There really wasn't anything worth bringing with her, just her phone and her keys and so she walked to the door with those objects in hand and opened the door.
Thelma was in other clothes. She tied up some of her hair and left the rest to fall down. Mariah could see the tiny line of eyeliner and the magic of concealers. What was even more eye-catching was the bright red lipstick on her lips.
She looked nice.
Her short dress was equally nice. It was a blue pleated sundress which she paired with a pair of white sneakers.
"You look nice" Mariah couldn't help but remark.
Some redness creeped into Thelma's cheeks, she smiled brightly "Thank you".
"You look plain".
Mariah looked down at her outfit with a shrug. She was wearing a pair of ripped high waisted baggy jeans and a crop tank top. She wore no makeup and left her hair unstyled.
"Just like you said, it's not a party, it's a get together" Mariah said as she walked out through the door and locked it behind her.
"So you're trying to say I'm overdressed for the occasion?" Thelma asked.
"I think you're the kind of person that anyone would notice when they walk into the room" Mariah said. "You're enchanting".
Thelma smiled brightly, her cheeks flushing red "Thank you for that". She pulled on Mariah's arm and led her away down the hall.
From the elevator, one could see a hallway, a long hallway and at the left there were four doors with at least the space of two people standing side by side between one door and the other. Same goes for the right. Four doors on each side facing each other.
Mariah's door was on the left, the first door on the left.
Thelma led her to the last door on the right hand side.
Thelma did not bother knocking, she opened the door and walked right into the place.
The apartment was a bit similar to Mariah's, except it was a bit smaller in space. Seeing this, Mariah muttered something to herself.
There were at least nine people in the room when they walked in. On seeing the new guests, they all turned their eyes towards them.
Mariah subconsciously folded her hands in front of her body whilst looking all around the apartment instead of at anyone in particular.
"Finally, you guys are here, what took you so long?" A guy walked up to them with two red rubber cups, he passed one to Thelma and the other to Mariah. As he did, his finger slightly brushed over Mariah's finger.
They made eye contact.
"I'm Henry,"he introduced himself. He was wearing a simple pair of black faded jeans and a flannel shirt. His demeanor seemed calm and collected, he had a kindness and innocence in his brown eyes that captivated Mariah. He had rudiment facial features, the only thing noticeable was the colour of his eyes and the softness of his features.
He looked like your average next door neighbor who rarely brings girls over and would offer muffins to the new neighbors.
"I'm Mariah" she introduced.
"You moved in today, we were all having classes so we couldn't help out. Was it a hassle?" He asked.
"No, Thelma helped out, it was okay" she sipped from the liquid in the cup. The alcohol burned her throat and warmed up her body. She scrunched her face in distaste.
"Let me introduce you to everyone" he said as he walked over to the centre of the room.
There were people drinking, eating chips or just typing away on their phones.
"Hey everybody" Henry called out, successfully attracting the attention of everybody in the room.
"This is Mariah and she's our newest neighbor"
Mariah forced out a smile.
"You're a freshman?" A girl with short blonde hair and piercing blue eyes asked.
"Yea, I am," Mariah responded.
"Me too, so is Thelma, William, Adonis and Fred" the girl replied with a big smile.
"I'm Iris"
"Nice to meet you" Mariah smiled and walked away from the center of the room. She walked to an empty space on the couch and sat down. All her movements were watched by everyone in the room.
The room went awkwardly silent.
"We could play a game" Thelma suggested as she walked to stand in the middle of the room.
"Can we not?" a guy groaned.
From the way they all interacted with each other, Mariah assumed they were all very acquainted with themselves. She was the only stranger. The only one with red hair and baggy jeans. The only girl with average looks.
She combed her hair back with her fingers as she opened an app on her phone.
"You can't just dismiss the idea before you hear what I have to say" Thelma retorted.
"I actually really hate listening to your voice," the guy replied.
"Like yours is any better" Thelma fired back
"Oh baby" the voice of the guy went an octave lower which compelled Mariah to look up from her phone to see the owner of such a deep voice.
"You know that's not true"
The guy had deep brown medium length hair with a slight undercut. From her angle, Mariah could see he had two piercings in his ears. His jawline was sharp and strong, sharp enough to slice an apple.
She could not make out the colour of his eyes, she was only blessed with the side view of his face. Her eyes travelled down to his clothes. He was wearing a pair of simple sweatpants and an oversized black hoodie, his outfit was paired with some simple shoes.
Mariah couldn't help but admire, however, he was not her type in any way and she was also very emotionally unavailable for anything.
"I think we should all just introduce ourselves to the new girl, can't you see how lost she looks?" Mr undercut said. They all shifted their gazes to Mariah.
Mariah could not say anything, she only glanced at them with wide eyes and slightly opened mouth.
"I think I'd rather play a game," she said.
Mr undercut narrowed his eyes at her, completely ignoring her sentence, he went further to introduce himself "I'm Adonis,"