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Vera was surrounded. The people around her weren’t that close, but she could feel their air brush by her when they walked by. There were just too many people. She knew she wasn’t ready for this.
Her eyes flicked around the room, looking for a saving grace. She found one and made her way towards it, careful not to touch anyone as she picked her way through the crowd. She ducked behind a thick maroon curtain and pressed her back against the wall behind it. She let the curtain fall against her front, the pressure was comforting.
She tried to slow her breathing taking deep breaths in and out. It did nothing to calm her racing heart. There was a lump the size of a golf ball in her throat and a deafening pressure in her chest.
She was beginning to calm down when there was a large thump and the curtain began to sway violently.
Another one. This time, something had thudded against the wall barely a foot away from her. She barely kept from shrieking, completely unaware of what was going on outside. All the hard work she had put into calming her breathing was immediately undone. Before the next one could hit her she slunk away from the entrance to the curtains back into a corner. She slid down the wall into a squatting position and hid her face in her knees, arms wrapped protectively around her head.
Her whole body was throbbing in time with her erratic heart rate. She heard one more thud, this one quieter and further away before there were no more sounds as if everyone had disappeared from the room. She gasped for air, almost none of it was reaching her lungs. The darkness behind her eyelids turned from black to light red.
A soft voice with an unplaceable accent called out, “Hey, are you okay?”
Vera snorted quietly and replied in a shaky voice, “Peachy.”
“Right, stupid question.”
She opened her eyes but didn’t lift her head. Tears were the only way to explain the sudden blurriness of her visions. She squeezed her eyes back shut and rubbed her face against her tight jeans. Tears gone, she looked up at the intruder.
He had partially entered the space between the curtain and the wall, but not through the gap like she had. He had lifted the curtain and poked his head underneath, on his hands and knees. He had sandy blonde hair and ice-blue eyes. His face was masculine but not overly chiseled. He was undeniably hot yet somehow also cute.
He explained his presence, “Everyone left this room,” his voice trailed off and he cleared his throat before continuing, “Would you like to come out?”
She inhaled through her nose roughly before responding, “Not particularly.”
“May I come in then?”
“Sure.”
Vera didn’t move from her corner as the boy crawled the rest of the way under the curtain and sat next to her. There was ample space between them and Vera found herself wishing there wasn’t. She shook off the intrusive thoughts and tuned into what the boy was saying.
“I’m sorry about my friends, they can get a bit rowdy,” he palmed the back of his neck, “and, we didn’t exactly expect someone to be hiding behind the curtains, ya know?”
“I also wouldn’t have expected someone to be hiding behind the curtains.”
“So why’d you do it?”
“Hide behind the curtains?”
“Yeah.”
“My muddled brain found these curtains first. I was looking for something like a bathroom, not this.”
“I guess that makes more sense,” he held a hand out, “By the way, my name is Alex. Everyone calls me Chip, though.”
Vera shot him a confused glance before shaking his hand. She responded in turn, “My name is Vera.”
“Vera, a beautiful name for a beautiful woman,” Chip flattered and then began to sort of explain his nickname, “I see your confused look, and trust me, my nickname has a rather long story attached to it.”
“You don’t have to explain it to weird crying-behind-a-curtain-girl.”
“I’d love to tell you the story, perhaps over a fancy dinner tomorrow night?”
Vera bit her lip anxiously, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“Of course it is,” Chip exclaimed, “Free, good food and an interesting story, what’s not to love?”
“I’ll think about it,” Vera confirmed.
“Would non-fancy dinner suit you better?” he questioned.
She thought a moment before responding, “Yes, I suppose it would.”
“Okay!” he said excitedly, “Less fancy, more fun! I can get behind that.” He whipped out his phone and pressed the screen a few times before handing the phone to her.
She looked down to see a ‘New Contact’ screen open. A small smile peaked through and she typed in her name and phone number and handed it back to him. He fiddled with it for a moment and typed something in before pocketing the phone.
“Now that we have date one set up, how about we get out from behind these curtains? I know this frat has a few kittens on the top level.” He held his hand out in invitation.
Vera couldn’t help taking it.