Friday, 9:27 PM.

Malakai was sitting on the couch playing on the PlayStation while William was in his room. After a long week of exams, it seemed like everyone was drained. Malakai didn't feel like doing anything except relax. He thought about taking a nap, but he wasn't the type to take naps unless he was fighting to stay awake. Malakai had been on the PlayStation since 7:00 PM, so he had been gaming for a long time. William rarely used the PlayStation, not because he didn't want to but because he was still bitter that Malakai wasted credits on it and he was focusing on his studies. To be fair, Malakai has been paying for all the groceries and essentials, so William had a lot of credits saved. Malakai, on the other hand, had just over 500 left.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Malakai removed his headset and looked towards the door, thinking he had heard something.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Shit", Malakai said to himself. He stood up and walked to the door

"RELAX, I'M HERE!" He shouted to stop the person from knocking again.

He opened the door and saw Lucas and Benjamin dressed up nicely.

"Yo, do you want to come to the club with us?" Lucas asked.

Malakai was in his night clothes. Once he returned to his dorm, he showered and changed into his pyjamas. That was Malakai's routine whenever he came back to his dorm after classes. As stated before, he loved comfort, and his pyjamas were his favourite outfit in his dorm.

"There's a club?" Malakai questioned. He thought there would be a chance there would be one, but he wasn't sure.

"Yeah, it's on the other side of the mall", Lucas answered.

Malakai couldn't be bothered to go outside.

"Who else is going?" He asked anyway.

"All of us, we came to ask you two", Benjamin said.

"Ahhhh", Malakai let out. Malakai was the type to hate missing out on stuff. If his friends were going, he would go no matter what state he was in.

"Lemme ask Willy; if he ain't going, I ain't", Malakai said.

"Sure".

"Were you playing on your PlayStation?" Benjamin asked, looking into the dorm.

"Yeah, you can come in if you want", Malakai invited.

Malakai walked over to Williams's room and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, William answered and opened the door.

"Yo", he said in the doorway.

"Everyone's going to the club, you wanna come?"

"Are you going?" William asked, looking at Malakai's outfit.

"If you go, then yeah".

"Let's go then", he replied.

"Fuck sake", Malakai said with a smile on his face.

"What? You don't wanna go?" William said, fully opening his door now.

"Too late, I'm going", he said, walking away. While he was going to his room,

"Yo, imma be like 15 minutes", Malakai said to Benjamin and Lucas, sitting on the couch holding a controller.

"Go for it", they replied.

10:10 PM.

The six boys walked into the club together, instantly barraged by loud music, flashing lights and people. The group looked stylish, with Lucas and Malakai being the standouts. Malakai mixed and matched designer all over himself, but it worked; the colour coordination was on point. When Malakai tried, he could dress, but Lucas made anything fashionable. He was the guy that could dress the best in the group. The other four dressed great as well, but they were outshined by those two.

"Are you lot gonna drink?" Lucas excitedly asked, letting the occasion get to him.

"We're still underage", David said, letting him know.

"Oh shit, you have to be 21 here", Malakai remembered, as he was from the UK where the legal age was 18.

"Are you drinking?" Ray asked Malakai.

"Naa, I don't drink", he answered, showing a face that showed what he thought of alcohol.

"I'm drinking. I don't care", Lucas said carelessly, already making up his mind.

"Everyone here is underage, and they're drinking", Lucas said to support his decision.

"I'm joining in, too", William joined him.

"I don't know, I'll think about it", Benjamin said, feeling peer pressured to say yes.

"Will, let's go forget about them", Lucas said, making his way to the bar.

"I'll see you in a bit", William said with a smile on his face following Lucas.

Now, it was the four of them standing near the entrance.

"Now, what do we do?" Ray asked, looking around. Not familiar with this environment.

"Have fun, I guess", Benjamin replied, trying to figure out the answer.

"Let's go get a drink, non-alcoholic. Then do our own thing", Malakai suggested.

"Let's do that", David agreed.

The four of them walked to the bar and manoeuvred through groups of people, bumping into them and awkwardly brushing past them. Eventually, they reached an open space near the bar and ordered a few drinks.

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"I don't recognise anyone. Is anyone here from our year?" Benjamin said, sipping his drink and looking around.

"Yeah, everyone here looks older than us", David said, observing everyone.

"I remember Lucas saying he found out about this club because a second-year girl told him about it", Ray said, looking at his friends.

"Oh yeah, I wonder who started the conversation", Malakai said while paying for a drink.

Ray was looking into the crowd of people, seeing unfamiliar faces,

"Wait, Emily's here".

"Emily?" Malakai questioned, trying to look for a person he didn't know.

"She sits next to me in class. I'm going to go say hi." Ray stood up and took his drink to greet Emily.

"Damn, Ray has more friends than all of us", Malakai said, smiling.

"I think you have more friends, Mally", David replied.

"I dunno about friends", Malakai replied.

David looked to his left and saw Lucas talking to a pretty girl.

"Look, someone's busy." David nodded towards me.

"oi oi", Malakai said, smiling with his teeth out.

He put a hand on Benjamin's shoulder and shook him,

"Have fun trying to sleep tonight", he joked.

Benjamin sighed,

"She's not coming into my dorm; I'm locking the door if he brings her", Benjamin said.

"That's rude; let him have fun", Malakai replied.

"Any other day, I'll let it slide, but not today".

David laughed. Malakai wanted to do something, even though he initially didn't want to come. He didn't just want to sit around, so he stood up.

"Imma just walk around and see what happens".

"I might do the same after I finish this drink", David replied.

"Alright, I'm gone." Malakai strolled away with the drink in his hand.

Malakai walked into the eye of the storm, walking past tipsy individuals. He was getting looks from every direction, every person he passed. Surprisingly, he wasn't getting stopped. Maybe they were regular glances you give to people walking past. Until he swiftly turned around. He saw a boy standing behind him with his arm reached out.

The boy had brown skin with straight black hair. Malakai couldn't see in detail due to the bright lights but could make out the main features. Malakai looked at the boy, wondering what he was going to do.

"Hey Malakai, I wanted to talk to you", he introduced.

"Have we met before?" Malakai asked, knowing they'd never met.

"I'm Ali, I'm in your class", he replied.

“1-C?” Malakai asked to make sure.

"Yeah, I sit near the front", Ali said nervously.

"Sorry mate, I don't know", Malakai said, sipping his drink. Even though he sounded like he took the piss, he didn't. Sometimes, Malakai's intrusive thoughts speak out loud.

"That's fine. This is the first time we've talked, so it's fine", Ali responded.

"Why're you here?" Ali asked to keep the conversation going.

"I'm here with my friends, but we split up for now. Truly, I didn't wanna come, but why not? Are you here alone?"

"Yeah, I was out by myself and saw the club, and I just walked in", Ali said embarrassingly.

"What about your roommate?" Malakai said, looking at him with a bit of curiosity.

"They went to bed early. I don't blame them", Ali said, looking at the floor.

"Damn, don't worry. Now we know each other, we're good", Malakai said, shaking his cup to make Ali look back up.

"Huh?"

"If you need anything, just ask me", Malakai told him.

"Really?" Ali made sure he heard him right.

"Yeah, if anyone says anything to you or you need anything, just come talk to me", Malakai said.

"You're actually a nice guy", Ali said slowly with a bit of shock.

"I feel like that's going to be said about me a lot", Malakai replied.

"I mean, to me, you looked like the one annoying guy in class. Hearing you laugh from the front all the time", Ali said, smiling.

"Hearing other people have fun in the same room while I'm alone at the front. It kinda hurts", Ali continued to say while smiling, not to make it look like he was bitching.

"Oh shit, my bad", Malakai started to scratch the back of his head, feeling guilty.

"I know that feeling as well", Malakai responded, sympathising with him.

"No, I don't blame you. You're having fun; you always look like you're having fun".

"That's me, life's about having fun. No point being sad", Malakai said, finishing his drink.

"We're friends now, so you're not alone", Malakai reassured Ali.

"Yeah. Anyways, how did you find the exams?" Ali shifted the conversation.

"They were goo-." Malakai didn't finish his sentence as something caught his eyes behind Ali.

"What's he doing here?"