"Come on Light, it'll be fun!" A month had gone by since school had started, and things were going pretty well. Light had asked her out that first night after they had gone back to his room. He was impressed that she had said no to him when he'd tried to get her in bed. He'd thought that she was just another girl that would want to brag that they had had sex with a senior. Their relationship had been going pretty well, along with Mello's classes. Oh, and Matt? Yeah, he struck out. Everyone's favorite gamer was still single. And now here she was, trying to convince her boyfriend to come with her to a foam party that night. If you weren't going to a party or two, what was the point of college?
"Fun? More like ridiculous. I'm not going." At this point, Light didn't even bother looking up from his laptop as he spoke to Mello. He had work to do and some immature party wasn't about to make him get off track.
Mello whined as she practically threw herself over Light. Annoying was the way to go. "Please! You don't want me to go by myself do you? And get kidnapped or date raped, right?" She nuzzled his cheek before whining again when Light didn't budge. "Fine! I'll just take Matt with me!" Without waiting for an answer from Light, she grabbed a handful of M & M's off Light's desk and walked out.
"Have fun," Light called after her, shaking his head in annoyance and continuing to type.
After eating the candy, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and called Matt. There was no way he could ever say no to her. Matt was a true friend. Not like my stupid boyfriend! Mello thought angrily as she listened to the happy Mario themed tune.
Matt flipped his phone open and held it against his ear with his shoulder, still managing to concentrate on the game he was playing. "Hello?"
"Hey Matt, I need a favor, can I come up?" Judging by the sound of gunfire, Mello guessed he was in his room playing video games. Not that she needed help figuring that out.
"Sure." Matt glanced around his room, deciding it wasn't too messy. Mello wouldn't mind that much, anyway. "What do you need?"
Making the short trek up the stairs, Mello stopped in front of Matt's door, knocking twice. "I'll tell you in a second." She said before hanging up.
Matt paused his game, closed his phone and walked to the door, kicking some dirty clothes out of the way and opening it. "Alright, spill it. What do you want me to do?"
She hugged the boy and looked up at him, giving him her most charming smile. "There's this party I wanna go to, come with me?" It's not like she didn't have other friends, but other girls weren't fun to go with to parties like this. They would always ditch to go flirt with boys. Not that Mello had never done that before, but still.
Matt frowned, returning the hug. There was no way he could say no to that. But so far, every party he'd gone to was pretty pointless. Most of the girls already knew who he was at that point, and none of them really cared that much to talk to him. "Alright. When is it?"
'It's tonight, and wear only your swimming trunks. Thanks Matt!" She gave him a brief hug before walking out.
He didn't even bother questioning that request. Oh well, maybe Mello was starting to realize he was way better than that Light guy. "Hey, call me when it's time to go! I need to know where it is, too!"
"I'll come get you!" Stopping by her room, she grabbed her bag and headed off to her introductory anthropology class.
"Alright!" Matt checked his clock before going back to playing his game, thankful that he didn't have class until later in the afternoon.
-"Jeez Matt, come on. You look like an old man with your shorts up that high." Mello had gone at 10:00 to pick Matt up from his room to find him sitting in the floor wearing this bathing suit and of course playing video games. Grabbing the edges of his shorts, she tugged them down a bit, to show off a bit more than Matt was probably comfortable with. "You need to show these girls that just because you lay around all day, that doesn't mean you're chubby. Show something off for once!" Now, granted, Matt was a bit pale, and he was almost too slim from days of barely moving or eating when he got a new game, but he was still cute.
Matt felt his face get a little hot, crossing his arms. "Don't have anything to show off. So where's the party at?"
"One of the seniors rents a house across the street from the campus, it's got a huge backyard and they've got it all set up. Let's go." Grabbing his hand, Mello all but dragged Matt to their destination. When he saw how fun it would be, she was sure he'd lighten up.
He let Mello drag him along, looking around the yard. "What kinda party is this again?"
"I explained it earlier, a foam party." Once they got behind the house they saw that the party was already in full swing. Mello grinned and pulled off her thin dress to reveal a black and white checkered bikini, with hot pink strings tying it together. "How do I look, Matt?" She asked, turning around for him. She may not have been more than a B cup, but that didn't stop most boys from turning their heads.
"You always look good," Matt answered as he looked her over, grinning. "You deserve someone nicer than Light, y'know."
"Light's nice to me, he's just boring sometimes. And he's a senior, what's better than that? Now let's go." She grabbed Matt's hand and pulled him over to where the crowd was, where everyone was covered in the sweet smelling foam. She grabbed an armful and threw it at Matt, grinning.
Matt held back a sigh and returned the grin, gathering as much foam as he could hold. "I'm gonna get you for that!"
Mello giggled and disappeared into the crowd, quickly losing Matt in the mass of slick bodies. Loud music was playing as Mello looked around, trying to spot a possible sneak attack from Matt. Figuring that Matt must've found someone to talk to since he had apparently given up the chase, Mello shrugged and started to move with the beat. The party continued on in a similar fashion for hours, Mello drinking whatever was passed her way, and dancing with whoever was closest. She wasn't sure what time it was when she started to feel dizzy, but she decided she had had enough to drink and weaved through the thinning crowd to find her redheaded friend. Everything was beginning to blur, and the music made her head throb. Holding a hand to her head, she looked in every direction for Matt feeling her heart start to race when she couldn't find him. She felt sick, and when someone bumped into her, she couldn't even try to save herself. She slipped and fell into the foam, which at this point felt disgusting against her skin. She felt tears prickle at the corners of her eyes as panic set in.
Matt grabbed her arm and hauled her onto her feet, hugging her tightly. "Hey, I was looking everywhere for you. Don't scare me like that, Mell. Are you alright?" He didn't wait for her to answer before pulling her away from the noise and what was left of the crowd.
Mello instantly wrapped her arm around Matt's slim frame. He voice shaky as she spoke. "Y-yeah, I just couldn't find you anywhere. I wanna go home." She rubbed at her eyes as Matt lead her back to the dorms and to her room.
Opening the door, Matt helped her inside and got her a towel. "Stay close to me next time. And you gotta start locking your door."
"I-I know, I just forget." She took the towel from Matt, wrapping it around herself before flipping on a light. She nearly choked when she saw what was all over her walls. Pictures. Every inch of her walls were covered in pictures. Not just any pictures, but pictures of her. Some were taken while she was walking to class, others while she was actually in class. Some were even from when she was sleeping, or changing. She didn't know what to think, what was she even supposed to think about all this?
Matt froze for a moment, looking just as confused as his friend. "I'm...guessing it wasn't like this when you left."
"No..." She held onto Matt's hand, squeezing it gently and willing him to keep talking. Who had done this? And why?
"We should tell someone...how did someone do all this without you noticing? Don't stay in here tonight, Mell. Maybe you can stay with me." He knew there was no way that would be allowed, but he had to help her somehow. He wouldn't get a minute of sleep that night if he couldn't make sure she was alright.
"Yeah...I'll stay in your room tonight. I'll lock my door tonight and tell my RA about this in the morning." She filled a small bag with clothes for the next day, and other things like a toothbrush and a hairbrush. She changed into pajamas and slipped on her flip flops before nodding to Matt.
Matt hugged her and lead her back to his room as soon as he made sure she locked the door. "I'm gonna go dry off and change really quick. Just stay in here, okay?"
"Okay." She settled herself on the unmade bed, hugging a green mushroom plushie to her chest. She remembered when she had gotten it for Matt for his birthday the year before. She thought he didn't like it, but since he brought it with him, she must've been wrong. She still felt...weird. As if someone was watching her. And apparently someone had been watching. Those pictures...she'd never even seen someone taking them.
Matt hurried through changing into his pajamas and went back to his room, locking the door behind him. "I can't stop thinking about how creepy this is...did you see anyone hanging around a lot?"
"Not anyone that really stands out..." She thought about it, but there really wasn't anyone. She saw lots of people everyday, but she never really noticed anything out of the ordinary.
"I guess we'll just have to let your RA handle it...we should go to bed."
"Alright." Once she and Matt had settled on the bed, Mello finally realized how tired she was. Her head still hurt and it was nearly a chore to keep her eyes open. As she drifted off she half hoped it was all a dream, but something told her it was turning into a nightmare.
Matt watched his best friend for a little while before closing his eyes and trying to sleep, too. He had sort of hoped Mello would be sleeping next to him under different circumstances, but at least he would be able to make sure she was alright.
When morning came, Mello was sitting with Matt at the Starbucks in the dining hall. She sipped her latte as she tried to put together everything that happened last night. Matt had been such a great help, she really needed to remember to thank him sometime. "Hey, Matt..." she started, but trailed off, thinking for a minute before continuing. "Do you think I was drugged?"
"I dunno...I heard about stuff like that happening at parties, so maybe. What all did you drink?"
"I'm not sure...a lot, though. I mean nothing happened to me, though, because you found me and then we left. Things are fuzzy, but I know what went on. I'm still just kinda freaked out though. Will you come with me to take the pictures down today?"
"You know I will." Matt stood up as soon as Mello was done with her latte, holding her hand and leading the way back to the dorm. Even he was a little creeped out by finding all those pictures, so he knew Mello must have been really scared.
She held his hand tightly as they made their way back to the dorms. She spotted Light in the study room, but didn't bother to wave or make herself known.
"Okay, unlock the door," Matt said as he finally let go of her hand.
Getting out her room key, she hesitantly opened the door to reveal the collage dedicated to her on the walls. She shuddered as took in all of them. "Let's take them all down."
"Yeah." Matt started taking down the pictures closest to him, avoiding the ones where she was changing or showering. The last thing he wanted to do was embarrass her more.
"How did they take all these? My bathroom doesn't even have windows..." That meant someone was actually in the bathroom with her, and she never even noticed!
"I don't know...we gotta talk to someone really soon." Matt gathered up all the pictures he had taken down already and put them in the trash can before pulling more off the walls.
"I know, save all the pictures, put them in another trash bag or something." Matt nodded and along with Mello they took down every picture. She was relieved and felt a bit more calm once her walls were finally clean. After some encouraging words from Matt, Mello picked up the small trash bag, and headed towards her RA's room. She was equally disturbed by what had happened and advised that Mello go see the dean so that the whole campus could be made aware. Mello was promised that it wouldn't happen again, and tighter security measures would be put into place. The safety of the students was top priority, of course.
It was really annoying how the pretty blonde girl didn't appreciate his little gift to her. It took a lot of work to take all those pictures without getting noticed. He wanted to show her how beautiful she was when she didn't know someone was watching, and how did she thank him? Running off and staying the night in her friend's room! Well she could act that way if she wanted to. He would just have to show her who really loved her the most. He just needed to put a little more thought into his next gift. And he couldn't wait.