The party that ended with a fight with a crowd of seniors and an angry Henry started out differently.

Bunny had warned that he would be bringing his friends, and he had immediately made it clear that they were quite peculiar people, so he had asked them not to be surprised by their displeased faces. Bunny was known for exaggerating, but everyone hoped that his friends were as sociable as he was. No one had ever been so wrong.

The party was held in your apartment, which you rented near the college with your friend. She, in turn, was the life of the party, and it was her idea. You, on the other hand, preferred smaller, more intimate gatherings.

When Bunny's friends entered the crowded apartment, they immediately stood out from the crowd. All the guests were dressed in all shades of the rainbow. Bunny's friends were mostly dressed in dark shades and classic clothes. Ironically, they were the bright spot of the party.

When Bunny introduced you and your friend to his friends, your eyes immediately fixed on Henry. He was magnetic. Yes, he didn't belong in a student apartment that already smelled of cherry beer. Henry belonged somewhere near one of the exhibits at the Louvre.

When you got tired of the party, you went out onto the balcony that was attached to your bedroom to smoke. But Henry was already standing there alone, holding a cigarette and looking up at the stars.

"You barge into my room without permission, and you're smoking?" I smile and take a drag.

"Sorry, I was just looking for a place to be alone." Henry said, his words a little slow, and he waved his hand at the balcony and your bedroom. "This isn't for me. We're just here to get Bunny off our backs with his nonsense about socializing."

So the two of you started talking. You discussed books, your father's work as a conservator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, your first impressions of Hampden, and your thoughts on how much you disliked the fact that you felt like outsiders among all these loud and vibrant people. Then Henry agreed to your proposal, and before you knew it, you had retrieved a bottle of Martini from your cupboard, and you were drinking and laughing.

And all of this eventually led to smooth, slow kisses on the balcony under the light of the full moon. There's nothing more banal but so romantic than the feeling in your chest when your heart was beating as if there was a hummingbird under your ribs.

And then there was a fight because Judy Poovey threw beer at Camilla. And everyone witnessed a particularly violent fight that was talked about for a week. And Henry didn't greet you when he saw you at college anymore. You didn't understand what your fault was.

You tried to get the truth out of Bunny, but he just brushed you off. And you and your friend continued to throw parties every week. And there was always a bottle of Martini in your room. And every time Bunny came over, your heart would skip a beat. But Bunny was always with his girlfriend, Marion. Henry never came over.

Even now, when the party had only just started, and you were already wanting to escape, you saw your friend opening the front door, and from afar, you could already see the top of Bunny's head. Hope was rekindled within you.