The Lie - Chapter 1 (Patreon)

New story time!  This is one of my favorite Bumbleby stories, so I really hope you enjoy it too.  I think I wrote it about...2.5 years ago now?  Its time has finally arrived.

Here's the synopsis:

Blake has her last semester of college planned out: graduate at the top of her class, land a coveted internship, and work her way towards her dream job. Everything's going according to plan until a little lie tangles her up with the most popular girl on campus - an up-and-coming model one photoshoot away from superstardom, whose life isn't as perfect as everyone believes.

Off we go!!

***

“Why are we doing this?”

“Because it’s gonna be awesome!”

The closer they drew to the mansion pounding with heavy bass music and crawling with students, the more Blake questioned Sun’s enthusiasm and her sanity.  She spent the past few years avoiding parties like this, where the entire school jumped at the opportunity to get mind-numbingly drunk.  There were at least a hundred different things she’d rather do right now…

“Don’t you dare back out on me.”  Skipping several steps ahead, Sun walked backwards on the sidewalk in front of her.  “You promised you’d come.”

That promise was the only reason they’d made it this far, but Blake still sighed and shook her head.

“Come on, Blake!”  Falling back into step at her side, he nudged her shoulder and grinned.  “It’s the back-to-school bash!  Celebrating...the end of winter and stuff.”

“Doesn’t feel like the end of winter…”

She rubbed her hands up and down her arms in an attempt to warm up, with little success.  If Sun had let her wear the jacket she’d picked out, she’d be much warmer right now.  But, apparently, wearing weather-appropriate clothing to a college party was frowned upon.  So, instead of being nice and warm, she was forced to freeze on the walk from their apartment to the fraternity house hosting the...gathering.  All in the name of ‘being lit,’ as he emphatically put it.

“Don’t worry.  You’ll warm up before you know it.”

Sun’s response helped very little now, but she sighed and reminded herself that this was the last party she would go to for the rest of college.  She’d promised him one per semester and fulfilled that promise with hardly any complaints.  If anything, she should be thankful to get this obligation out of the way early.  This way, the next few months would be free to work towards her internship.  Between her and that day stood her capstone project, a full course load of classes...and this party.

“Everyone’s gonna be here,” Sun rambled on as they approached the wide-open doors of the sprawling house.  “Meaning all the ladies will be looking their finest.”

When Sun ran a hand through his short, spiky blonde hair, Blake rolled her eyes and stuck closer to his side as they approached the front doors.  For as large as the house was, it overflowed with college students trying to cram inside.  Apparently, he was right - everyone was here.

“Stay close.”

Blake didn’t need the encouragement to stick near his hip as they squeezed into the fraternity house.  A deluge of sights, smells, and sounds overloaded her senses as soon as they made it inside.  The music was loud, but the bass felt louder - it pounded through the floor and trembled through her bones as if she was part of the track.  The low lights made it almost impossible to see until blinding strobe lights cut through the darkness in rhythm with the music.  Students were everywhere - packing the space in front of the makeshift bar, jumping together on the makeshift dance floor, and congregating in any conceivable space they found.

In what seemed to be tonight’s theme, Sun was right - Blake no longer needed a jacket because the air was hot and humid from the body heat of so many people packed together.  That only added to the pungent smell in the air - part human, part spilled alcohol.

New year, new people, new fraternity house - same old scene.

“Wow.”

She thought she said the word out loud but couldn’t say for sure since the music swallowed any attempt at speaking in a normal volume.

“This - is - awesome!” Sun shouted, having already found an appropriate ‘party voice.’  Thrilled at the lively setting, which was perfect for someone with his energy, he scanned the room before grinning at Blake.  “See?  Aren’t you glad you came??”

Nothing confirmed their differences more than that comment.  Before she responded, however, he grabbed her arm and jerked her forward.  Not a second later, a massive, exceedingly drunk boy nearly fell right into her.  He fell face-first onto the floor instead, much to the delight of the equally massive, equally drunk boys behind him.

“Dudeeeee,” one of them said before dissolving into laughter.

“That’s our quarterback!” Sun said, his eyes wide with...admiration...as the boy’s buddies lifted him to his feet and pushed him towards the bar.  Sun laughed as they stumbled away, their giant physiques making them easily trackable in the crowd.

“Wow,” Blake repeated, this time while shaking her head.  The importance of social drinking wasn’t lost on her - she understood the need for young adults to test their limits and boundaries while still in the relative safety of school.  Personally, she never felt the allure.  Maybe because she had more important things to do, like maintaining her grades so she could get the job she wanted after this period of their lives ended.

But Sun enjoyed it and, since he was one of her closest friends, she obliged him every once in a blue moon.  Even if that meant nearly getting knocked over by the quarterback of the football team…

“What do you want to do?” Sun asked at a vocal-cord threatening volume before pointing to the dance floor.  “Dance?”

Taking one look at the dancers pressed against each other, she shook her head.

“Outside?” he asked next, pointing to the doorway leading to the backyard.  Fresh air would be nice after spending all of a few minutes inside, so she nodded and returned to Sun’s side as he led them through the crowd, sometimes giving little shoves or jostles to people who wouldn’t move out of the way.

The sliding glass doors leading to the backyard weren’t more than fifty feet from the entrance, but drunk college students packed that fifty feet of space.  The living-room-turned-dance-floor on the right, the swarming entrance behind them, and a large, open kitchen on the left.

It was here that drinks were poured with reckless abandon, supplying the drunken footballers with more alcohol while a congregation of immaculately dressed girls commandeered the rest of the space.  One girl in particular caught Blake’s eye - and Sun’s too, from the way he stared in that direction before leaning towards her ear.

“Holy shit,” he shouted so she could hear.  “That’s Yang Xiao Long!”

Even though Blake avoided the social aspect of campus, she knew who Yang was.  Everyone knew who Yang was.  If they didn’t know her by name, they certainly recognized her from the billboards plastered around the city advertising everything from clothing to makeup to perfume.

She was the star of campus.  The next big thing.  An up-and-coming supermodel.  Voted one of the most attractive people alive.  Talked about incessantly in every class, every hallway, and every school eatery.

Tonight, she was having drinks pressed into her hands by her friends - the immaculately dressed girls who must be members of the same sorority.  They encouraged her to take each one, smiling and laughing as she did.  From the fake tiara on her head and silver sash around her shoulder, tonight was a celebration.  What kind of celebration was unclear, but she and her group of too-beautiful friends were having a good time, and drawing a crowd of onlookers in the process.

“Ugh...she’s so hot…” Sun bemoaned while Yang wrapped an arm around the girl standing beside her.

“You say that every time you see her,” Blake replied, raising her voice far beyond what was comfortable in order to be heard.

“Because she’s hot every time I see her!”

Rolling her eyes, Blake watched Yang pull one of the girls close and whisper something in her ear.  The girl smirked at whatever it was before nodding and walking over to another girl leaning against the counter.  Without so much as a ‘hello,’ she leaned in and kissed the other girl passionately, much to the surprise of several boys in attendance, who clapped and cheered while Yang laughed.

The spot by Yang’s side wasn’t empty for long, as another girl quickly moved over to stake her claim.  This girl was tall, lean, with dark auburn hair that looked just as perfect as her outfit.  From the possessive glint in her eyes, she felt somehow deserving of that spot, which seemed like it would be coveted by most.

Before Blake dove into why that might be, someone bumped into her side and jostled her away from the observation.  If possible, there were even more people here now - the party reaching a fever pitch in capacity and intensity as new guests arrived and current guests grew more inebriated.  The energy teetered on the edge of chaos but, as she’d learned from previous excursions, somehow managed not to tip too far.

Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she turned towards Sun as he motioned for her to follow.  ‘Let’s go,’ he mouthed before resuming their trek towards the backyard and freedom.  Most of the guests were stopping in the living room or kitchen, meaning the path became less crowded as they put more space between them and those areas.

After brushing past a couple arguing near the door, they made it outside and found that the yard was sparsely inhabited.  A good thing considering the general drunkenness of the partiers combined with the unsupervised swimming pool.  The cold winter air felt like a blessing to Blake’s skin, which had warmed to the point of uncomfortable from just their short time inside.  Thankfully, it wasn’t quite so loud out here - a blessing to Blake’s eardrums and vocal cords.

“I wish I could be more like Yang...” Sun mused while they stood near what was once a potted tree but was now just a dead stick in a pot.

“Female and attractive?” Blake said now that she was capable of speaking.  Even better, she heard Sun laugh in response.

“I’d love to be female and attractive,” he replied without hesitation.  “But especially her because she has everything set up!  Finish school, walk into a huge modeling contract, get super rich.  Meanwhile, the rest of us chumps have no idea what we’re doing with our lives.”

“Excuse you.  Speak for yourself.”

“Right, right, Miss Automatically-gets-a-job-if-she-finishes-first-in-her-class.”

“Dream job,” she corrected him.  “Which is why I don’t spend my nights at places like this.”

“Oh, come on.  You want to write about people and society, which means you need to see what people are actually like.”  Sun spread his arms wide and grinned.  “This is what people are like.”

“Drunk, disorderly, and stupid?”

“It’s called ‘fun,’ Blake.”

When Sun laughed, Blake playfully rolled her eyes and shook her head.  They’d been friends long enough to know that they were opposites when it came to socializing.  Sun loved his endlessly expanding network of friends and, with that, a perpetually packed calendar of social events.  Blake, meanwhile, preferred observation over interaction, and kept a much smaller group of friends.  Regardless, they remained close friends - probably because they’d known each other for so long and knew how to deal with each other’s quirks.

“I think we have different definitions of ‘fun.’”

As she spoke, her attention drifted to two boys heading inside.

“Yang Xiao Long,” one of them said while they hurried past.  “I swear - she’s here.”

“No freaking way,” the other responded before they disappeared into the mass of students drinking and dancing inside.  Blake shook her head at their excitement and the entire school’s fascination with Yang.  Sure, Yang was so pretty that even a blind person could see it - tall, blonde, in incredible shape, with striking lilac eyes and an easygoing smile.  She was also just featured on an enormous billboard for one of the largest companies in the world, but did that justify the amount of attention she received?

Maybe it did, but Blake tried to stay out of social drama as much as possible.  As far as she was concerned, her personal life could wait until after graduation.  Considering there was only one semester of school left, that’s exactly what would happen.

“I guess Yang brings the party,” she mused as a group of wasted frat boys stumbled outside carrying red cups in both hands.

“Drinks!!” one of them shouted at the top of his lungs before locking onto Sun and heading over.  “Dude,” he said - and that was all he said before pressing the cup into Sun’s hand and trying to give the other to Blake.

“No, thank you.”

She stepped back and waved the drink away but, from his confused expression, he didn’t understand the gesture, or her words...or anything at the moment.

“But...you have to drink.”

“Why?”

“Because -”

When he scrunched up his brow trying to come up with a reason, Blake briefly worried he might hurt himself thinking too hard.  Sun must have felt the same because he stepped forward and took the second cup from the boy’s hands.

“I’ll hold it for her!” Sun announced with a big smile.  “Don’t worry, dude.  I’ll make sure she gets it.”

“Dude.”  Raising one hand for a fist bump, the boy grinned and tapped his knuckles against one of Sun’s cups before returning to his friends.  Apparently, his only purpose in coming outside was to force drinks on other people.

“I didn’t realize you spoke ‘dude,’” Blake said while Sun took a swig from one of the cups.

“‘Course I do!  Pretty much a pre-req to any party.”  After another drink, he gave the house a thoughtful look.  “What’s Yang’s major, anyway?  Do we have a ‘hot-ology’ degree?”

He grinned at his joke, but Blake rolled her eyes.  Even Sun wasn’t immune to Yang’s beauty, which he made abundantly clear every time he saw her.

“Why don’t you ask?”

When Blake motioned to the house, his eyes widened.

“No way.  I can’t talk to her!”

“Why not?  I thought you could talk to anyone.”

“I can!  But Yang’s not just ‘anyone.’”  He put the word in parentheses, which Blake found particularly amusing considering some of the feats he’d bragged about.

“She’s a human being -”

“Who’s hotter than the sun!”  After a brief pause, he grinned.  “Both me and the guy up there,” he added while pointing up at the sky, where the sun was nowhere to be found.  Instead, the moon peeked out from behind scattered clouds, and stars sparkled beyond the city lights.

“Still,” Blake pressed, unwilling to give up her teasing just yet.  It wasn’t very often she could tease him about something like this, after all.  “Clearly, you’re infatuated with her - why not take a shot?”

“I mean, I would if she wasn’t like...super famous.”  When Blake laughed, delighted to see the day when Sun didn’t have infinite confidence, he hurried on with his excuses.  “Plus, she’s always surrounded by sorority girls.  They won’t let me get within ten feet of her.”

Loud cheers suddenly rose within the house, drawing their attention to a growing crowd near the living room.  In a brief glimpse of the space before the view was blocked by gawkers, the football players appeared to be doing fast and furious pushups while everyone else egged them on.

“I still think you should give it a shot.”  Turning away from the spectacle, Blake nudged Sun towards the kitchen.  “It’s our last semester - what do you have to lose?  Besides, if you don’t talk to her now, you might never have the chance to talk to her.  Like you said...she’s off to become world famous as soon as school’s over.”

“I guess…”  After thinking about the suggestion for a few seconds, Sun shook his head.  “Wait a second - tonight’s not about me.”

“You’re the one who wanted to go to this party.”

“Yeah, for you,” Sun replied before setting one of the cups in the pot and motioning with the other.  “Before the night’s over, we need to find you someone to hook up with.”

“Sun!”

Blake slapped his arm, but he laughed and nodded.

“I’m not even joking.  It’s college!  Everyone’s supposed to hook up at least once.  It’s like...a right of passage.”

“Why?”

“I don’t make the rules - I just follow them.”  While he grinned and waggled his brow, Blake shook her head.

“No.”

“Come on, Blake!  You’re young, pretty, and perpetually single - what have you got to lose?”

“I feel like I should be offended…”

“Not offended,” he replied with a laugh.  “Just...you need to relax sometimes.  Here - drink this.”

When he pressed the cup into her hands, she looked at the contents and wrinkled her nose.

“Do you even know what this is?”

“No, and it tastes awful.”  Before she responded, he snatched the cup away and abandoned it in the planter with the other.  “Ok, seriously - if this is the last party you’re coming to -” He looked at her for confirmation, which she gave with a nod.  “Then you have to hook up tonight,” he concluded.  “Because you can only do that at parties - trying to hook up with a random person after class doesn’t work, trust me.”

“I don’t want to hook up with anyone -”

“Is what you say now,” Sun butted in with a smile.  “But come on - you’re not a robot.  You’ve got to have...needs...right?”

“I didn’t sign up for this…”

When Blake turned around and started towards the door, Sun grabbed her arm.

“Ok, ok, so you don’t want to -”

“I wouldn’t even know how to,” she pointed out, only to feel even more uninformed when he stared at her.

“Uh, but that’s like...ridiculously easy.  Especially when you look the way you do.”

Sun waved towards her, but she looked down at her outfit and lifted her hands.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means, all you need to do is find an adequately drunk guy and ask him to dance.”

“Sun...”

“Drunk girl then?” Sun asked before looking around the backyard, where drunk boys and girls were growing in abundance, and laughing.  “Just don’t pick the same ones I do, alright?”

“Like Yang Xiao Long?” Blake teased, and he immediately covered his heart with one hand.

“Don’t hurt me like that,” he joked before grinning.  “But seriously, if you wanna go after Yang, you have my full support.  More than full support - you have like, my one thousand percent support.”

Blake rolled her eyes and glanced into the house, where everyone was either dancing or clamoring for a glimpse of Yang.  Which wasn’t difficult to do anymore seeing as how the sorority girls decided they preferred standing on the countertops.  The intent was blatantly obvious - they wanted every bit of the attention they earned.  Or they wanted every bit of attention Yang earned for them.

It must be exhausting to have everyone falling over themselves for attention all the time, but Yang looked more than capable of handling it.  In fact, from her big smile and ample laughter, she enjoyed it.

“She’s not my type,” Blake replied while shaking her head and turning away.

“Blonde, rich, and gorgeous aren’t your types?” Sun asked before tapping his chin.  “Damn.  I’m only one of those things.”

“You’re definitely not rich,” Blake teased.  “If you were, you wouldn’t eat so much of my food.”

“I’d do that anyway.”

Waving off the comment, Sun scanned the growing party and made a long, low whistle.  When they arrived, it wouldn’t have seemed possible for more students to squeeze into the limited space.  Somehow, it happened.  The house had reached maximum capacity and sent the inevitable overflow into the backyard.  Pretty soon, their comparatively peaceful oasis would also be stuffed to the brim, forcing intrepid guests to find other space to occupy.

Apparently, those intrepid guests had already arrived.  They climbed onto the roof for places to talk, which seemed like a bad idea for their health and a horrible liability for the property owner.

“Don’t tell me...” she said when several loud boys clambered onto the roof and another group crowded around the pool.

“Oh he’s gonna jump.”

Sun laughed while the boys egged one of their friends on - the unfortunate soul chosen for this task looking all-too-willing to go along with it.

“Jump!  Jump!  Jump!” they chanted, drawing everyone’s attention and encouraging others to join in.  The chosen one - who stood on the edge of the roof and soaked in the attention - seemed to have no qualms with the thought of jumping from the rooftop into the pool.  After a few more rounds of chanting, he took a few steps back then raced forward and jumped.

Blake’s heart caught in her throat as he flew through the air and only released when he dropped into the pool with a splash.  The crowd gave him a raucous cheer for his ‘bravery,’ and his friends whooped and hollered while helping him out of the water.  Now he was soaking wet in the cold night air, but that didn’t seem to bother him.  Someone handed him another drink instead of a towel, further fueling his stupidity.

“God…” Blake muttered before shaking her head.  “Are all boys that stupid?”

“Pretty much.”  When Blake gave Sun a look, he laughed and tapped her shoulder.  “But now you can say you’ve seen someone rooftop dive!”

“Have you ever done that?”

Sun mimed zipping his lips, and Blake sighed.

“Guess I’m lucky to still have a roommate…”

“It’s fun!  And there’s this moment, right before you jump, where you seriously wonder whether or not you’ll make it.”

“Sounds thrilling.”

“It is!  But I normally let someone else go first just so I know the distance is manageable.”

Blake rolled her eyes but was glad to hear that Sun was at least somewhat smart while making stupid decisions.  Based on what she’d seen tonight, and at every party before this one, that little bit of rational thinking could be the difference between leaving with a hangover or a hangover and great bodily injury.

“So…”

Before she asked what they were supposed to do next, a group of girls walked past - one of whom made some serious eye contact with Sun.

“Hey Sun,” she greeted him, pausing while her friends shared knowing looks and continued without her.

“Oh, hey Jen!”  Suddenly standing straight and tall, Sun flashed a smile that Blake immediately recognized as his ‘talking to cute girls’ smile.  “You made it!”

“Of course I did.”  The girl glanced at Blake - giving her a look that suggested she was being sized up for something - before turning back to Sun.  “Let’s catch up later.”

With a smile and bat of her eyes, the girl walked to the other side of the yard and rejoined her group of friends.  Sun, meanwhile, stared after her - just like she knew he would, which was how she looked over her shoulder and caught him.  Only then did he shake himself out of his daze and turn back to Blake.

“Ok, be honest.  How pissed will you be if I go talk to her?”

“You’re ditching me already?”

“Of course not!” he refuted before grinning sheepishly.  “It’s just...I’ve been flirting with her for months now, and you saw the look she just gave me!”

“There did seem to be a look…”

“But I won’t go if you want to hang out,” he added.  “I dragged you here.  It’s my responsibility to make sure you have a good time.”

“You make it sound like I’m twelve.”

“When it comes to parties, you might as well be.”  When Blake slapped Sun’s arm, he laughed and raised his hands.  “You could come with me!” he suddenly suggested.  “Some of her friends are nice - oh, this is even better!  You distract them while I flirt with Jen.”

He grinned at the idea, but Blake shook her head.

“No, thank you.  If you want to ‘hook up’ with her, you’re on your own.”

“It sounds so wrong when you say it like that,” he replied before clasping his hands together.  “Come on, please?  Pretty please??  It’s so hard to flirt with a girl when all her friends are judging you!”

“I wouldn’t know -”

“But I can show you!” he jumped in, as if this was an experience she needed.  “Then you can swoop in and distract her friends with all your fancy pants smart kid knowledge.”

“I really don’t think they’ll be interested in that.”

“You’re right.”  When Blake rolled her eyes at the easy agreement, he put his hand on his chin to fine tune this master plan.  “How about this!” he exclaimed, snapping his fingers as he came up with a solution.  “Gossip.”

“As if I have anything to gossip about,” Blake replied with another eyeroll.  When he pouted at his failure to convince her, she waved him away.  “But go on - you don’t want to lose track of her.”

When Sun looked over his shoulder and saw that Jen and her friends were moving back towards the house, his eyes widened.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Absolutely, positively sure?”

“Sun...”

“Ok!” he raised his hands and grinned.  “I don’t want to leave if you’ll be pissed at me all week.”

“I’ll be fine,” Blake assured him one last time.  “Really.”

“Ok,” he repeated with a nod.  Before leaving, however, he grinned and nudged her elbow.  “But I have a challenge for you.”

From his expression, she already knew what the challenge was - and she knew she wouldn’t like it.  She hated when he phrased things as ‘challenges’ though, and he knew it.  She didn’t back away from a challenge.

“It’s your last party,” he began, knowing he had to list his reasons if he hoped to get her on board.  “We’ll graduate soon and start work and all that other adult crap - this is your last chance to do something stupid.  Or someone stupid -”

She immediately swatted his arm, and he laughed while hurrying away.

“At least talk to someone!  And I don’t want to see you home before three!”

“How will you know when you won’t be home before three?” she called after him.

“I’ll just know!”

With a wave, he jogged over to the door and pushed through the crowd to catch up with Jen.  Blake, meanwhile, looked around the backyard and sighed.  With the party in full swing, people were talking, laughing, and drinking everywhere.  The roof held more people than it should.  The people in the yard stood so close to the pool’s edge that it was only a matter of time before someone slipped and fell in.  And the house was nothing more than a wall of packed-in bodies.

She didn’t like backing away from a challenge, but who was she supposed to strike up a conversation with in this mess?  She didn’t know a lot of people around campus as it was - unlike Sun, who made it his mission to know as many people as possible.  Mostly, she stuck to her classes - her cohort - and nothing else.

Spotting no one outside that looked remotely familiar and feeling more uncomfortable about standing alone, she decided to chance the interior of the house instead.  As soon as she reached the doorway - or what had once been the doorway - she slipped through the crowd and stuck to the small pockets of freedom as best as she could.

For a party that included ‘everyone,’ she didn’t recognize anyone.  Maybe Sun was right.  She’d been so focused on finishing at the top of her class that she’d skipped everything deemed non-essential to reaching that goal.  Basically, everything that made college...well, college.  As much as she hated to admit it, everyone here probably had more of a typical college experience than she did.  But did that really matter?

Glancing at the sorority girls, who looked close to falling off the countertops at any moment, Blake shook her head and continued pushing her way through the crowd.  Once she made it near the dance floor, which was a mass of bodies moving to the beat pulsing through the room, she noticed a couple of familiar faces - two of the least studious people from her class.  They were so drunk right now, they could hardly stand without support.

Even though she knew them, and even though Sun wanted her to talk to people, she didn’t want to.  They didn’t like her anyway, as evidenced by the subtle glares they sent her way.  She understood that she was currently in the lead for a position they all wanted, but did that mean they had to hate her?  They didn’t have to like her, either - it was a competition, and an important one - but couldn’t they treat each other with respect?  Maybe share a greeting every once in a while?  Collaborate sometimes?

From her experience the past few years, none of that would happen anytime soon.  In fact, as graduation neared, her classmates became even more distant or inhospitable towards her.  Fortunately, she only had one semester left.  As long as she kept her grades steady and wrote a great final report, she would leave this place with an internship at The Peace Center, where collaboration would be required in nearly every interaction.

That’s what she looked forward to.  The rest of college was more of a...formality.  That wasn’t to say she was guaranteed to graduate at the top of her major, but she knew where her main competitors stood, and she knew she was more than capable of fending them off for one more semester.

Which was why she didn’t spend her nights at parties, getting drunk and ‘hooking up’ only to wake up with a hangover.  Which was why...even though it was well before three and she hadn’t so much as attempted conversation with another person, she was going to leave.  If she went home now, she could work on her capstone for a couple of hours before bed.  And that, honestly, was more important to her.

But she gave the party one last look - from the packed dance floor, to the entryway, to the kitchen, to the backyard hardly visible beyond the crowd - before pushing her way to the front door.  Once outside, where fresh air and open space greeted her, she sighed and made her way home.

Fortunately, the path was well-lit and relatively busy for the late hour.  It seemed like everyone decided to celebrate the start of the new semester, which seemed counterintuitive with classes starting tomorrow.  But those were their choices, just like she made the choice not to join them.

Without a thousand other bodies providing warmth, however, she quickly realized how cold it had gotten since they left earlier that night.  The chill prompted her to walk faster, and she made it home not long after.

As soon as she walked into the small apartment she shared with Sun, she sighed and dropped her bag on the entryway table.  She’d always enjoyed a nice, quiet evening, but the silence was heaven to her ears right now.  No more pounding bass, no more shouting to be heard.  Just peace and quiet.

While everyone else drank the night away, she had work to do - most importantly, coming up with a topic for her capstone project.

After changing into a more comfortable outfit, she turned on her computer and returned to what she’d done practically all winter break - pore over previous reports in hopes that an idea sprang out of them.  She didn’t want to copy any of the ideas - that would be both boring and unoriginal - but she needed an inspiration.  She needed to see what others had done before her and figure out what made the difference between a good and great paper.  The tedious process took too much time to come up empty-handed.  But, with each passing day, her anxiety over her lack of direction increased.

Ever since she was little, she dreamed of working for The Peace Center - one of the world’s foremost nonprofits dedicated to tackling issues dealing with racism and discrimination.  Volunteering for The Peace Center was easy - she spent her previous few summers there - but getting a foot through the door was next to impossible without connections.

That was what brought her to Vale University.  The dean of the sociology department sat on the board of directors, which allowed them to offer an automatic internship to the top student in the major every year.  If she wanted that internship, her capstone needed to be good.  Not good, great.  Something interesting, that a professor would enjoy reading.  Relatable, so they easily understood and could apply to their own life.  But also thought-provoking, so they took away something long-lasting to discuss with others.

Most of the projects she read were one or two of those things but not all three.  She’d come up with a handful of ideas on her own, which were also two, possibly three of those defining characteristics.  But nothing spoke to her yet...and the topic submission deadline was fast approaching.

All she had to do was write a great capstone.

Pushing away from her desk, she removed her glasses, rubbed her eyes, and sighed.  ‘All’ she had to do was write a great capstone.  It ‘only’ determined the course of her life and would be read by, potentially, her future bosses.

Over winter break, she’d created a detailed timeline of the report along with progress goals.  She knew exactly how far she needed to be in the project every week through the rest of the year in order to complete it on time.  She knew exactly where to find her best resources and how many resources she wanted to use versus original hypotheses.  What she didn’t know, however, was the most important part - her topic.

A great idea elevated mediocre execution.  A poor idea dragged down even the most beautiful prose and thoughtful research.  Logically, she should attempt something in the middle - something safe, done before, and guaranteed to keep her on top.  But that wasn’t how she operated.  She wouldn’t back away from a challenge, and she wouldn’t take the safe road.  She didn’t want to look back and think ‘if only.’  If only she chose a different subject, something more meaningful or interesting to her.  If only she showed what she was truly capable of rather than playing it safe.

Hopefully, she came up with something soon.  Right now, however, it was late, and her mind was tired from another long day.  Leaning back in her chair, she sighed and let her thoughts drift over the events of the evening - college life at its finest.

Sun liked to say that, for someone pursuing social sciences, she wasn’t very social.  She agreed.  What she enjoyed about sociology was analyzing how people worked and why, not partaking in the interaction.  As tonight proved, taking part in the interactions could be...loud and messy.  And she was anything but a loud or messy person.