Chapter 3 Trouble in Paradise

"Hi." I smiled as I opened my room door and greeted Nate. He was picking me up from my dorm so we could head to a frat party together. Nate offered me a small smile. He leaned down to kiss my cheek. It was quick. "Hi." He looked me once over but didn't make any comment. "Ready to go?" I sighed slowly but nodded as I followed him out of my room. My shoulders felt weighed down. I wasn't someone who ever asked for much. It had just been a while since Nate and I really saw each other. I may have put in extra effort to do my hair and makeup, throw on an outfit I would consider fairly cute.I was excited to see him, thinking we would have a good time at this party. Being in a good mood made me want to look good. How much was it to expect a compliment from your boyfriend when you put in more effort than normal to look cute? Clearly, it's expecting too much from Nate. It didn't really bother me. It was just a little disappointing. The car ride was short and mostly silent. Nate tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, in beat with the music that was softly playing on the radio. "Do you think you're going to sleep over at the frat or head back to your dorm after the party is over?" I tried to make small talk as we drove to the party. Nate shrugged, not taking his eyes off the road. "We'll see." I nodded slowly, not sure how I was supposed to respond to his dry and vague answer. "You excited?" Nate shrugged again. It was as if my words were silently floating past him. It was as if merely speaking to him was giving him a chore to do — to answer me was tedious and annoying to him. "It's just a party, Fia. Nothing new, nothing special." My fists balled up in frustration. I didn't know if I wanted to cry or yell. Maybe both. Nate pulled up to the side of the road where he parked his car. I turned to look at him, holding onto his forearm to stop him from immediately getting out of the car. "Nate, what's wrong—are you mad at me? Did I do something?" Nate ran a hand through his hair. Annoyance glinted in his eyes. "Do we have to argue right now, Fia? I just wanted to have a good night." My mouth went agape. "I'm not arguing with you." I spoke sheepishly. "I just feel like you've been mad at me." Nate stretched his neck back, taking a moment to calm his building annoyance before answering. "I'm not mad, Fia." He barely met my gaze. I nodded slowly. "Okay. Then why are you acting so—" "Can we just go have a good time and save this for later?" Nate cut me off harshly, looking meekly exasperated. "I really don't want to do this right now." I blinked, taken aback by his harshness. "Right, of course. We can talk later." I offered him a small smile which he ignored as he headed out of the car. Nate didn't wait for me as he already made his way inside the house while I still hadn't gotten out of the car. Sighing and knowing there was nothing I could do about him right now, I headed out of the car and decided to push all my thoughts away and just try to have a good time tonight. I tried to find Nate when I entered the crowded frat house but he had already disappeared. "Fia!" I looked over to see my friends coming over to me. Michelle wrapped her arms around me, embracing me in a hug. "You came!" "Where's Nate?" Chris asked, glancing around and noting he wasn't with me. I shrugged, sucking in a breath. "Don't know, he disappeared." "Let's go get you a drink!" Michelle quickly bounced off while Chris and I followed behind her. She was already ecstatic and half drunk. "What's wrong?" Chris looked down at me, frowning. "You don't seem bright and cheery." I forced a smile. "Nothing's wrong. Let's go drink." Chris narrowed his eyes at me, not buying my words. He had known both Nate and I since high school so it was safe to say he knew me quite well. "You can talk to me, you know? What's going on with Nate?" I shook my head, heading into the kitchen to catch up with Michelle. "I don't want to talk about it right now. I just want to have a good time and forget about all the trouble in paradise." I downed shot after shot as Michelle continued to pour them for us. I shook away all my thoughts of Nate because there was no point dwelling over him in this specific moment. If he wanted to have a good time and ignore me, I was going to have a good time and not spend my night thinking about him. A couple shots later, I was dancing my feet off with Michelle on the make-shift dance floor that was really the living room. We bounced around, laughing and yelling the lyrics over the loud music. "I need some water!" I yelled in her ear before pushing my way through the crowd, swaying and stumbling on my feet. I was going to the kitchen when I spotted Nate sitting with some friends so I walked over with a cheery smile on my face. "Nate." I beamed, bending down to hug him. Maybe he's gotten a drink or two in him and is in a better mood now. We are at a party. There's no reason for him to still be without-reason annoyed. He awkwardly patted my back. "Fia." I tilted my head as I looked at him. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you all night." The same look of annoyance flashed in his eyes. Was it just my existence he didn't want to be reminded of? "You don't need to keep a leash on me, you know that, right?" I blinked. It felt like someone had just knocked the air out of my lungs. "I was just..." I frowned, suddenly feeling a lump in my throat. "I'm not trying to do that. I just hadn't seen you since we arrived here, that's all." I kept my voice quiet, quickly starting to feel embarrassed and very pathetic. "Nate," a mutual friend of ours, Emily, frowned. "That was mean." She swatted his arm, shaking her head at him. I bit down on my tongue, feeling sheepish as everyone awkwardly looked between Nate and I. It was clear that all out mutual friends were confused by what was going on between us. It didn't take a genius to sense that Nate and I didn't seem too happy with one other right now. Nate exhaled deeply as he looked away from me. "Whatever, you know what I mean. I don't have to spend all night holding you hand." I clenched my jaw so hard that it felt like it could split into half. I don't know if the alcohol was making my chest feel extra heavy but I was afraid tears would start spilling soon. I couldn't tell if I was annoyed or angry or sad or hurt. Or just all of the above. The distance in his tone was a knife stabbing into my heart. "I just came over to say hi, Nate." I exhaled slowly, my voice quiet. "Dude," Emily's boyfriend, Kyle, shook his head at Nate. "Who shoved a stick up your ass? Why are you salty?" Nate rolled his eyes, keeping his gaze trained elsewhere as he sipped on his beer. "Whatever, man." I nodded my head slowly as I straightened my back. I could read the room and sense that Nate really did not want me around. I wasn't going to stand here and try to talk to my boyfriend if he couldn't even look at me. "I'll see you later," I spoke grimly, shifting on my feet awkwardly as I avoided everyone's gaze. "If you decide you're still going to give me a ride back to my dorm." I left quickly, not looking at Nate again because I felt my throat tightening as the hurt coursed through my body. What the hell did I do wrong? I wracked my mind to think of what I could have possibly done that annoyed Nate so badly. "Nate," I could hear Tom's voice behind me as I walked off. "Why are you being a dick? Fia don't deserve that, man. She was being nice." I could hear Nate grumbling but I was gone before I could hear more. I blamed my urge to cry on the alcohol in my system. I pushed my way through the crowed and tried to find someplace to be alone and get some air because I felt like a bunch of bricks had been dropped down to weigh on me. I headed up the stairs and eventually found myself walking out a door that led out to the balcony. Seeing as nobody was out here, I felt myself relax when the cool air pricking my skin. I ran a hand down my face as I exhaled deeply, not understanding what was going on with Nate and why he was being so rude to me lately. I didn't understand how I was supposed to feel because I didn't know where his hostility was coming from in the first place. "Fia?" I turned around to see Wes. He walked onto the balcony, closing the door behind him. He frowned when he noticed the look on my face. "What's wrong, Fi?" I shook my head, forcing a smile onto my face. "Nothing. I just needed some air, that's all." Wes's gaze was trained on me, his eyes narrowed in disbelief. He thought for a second before shaking his head softly. "Don't lie to me, Fia. You can tell me. I know something is wrong, I can see it in your eyes." I exhaled slowly, avoiding his gaze as I leaned over the railing and tilted my head up to look at the sky. "I did tell you. It's nothing." Wes moved to come stand beside me, his soft eyes peering into me. "I don't buy it. I don't like seeing a girl like you looking so sad." I turned to look at him, my head tilting to the side. "A girl like me?" His lip tugged into a small and soft smile. "Come on, you're an amazing girl." My face flushed as I looked away from him, feeling the heat creep onto my cheeks. "As much as I appreciate you, Wes, isn't it crazy how you're out here comforting me when I only met you four days ago? Meanwhile my actual boyfriend won't bother to acknowledge me?" I let out a bitter laugh, keeping my eyes set on the starry sky. I didn't want to ramble about Nate but the alcohol in me was bubbling out the emotions that were suffocating me. Wes paused, biting down on his lip. A sad look floated across his face as he peered at me. "What did Nate do? He's the reason you're out here alone?" I shrugged, not wanting to make it a big deal. "I don't know what his problem is. He's just being so... mean." I sounded like a pathetic little child. I quickly shook my head, turning to look at Wes. "Forget it. Want to head in and have some fun?" Wes's eyes twinkled as a smirk made its way onto his face. "What type of fun are we talking about, sweetheart?" I laughed, rolling my eyes as I lightly swatted his arm. "Shut up, dummy. Not like that." Wes laughed as he opened the door for me. "I'm kidding but lets go. He is not worth sulking over." I ignored his comment although I agreed, making my way back downstairs. "Fia! There you are!" Michelle ran up to me as soon as I reached the bottom of the staircase. Michelle stopped when she locked eyes with Wes. She quirked an eyebrow, a flirty little smile etching onto her face. "Who is this handsome fella, Fia? And why have I not met him before." Wes grinned, keeping his gaze locked with Michelle's. He licked his lips, "I'm Wes and I have to ask if it hurt," I rolled my eyes, finding this mildly nauseating. "What hurt?" She tilted her head at him, staring at him with doe eyes. Wes smirked. "When you fell from heaven." Michelle giggled. The alcohol in her system is the only reason that pick up line worked on her otherwise she would have laughed in Wes's face at how bad of a line that was. If she was sober, she would have brushed him off already. Michelle batted her eyelashes, her face turning red as she blushed like a schoolgirl. "And I think I've been searching for ever since." I gritted my teeth, not wanting to hear this cringe-level of flirting right now. After how Nate was treating me, the last thing I needed to see was the lovey-dovey way he should be treating me coming from other people. Wes let out a chuckle as he quirked an eyebrow at her, a suggestive look on his face. "Well, looks like we finally found each other." I held back a gag as I shook my head and started to walk away from them, no longer wanting to hear their terrible flirting. I didn't know why I was so bothered because normally I would be hyping up Michelle when she found a cute boy she locked her eyes onto. "Fia, where are you going?" I heard Wes's voice call from behind me when he noticed I was walking away. "Away from you lovebirds! Have fun," I grumbled, trying to sound sincere as I pushed my way out of the crowd with no idea where I was actually going. A few seconds later, my arm was yanked back and I stumbled right into a hard chest. "Wes!" I snapped, pushing myself off of him. "What are you doing?" "What do you mean?" He groaned loudly. "I'm coming after you. Where are you headed?" I exhaled a sharp breath as annoyance filled my body. I didn't know where the annoyance was coming from exactly but it was safe to say this whole night turned out to be a mess. "I unintentionally played cupid, that's what you wanted, right? My job's done. Now go do whatever you were going to with Michelle." Wes's eyebrows pulled together as he looked at me intently. "Are you mad at me?" "No," I sighed, my shoulders weighing down. "I'm sorry. I'm just tired and want to go home and sleep. You go... have fun with Michelle. Do your thing." I offered him a small smile as I turned to walk away. Wes stopped me, shaking his head with a small frown. It was like he could see right through me and sense the lack of sincerity in my words. "You're drunk and can't even walk straight. You think I'm going to let you leave alone?" I rolled my eyes tiredly. I was starting to feel too frustrated with everything that had happened tonight. "I'm not a child, Wes. I can find my way back." Wes shook his head firmly as he took hold of my hand. "I'll take you back to your dorm. I want to leave anyways." He didn't wait for a response as he started to lead me out of the frat house. Wes opened the passenger door and helped me into his car, buckling the seatbelt for me on his own too. The car ride back was short, quiet but comfortable as the music softly played on the stereo. My eyelids started to droop, feeling heavier and heavier as I watched the trees skid past us while we drove. That was the last of what I could remember before I had found myself struggling to keep my eyes open, quickly dozing off.