I went to a party with my friends, because I felt like I needed to stop avoiding social events and turn up to something for once. We walked for half an hour on this trail until we got to a clearing on the side of the road with some kind of makeshift DJ setup on milk cartons. The party was boring. On the way back, my two friends walking on either side of me started having a philosophical discussion. I hadn’t had much to drink but I could feel myself veering right and left. It felt like if there wasn’t someone to the left of me, and I kept walking, I would keep drifting to my left forever. I imagined my path as a linear function, drawing me towards the road and the bushes beyond it. I shut my eyes periodically to see how far I could walk without seeing.

I walked down the hallway back to my room with my friend who lives on the same floor. What are we doing, I asked. Going back to our rooms, he said, unless you want to stay up and party more. I stumbled slightly. I want to sleep, I said. I felt his hand lightly touch my back. Me too, he said.

⋆⑅˚₊

I went to speak to my course advisor about how I was failing two of my courses. He was nice about it, which I appreciated. I’m going to start working harder to try and keep on top of things.

That night, my friends brought me clubbing for the first time. My friend’s allowance had just come in, and she bought me my first shot. On the dance floor, I ran into a girl from one of my uni classes. We haven’t spoken much, but we’re from the same city and know some of the same people. She ran over and we hugged like we were best friends. It was maybe the happiest moment of the night.

When we got back, I ended up sitting in the common room with my friend from my floor. We sat opposite each other, with our legs up on the table and the soles of our shoes touching. The music at the club was loud, so we talked to drown out the persistent ringing in our ears, until we checked the time and saw that it was 3am in the morning.