LXXVII- Big City, Small World

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I told Seth that Katie and I agreed to go to the party. I've never been a big partier, when I drink I don't get too drunk, I'm not sloppy about it. Last year we went to two parties. One was at RAVE where Shawn was there being stood up. The second one was the day before Thanksgiving. I ended up taking care of Dean who got too drunk too fast. Then I left him to go pick up Shawn at a bar. This time I want to think about myself, I want to be the one getting drunk and having fun. I'm free so why shouldn't I let loose?

Professor Sam walks into his office, smiling at me. "I'm glad you decided to meet me here." Admittedly, I wasn't expecting to get an email asking for him to show up in between office hours.

"Did I forget to turn something in or-?"

He holds his hand out to stop me. "No you're fine. I was just talking with Mr. Morgan and he mentioned he was your teacher last year."

I nod, "Yeah, small world huh?" He's making me nervous, my palms become sweaty so I wipe them on my jeans.

"No kidding...anyway, he also mentioned that you were one of his teacher's assistants. I've actually been looking for someone to help me with some of my extra classes that I've picked up. If you're interested." Sam crosses his arms over this chest as he leans back against his desk and looks down at me.

This was one of the last things I was expecting. "I didn't think this school did things like that."

He smirks, "It doesn't well-not normally. They allow specific major professors to have an intern for the semester. You would be my intern, it even pays." This is my first year, I didn't think first years could even become interns.

"I would have to work around my class schedule." I say.

"Of course, we wouldn't want you to fall behind now would we?" There's a hint of amusement in his voice. "Email me your schedule and I'll get back to you with an offer. Does that sound fair?" His willingness to work with me is confusing but I decide not to question it.

Afterall, I'm getting paid to do the same things I did last year. "Yes." I agree.

I stand up and walk over to the door, "Oh and Livia?" I stop and turn to him. "This wouldn't cause any problems between you and Morgan would it?"

I haven't thought about his opinion about this. If it were Dean I would have, but this is different. "Why would it?" I retort.

Sam presses his lips into a firm line and shakes his head. "No reason. I'll see you next week."




I lean into the mirror to get a closer look at my eye. The black pencil runs across my eyelid at the same time Katie looks through her closet for something to wear. "I have nothing cute in here." She complains in frustration.

"Look in my closet, I think one of my friends left a dress in there that's your size." Whenever Jenny spent the night she would end up leaving something at my house.

Katie goes over to my closet and finds the dress I'm talking about. "This is cute, your friend has a wonderful fashion sense."

I laugh, "You have no idea. Jenny made our prom dresses."

"Is she going to school for fashion?" She asks as she gets dressed.

Once I'm finished with my eyeliner I move on to mascara. "She's starting out online since she has a baby now. I think she plans on finishing college in a fashion school." We've only talked about it a couple of times but I really think she'll make it in the fashion industry. It's almost like she was born for it.

"I couldn't imagine having a baby so young. I can barely take care of myself." I'm right there with her. If I got pregnant right now I wouldn't know what to do. Having my professors love-child doesn't sound like the best way to go. Katie moves on to her makeup just as I've finished up, so we trade spots. "You're lucky, I've never had a best friend and you've got two."

I turn to look at her even though she's paying close attention to herself in the mirror. "Why not? I might not know you very well but you're a likeable person."

She stops applying lipstick, looking at me through the mirror she says, "My dad was pretty strict. It's hard to have friends when you can't hang out with them."

I now realize that Katie and I are completely different. My parents weren't strict with me because they were never there. I grew up knowing I didn't want to stay in Brookview while Katie has never left New York. "Well your dad isn't here now. You shouldn't be afraid to find out who you are."

"Do you know who you are?"

Her question catches me off guard. "I guess that's something we can figure out together." I offer her a small smile.

We finish up in comfortable silence and make our way out to the party. Seth waits for us in a designated spot wearing a fitted shirt and jeans. He kept it extremely simple but it works for him. He offers his arms to us and leads us inside.

The inside looks like a typical frat house that can be seen in most movies. There are two people who stand beside the door with a keg and solo cups. They hand us drinks upon entry. The house is crowded, with loud music beating from the walls to the floorboards. "Welcome to your first college party." Seth says as he leans close to my ear. "I'm going to go find a nice lady to go home with."

"Good luck." I say back as he unhooks his arm from the both of us and rushes off into the party.

I turn to Katie, "I guess we should mingle." I suggest.

She nods, "Hold onto your phone."

I make my way into the living room where several people are surrounding the couch. There's a lot of smoke filling the air along with drinks being passed around. They seem to be playing some kind of drinking game.

One of the guys on the end of the couch looks up and notices me. "Hey, do you want to join us?" He asks.

"Oh I-"

"Yeah come on, my friend went to go get a drink so there's a spot open beside me." Another guy says as he moves over and pats the middle seat.

I give in, moving to sit between the two boys. "I'm Livia." I introduce myself.

The blonde boy on my right nods, "I'm Devon and that's Leo." He points to the brunette on my left.

A small girl on the floor waves at me, "I'm Christina and this is Georgia. We're waiting for our friend to get back before we start the game."

"What game is it?" I ask.

Georgia lifts up her cup, "Never have I ever." I've seen this one played before but never actually played myself.

"Isn't that the one where you say something you've never done and the people who have done it drink?" Everyone nods.

Leo points up, "There's our friend."

I put my cup to my lips and begin to drink at the same time I follow my gaze up to someone I never thought I would see again. "Hey Katherine this is Livia, she's going to play with us." Christina announces at the same time we make eye contact.

I almost choke on my drink. Katherine Dyer is standing right in front of me, staring at me. She's a year older than me so of course it's possible she goes to college, but why in New York? Why in NYU?

To my surprise, Katherine walks up to me and holds out her hand. "You can call me Kat." I don't know what kind of game she's playing but it's not funny.

Still, I shake her hand and say, "It's nice to meet you, Kat."

Her arm falls back down to her side as she looks around her group of friends. "So who's ready to play Never have I ever?" Cheers can be heard from all around the group. Her eyes lock onto mine. "I think our newcomer should go first."

"Um...okay, never have I ever gotten a speeding ticket." Everyone laughs as most take a drink.

Christina raises her hand, "I think you need something stronger than beer. That way you have a better time." She grabs a new cup and pours straight vodka into it. Then she hands it to me. "Okay, now it's my turn. Never have I ever kissed a girl." I'm the only person in the group who doesn't drink.

It's Georgia's turn. "Never have I ever cheated on my significant other." Kat looks right at me, knowing that I cheated on Dean last year. I shyly lift up my cup and take a drink. It burns my throat and I fight the urge to gag on the bitter taste.

Katherine ends up saying something that everyone's done, including me. By the time it gets back to me, my brain feels light and my vision is slightly blurred. Katherine leans in to whisper something in Georgia's ear. "Never have I ever done drugs."

Just as expected, Katherine drinks. "Wait, not even weed?" Devon asks. I shake my head as he takes a drink.

When it gets to Georgia she glances to Katherine before saying, "Never have I ever slept with my teacher."

My body tenses, completely shocked at the question. Kat winks at me and lifts her cup to drink. If I don't drink Katherine might call me out but if I do then everyone will know anyway. At least this way I'll have the power to say what I want about it, so I drink. "Woah, both of you? Impressive."

Kat keeps looking at me as she says, "What can I say? He was hot."

Christina smiles, "Okay, details please." She looks between the both of us.

I shrug, "There's not much to tell."

"Oh sure there is, at least there is for me. My teacher was tall, and lean with a sharp jawline that could cut glass. I used to hang back after class, just so we could fuck on his desk." I feel my body temperature rise in anger. I look away from her but she keeps talking. "I'll never think of history the same way again...what about you Livia?"

Leo nudges me, "Yeah, tell us."

"I told you about my experience, it's only fair that you do too."

I could hit the smirk off of her face, "It was nothing...I'm going to go use the bathroom." I stand up and walk away as quickly as I can. I ditch my cup and walk outside to get some fresh air.

"Hey!" Katherine calls from behind me.

I turn around to her, "I thought you were sorry and planned on leaving me the hell alone?"

Kat crosses her arms over her chest, "That was before you two followed me here. That's right, I know he's a professor here now. I came here to get away from you and your gross relationship with him."

"A relationship you were happy to talk about in there." I argue.

She shakes her head, not really looking at me, "Because whether you like it or not we were happy before he met you."

I internally scream, "He never loved you! You have to let him go!" I'm a crazy person, arguing at a college party over a boy.

The few people hanging outside turn to watch us have a screaming match. "You should take your own advice."

I walk up close to her. We stare at each other for a few seconds. I can smell the vodka on her breath and I'm sure she can smell the same on me. "That's just it Kat, I know what love looks like."

"You bitch!" She lifts up her hand and hits me. I hold onto my stinging lip and look up at her.

She expects me not to fight back, she thinks I'm just going to walk away. She thought wrong. I curl my hand into a fist, take a step back and use all of my weight to hit back. Katherine falls to the ground at the same time the pain hits my hand. No one ever mentions how much it hurts to actually hit someone. It's a lot different than a punching bag.

I hold onto my hand and look down at her touching the blood from her nose, "I spent high school as the victim, if you ever touch me again I'll show you what it's like." When I look up there's a crowd surrounding us, as well as Seth and Katie wide eyed and watching me. I have no idea how long they've been out here or how much they saw.

It doesn't matter, I'm leaving.

The cab ride to Shawn's place is long and I can't help but start crying. This was supposed to be my fresh start. We're only one week in and it's not the start I was hoping for.

"Livia, are you okay? What happened?" He pulls me inside to examine my face.

I step back, "I'm fine." I set my purse down and walk to his bathroom. I grab the peroxide and a cue-tip, lightly putting it on my lip.

"Why do you smell like vodka?"

"I went to a party." I throw the cue-tip away and put the peroxide back before turning to him. "I went to a party and Katherine was there. Apparently she goes to college here. We got into an altercation and she hit me." The shock is evident on his face, he doesn't know what to say. "So I hit her back."

"You did what?!"

I walk past him out of the bathroom and go grab an ice pack from the freezer. "Don't worry, it ended there. It turns out I hate hurting people even in self defense. Go figure." I add.

Shawn walks up to me, grabbing the ice pack to examine the cut on my lip. It's not as bad as it looks. "I'm glad you stood up for yourself but you were drinking. Things could've gotten out of control fast." I don't think he realizes that they did.

I grab his hand, "I'm fine. I'm not drunk or anything."

"Did you want to be drunk?" He asks. I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to answer.

"I guess so, yeah. I just wanted to have fun but she was there. At first she acted like she didn't even know me. Then we all played, never have I ever and she had her friend call me out for sleeping with my teacher. Then she had the audacity to talk about how you two used to fuck in the classroom, it was disgusting." Just the thought of them together makes me want to vomit.

He sighs, "I'm sorry you had to hear about that. I never thought I would see her again."

"Technically you didn't." I close my eyes and take in a deep breath, "I just don't want her to ruin this for us. This was supposed to be a fresh start, Shawn."

"I know," He pulls me in for a hug, my head lands softly on his chest. "It will be." He says even though he doesn't know that for sure. He shouldn't be making promises he can't keep but it's exactly what I needed to hear.

My phone starts ringing so I pull away from Shawn to answer it. "Hey Katie."

"Livia are you okay?" Katie asks. "Are you back in the dorms?"

I rub my forehead, "No I-I just needed to clear my head."

"Seth and I can pick you up and-"

"I'm fine Katie, I'll just see you tomorrow." I dismissed her.

"Oh...okay. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

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