The Party Nobody Wanted
Friday night arrived wrapped in loud music and cold autumn wind.
Blackwood University practically transformed after dark on weekends. Dorm buildings glowed with colored lights, crowded sidewalks overflowed with students moving between parties, and music echoed across campus loudly enough to shake windows.
Lucas Reed hated parties.
Which was exactly why Hailey Brooks dragged him to one.
“You need social exposure,” she announced confidently while walking beside him across crowded campus pathways.
Lucas shoved his hands deeper into his hoodie pockets.
“I need sleep.”
“You’re nineteen years old.” Hailey looked personally offended. “Act like it.”
“I’m trying not to.”
God.
Cold wind moved through loose strands of her golden-brown hair while she laughed at her own joke. The sight distracted Lucas more than it should have.
Especially because ever since the conversation outside the library with Ava Monroe two nights ago, his thoughts had become complete emotional chaos.
What about you?
The question still replayed inside his head constantly.
Mostly because Ava looked genuinely hurt afterward.
And Lucas still didn’t understand why.
He noticed things now.
The way Ava’s voice softened around him specifically.
The way she watched him when she thought he wasn’t looking.
The strange sadness that appeared every time Hailey’s name entered conversations.
And suddenly Lucas started realizing something terrifying.
Ava liked him too.
God.
That complicated everything.
“You’re doing the overthinking face again,” Hailey informed him while nudging his arm lightly.
Lucas blinked once. “What?”
“You disappear into your own head sometimes.” Her expression softened slightly. “It’s weirdly obvious.”
He looked away briefly toward crowded dorm buildings ahead.
“Sorry.”
“Why do you apologize for existing so much?”
The question landed harder than she probably intended.
Before Lucas could answer, loud music exploded from the fraternity house ahead while students crowded across the front lawn laughing and shouting over each other.
Hailey immediately grinned.
“There it is.”
Lucas looked emotionally exhausted already.
“I can still leave.”
“No.” She grabbed his sleeve lightly before pulling him toward the entrance. “You’re making one college memory tonight even if it kills you.”
Honestly?
It might.
The party felt exactly as terrible as Lucas expected.
Too loud.
Too crowded.
Too many strangers pretending cheap alcohol made them interesting.
Music thundered through the house while colored lights flashed across packed rooms overflowing with dancing students. Somebody spilled a drink near Lucas within the first five minutes.
Another guy tried starting an aggressive philosophical debate about aliens near the kitchen.
Lucas already wanted to go home.
Meanwhile Hailey looked completely comfortable somehow.
Of course she did.
She moved naturally through crowded rooms greeting people easily while Lucas followed behind her feeling like a socially anxious ghost.
At one point, Hailey disappeared briefly to talk with friends near the staircase, leaving Lucas standing awkwardly beside the kitchen counter questioning every life decision that brought him here.
Then unexpectedly—
“You look miserable.”
Lucas turned immediately.
Ava.
She stood near the hallway entrance wearing a black oversized sweater beneath dim party lights while dark hair fell loosely around her shoulders. Unlike most people there, she looked entirely sober.
And somehow seeing her instantly calmed something inside his chest.
“What are you doing here?” he asked honestly.
A faint almost-smile appeared.
“My roommate forced me.” She glanced around the crowded room. “I regret everything.”
Despite himself, Lucas laughed quietly.
God.
Even her dry sarcasm felt comforting now.
Ava stepped beside him near the counter while music shook through the walls around them.
“You hate parties too?” Lucas asked.
“I hate people pretending to enjoy parties.”
Fair.
For several moments, they stood beside each other in comfortable silence while chaos exploded around them.
And honestly?
Lucas realized this was the most relaxed he’d felt all evening.
Ava noticed too.
Of course she did.
“You always look relieved when you find quiet spaces,” she murmured softly.
Lucas glanced sideways toward her.
“You analyze literally everything.”
“You make it easy.”
Something about the way she said that made warmth spread unexpectedly through his chest.
Then suddenly Ava looked toward him more carefully.
“You and Hailey came together?”
Lucas nodded once.
“Yeah.”
Something flickered briefly through Ava’s expression again.
That same quiet hurt.
Lucas hated how clearly he noticed it now.
Before he could think better of it, he spoke softly:
“You were right.”
Ava frowned slightly. “About what?”
“You liking me.”
Silence.
The noise around them suddenly felt distant somehow.
Ava stared at him for one long second before looking away.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
God.
The tension between them became immediate after that.
Real.
Dangerous.
For the first time since meeting Ava, Lucas wasn’t imagining things anymore.
And judging by the way her breathing subtly changed beside him…
neither was she.
“You shouldn’t say things like that here,” Ava whispered quietly.
Lucas frowned slightly.
“Why?”
Before she could answer, a familiar voice suddenly interrupted behind them.
“There you are!”
Hailey.
The second she approached, the atmosphere shifted instantly.
Not dramatically.
Subtly.
But Lucas felt it anyway.
Hailey looked between both of them for half a second too long before smiling casually.
“I leave you alone for ten minutes and you emotionally adopt the quiet girl.”
Ava stepped back slightly almost immediately afterward.
“We were just talking.”
Hailey nodded lightly.
“Clearly.”
Something underneath her tone felt strange.
Lucas noticed Ava noticing it too.
And suddenly the air between all three of them became painfully complicated.
God.
This was starting already.
Hailey looked toward Lucas afterward.
“Come dance with me.”
Lucas blinked once like she’d suggested arson.
“I absolutely will not.”
“Yes, you will.”
“No.”
“You’re being boring.”
“I’m surviving.”
Hailey grabbed his wrist before he could argue further.
“Five minutes.”
“Hailey—”
“Five.”
Lucas looked helplessly toward Ava for support.
Unfortunately, Ava only gave a faint amused smile before murmuring:
“You should probably go.”
The softness in her voice hurt unexpectedly.
Lucas hesitated briefly.
Then eventually allowed Hailey to drag him toward the crowded living room.
Music thundered through the house while students moved beneath flashing lights and laughter.
Lucas already regretted existing.
Meanwhile Hailey looked unfairly beautiful beneath colored lights while pulling him closer through the crowd.
“You look terrified,” she laughed.
“I am terrified.”
“You’re cute when you panic.”
The sentence hit harder than it should have.
Lucas stared at her carefully.
Hailey noticed immediately.
Then suddenly, for one dangerous moment, neither spoke.
Bodies moved around them while music vibrated through the floor beneath their feet.
And somehow Hailey ended up standing much closer than before.
Close enough that Lucas could feel warmth radiating from her skin.
Close enough that her fingers still lightly wrapped around his wrist suddenly felt distracting.
God.
His heartbeat became annoyingly uneven again.
Hailey’s expression softened slightly while looking up at him.
Then quietly, almost unexpectedly, she asked:
“Why do you always look surprised when somebody wants to be near you?”
The question shattered the moment instantly.
Because suddenly Lucas forgot about music.
Forgot about parties.
Forgot about literally everything except the sincerity in her eyes.
And before he could answer—
before he could understand what expression appeared on her face—
someone slammed accidentally into Lucas’s shoulder from behind.
The interruption broke whatever almost happened between them.
Hailey stepped back immediately afterward.
And somehow…
both of them looked disappointed.
Across the room, Ava watched everything.
Every second.
Every glance.
Every almost-moment between Lucas and Hailey beneath flashing party lights.
And honestly?
It hurt worse than she expected.
Because the terrifying part wasn’t that Hailey liked him.
The terrifying part was realizing Lucas looked at Hailey differently too.
Not fully.
Not consciously maybe.
But enough.
Enough to break Ava slowly from the inside out.
Her chest tightened painfully while watching Hailey laugh beside him again.
Sunlight and warmth and easy affection.
Everything Ava didn’t know how to be.
A guy beside her suddenly asked if she wanted another drink.
Ava barely heard him.
Because across the crowded room, Lucas looked toward her unexpectedly.
And for one brief second…
their eyes met.
God.
The sadness in his expression afterward nearly destroyed her completely.
Because somehow, impossibly…
Lucas Reed was beginning to realize he might hurt her eventually too.