The Halloween Party

Jared knocked on her door for the fourth time and then began pacing the hallway. He didn't know her phone number and actually didn't even know her last name. All he knew was that he had met Amber at the Sorority Halloween Party the night before and was about to pick her up for the first official date. Of course, they had had sex last night and he had slept over. They had also had breakfast this morning when they had arranged to go out.

"Are you looking for Amber?"

Jared spun around and was face to face with a short Chinese girl. She looked sweet and nice and was carrying four thick books.

"Yeah."

"She had to go home for a family emergency. Who are you?"

"I'm Jared. We met last night at a party. I asked her out on a date. I guess we're not going out." Jared was sounding a little upset and was shocked when the short woman responded.

"Can you be any more egotistical? She's dealing with some stressful things and all you're concerned about is the fact that you won't be going on a date with her."

"No. I'm sorry. Do you have her cell phone number or could you call her and give her mine."

"Fine."

Jared stepped back a bit, as the woman pushed past him and entered the dorm room across from Amber's. She set the books on the desk then grabbed a piece of paper off the desk. She scribbled a phone number then thrust it into his hands.

"Here."

"Thank you." Jared stepped out of the room and made his way down the stairs. He was a little shocked about why the woman, obviously a good friend of Amber's, had been so rude. Was she also assuming that he was a jock? He hung around Jonathan enough to be viewed as just another arrogant guy.

He walked back to his apartment and winced when he entered. The distinctive sounds of sex could be heard from the kitchen. Obviously, his roommate had another girl over and he was thankful that he didn't have to pass the kitchen to get to his bedroom. The apartment opened up to the living room and dining room area with the kitchen in the corner and a hallway on the opposite side. There were two doors to the bedrooms with the bathroom in the middle.

He got into his room and shut the door. He turned his music up loud to drown out the sounds of his roommate and the girl of the day. Grabbing his cell phone he dialed her number, waiting as after ten rings, it clicked to voice mail.

He listened to the short generic message then left a message. "Hi Amber. It's me Jared. We met yesterday. A friend of yours that lives across the hall from you gave me this number. If you want to cal me let me know."

Jared left his cell phone number and then lay back in bed. He couldn't understand why he was so concerned about her. She had been a little rude to him in the beginning and her friend was even more offensive. He got up and decided to get some work done.

When Jared studied, he immersed himself completely in his work. He had his music playing loudly and soon he was reading and taking notes. Time flew by and when he realized he was finished all his homework it was two in the morning. He left his room and after going to the washroom went to the kitchen for food. His roommate was sitting on the couch watching television.

"Hey. When did you get home?"

"Around the time you were doing it in the kitchen." Jared was in no mood to deal with Jonathan. He was moody and cranky.

"Yeah sorry. She was a hot little fuck. How did your date with the plump little girl go? She didn't squish you when you had sex did she?" Jonathan laughed at his own joke and then got up to turn the television off.

"No. She had to deal with a family emergency. And she's not fat. She's short and cute and I like her."

"Woah. Don't be yelling at me. I think you should have gone for the blonde cheerleader last night. She would have been fun. I'm going to bed. Can I borrow your notes to study for the test?"

Jared took a deep breath in and then hissed. He was so angry he reacted violently. "No you can't borrow my notes. I just spent eight hours working on all my homework and you think you can just take what I did. You drive me fucking insane. So, what if I like her? I keep being labeled as a fucking jock and everyone hates me."

"Get out." Jonathan was standing now and had his arms crossed over his chest. He glared at Jared and Jared knew he had taken it too far. This was Jonathan's apartment. Jared barely paid any rent because Jonathan's family was rich. He had pushed the limit and was screwed. If he tried to apologize, he was acknowledging that Jonathan's behavior was acceptable. If he stood his ground, he would have no place to stay. His mind flashed to Amber and he knew exactly what he needed to do.

"Fine. I'm going to grab most of my things now. I will be back when you have psychology to take the rest of it. If anything goes missing the department will find out about your term paper for optics."

Jonathan stood back and let Jared storm to his room. Jared grabbed the necessary things and then walked out to his car. He threw the things into the back seat and started driving. He had no idea where he was going and he was too wound up to be tired. Finally as the sun started to rise at six he drove to a nice restaurant and decided to have breakfast.

He knew he looked horrible and messy. He had thrown on the cleanest clothes he could find and he hadn't brushed his teeth or brushed his hair in a day. The waitress was an older woman with red hair and a big smile. He was confused when he saw there were at least ten other customers in the restaurant.

"We're open twenty-four hours. You could have come in ten minutes ago. I saw you waiting out in your car."

"Oh. Sorry. Can I have the cook's special please?" Jared had glanced at the menu and when his stomach growled he realized he had not eaten since lunch yesterday. He wanted eggs, sausage, pancakes, and toast.

"Yes dear."

Jared watched the woman order his food and then he took the slip of paper out that had Amber's phone number on it. She hadn't called. No one had called actually. He didn't think Jonathan would call to apologize. They had slowly been drifting apart since starting third year. Jared was moving towards finishing his degree with high honors and getting a job at a reputable engineering firm. Jonathan was going down the path of barely finishing college and hoping that his father would find him a job somewhere.

"How do you know Amber?"

Jared looked up as the waitress placed a glass of white milk in front of him. She had her finger pointed to the phone number. Obviously, she saw him with her phone number and was putting together the pieces.

"I met her at a Halloween party last night. Oh wait I mean two nights ago. I'm a little confused on what day it is."

"Are you Jared?"

"Yeah."

"I'm Amber's mother."