Born Under a Bad Sign

“Mom, it’ll be okay...I promise.” I was unlocking my door before moving into my apartment at Ohio University when my mother started bursting out in uncontrollable tears.
“I…know…but…you.’re..my…little..girl!” She finally got out in between huge gasps of air to continue her incessant sobbing.
My dad slipped behind me and went inside to check the place out, where I would be living with 2 other roommates. I had no idea who they were, seeing as how I was moving a couple days early.
“Mom, mom…just come inside and we’ll bring in my bed and you can go ahead and sit down and…” I wasn’t the best when it came to comforting people. “It’ll be okay, okay?’ I led her inside and she stood for a second, scoping out the place.
It was nice, nothing extremely special. Tan carpets, slightly off-white walls, and laminate tile in the kitchen and bathroom. I chose the room facing the campus. My apartment was only a 5-minute walk, which was nice. I didn’t have to bring a car, since the small town of Athens had basically everything I needed. It may not look like it, but it was where I fit best. It was far enough away from my hometown, so I could get away, but close enough so if I needed anything I could take a 2-hour ride back.
“Hey hun, where do you want this box?” My retired and slightly balding father asked me.
“Just put it in my room.” I hadn’t even moved in 10 minutes ago and my room was already a mess. He nodded and grimaced at me, I was still trying to console my mom. I sat her down in one of the pre-furnished chairs in the living room and helped my dad with the rest of the boxes. After about an hour, I was all moved in and my parents were ready to leave.
“Well, we’ll call when we get home. I love you, kid.” My dad hugged me tightly and kissed me on the forehead before my mom basically attacked me.
“Mom…mom…I will be okay. I promise. If I need anything I’ll give you a call.”
She nodded and told me she loved me before my dad put his arm around her shoulder, waved goodbye to me, and lead her to the car. 5 minutes later, they were gone, and I was on my own.
I plopped down on the not-so-comfortable couch and stretched out. I was much too big for it. But, it was comfortable enough. I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up and it was dark outside. I groaned, because now I knew for certain I wouldn’t get any sleep tonight. I relocated to my unmade bed, there were no sheets on it at all. I decided to make the bed with the normal tan sheets I brought from home. I completed it with my familiar pillows and floral comforter. I collapsed on the bed and looked at the time. It was officially 10:30 at night. After about 10 minutes of contemplating what to do with my night, I decided that it’s a Friday night at Ohio University, the number 2 party college in the United States. There had to be something going on. I all but ripped open my suitcases full of clothes and sifted through my pounds upon pounds of shirts, pants, and shoes, before deciding on riding boots, leggings, and a sheer black button up shirt with silver studs on the collar, with a black lacy bandeau underneath. I grabbed my brown leather purse from the kitchen counter, and my apartment key from the key hanger to the right of the front door. I locked the door behind me and began walking to downtown Athens. It wasn’t a big town, so not much walking was required until I reached my first frat house. There was music blaring, but there weren’t many people there as far as I could tell, so I kept walking. At last, I found it. Quite possibly the largest party I’ve ever seen. Music was playing so loud I couldn’t even hear myself think, and beach balls were being thrown around so I assumed it was a good time. I headed to the building where it seemed to be coming from and opened the door. It was an open floor plan, and it seemed to be a bar. There was no cover charge for the night thankfully, since I didn’t bring any cash with me. I saw a couple bartenders quickly serving drinks to the large crowd of college students around its wooden frame. I quickly felt overwhelmed, but swallowed the feeling and forced it back down before it got to my head.
“Are you new?” A girl with cherry red hair appeared in front of me with a pink colored drink and a friendly smile.
“Yeah, I just moved in today.”
“Perfect! I’m Elysia, I’ll introduce you to a couple of my friends. I just love your outfit by the way.” She started walking toward the bar and I followed close behind her. People were suddenly jumping up and down and dancing to a song I had never heard before. We arrived at the bar and she tapped a tall guy on the shoulder. He turned around and smiled at me and stuck his hand out.
“I’m Paul.”
“Lauren.” I took his hand and returned the smile. He was very attractive. Square jawline, brown eyes, short brown hair, and the beginnings of a beard.
“You’re going to love it here. There’s always something to do.”
“Oh great, just what I need.”
He winked, turned to the bartender, and ordered 3 tequila shots. He passed one to me, and one to Elysia. Paul seemed to have magically produced a saltshaker and I licked a spot on my hand before he sprinkled it on, and he did the same to Elysia.
“1,” He looked at me and smirked. “2, 3.” On 3 we all licked the salt off our hands and took the shot. I welcomed the burn as the drink slid down my throat to my stomach, and smiled at Paul. We took 3 more shots before Elysia dragged me to another group of her friends.
“Hey everyone, this is Lauren and she just moved in today!”
One by one, the group of about 5 people introduced themselves as Ryan and Audrey, who were dating, Kelsey, Macie, and Parker. Parker was easily one of the most gorgeous people I had ever seen. He had short blonde hair, was skinny, and had brown eyes. His smile was easily his best feature, and there was just something about him that made him easily the sexiest guy I’d seen tonight. His full smile was enough to completely decimate my social skills.
“Ugh, Lauren I LOVE your outfit!” Macie yelled into my ear. She was obviously already wasted. “Why aren’t you drinking?!” She asked.
“I don’t know!” I shrugged and Parker smiled and chuckled. That was sexy too.
“Come on, we’ll get you something.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kelsey and Audrey roll their eyes and smile at each other.
I followed Parker back to the bar and we pushed to the front where we could see the array of drinks the bartenders served.
“So what’s good here?” I yelled at Parker, the music was overwhelmingly loud.
He shrugged, “Depends on what you want.”
“Surprise me.” I answered, biting my bottom lip.
He smirked and ordered something that I couldn’t make out and with a second, the bartender came back with a brain hemorrhage shot.
“You know the right way to drink these, right?” He asked as he handed me the glass.
“ No, you can probably teach me a thing or two though.”
He smiled at me and twisted his arm in mine so they were crossed.
“Like this?” My head was already little fuzzy from the tequila earlier.
“Of course.” He winked and we took the shot at the same time, our arms still crossed when we were done.
The song changed and suddenly the bass was blaring into my ears. I couldn’t hear a single thing.
Parker set his hand on my lower back and pulled me closer to him before leaning down to say something.
“Anything else?” I could feel his cool lips brush against my ear.
“Surprise me.” I purposely brushed my lips against his jaw as I pulled away and he smirked and pulled me closer so there was almost no distance between us. He turned toward the bartender and ordered me a glass of something. When it got back to me, it was pink and tasted like alcoholic passion fruit. I gave him a thumbs up and downed about half before I could feel myself getting drunk.
“Do you dance?” He asked, his face getting dangerously close to mine.
“Of course.” I could hear myself slurring my words.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the full dance floor, getting right in the middle. I turned so my back was to his chest and his hands found their way to my hips before I started to move them side to side, grinding against his body. Careful not to spill what was left of my drink, I felt myself slip farther and farther into drunkenness. I raised my arm and hooked it around his neck, my fingers brushing against the back of his neck as he moved his hands forward to the front of my legs and back to my hips again in one fluid motion. I turned and faced him and quickly drank the rest of my passion fruit concoction. He deleted the space between our faces and moved his hands to my ass, squeezed, and pulled me closer. I kept my arm around his neck, tugging softly on his hair. He groaned and slowly leaned in to kiss me, stopping right before our lips touched, and instead he just brushed his against mine. I could taste the alcohol on his lips. We were still moving together, and one of his hands was finding his way up my shirt. I bit his lip slowly and he groaned again. We both closed our eyes and moved together on the dance floor. Once a couple songs had passed, I grabbed and pulled him with me out of the crowd of people. I set the glass on an empty table and pulled him to the bar.
“2 shots of tequila, please.” The bartender came back quickly with a saltshaker. I thanked him and licked my hand, and Parker repeated my action on his hand. I sprinkled salt on each of our hands and I handed him his.
“To your first night at OU.” He winked at me, and I raised my shot glass toward him. Before he lifted his hand to his mouth, I grabbed it and stared into his eyes and licked the salt off his hand before taking the shot. I slammed the drink down on the table and his face was stuck in amazement and I could tell I had turned him on.
“Don’t you take that sexy look off your face, baby.” I winked at him and licked my hand before I took his shot out of his hand and drank it before slamming it down next to my other one.
“You really need to see where my apartment is.” He practically moaned at me.
“I definitely agree.”
He smirked at me and grabbed my hand before pulling me out of the bar. We walked for about a minute before we arrived at an apartment complex next to a string of restaurants and shops. He unlocked the front door and went down one flight of stairs, pulling me behind him. He unlocked 06B, and he motioned for me to go inside. There were hardwood floors and a large L-shaped couch facing a flat screen television mounted on the wall. It was all I could see before I was shoved up against the nearest wall and Parker’s lips were on mine.
Then I woke up.