Calvin
• • •
When Darius invited me to the first-year party, I jumped at the chance.
Normally, hanging around younger students would have made my skin crawl, but today, I needed something so juvenile to amuse me.
Fuck, did I ever need a good distraction.
Having expected to be home by Friday, I was beyond frustrated to be arriving back at school a day late. I was utterly exhausted. There was much work to be done at the shop, and I had lessons to catch up on from the previous week. Although Saturn and Zaire's destruction to my shop appeared to be minimal upon first glance, I worried that this "Alice" might be more than just a friend to Saturn. Not to mention the mental burden of what I'd just endured. I wasn't ready to ponder it just yet.
Arriving at the first-year residence building brought a wave of reminiscence over me. It had been my home just mere months ago. I wasn't even sure who was the party's host, nor did I care. I needed a good drink and to listen to Tom and Darius argue over who should approach a pretty girl and ask for her phone number.
The first things that met my gaze upon entering the party were Saturn's eyes. She didn't appear to be glad to see me, but rather terrified. Her eyes peered back at me, like a deer's when faced with an oncoming vehicle. I felt my hands tighten into fists by my sides. I watched with annoyance as she slowly lowered the glass of liquor in her hand.
I crossed the room, meeting my friends. My eyes flickered from Saturn's for only a few moments. I couldn't believe how she'd decided to dress herself. Her dress hugged her chest and revealed more of her than I'd ever seen. There were older boys here, boys who would have loved a piece of her. A girl with cropped hair had her arms wrapped around Saturn's bare shoulders. Perhaps she wanted Saturn, too.
"-Just a moment," I cut off Tom, who yearned to hear about my trip up North. The boys knew of my predicament, and also knew better than to speak in depth about it publicly.
I left the group, approaching her instead.
"What are you doing here?" I asked through my teeth, struggling to maintain my composure.
"What are you doing here?" Saturn snapped back, discovering newfound courage from her drink. I despised it.
"You must be Calvin," the girl hanging off of Saturn said. I was taken off guard. This girl knew my name, but I did not know hers. Did that mean that Saturn had been speaking of me to her friends?
"Who are you?" I asked, my tone sounding more cross than I'd intended.
Saturn looked away from me, giggling uncomfortably. What was going on?
"This is Alice," she said at last. Alice. Of course. The girl who had an entire feature shelf in my bookshop.
"I hired her while you were away," Saturn added.
I cocked my head. I had to have misheard her. "You did what?"
Saturn was frightened, but she didn't wish for me to know it. "You heard me," she said, returning to her drink. Another shot away from being my pure, sober, Saturn.
"You took it upon yourself to hire another employee without consulting me first?" I asked, struggling not to shout.
"I was lonely," Saturn shrugged.
"Hey!" Zaire exclaimed, insulted.
"I don't care if you were lonely," I growled, "you have worked in my shop for less than three weeks and you think you have this type of authority? No, Saturn. You are sorely mistaken."
Saturn hung her head, and my heart fell with it.
"Jesus, you are a prick," Alice said.
The familiar pang of guilt struck me as it did whenever I conversed with Saturn. I needed to leave before I allowed for my exhaustion to hurt her anymore. Furious with her though I was, I did not wish for Saturn to despise me. Apparently, she'd already named me a prick.
Back with the boys, I watched with remorse as Saturn slid her glass back to Zaire, who refilled it. Not even he could recover from my outburst. I worried I may have just lost my only two, rather, three employees.
Watching Saturn ruin herself was taking a toll on my already broken spirits. My harshness must have really gotten to her. That was the only reason I could fathom why she was drinking so heavily. But after a while, I noticed that she was enjoying it, and that bothered me even more.
"Are you listening, mate?" Darius asked.
"Hm?" I asked, not tearing my gaze from the table in the room's corner. Saturn was laughing now, and it was a beautiful thing to witness.
"Are you watching Jup's little sister again?" Tom teased, a smirk creeping over his lips.
"She's my employee," I said curtly, "I have to watch her."
Tom chuckled. "You look like you'd like to devour her," he said. I gave him a testing glance, then returned my attention to Saturn and her friends.
A mixture of worry and disgust panged me as I watched a group of two students, both of which were male, approach Saturn's table. I recognized neither of them, and they looked too old to be first years, meaning that they were at least in their third year. I wanted to end them. Saturn's sweet laugh came from behind the wall of older men. It was beyond inappropriate for such people to be at a first-year party, let alone to be talking to a girl so young, so pure. Just as I stood to fend them off, the two left, giving me a clear view of Saturn once more.
As I pretended to listen to Tom's tedious description of the new girl he fancied, my only focus was on bringing Saturn home. She needed to be out of this dangerous environment. I was enraged by the glances of desire she continued to receive as the evening progressed and she grew more and more intoxicated.
I watched carefully as she moved to the vacant couch with Alice and Lianna, whose dorm this was, I had learned. Saturn stumbled over her own feet. I fought off a foreign smile. When she was safely on the couch, my jaw unclenched slightly. She sat between her two friends, who conversed over her as she leaned back against the cushions, expressionless. I watched as her eyes began to flicker open and shut, with more noticeable pauses between each blink. I could not bear it any longer.
"Saturn?" I said, approaching her at last. She glanced up at me, registering who had spoken her name.
"How much have you had to drink?" I asked softly, not sure if I wanted to hear her reply. Instead, she merely ignored me. I held out my hand to her, a final attempt to show her I cared. To my surprise, she took it.
I placed my hand on the small of her back as we crossed the room. I could feel the piercing gazes of the boys from earlier, only two among many who wished to take Saturn to bed. My stomach lurched at the thought. Still tonight, I had claimed her.
Saturn subconsciously led me to her room, which was directly beside Lianna's. It suited her nicely, with modern art on the walls and an astronomical theme. When she laid down in bed, I removed her shoes. A small black cat leapt up next to me, purring as she brushed against my arm. I gave her one gentle pet, then covered Saturn in a heap of blankets.
I admired Saturn for several moments before leaving her alone. I studied her peaceful expression with care. Her dark locks caressing her shoulders. Her flawless, pale skin. Her long eyelashes, fluttering as she entered a dream. What a beautifully crafted girl.
"Goodnight Saturn."