Reading Day Eve
(Rated M for language, violence, excessive alcohol use, and sexuality. m/m SoRiku, AkuRoku, Zemyx)
Part One: Just Tonight
There he was in all his brown-haired, blue-eyed glory, chatting idly to a girl with wine-colored hair who he assumed was the boy's best friend, judging by how much they hung out. Not just in class, but in their spare time as well. Wherever the boy was, the girl typically wasn't too far behind.
The boy observing the two sighed in frustration and ran his hand through his silky silver hair, tugging at the ends. His name was Riku. For the entire semester, he harbored an enormous crush on the boy and watched him like a hawk, but he didn't have the courage to saying more than a nonchalant greeting whenever they arrived at their psychology class at the same time. Today was the very last day of class for the spring semester. He didn't even bank on seeing his crush at the final exam because their professor had already decided that the exam would be posted online for them to take at home (she didn't want to sit in on a three hour final anymore than the students did). Then, it would be summer and he would be home and he was positive he would never see Sora, the boy who made his heart soar and stomach flip, ever again.
Completely disregarding the class review they were doing, Riku stared longingly at Sora, who was actively engaged in class - chatting up the professor on synaptic gaps and sleep disorders and whatever else they were supposed to have learned since mid-January. Finally, before Rike would've liked, class was dismissed and he felt very empty watching Sora walk out of the small lecture hall and out of his life. He sighed and picked up his belongings, trudging back to his dorm room, which he shared with a tall, eccentric red-head named Axel.
Their room was a mess. Clothes, notebooks, textbooks, and empty food containers littered the floor between their two lofted beds. Underneath Riku's bed was his desk, TV, and chair, piled high with various debris. His numerous anatomy books (he was a pre-med major) and reference books took up most of his desk space and his laptop was perched precariously on top of an upturned waste basket. Underneath Axel's desk was his desk and a few beanbag chairs. There was also an easel and numerous canvases - painted and unpainted, completed works and works in progress - lay everywhere, indicating Axel's status as a visual art major.
"Riku, my friend!" Axel shouted, leaping down from his lofted bed. "How was your last class with lover-boy? Did you finally get the guts to talk to him?"
Rike bowed his head in defeated anguish.
Alex sent him a sympathetic frown. "Well, there will always be eye candy next semester, am I right?"
"He wasn't just eye candy, Axel," Riku sighed, picking up a pizza box from his chair and depositing it on the floor. He flopped into his chair, dust flying out from underneath him as his butt made contact.
"But you didn't even talk to him!" Axel tried to reason. "You pretty much only liked him because he was a fine piece of ass."
"Don't you believe in love at first sight?" Riku asked.
Axel snorted. "Hell no! That shit's for girls."
Riku glared at him.
"Just kidding," Axel quickly amended.
"Now Sora will never know how I really feel about him," said Riku, rubbing his temples in an attempt to ward off his impending depression. "I can't believe I'm such a wuss and never even tried to talk to him."
"Don't put yourself down too much buddy," said Axel. He hated to see Riku so upset, especially over some adorable boy who, despite being 18 or 19, looked like total jailbait. The gears in his brain instantly began turning as he decided to help Riku out. "Hey, I hate to leave you at a time like this, but I'm supposed to meet Demyx so he can copy some of my notes his missed earlier in the semester. I'll be back a little later. Try to cheer up a little by the time I get back."
"Whatever," said Riku, turning on the TV.
Axel rolled his eyes. Riku was such a girl! He was probably going to watch chick flicks and yell at how they instilled false hopes into the hearts of romantics everywhere. He closed the door behind him.
When Axel finally returned, it was eight o' cock at night. He had been gone for about five hours. He had a large poster rolled up with him and a large tote bag full of stuff. Demyx, a blonde who preferred to keep his hair in a mullet-esque hairstyle, trailed behind him positively beaming with excitement. Axel's prediction was right. Riku was sitting in his chair, squeezing a soccer ball angrily while, on the television, Noah was explaining to Allie that he had written to her every day for a year. Riku hadn't even bothered to turn the light on in the room when it got dark.
Axel flipped the lights on with a scowl while Demyx quickly turned off the TV.
"What the fuck, Demyx?" Riku screamed.
"Quit with the pity parade!" Axel yelled. "We've got to get busy! We've got to strategize!"
"Strategize for what?" asked Riku, still glaring at Demyx.
"It's reading day eve, duh," said Demyx as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Reading Day was like Christmas to the students of Twilight University - except it came twice a year and there were no gifts or decorations involved. Each semester, students got the day before the first finals off from classes and work, for those who held on-campus jobs. The idea behind Reading Day was that it allowed students a full day to study for their finals. However, students only saw it as the weekend come early. So, the night before - aptly called Reading Day Eve - was the biggest party night of the semester.
"I don't feel like going out tonight," Riku sighed. "Can't I just stay in and keep watching movies and study or whatever?"
"NO!" Axel and Demyx hollered in unison.
"Look," Axel explained. "I know how upset you are about not having the guts to talk to Sora and tell him about the big obsessive ("I'm not obsessive!" Riku objected) crush you have on him, so Demyx and I prowled all over campus and came up with the biggest, bestest plan ever to rectify this situation! Now, the only way we'll tell you what this plan involves is if you swear you'll come out with us tonight."
Riku mulled it over in his head. Axel just promised him a chance to see the love of his life at least once more before the end of the semester. He couldn't really say no to that. "Okay, I'll go out."
"Great!" said Demyx. "Axel, let's show him the map!"
Axel unrolled the giant poster onto the floor. It was a map of the campus and the surrounding area of Twilight Town.
"Alright, men!" Axel said, giving his best impersonation of a military leader. "Here's the map of Twilight University and the immediate area of Twilight Town where students frequent. Demyx and I scoured the university, asking various students where the hottest spots are going to be tonight. They are marked with the purple heart stickers, stolen from Demyx's lovely friend Namine. These spots include the East End Bar, the Rugby House, the Theta Rho fraternity house, the Delta Chi sorority house, the entire Back Station apartment complex, and Club Usual."
"Then," added Demyx, "Namine told me that she was attending a small get-together at Kairi's apartment, shown here with the gold star sticker, so all their friends can get together and pregame before going off to their respective party destinations."
"Guess who's on the invite list for this get-together," Axel said, with a mischievous grin.
"SORA!?" Riku cried, suddenly getting very excited about the plan.
"Exactly!" Demyx answered.
"Wait, how are we supposed to show up at someone's house uninvited?" Riku asked, skeptically. "That's so rude. Kairi won't let us in."
"Yeah, I thought about that too," said Axel. He dug around in the bag for a moment and finally pulled out a bottle of Patrn Platinum. "Now, Namine also graced us with the knowledge of Kairi's preferred alcoholic beverage, so I got one of my legal friends to go to the ABC store for me and get some stuff. She won't turn us away when we present her with this."
Riku's jaw dropped. "That's the most expensive tequila! Why would you buy that?"
"For you," said Axel. He was being sincere. His usually mocking tone was completely absent from his voice. "Sora's really important to you and you're pretty much the best friend I've ever had in life, not to mention a kick ass roommate. I just want you to be happy, so we have to pull out all the stops to get you and lover boy together."
Riku could feel himself getting teary-eyed but he refused to cry in front of Axel. He thought he was girly enough already.
"Axel, I'd be lost without you," said Riku, a sincere smile gracing his face.
"Yeah, I know," Axel said with a cocky grin. "Just remember, if you and Sora don't hook up after tonight I will fucking murder you. Oh, and you owe me big for all of this."
A mere hour later, it was show time. Axel, Demyx, and Riku were gathered in Axel and Riku's room going over their plan for the evening until they each had in memorized. It was around 9:30 and they were all preparing to leave to go to Kairi's. In addition to the Patrn, Axel also provided the group with a handle of vodka, some cheap off-brand tequila, and a six-pack of 40s. They each mixed vodka in with coke to drink before leaving. Riku rolled his eyes at the fact that they were pregaming before leaving to go pregame some more. He had hit a new low, it seemed.
"Alright, you guys," said Axel. "Let's go get Riku some ass!"
"Woohoo!" Demyx hollered, jumping up and down with excitement.
They turned off the lights in the room and Riku locked the door behind him. They made their way to the staircase at the end of the dorm's hallway. As they walked down, passing various other rooms, they noticed one door was open. It was the one right next to Demyx's, so he was familiar with the occupants.
Demyx peaked in.
"Zexion!" he shouted, happily.
The blue-haired boy looked up from the huge textbook he was reading on his desk. "What do you want now, Demyx?"
"What are you doing studying this late on Reading Day Eve?" Demyx asked, sounding as his Zexion was committing the ultimate sin as opposed to doing what he was really supposed to be doing.
"Not failing general chemistry, unlike you," said Zexion.
"Oh snap," said Axel, trying not to laugh at his friend who just got burned.
Demyx scowled before running in the room and grabbing Zexion's arm. "You're coming with us!" He demanded.
"I can't, Demyx. I have to study!"
"You're already making straight As! Even if you failed the final, you'd still have an A in chemistry!"
"I don't want to go out!"
"Not even with me?" Demyx asked, flashing him his saddest, most adorable, full-proof puppy dog eyes. Demyx knew his sad pout had a 92% success rate on cracking his victims and getting them to bend to his will.
Zexion stared into Demyx's blue-green eyes for a moment, glaring intently at the other boy. Finally he closed his book and Demyx cheered.
"Quick, grab your phone and some money and your keys and come with us! Yay!" Demyx yelled.
Zexion mumbled and did what he was told. He also brought a much smaller, pocket-sized book to read. He joined the group in the hallway, locking his room door and following them.
"Hey, Zexion, do you drink?" Axel asked.
"No," said Zexion.
"Well... do you think you could play designated driver for this little excursion tonight? We've all got some drinks in our systems already and I kind of don't feel like walking..."
"Fine."
"You're the man! Thanks a lot!"
They piled into Zexion's black Honda hybrid and Axel gave him directions to Kairi's apartment complex. They were there in a matter of ten minutes and exited the vehicle, Demyx carrying their bag of booze except the Patrn that Axel was cradling in his arms, ready to give to Kairi.