Relaxing in the Hall Lounge

After dinner, you make your way back to East Hall. As you walk through the hallway, past the dorm rooms of friends and the girls you’d like to fuck, you hear a familiar booming laughter coming from the hall lounge, followed by a higher pitched feminine one.

To your pleasant surprise, it’s Griffin and Rachel curled up together on a couch, watching the hit sitcom Narcs and Procreation. Cops and prostitutes dance the salsa on the TV screen, while Rachel whispers something into Griffin’s ear, sending him into more peals of laughter.

“I heard the two of you fighting from the hallway yesterday,” you say, taking a seat on the beanbag next to them. “Everything good now?”

“Were we that loud?” Rachel asks, a faint blush crossing her face.

“You were loud enough to get Dom’s attention,” Griffin says, poking Rachel in the shoulder.

“Hey, that was you too,” Rachel giggles, poking him back.

“So... I’m assuming everything’s fine now,” you comment, looking at the two of them laughing as they begin poking one another nonstop.

“Oh yeah, all good,” Rachel shrieks, breaking away from Griffin for a second to buy herself some breathing room. She looks back at you. “It was really just a small misunderstanding, nothing to worry about.”

“I can’t believe we made that into an issue,” Griffin says with a bewildered shake of his head.

“It was important!” Rachel protests. “How was I supposed to know the rumours were wrong?”

There’s a moment where you share a look with Griffin.

“Because they were rumours?” you offer.

“Well, they seemed important. And true as well,” she adds. Then, she spins and faces Griffin again. “You were also starting rumours about me!”

“Uh… nope, technically, I didn’t tell anyone, so it wasn’t a rumour, just a lie,” he says, sounding weirdly smug about that.

“Oh, like that’s much better,” Rachel says, rolling her eyes. “You just wanted to make me—”

“Hey, speaking of rumours,” you say, tactically interrupting the two of them before things get heated again. “Have you heard anything about the ChiO party on Friday?”

“There’s a ChiO party on Friday?” Griffin asks, perking up from his couch-slouch.

“It’s not exactly a secret if you’re not a total bozo,” Rachel laughs. “They’re not keeping the details tight under wraps. But it is going to be some kind of exclusive thing, you know, only two invites per sister, and they’re gonna be strict about it.”

“We can just bust into the sorority house,” Griffin says nonchalantly. “I know a secret entrance. There’s a window hidden by the bushes on the east wall. It’s always unlocked, we can get in any time we want.”

“The problem with your idea,” Rachel says, “is that they’re renting out a bar for the night. Secret entrance ain’t gonna do it.”

“Still a useful thing to know though,” you say. “Could come in handy someday.”

“You get those girls, Alex,” Griffin laughs, patting you on the back.

The three of you hang in the lounge for a while longer. At some point, the television gets turned to a different channel and you switch to doing work instead. By the time one in the morning rolls around, you realise that your eyes are sore and your hand is cramped from all the reading and writing that you’ve done, so decide to turn in for the night.

Griffin +5
Rachel +5