"…Love it's time to wake up if you want to go out with me tonight," a soft deep says warmly into my ear.
"Mm, I'm still sleepy," I mumble rubbing my eyes.
"Come on," he says lifting me off the bed.
"Don't drop me," I panic and open my eyes as I wrap my hands around his neck.
"Not if I can help it," he says walking me to the bathroom and sitting me on the counter.
"Thank you," I say as he hands me a toothbrush with toothpaste.
"You're welcome baby," he says before brushing his teeth.
We brush our teeth and wash our faces together and it seems as though it's a routine that we regularly follow. Finally fully awake and feeling refreshed, I go through the clothes I've left in Mekhi's closet and settle on a pair of high waist short shorts and a crop top. I brush my hair into a bun and let some of curls hang loose, then I apply some light make up and perfume. Completely satisfied with my look, I smile at my reflection then walk out the bathroom to see Mekhi looking every bit the male model that others wish they could be.
"You look nice baby," he says as he lifts his eyes from his phone to me with a smile spreading across his face.
"Thank you, you don't look too bad yourself," I say as he stands and places his phone in his pocket.
"Are you ready to go," he asks shaking his head.
"Yes," I answer admiring his good looks.
He's dressed in a short sleeve button up, khaki shorts, and deck shoes. His look is simple but he makes everything he wears look good.
"Come," he says holding out his hand and I place my hand in his with a smile.
We leave from his house and head to campus in his car. We chat as he drives us to our destination. I tell him that I plan to move to move the things I've packed from my parents' house to my house tomorrow with everyone's help. He agrees easily and we continue chatting about other things until we arrive on the same street as the parties before. The music is so loud this time, that it is indeed a celebration. The street is crammed with more cars than the last few parties I attended with him. We park the car nearly at the end of the street and hold hands as we take our time walking to the house hosting the party.
"We are going to have fun tonight, I can feel it," I say with a smile looking at Mekhi.
"Of course, we will. Drama free fun at that," he says with a wink and a smile.
"I hope that's true, otherwise it will be more than a slap this time around," I say with a raised eyebrow.
"There will be no trouble tonight baby, I promise," he says with certainty.
"I'll hold you to that," I say and he drapes his arm over my shoulder and pulls me closer.
The party is spilled along the sidewalk and into several of the surrounding frat houses. Mekhi is congratulated and toasted as we make our way to the main house. He holds me even closer as we walk into the main house and it erupts in a huge congratulations after our first few steps into the house. The house is packed tight and hot as we make our way through the crowd. He takes his time to high five and fist bump people showing his appreciation all while never letting go of me.
"Superstar," Parker yells as he spots Mekhi from a distance and makes his way towards us.
"What's up, man! Congratulations to us," Mekhi says shaking his hand.
"Hey beautiful, glad to see you here," Parker says giving me a small hug.
"Hey, congratulations," I say nodding my head with a small smile.
"I think I saw your friends from the last time here as well," he says to me.
"Okay, thank you," I reply to him.
"Do you want me to show you where the rest of the guys are," Parker asks Mekhi looking between the two of us.
"What do you think? You want to see your friends first or my friends," Mekhi leans into my ear and asks me.
"We can go our separate ways and do our thing," I say back to him looking him in his eyes.
"That won't do, come with me first then I'll accompany you," he says shaking his head.
"Are you sure? I don't mind it at all," I ask him.
"I'm sure…yeah, we will follow you," he says to me then Parker.
"Alright, then. Follow me," he says with a smile.
We walk through the crowd with a little more ease than others as people make way for the champions. Mekhi grips my hand tight and I hold on as much as possible. When we finally reach the rest of the team a few of them are already clearly drunk.
"Superstar Mekhi is here," Parker says as he makes way for us.
"Hey," the guys all say in some variation or another.
"What's going on guys? For those of you who don't know this is my lady Lena," he says introducing me to what seems like the rest of the team.
"Hello, congratulations," I say with a shy smile looking around to everyone there. Some faces I recognize and some I don't.
"How are you," the guys that haven't met me before say as they introduce themselves one by one and shake my hand.
"It's good to see you again," the guys that I have met before say with a small hug.
"Where's Cameron, Owen, and Nate," I ask Mekhi as he pulls me back to his side.
"I'm sure they're around here somewhere," he says nonchalantly.
"Oh," I respond nodding my head.
"Are you ready to go and find your friends," he asks.
"You can take your time here first," I say and he nods his head.
We stay and chat with Mekhi's team mates for about twenty minutes. All the while Mekhi keeps his arm protectively wrapped around my shoulder as we mingle and have a cup of beer. He wraps his conversation with his team mates and leads me through the house to find my friends. As we walk through the house he is congratulated and stopped with just about every step we take. We finally find the girls and their guys and enjoy our time there together.
"Superstar Mekhi," Cameron says as he makes his way towards our group followed by a pretty girl.
"Superstar Cam, congratulations brother," Mekhi says as he shakes his hand then gives him a hug slapping him on his back.
"How are you doing Lena? This is Melissa," Cameron says after giving me a small hug.
"Hi, I'm Lena. It's nice to meet you," I say shaking Melissa's hand.
"Hey, Mel. It's been a while," Mekhi says greeting and hugging her.
"It's nice to meet you Lena. I'm glad to see Mekhi with someone who makes him smile this much," she says into my ear as she leans in for a hug.
"Thank you, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only girl in the crew," I say into her ear and we smile at each other.
"Are these your friends," she says looking at my girls.
"Yes, I'm so sorry. This is Rylie, Nova, and Susu; the guys are Zain, Devin, and Isaiah," I say introducing my crew.
Everyone exchanges hellos and greetings eventually splitting up, the girls doing one thing and the guys are sitting back to watch. We laugh, we drink, we dance, and we enjoy each other's company in this loud house party meant to celebrate the men's basketball team championship but it feels like the celebration of new friendship. Nate and Owen eventually make their way to the soiree and our party gets a little bigger. We end up tiring ourselves out and decide to leave and go home to get well rested as we are officially counting the hours until we leave for spring break.
As Mekhi and I walk back to the car hand in hand, he suggests getting something to eat before sending me home. Being the foodie that I am, I agree and am grateful that we dropped my car off at my house earlier in the day so that I don't have to make the drive home.
"What would you like to eat," Mekhi asks as he starts the engine to his car.
"I don't know…maybe chili cheese dogs and fries. I could really go for that right about now," I say as I close my eyes and lean my head back into the head rest.
"Alright, I know just the place," he says and pulls off honking his horn all the way as the party goers cheer for him as we drive away.
"Tonight was a good night and it was drama free just as you promised," I say to him with my eyes still closed.
"I told you that it would be," he says lightly.
"How did you do that," I ask him because I know it was something of his doing.
"I just made sure that I wasn't disturbed by any unnecessary people this evening," he says and I open my eyes to see his half smile.
"Hmm okay, I trust you," I say easily and close my eyes again.
He takes me to a restaurant right outside of campus that specializes in all things chili. We both walk out of there with foot long chili and cheese hot dogs with loaded fries and drinks. I shake my head at this terrible late night meal, but immediately take it back after taking my first bite. We sit on a bench outside of the restaurant eating our food in complete silence. I'm probably relishing in the taste of the food a little more than Mekhi, but with two cups of beer in my system this is much needed. When we're finished eating, we use wet napkins to clean our face and hands before getting back into his car.
"Is there anything left that you have to do when you get into the house," Mekhi asks as we drive to my parents' house.
"Yes, I have to finish packing," I say guiltily.
"Wow, I thought that you of all people, would be done by now," he says in shock.
"So did I, but then we went and bought all those clothes and I just don't know what to bring," I say defending myself.
"Just bring them all, then you can figure out what to wear once we get there," he says logically.
"It's too much for it to all fit," I say helpless.
"Then pick your least favorite outfits and sit those to the side then pack the rest…or you could just take a bigger bag," he says.
"You're right, I'll get it done before I go to bed tonight," I say more to myself than him.
"As long as you believe it will get done, you can do it," he say positively.
"Agreed," I respond and we chat until he reaches my house.
Once he pulls up to my house, he walks me to the door, kisses me good night, and promises to call or text when he makes it home. I lock the door and set the alarm once I see him leave, then head up to my room to complete my shower routine. After I'm all washed up and moisturized, I finish packing my suitcase with renewed determination and double check that I have everything I could possibly need before closing it and setting it next to the items that are being moved out tomorrow. I message Mekhi for a short while before I finally fall asleep from the long day that I've had and think about the long day ahead.