Fuck the party, hang out with Megan

You sigh and decide to give up on the party, and instead walk down to the dorm room commons. Maybe you'll be able to get pizza without waiting in line, tonight?

At first glance, it looks like it. The commons are almost vacant. A few dedicated students are on their laptops studying, with headphones in their ears. You scan them and hate to see that some stereotypes really do hold true: a lot of asians. And among them, sighing as she clicks through her laptop and admittedly not wearing headphones, is Megan.

You step up to her. You have nothing else to do, and maybe, just maybe, she'll allow you to give her a break from studying.

"How's it going?" you ask.

She looks up, gives you a small smile. "Good enough. I was just thinking of taking a break."

You nod, and sit down next to her, forgetting the pizza. You really weren't hungry, anyway.

"How's your night going?" she throws out.

"Boring," you say. "I mean, I decided not to go to the big party, I guess. It would have just been crazy."

"Seriously," she scoffs, rolls her eyes. You don't miss that she takes the laptop off her, well, lap, and sits it down next to herself. "I'm glad to hear that you're coming to that conclusion now. Before Pandemic, I put up with exactly one undie run before I was done."

"Undie run?" you ask.

"Oh, fuck. No one told you." She chuckles. "Okay so: It's a campus tradition. Near the end of the semester, during finals week, everyone strips down to their underwear and runs through the campus."

"You mean...up and down the stairs?" you ask, bewildered.

"Yes. There are girls who see it as a group workout," she says. "Unhinged. Especially because I didn't say end of the year. I said: End of the semester. So they'll be doing it when Winter break is about to roll in."

You are of two minds. On one hand, it sounds as insane as she says. On the other hand, seeing some of the girls in this campus in their underwear...

"But you aren't planning on participating," you say, trying to hide disappointment.

She quirks an eyebrow, smirks at you. "No. Not this year. Though maybe there are photos floating around from two years ago. Would you like that?"

Oh. Wow. She went from 0 to 60 fast, didn't she? You blink, and she laughs. But no. She's being too indirect, and you're bored tonight. You won't be rude, but you won't deal with this, either.

"What are trying to do?" you ask. "I mean, with these interactions?"

She freezes for a second. Then takes a breath. "I guess just flirt. Is that wrong? To just kind of want to flirt, when I have so much shit on my plate?"

You aren't ready for the ire that enters her tone in that last phrase. Clearly, she isn't either, because she flushes, eyes widening, then says. "I mean...sorry. Sorry, Ryan. Don't take it personally. This...uh, shit I'm talking about. It's not on you. I guess after some of our interactions, I've just noticed...you know, chemistry? And it's an awkward thing for me, kind of, for multiple reasons. I'm a junior, and I'm your RA. And there's just certain...expectations, right? Things are supposed to be professional?"

She keeps saying everything in the form of a question, as she talks to you. Examining you as she asks them, as if trying to find some kind of certainty in you.

You can answer a little bit, you suppose. "That makes you one year older than me, " you say. "And what's the deal with the RA thing?"

"The deal is, I'm not really supposed to fraternize," she says. "I mean. Not a hard rule. Just...it's not viewed well."

"And despite that, you're pretty straightforward," you say.

"Am I?" She cocks her head and considers this. "I guess I am, tonight. It's been weeks. But we're mostly alone in here and I'm tired of bullshitting you, of bullshitting everyone. Clearly it hasn't done me any favors, and I'm exhausted after all this studying. It just feels good to...I don't know, say things, have them be out in the open. Chemistry doesn't mean it's a 'done deal,' right?"

You consider this. And as you consider it, you realize you aren't giving her the answer that she's craving, because her face starts to lengthen, drooping until she's blinking rapidly at you, biting her lip.

Then she blurts out. "Okay, Ryan. Real talk, then, since I've been real with you. Is the chemistry mutual? Like, I'm not just crazy? And if it is, what do you intend to do with it?"

Megan (Love) +5
Megan (Lust) +5