My Last Semester

“Just come to the party man! You haven’t been out in weeks! People are starting to talk.” Giff continued to sit on his bed, looking at the tv screen, ignoring his roommates pleas. He knew that his roommate just wanted him to go out so he could look better. He didn’t give a shit if Giff had a social life or not.

“Come on Giff there will be lots of girls. It’s spring weekend, just imagine all of the clothing they won’t have on. You can’t miss out.” This didn’t phase Giff either. He didn’t like how the guys on campus literally preyed on the girls. Every time he went to a party with the team, he watched them as they didn’t dance or interact with anyone. They just walked around the room in circles, looking for the next girl to fuck. That wasn’t him or at least not anymore. He used to be like that his freshman and sophomore year. He was younger then and was enthralled by his status. Girls threw themselves at him and with the encouragement of the other guys on the team, he slept with whoever gave him the time of day, leaving them the next morning and never returning their calls. But he was a senior now and saw the life for what it really was. He didn’t like the politics behind the sports, or the “celebrity life” he just wanted to play basketball and go to school. He only took the scholarship so he could get a decent yet free education. He couldn’t wait to return to Berlin and see his family and just leave the superficial lifestyle.

“Giff man are you even listening?” Giff finally turned his attention back to his roommate.

“What do you want?”

“I want you to come out with me! I’ve been bitching about it to you for the past 5 minutes!” Giff rolled his blue eyes knowing he couldn’t win in this situation. All of his friends were going out tonight so it’s not like he could go chill with someone else. If he didn’t go out his roommate would nag him until graduation. He shut off the tv and put on his red baseball cap. Without a word he left the apartment, knowing that his roommate would follow him like a little bitch.

“So I was thinking we could go to boathouse tonight. It’s supposed to be live.” His roommate said, in a much better mood now because he was going to a party with Giff. Everyone loved Giff so tonight everyone would love him. Giff walked in the direction of the building, it wasn’t too far, about 2 miles off campus. Normally Giff would get a ride there, but he wanted to be able to leave whenever he wanted to, besides he didn’t want to see the team tonight. He loved the team, they were like his family, but he just wasn’t in the mood to witness them scoping out girls or act like they were above it all.

As the two boys walked, Giff’s roommate, who’s name was Tyler was talking a mile a minute. Giff just ignored him, knowing nothing useful ever came out of Tyler’s mouth. Tyler played basketball too, but he hardly got any playing time. He wasn’t a bad player, but he just wasn’t as good as Giff and the other guys who usually started in all the games. Tyler’s status was pretty big, but nothing compared to Giff’s. At first he was jealous but slowly Tyler realized he could feed off of Giff’s status, a hobby he had mastered. As Tyler rambled on Giff looked around at the apartments they lived at. He glanced at the skatepark and saw some people out there skating, even though it was dark and around eleven o’clock. He admired their dedication, for he was the same way. He lost count of all the times Tyler called him freaking out because Giff wasn’t in his bed at 2 am. Giff would be out on the courts just shooting and enjoying the game. He looked back at the boarders and his thoughts drifted to that girl he saw on the board today. He realized that he had seen her before around campus and at the dinning hall. With her rather dark appearance she stood out. Usually he favored preppy girls who wore cardigans, and Ralph Lauren and wore sperrys. But he found himself liking her style…on her at least. He would observe her sometimes. She usually liked to be alone and seemed quiet. Her darker skin and hair gave her a rather exotic appearance. He didn’t usually spend his time thinking about her, but ever since he saw her on her board today as he rode the bus, she was plaguing his thoughts. She just looked so graceful and at peace. Her movements were quick and accurate yet she made it all seem so simple. The way the wind ripped through her hair just made him watch her in awe. But today he finally got close enough to really observe her face and he certainly liked what he saw. Thick eyelashes framed these beautiful soft brown eyes. But her eyes were this light brown that stood out against her heavy eyeliner, it was such a smoldering effect. Her hair framed her nice neck and face perfectly and she smiled with her whole face. She was pretty but so were a lot of other girls on campus, so why was he thinking about her. He was annoyed with these thoughts and with Tyler and with everything about this school. He walked towards the party as if he was walking towards his death. Yupp. This was going to be a long night.

**********************************

Gabby had to admit this party wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. Jess was actually sticking with her and introduced her to some nice people. She had even danced a few times. She had a few beers and was just feeling nice but she was getting a little tired. Jess had left her to go dance with some basketball player. His name was Andre and he had asked Gabby to dance before but Gabby said no. She knew that basketball player had a rep and over the winter break he had direct messaged her on twitter. He was a womanizing creep but that didn’t stop Jess. She had been dancing with him for quite a bit and it was funny to watch. He had to be at least 6’6 and Jess was just 5’1. They were such an awkward couple on the dance floor, it was actually quite painful to watch. But both
Jess and Andre were too drunk to really notice or be bothered by the awkwardness.
Jess had had her sights set on him for weeks and she knew if she played her cards right, she’d be in his bed by the end of the night. Gabby loved her roommate but she was too open with her body for her taste. She would never judge her roommate though, for she was safe and was always aware of what she was doing. Gabby was growing tired. She looked at her phone, it was near 1 am. She was standing with a group of people that were friends with Jess and they were cool. One of the guys in the group, named Stefan, who had taken a liking to her and wouldn’t leave her side all night. He had his arm around her whenever he could but he was nice and harmless so she let him. She felt her phone vibrate and saw that it was Kiara.

“I gotta take this call! I’ll be right back!” She yelled to the group of people she was with. The music was so loud and it was giving her a head ache. She was glad to have a reason to leave the party a little bit. She walked outside, passing people doing keg stands and puking. Gotta love college she thought. She answered her phone, “Hello?”

“Wow you’re a live! I was expecting an EMT or like a nurse to answer and tell me that you had died or something.”

“Very funny smart ass. Are you enjoying your night?” Kiara’s guy friend was spending the night. She didn’t know why her friend still gave him the time of day but there was nothing she could do about it.

“Oh yes, Paul just went to the bathroom real quick. I can’t wait till he walks in that door, I’m gonna attack him and- ”

“Ok ok ok I get the point! I don’t need details! I love you Kiara but not enough to hear about your sex life!” She cold hear her friend laugh over the phone.

“Sorry! You just make it so much fun to joke around with. Sex is fun you should try it sometime.” Gabby rolled her eyes. She knew Kiara was just joking. Gabby was a virgin and wasn’t ashamed to admit it. It wasn’t that she wasn’t given the opportunity to have sex. Hell this was college, anyone could get some. She just hadn’t met the right guy and that was too important to her to just throw away.

“Ok we are not discussing this. Have a good night. Wanna get breakfast in the morning?” \
“Yeah sure. Oh Paul’s coming! Bye Gab!” The phone clicked as the other line went dead. Gabby tried to shake the thoughts of what her friend was doing right now. She made her way back in, but not before an arm grabbed her. She looked up to see who it was. It was a tall guy with brown hair, who looked vaguely familiar. He wasn’t cute at all and he was eyeing her like a meal. She snatched her arm away form his grasp.

“Hey baby, do you wanna dance?’ he asked. His hands made his way towards her hips but she backed away. She finally realized where she recognized him from. He was on the basketball team and his name was Tyler. This was Giff’s roommate and she only knew that because Kiara made a point to know everything about Giff and the rest of the star players on the team. She backed away from him.

“Don’t touch me” she snapped at Tyler. She made her way through the crowd and disappeared. Tyler was too drunk to care and as soon as she left he looked around the room for his roommate and for a girl. Giff had snuck past him when he went to go talk to that girl. Giff was not about to watch Tyler use his “game” to get girls. Tyler didn’t
have much luck at the first party they went to so he convinced Giff to come with him to another party in hopes of picking up girls there. Giff protested at first but finally agreed after Tyler whined and begged…yes he actually begged. Giff walked around the room looking for the alcohol. He needed a shot or two or three.

“Yo Giff! My man!” he turned at the sound of someone calling him. He saw Andre waving at him as he was grinding with this tiny girl. Giff had to laugh at how awkward they looked dancing together. He waved back and went back to looking for alcohol…a few shots later he was in slightly better spirits. He found a spot on the wall and leaned against it as looked at the party before him but his thoughts were on everything but the party. He thought about Berlin and how he couldn’t wait to get home and see his parents. Basketball training was strict and he always had to stay on campus even in the summer. He only had a week a year to see his family. But he was graduating and could spend the summer home finally. His thoughts were interrupted by Andre, who was shit faced but still trying to keep it together. Andre was an asshole to girls and one of the guys who liked to take advantage of the full benefits of being a basketball player, but he was always cool to Giff and was a nice guy at heart.

“What’s up man?” Giff yelled over the music. Andre took the spot on the wall next to Giff. He let out a deep breath.

“Man I’m so pissed right now. Did you see that girl I was dancing with earlier? The short cute one with the big tits.?”

“Uhh is that the girl I saw you with? Yeah what about her?”

“She left! Before I could get her number or find out where she lived. All I have is a name and it’s Jess. Her hot ass roommate dragged her off me and they left…that bitch.”

“Ohh uhh sorry?” Giff didn’t see what the big deal was. Andre never cared about the girls that left him, he would just find another like he always did.

“But man she was too cute. But whatever, let’s leave. I need some bud.” Giff couldn’t lie he could go for a blunt right about now. Since they played basketball they were always subjected to drug tests so they could never smoke, but now they both could smoke their lungs out.

“Good idea man. Did you bring your car?” Andre nodded and the two boys made their way out of the party. Giff had to turn away four girls who had asked him to dance as he left the party. He found Ty in the corner talking with some blonde chick telling her about all the stories he had with Giff.. Dumb ass was a liar, he and Ty had no memories worth sharing but the blonde girl was just eating it up. He followed Andre who took his keys out, but Giff snatched them. “There’s no way in hell you are driving tonight man. Where are we going?” Andre didn’t even put up a fight, he was still aggravated about Jessica being pulled away from him. He had to admit that her roommate was hot and on a normal day he would have tried to get with her, but there was something about Jessica that he wanted and this aggravated him even more. He never got mad over girls. He leaned his head on the glass window.

“Go to Grange. Terry said he’d meet us there.”

*****************************

To say that Gabby was annoyed right now was an understatement. It started with that Tyler guy touching her. After she escaped his claws she found her roommate practically dry humping Andre, so she pulled her off of him. It was time to go home. She had to find Jess’s jacket in a huge pile of jackets but when she got back Jess was gone so she had to find her again. And of course she was with Andre again. Once again she pulled Jess off him and they left the building. Jess was pissed and kept yelling at Gabby saying stupid shit like she’s gonna be lonely forever, or that now she would never get say she fucked a future NBA player. Gabby just ignored it and held onto her roommates hand tightly as they made their way back to their dorm Grange. She just wanted to change out of her dress and go to bed, hell maybe smoke a blunt before hand. Eventually Jess stopped talking about Andre but she wouldn’t stop talking and it was driving Gabby crazy. Finally their building was in sight. She had never been so happy to see it. She got out her ID card so they could get into the building. Gabby had noticed that Jess had gotten quiet, but she didn’t question it and instead enjoyed it. They walked into the lobby and as Gabby looked at her phone she heard Jess yell out “Hey Andre!”

Gabby looked up with her brown eyes and saw Jess run up to the basketball player who had this stupid smug smile on his face. He was sitting on the couch in the lobby and got up to meet her roommate. But Jess stopped in her tracks and puked all over the floor.

“What the fuck!” Andre yelled. He backed away from the puke. Gabby’s eyes just widened, she was too shocked at what just happened to actually say anything. Jess just groaned and swayed a bit. Gabby immediately jumped forward and grabbed her friend by her forearms. She gently guided her now pale roommate to the couch. Andre still hadn’t moved from the spot, but he looked genuinely concerned. He’s still an asshole Gabby thought to herself. Jess looked very pale and was getting warm. Gabby stood up and approached the basketball player.

“Can you watch her for a second while I get some wet paper towels from the bathroom? She’s really warm.” Andre looked a little grossed out but to her surprise he nodded and sat next to her roommate on the couch. Gabby made her way to the bathroom on the floor. It only had one stall and she hoped no one was in it. Just as she was about to knock to see if it was being used, the door opened and revealed a tall guy who looked at her with a shocked expression. She saw that it was Giff, but paid him no attention as she made her way in it.

Giff left the bathroom in a bit of a daze. He had almost bumped into this really pretty girl but there was something familiar about her. He tried to think of why her face was so familiar as he made his way to the couch where he left Andre. He reached it and found his friend sitting next to a small girl who looked white as chalk. He then saw the pool of vomit on the floor. What the hell? He thought. But before he could say anything to his friend, someone pushed past him and sat themselves on the other end of the couch. It was the pretty girl from the bathroom. Giff took a good look at her, replaying her face in his mind to see if he could figure out where he knew her from.

“Jess how are you feeling sweetie? Here put this on you, you’re getting warm.” This pretty stranger had a sweet voice but he still couldn’t figure it out. He just stood looking like a moron next to the couch but no one was paying him attention. Even Andre seemed attentive to her. The girl named Jess put her head on Andre’s shoulder and he just kept it there.

“EWWW WHAT THE FUCK?” All four college students looked up and turned towards the sound of the voice. It was coming near the entrance of the building. A group of girls stood looking in disgust at the puddle of puke that was blocking the pathway to the elevator. “WHO THE FUCK DID THIS?” one girl yelled.

Gabby stood up and walked towards the girls, careful not to step on any of the puke. “I’m sorry,” she started but was soon cut off by the girl that had yelled.

“WAS THIS YOU? EITHER LEARN TO HOLD YOUR LIQUOR OR DON’T DRINK” she yelled at Gabby, who’s face darkened. Giff noticed that she had her fist clenched. Please hit her. He thought to himself. He wasn’t normally a violent person but that bitch deserved to get slapped. The pretty stranger didn’t do anything and it really pissed him off that she was the one who got yelled at.

“OK listen up bitch, I didn’t puke it was my roommate. You are right she should learn to control her liquor…just like you should learn to control your appetite. We did your fat ass a favor actually because now you can use the stairs instead of the elevator. You could use the exercise.” And with that she went back to her roommate.

Giff tried to hold back a laugh but failed and everyone looked up at him. The pretty stranger just gave me a sharp glare and went back to her roommate. The yelling rolled her eyes and said, “Shut the fuck up Giff.” And she and her gang made their way upstairs.

“Look I really have to clean this up like right now but I don’t want Jess out here for another second. Can you take her to her room?” The pretty stranger was looking at Andre with an annoyed look on her face. Andre just looked to Giff as if to ask him for help. Giff just shrugged his shoulders. Gabby looked between the two basketball players and just snapped. “Look just because you’re some hot shot basketball doesn’t mean shit. You’re human and if the roles were reversed you would want someone to help you. I asked you to bring her to her room, not clean the puke up with your hands!” She gave Andre the dirtiest glare Giff had ever seen, it even made his skin crawl a bit. Andre looked like he wanted to cry but he just nodded and helped Jess up. Gabby gave him a key. “It’s room 517. Just get her into bed and stay there. I’ll be up as soon as I’m done cleaning this mess up.” He just nodded and left, taking the small girl with him. Giff found himself alone with the pretty stranger.