ONE YEAR AGO

Ah, fuck.

That hit the spot.

I breathed out and watched the smoke come out from my mouth. Smoking weed always relaxed me when I needed to chill out.

I was drained as fucking hell.

The initiation process for the secret society was a mindfuck. I was told it was different for every recruit. Mine sucked major ass. Physically, I was doing great. There were no humiliation tactics or dangerous pranks like I went through when I was a pledge in my former fraternity.

But mentally? Holy fucking shit. I thought I was going insane at some point. And the tests (yeah, plural) went on for four goddamn weeks.

I had to memorize latin phrases while I was pissed drunk (it was hard to get me drunk, so I just acted like I was).

I had to recite the constitution word for word while I wore headphones with heavy metal screaming at my ears – for hours.

I had to study all the current politicians and royal families of every nation in the whole world while I was at a strip club with a sexy as hell woman dancing fucking naked in front of me.

I was locked up in a dungeon-like room that was creepy as hell, required to read three world history books all damn night using only a flashlight.

Oh, did I mention the best part? I wasn't allowed to leave until I answered every question correctly.

And fucking Byron went through some shit like that? Mad respect.

I remember him wearing the biggest grin when he walked in the living room and handed me the letter that said I got in. I wanna say we celebrated right away, but I just breathed a sigh of relief and spent some quality time with my bed.

The backdoor of the pub suddenly opened, and I watched a pretty girl drag an average-looking guy by his hand. I looked up and down the empty alley. It was dark and cold, with the cobble-stoned ground wet from the rain.

Were they gonna do it here? Whoa, ballsy.

The girl pushed the dude against the brick wall, and he looked nervous. Huh, maybe they weren't gonna bang.

"Stop stalking me," she hissed.

"I had to see you. I miss y—"

"We're over," she deadpanned. "We've been over for months."

"Not for me," he replied, shaking his head stubbornly.

Yikes. I bet he's gonna beg.

"Please, give me another chance. I swear I'll do anything you want."

Aw, dude. Where are your balls?

"Please, Ar—"

He yelped in pain.

Oh, shit. She just kicked him in the fucking balls. My lips stretched into a grin, and I quietly chuckled to myself. No wonder he didn't have them anymore.

The poor guy crouched in pain, clutching his nonexistent nuts.

"I want you to stay out of my life." She grabbed his hair, making him look at her. "You hid a camera inside my bathroom, Johann. You should be thankful my roommate noticed it when she was cleaning."

Damn, that was some sick shit. Yeah, he deserved his balls to be squashed.

I took one last drag before killing the smoke and throwing it on the ground. I crushed it with my foot, while I listened some more.

"I don't have to remind you what would happen if those videos leaked, do I?" she threatened, in a low husky voice that was kinda sexy to me.

The guy looked scared shitless now. I cocked my head, curious to know what the girl was capable of doing to have him terrified like that.

"Y—You already deleted everything," he stammered. "There's nothing else to leak, I swear. You saw it yourself, w—when you hacked my computer."

I wasn't able to help the low whistle that came out from my mouth because I was impressed. Both of their heads whipped to my direction, and I decided that it was time for me to head back inside.

As I was walking towards the backdoor, I took another glance at the girl. She was really beautiful, especially those sharp brown eyes. I noticed there was some sorta warning there, like she was telling me I wasn't supposed to be here.

She raised an eyebrow when she saw me staring.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

Her statement wasn't snarky, but it was dripping with sarcasm. It turned my grin wider. I would've made a move on her right then, but she was preoccupied.

"Nah," I replied. "Maybe some other time."

Without waiting for a reply, I walked back into the busy pub. I went through students, a few of them recognizing their new QB1 and I returned their greetings. Some of them offered drinks, but I refused. I couldn't afford to have a hangover tomorrow morning. I still had to finish a few assigned readings.

I nodded to Byron and a couple of his friends when I reached their table. In the year that we'd been roommates, I was only now meeting people outside the football team. I barely knew anyone in my classes. I was too busy catching up and getting used to the Ivy League's academic momentum.

But now that I finally got the hang of things around here, I was starting to have a life outside school and football. Hell, I just joined a fucking secret society – one that Byron and his friends were part of.

The thing was, I had no idea who the current members were because only the executive officers dealt with recruitment, and they were wearing masks and hooded robes all throughout our interactions.

Although I passed and was basically already in, the initiation celebration wasn't until next week where all active members were required to attend.

Byron was one of the officers (can't say I'm surprised), and he didn't see any problem with introducing me a week early to his friends that were also members. He said the celebration was only a formality at this point.

"I'm glad you got past the last test," Gwen beamed, a biomedical engineering student in her junior year at Harvard-MIT.

"I didn't even know rooms like that still exist here," I said, shaking my head. I didn't believe in ghosts, but staying in the dark like that for hours was enough to drive me paranoid at the tiniest bit of noise.

It almost drove me fucking crazy.

"There are a lot of old buildings in Harvard," she explained.

"What, did they keep prisoners there until their deaths?" It was a rhetorical question, but Gwen looked like she was considering it.

Byron caught my horrified look. "It was nerve-wracking, wasn't it?"

I sighed. "Honestly, the hardest part was worrying about it beforehand."

It was true, though. Once I knew what the last test was about, it was like a huge boulder was lifted off of me. It was a fucking relief. Staying in a dark and cold basement for a few hours? That was easy.

But then, I got there and... yeah, it wasn't so easy after all.

"Not knowing is half the battle," Yash added, nodding to me in approval.

I'd say Yash was the oldest one among us because he was already in his first year of grad school (Harvard Medical School), but I knew he was at least a couple of years younger than me and Byron. So he was basically a genius.

"Isn't it, 'Knowing is half the battle?'" Byron asked, making a face. "If you're going to quote G.I. Joe, quote it properly."

"I didn't know it was from G.I. Joe," Yash countered.

"Didn't you watch it when you were a kid?"

"No, I had homework."

Then, I watched them argue about a cartoon.

Damn, this was weird. I was used to having friends talk about random shit, but not wholesome cookie candy sweetness like a fucking cartoon.

Okay, that was bullshit. The crew, my friends from highschool, argued about South Park a lot. But there was a lot of swearing in the process.

It was weird not hearing any come out from these people's mouths, which Gwen liked to call the 'circle' because according to her, it sounded cool (I didn't wanna argue that it made us sound like we were in some teen fantasy TV series). I mean, I knew Byron swore sometimes, but Yash barely spoke enough to curse.

"Arisa's taking too long," Gwen said, as she frowned at her phone.

Byron shrugged, drinking his beer. "She got here around the time Alfie went out back. Then, that guy she used to date showed up."

"What guy?"

"The one from Boston University."

Gwen's frown deepened, and demanded, "Where was I?"

"Ladies room," Yash answered indifferently.

"Ugh, that jerk," Gwen muttered.

"You have another friend coming?" I asked Byron quietly, starting to realize that I didn't know exactly how many friends my roommate had.

I met his long-time boyfriend Noah a few times. The first time I saw him, it wasn't really the best of circumstances as he was getting pounded from behind. Well, that was definitely an image burned in my mind for-fucking-ever.

"Yeah, Arisa." When Byron saw my questioning look, he added, "Electrical engineering and computer science major in MIT, same year as Gwen."

That meant she was a year younger than us.

"She sounds cool," I said, grabbing my beer and taking a sip.

"She's nice, too," Yash piped in, apparently hearing our conversation.

"Unless you get on her bad side," Gwen snorted, wiggling her eyebrows.

I let out a small laugh, before taking another drink.

Gwen was quirky as fuck, no doubt about it. She was like a fairy on steroids, sprinkling rainbow dust everywhere.

Yash, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. He kept his replies to a bare minimum, and he rarely showed any facial expression.

Byron was normal enough, just a little extra obsessed with his grades. Major clean freak, but I could live with that.

"There you are, missy!" Gwen squealed, jumping up from her chair to greet the newcomer. "I was getting worried!"

"Sorry," said a female voice.

My eyes narrowed, knowing I've heard it before.

"I just had to deal with a nuisance."

I raised my head and locked eyes with the girl I saw in the alley, the one who kicked and threatened a person almost two sizes bigger than her.

She seemed surprised to see me, too. But then just as quickly, she schooled her expression as she took the empty chair beside me and reached out a hand.

"Hi, I'm Arisa."

Ah, she wanted to pretend we were only meeting now. Fine by me. That was her business. So I accepted her hand and shook it.

"Alfie."

"Full name?"

"Alfie O'neal."

"Full name?" she repeated with a straight face, not letting go of my hand.

I glanced around the table, and they only stared blankly at us. Byron nodded to me, telling me to go along with it. Whatever, fuck it.

With a sigh, I humored her.

"Alfred O'neal."

"It's nice to meet you, Alfred," she said, finally letting go of my hand. "Next time, don't give out your full name to a person you just met. Identity theft is easy nowadays, especially for people who know their way around a computer."

The corner of my lips lifted up at her veiled threat. Ah, I guess she didn't like that I caught her dealing with her personal business earlier.

"I'll keep that in mind," I replied, clearly enjoying this.

She looked satisfied. "Good."

"I feel like I'm missing something," Gwen said, biting her bottom lip.

Byron nodded, his eyes switching from me to Arisa. "Me, too."

Yash kept quiet and continued to drink his beer.

Ignoring them, I asked Arisa, "Are you gonna tell me your full name?"

She looked at me in mocked surprise. "But I just met you."

"Alright, then." I shrugged, completely unfazed as I leaned back on my chair. "There are other ways to find out."

She seemed skeptical. "Like what?"

"I could track down Johann and ask him," I said nonchalantly. "I heard he's a pretty good stalker." I turned to Byron. "He goes to Boston University, right?"

Byron only blinked, looking lost. I could feel Arisa's eyes on me, but I played it cool. While Gwen frowned in confusion, Yash casually switched their drinks. I tried not to laugh. I didn't want him to get caught.

"Well played," Arisa admitted, nodding despite herself.

"I'd bow," I started smugly, "but I'd rather hold my head up high."

With a smirk, she said, "Arisa Emilia Madrid-Esquival."

Damn, that was one helluva name.

"By this time next week, you won't remember it."

"Wanna bet, Arisa Emilia?" I dared.

As I guessed, she wasn't one to back down.

"You're on."

Gwen cheered me on, while Byron just grinned. Yash honestly looked like he didn't give a shit as he finished Gwen's beer.

Tough luck, I was the fucking best at memorizing. I memorized latin phrases just two weeks ago. This was a piece of cake.

Little did I know, I'd not only memorize her name.

I'd never forget it, too.

_____________

The 'past' chapters will mainly consist of Alfie's transition to Harvard, building the foundation of his friendship with Arisa and the others, and ultimately how he got to the (sorta) matured Alfie we have now.

I know most of you don't believe him when he says him and Arisa are only friends, but I wanna be able to emphasize their genuine friendship with an underlying attraction. I hope I'll be able to pull that off. Haha.

Next update: Saturday

Coming up next... Chapter 5: Talk
Let's get some heart to heart talk.