a hundred tables around us.
The first thing that caught my eye were the five people chatting among themselves as they ate their food, completely oblivious to Belle and I who had just arrived at their table. There were 2 guys and 3 girls. One of the guys with brown hair had been tossing chips into another girl's mouth while the others were watching them, completely engrossed in the game.
"You guys are clearly university students acting like elementary kids." Belle said as she pulled my arm and sat me in between the guy and girl. She proceeded to walk to the other side of the table and gave a peck on one of the guy's lips as they hugged briefly.
"I got a coffee for you, milk with no sugar, just for you babe." He said as Belle sat beside him.
"Aww thanks Cam, you didn't have to." Belle ruffled his blonde hair as he smiled at her for the acknowledgement. The others created disgusted sounds and incoherent curses to which I found amusing at the scene. Beside Belle, was another girl and she had the most gorgeous hair with blue highlights and a wolf-cut.
"Save your romanticising for later, I still need to eat." She rolled her eyes and ate a spoon of her rice.
"Thanks for the advice, Vanessa." Belle strained to smile before drinking out of her coffee.
"Relax Belle, think happy thoughts and rainbows like Cameron here." Vanessa retorted as the others snickered.
Belle chose to ignore her comment as she finally realised that I was still here and had no clue who everyone was, "Before I forget, this is Ares from Queenstown, it's her first time here in Dallas." Belle introduced.
"Hi Ares, I'm Kai." The brown hair guy who was throwing the chips and currently sitting beside Cameron spoke up first.
"This is Ellie, my to die for partner and out of this world friend." Kai exaggerated as Ellie smiled brightly at me, her demeanour showing confidence. I smiled back in return before turning towards the other girl who was sitting between Vanessa and Ellie. Her discomfort was etched onto her face as she tried to maintain eye contact with me.
"And this is Autumn, she's a bit shy but she's a really nice person." Kai said as all eyes were on her. Autumn seems to have noticed this as she kept trying to stir her drink as a distraction, waiting for everyone to go back to what they were doing before.
"Finally, Vanessa, our tough bitch and Cameron, the golden retriever who sucks up to our sweet Belle." Kai introduced them proudly to which both Vanessa and Cameron were stunned with shock, their faces full of offence as they stared at Kai like it was their last straw.
"It's the truth." Kai remarked. With that, all of them stared at me as they waited for me to say something
"Nice to meet you guys, I'm Ares and I study architecture in Queenstown. I met Belle through an exchange program here in Dallas." I introduced myself, trying my best to not be intimidated by six pairs of eyes on me.
"Architecture?" Autumn perked up at the particular word I mentioned. I stared at her with a confused look.
"You mean those people who build buildings including this school?" Autumn perked up even more.
When she felt everyone staring at her, she blushed instantly, "Sorry." She apologised for her excitement immediately.
"It's alright, I like architecture too, nothing embarrassing about that." I rambled, waving my hands frantically, not wanting her to feel embarrassed or upset for liking something. Nobody should be shamed for something they love.
"Autumn loves architecture, especially contemporary architecture." Vanessa spoke up, caressing her arm as if saying that it was okay and Autumn felt better.
"We can talk about architecture and I can share with you about my favourite architect." I said encouragingly as she gave me a small smile, grateful for what I just said.
"Let's do that." She replied agreeingly.
"Ares, I bet you're hungry." Ellie spoke up, passing me a sandwich.
"Oh, thank you. I will pay you back." I said to Ellie while studying the contents for a second, it was an egg mayo sandwich. I opened the wrapping, ensuring the filling didn't touch my hands before taking a bite out of it.
"Don't worry about that, consider it as a kind gesture for getting to know us." Ellie rejected my offer kindly. I smiled at her, taking another bite of the sandwich.
"You seemed to be looking at it for a moment before eating it." Belle noticed as I looked up from the half eaten sandwich.
"I'm allergic to tomatoes." I told her as everyone at the table looked as if they were taking notes.
"Don't poison the poor girl." Kai scolded Ellie. Ellie's face paled at the thought.
"It's fine, really. I would check my food before eating as a habit." I assured both of them.
Ellie furrowed her brows, "It's not fine if you're the only one checking. Two pairs of eyes are better than one. I will certainly help you." Somehow a certain light seemed to shine upon her like a living god as she held my hands in her.
"I didn't know you could count." Kai mumbled under his breath, breaking the sweet moment.
"Bitch." Ellie spat as they both started fighting each other while I was sandwiched between them.
"You're one to talk. You walked into your lecture drunk and tried to strip yourself in front of everyone and when you finally got caught, your defence was that your body was a rare sight and it needed to be seen by the whole world!" Ellie screamed at him like a mad woman.
"Oh, you did not just speak of this incident again. It was one time!" He barked back at her as they continued fighting. I took my last bite of the sandwich, amused by the scene playing out before me.
"Ares, you got anyone?" Vanessa questioned me in the midst of the chaos, not giving a care in the world at what was happening. I was taken aback by the sudden question but answered anyway.
"Nope." I chuckled. Vanessa smirked at the reply.
"I could hook you up at this party I'm hosting at my house." She said.
"Are you sure?" She nodded at my uncertainty.
"There's no alcohol, if you're wondering ." She added as the self doubt in me rises at that statement.
"We are just going to have a party with a bunch of other people from Queenstown and West Coast. Everyone here is going so it wouldn't be as uncomfortable as you think it is going to be." She smiled at me, eager to invite me to her party. As encouraging as she was, I wanted to reject her invitation.
"No thanks. I think you guys should have fun yourself." I tried rejecting as Vanessa placed her phone in front of me.
"It's going to be fun, trust me." She tried convincing.
"I just met you." I laughed nervously.
"You will miss out." She egged on. Something tells me she's not giving up.
I looked towards Belle for help but she was busy having a sweet talk with Cameron, almost seeming like they were going to make out right there and then on the table. My eyes quickly found Ellie and Kai, and they were still brutally fighting each other with Kai trying to prove that he had a higher IQ compared to Ellie. I sighed at the futile attempt, seeing that nobody could help me, my eyes finally landed on Autumn, sitting timidly beside Vanessa as she caught onto my look of despair.
"Vanessa, maybe we shouldn't force her if she doesn't want to." Autumn spoke quietly as I breathed a sigh of relief that I was saved.
"I'm simply helping her." Vanessa defended herself.
"Let her choose." Autumn tried her best to speak up. She looked like a mother trying to discipline Vanessa. They stared at each other, as if fighting with their eyes before Vanessa admitted defeat.
She sighed, "You're lucky I only listen to you, if it was anyone else, I would have beaten them up to a pulp." She said to Autumn, her eyes held a different emotion, something that could have never appeared from what I have observed from her demeanour.
Am I sensing something between them?
Vanessa turned back to me, "Fine. I can give you my number and I will text you my address if you plan on coming."
I searched my pockets for my phone but gave up when I realised my phone was left back at the cafe. "Sorry, I forgot to bring my phone because I was in a rush." My cheeks flushed in embarrassment.
Vanessa smiled at me, "Don't worry, you can text me back when you get home." I nodded as I typed in my number in her phone and saved my name under it. I handed the phone back to her as she gladly took it.
"The party is this Saturday. Text me if you're coming, alright?" Vanessa informed me.
I nodded in response, "I will."
Autumn smiled proudly at Vanessa for keeping her cool as I caught a glimpse of her holding Vanessa's hand under the table.
Vanessa grinned at my answer before turning back towards the group, "Alright, Autumn and I are heading back to class." She announced, grabbing Autumn's hand along and dragging her away from the table before she could say goodbye to us.
"Is this-" I asked out of nowhere before getting cut off by Kai.
"Normal? Yeah, Vanessa treats Autumn like a younger sister and they are like two peas in a pod." Kai stated in an obvious tone. My brows furrowed at him, they definitely have some tension going on between them and sister treatment doesn't justify the intense gazing they had with each other earlier.
"Oh Ares, it's almost time to head back." Belle called out to me, her conversation with Cameron had already ended as she walked towards me. I stood up from my seat as we bid the others goodbye.
"See you soon, Ares!" Ellie waved at me as I did the same to her while leaving the cafeteria with Belle.
…
The next two hours passed by excruciatingly slow but somehow the lecture ended earlier than usual. I shoved the last of my pens into my tote bag and was ready to leave the lecture hall. Belle left before me as Cameron was outside to pick her up since they were going out for dinner. Belle had asked me if I wanted to join them but I didn't want to impose on them so I decided to head home instead.
I could feel another headache coming up as I winced slightly at the sudden pain at the back of my head. It was almost 9pm and the sky was already dark when I walked into the school parking lot. I decided to stop walking and found a place to sit near the entrance of the campus. I leaned my head against the concrete wall, waiting for the pain to pass before continuing my journey back home.
I remembered I had my pills and decided to take them but it was too late to do so. Usually, the pills that I carry with me aren't hardcore pills and they don't have a strong effect on me. I would always feel it coming and take them immediately which could help alleviate the pain for a while before it wears off again. The overgrowing pain told me that this was not a normal headache and it would not go away unless I get home and take the stronger pills that I stored in my cabinet. I cursed myself for forgetting my phone back at the cafe.
A series of grunts and groans of pain disturbed my inner peace as I stood up from my seat. The noise wasn't helping the pain growing in my head, and with haste, I decided to find out what it was. I zoned in onto a hidden alleyway, a lamp post captured my eyes but it was only shining on a specific spot. I gripped tightly onto the strap of my tote bag and began walking into the dark pathway.
I shouldn't have done that.
A huge back towered over a person as he stomped on his body like he was trying to stomp on ice, the sickening sound of bone cracking was heard distinctly as I gasped audibly at the loud grunts coming out of the person's mouth. Before I knew it, my mouth started to run on it's own like it has it's own instruction manual when the owner suddenly malfunctioned.
"I called the police!" The thumping of my heart drummed quickly in my head as the stomping and the grunting stopped.
"They will be here soon if you don't stop hitting him." My tone laced with caution as I warned the guy who still had his back facing me. The alleyway was dark which helped make him less intimidating as I thought it would be compared to seeing him clearly during the day.
He stood motionless, signalling that he was letting him go. He then backed away from the person on the ground as the person stood up hurriedly and ran past me without a word. I watched as the person left the scene and disappeared immediately. I was ready to leave when I stopped short in my tracks, realising that I got rid of the one thing that could have saved me. The guy was already standing before me, about to kill me next. I screamed at myself internally for getting myself into this mess.