"Are you done yet?" Ari grumbles, falling backwards onto my bed.

"Almost," I say.

I type the conclusion of my essay as fast as I can, trying to get it done in time. This essay is worth 40% of my grade this semester, so I need to make sure it's perfect. It's not due until tomorrow night, but if I finish the essay now, I can edit it tomorrow.

"We shouldn't have taken a summer unit," Ari groans.

"We'd get so bored without it though!" I say. "Besides, we're at college for work, so we might as well study while we're at it."

"I know, I know, but college sucks."

"I couldn't agree more," I laugh. "At least you've finished your essay."

Aretta is much better at studying than I am. She does her assignments weeks in advance, while I'm more of a final-few-days kind of girl. We're studying different courses, but like to take as many classes together as possible. She's studying journalism, and I'm studying English, so our courses aren't too far apart.

When I was a kid, I was somewhat of a spelling prodigy. I received a scholarship for one of the most advanced private schools in the country, but it wasn't for me. I left after a couple years there and ended up graduating from the same horrid public school as my brother.

My interest in spelling, grammar and English hasn't returned, but my interest in literature remained. I didn't know what else to major in, so I picked the most obvious choice for me.

"Okay," I say, closing my laptop. "I'm done."

"Yes! Let's go!" Ari cheers. "I'm starving."

I follow her out of my room, and down the stairs. We should be at the house by now, the barbeque should've started already. We hurry over there, but I have to drag Ari out of the entryway of the house. She's been in this place with Mary before, but it's hard to get over a place like this. It almost doesn't seem real.

The garden is huge too, spreading out for miles and miles. Most of it is bushland, but there's also a field of grass right outside the living room, a veranda, a pool, and a tennis court. Oliver is the only one that uses the tennis court, but not even for tennis. He's only used it for basketball a few times. They may use it a bit more now that all the boys are all living here together.

I lead Ari outside and to the veranda. Everyone else is here already, besides Oliver. Alex is at the barbecue, cooking some burgers.

"Hey bitches!" Mary calls, pulling away from my brother only momentarily.

"Hey, guys!" Ari grins, pulling out an empty chair at the table.

"Oh, look, it's an angel!" Kal smiles over at me, stepping away from the barbecue.

"Hey sexy," I wriggle my eyebrows, briefly throwing my arms around his waist.

kal and I have always been close. Even in high school, he was one of my first friends. And while he was in Italy, we only grew closer. He's definitely my closest male friend, but he's not as close to Mary and Ari, so we're not the four musketeers just yet. I've been trying to get them closer, but Ari slept with him once, so there's a bit of tension there.

"It smells so good!" I call, leaning against the table.

"It's all halal!" Alex tells us, looking over at Ari.

"Yes bitch!" she cheers.

I laugh at her, taking the beer Kal hands me.

"I heard you saw Ollie yesterday."

"Who told you that?" I scoff.

"He did."

"He willingly shared information about his life?" I let out a fake gasp, joking about Oliver's tendency to keep his distance.

"Yeah, man, he was fucked last night."

"Wait, what?" I frown. "What do you mean?"

"He was so wasted. I'm pretty sure he was stoned too."

"Was he angry?"

"Furious," he snickers. "He completely trashed his room. And this morning, he spent like 5 hours in the gym."

That can't be right. Oliver has always been good at controlling his anger. All his emotions, actually. I've never seen him drunk, and I've only seen him take drugs in pictures online. I don't like the thought of it at all.

It's got to be me that's got him so angry. I can sense it.

"Don't worry, Lucy," he says. "He's just an ass."

"You're not wrong," I chuckle.

As if on queue, Oliver emerges from the living room, shutting the sliding door behind him. He's shirtless, his hair wet, and a silver dog tag hanging from around his neck. He must've just finished up at the gym. His muscles have gotten much bigger, too, but not as big as Alex. He's definitely gotten some new tattoo's though, but he's nowhere near as covered as Liam. His 6'5 figure approaches us, a sour look on his face. By the time he's reached us, he's already lit a cigarette.

"Hey, man," Liam says, doing one of those bro-handshakes.

I look away from them, not wanting to make eye contact with him. I can smell him from here. He smells fo peppermint and freshly cut wood. My heart thumps in my chest, going a thousand miles a minute.

He makes the rounds, greeting everyone. He takes a little longer with Alex, helping him plate up the food, but finally, he approaches Kaleem and I. I suck in a breath.

"Kal," he says, then briefly turns to me. "Lucy."

"Hey bro, you want a beer?" Kal asks.

He nods, taking the one he hands him.

Should I say something? I'm not sure what.

"Dinner!"

Oh, thank fuck.

I let out a sigh of relief, pulling away from the conversation. I take a seat at the table, between Mary and Kal. Thankfully, Oliver sits on the other end of the table.

We begin piling up our food, passing over plates of sausages and hamburgers. they also made a salad, but let's be honest, I won't be eating any of that.

"This is so tasty," Ari grins, munching on some bread.

"Makes me want to learn to cook," I laugh.

"Everything is store bought, I only cooked the meat," Alex explains.

"And meat is so easy to cook," Kal chuckles. "Makes me want to barbecue every day."

"We have a chef," Oliver comments, his expression blank.

Ari gasps. "I want one!"

"Do you have a problem with my cooking?" Mary laughs, faking offence.

Mary is the only one out of the three of us girls that knows how to cook and enjoys it, too. So, naturally, she's the one that cooks dinner for us most of the time.

"Maybe I'll start paying you," Ari jokes.

"With what money?" I scoff. "You just bought a car!"

"And it's time you did too," Liam grumbles.

"Don't go hating on my car now!" I defend.

Admittedly, my car is a piece of junk, but I love it. It's just very old.

"My pay's almost doubled since I became the manager," Ari smiles.

"Shit, really?" I frown.

Ari and I have been working at the same cafe on campus since college started, and it's actually how we met. She got promoted to manager fairly recently, and definitely reaps the benefits.