Rescue My Drowning Heart

“I’ve never fallen from quite this high. Falling into your ocean eyes.” —Billie Eilish.

Chapter Theme Song: “Ocean Eyes” by Billie Eilish.

HARMONY

My skin glows red, orange, and gold as the flames of the blazing bonfires rise toward the pitch-black sky.

The woody fragrance of smoke propagates through the air and the warmth of the fire can be felt but is still not enough to overcome the chilly night air.

Loud music vibrates the dusty earth as ashen debris steadily travels away from the smoke and drifts among the socializing university students.

Everyone here seems to know each other, though most of them are first years. The setting is crowded and not my style at all, and I can’t help feeling tiny and out of place.

This feels like a party instead of an orientation. Needless to say, I am gravely uncomfortable.

I am about to make a U-turn and return to my dorm when April speaks from next to me, reminding me that I am not standing here alone.

“It’s freezing out here. I should have brought a jacket.” Cold vapor drifts from her mouth as she speaks, and the flickering orange light from the bonfire reflecting in her pupils.

She’s only wearing a cream strapless dress, a thin silver necklace, and white ballet flats. Her brown hair is tied up into a formally loose bun.

Of course she’s freezing—her attire is more suitable for a hot summer afternoon.

My immune system can be quite weak at times, so I made sure to wear a giant gray sweater that belongs to my dad and a pair of washed-out jeans that are slightly baggy.

My mom purchases most of my clothes bigger in size because she thinks for the future, saying I can keep them for a long while and won’t have to go shopping anytime soon.

Alongside her OCD tendencies, her conservativeness can be quite overbearing.

April rubs her arms as she grits her teeth, and the field begins to get more crowded as a lot more people make their appearances.

People. They make me so anxious.

“I could just run back and get a sweater for you,” I offer willingly, but she grips my arm lightly, shaking her head.

“No, it’s cool. Grayson Hall is at the back of the campus.”

And there went my chance to escape for a breather.

I puff air from my cheeks, subtly kicking the ground in disappointment.

“April!” A female’s voice prompts me to lift my head and see two ecstatic females scampering toward us. I take a step back as my roommate’s mouth separates into a giant grin.

Both girls jump into her arms and they all erupt into a fit of happy giggles while galloping merrily in a tight circle. I watch them with interest; no one has ever been that happy to see me.

“Girls, when did you guys arrive?” April titters as they pull away, all three girls wearing broad, electrified smiles.

“My mom dropped us off an hour ago,” one replies above the music.

She has beautiful caramel skin, and her hair is black with little streaks of white. The mix of colors intrigues me, and I find myself gawping at her hair in absorbed fascination.

“You look damn good, April,” the other one compliments, brushing her short brown hair from her eyes. “Love the dress!”

“Thank you.” April smiles, before grasping onto my arm and gently tugging me forward. “Guys, meet my new roommate. Harmony Skye.”

I smile awkwardly as the two girls each offer one back.

“Woah, she’s pretty. I like your name,” the brunette says, and I take notice of how small her facial features are. Her nose is almost nonexistent.

“I’m Tia, and she’s Yuna.” She points to the girl with the flawless caramel skin, who waves with a beam.

“I must say, you look young. How old are you?” Tia asks.

“I am eighteen,” I respond, and they all nod.

“You look like sixteen,” Yuna adds, and I smile. I am not sure if they meant that in a good way or not, but judging by the smiles on their faces, maybe they did.

“Ugh! Come on, Blaze. The first years just got here!” April groans, and I trail her point of vision to see a pair of guys holding beers while talking with two girls by the makeshift DJ section.

The females are noticeably swinging in their stances with huge smiles pasted on their faces, and I can tell that the two guys are flirting with them.

“He’s already scoping the girls out.” Yuna chuckles. “Damn his charming mouth and pretty eyes.”

Tia puts her mouth between her open palms. “Blaze!”

Both guys look in our direction, then they say something to the smitten girls, who nod in sync as the boys begin moving toward us.

They both look the same age, but the darkness does not offer much revelation except the fact that one seems to have brown hair while the other’s hair color is black.

Their physiques aren’t bad either and their strides are confident and composed.

They break out of the darkness and into the bonfire light, and my heart unintentionally skips a beat.

The brown-haired guy is fairly good looking, but the black-haired one is severely attractive. He has April’s eyes, but his are a lot prettier.

His earlobes are adorned with small hoop earrings, and he has a full bottom lip that appears red and cool.

I don’t care much for guys and dating, but I’d be quite dishonest if I said he wasn’t handsome. He must be the cousin April spoke of.

“Hello, ladies.” He smiles widely, pulling April into a giant hug.

His teeth are pearly white, and he has deep dimples on both his cheeks. As his smile stretches further, I notice another one right below his plump bottom lip.

I love art, music, and literature, and so I find myself being enthralled by unique facial features. I wouldn’t mind getting an opportunity to draw this guy; he’d be a good live model.

His attributes are pleasing, and they all work well together. Unearthly details that I’ve only seen in fashion magazines and on television. Not what I expected to see in a school setting.

“You smell like whiskey.” April chuckles into his sweater, and he moves away with a titter as he kisses her forehead.

“Whiskey and manly body wash.” Tia’s fake-fans herself dramatically and the girls giggle.

He smirks as he shoves a hand in his pocket, and then his eyes land on me.

I close up instantly, and he vaguely tilts his head, maintaining steady eye contact.

Okay then...

I try not to squirm. I detest when people stare at me; it makes me self-conscious, and the fact that his gaze appears somewhat intimidating makes it immensely worse.

I am not sure I like the way he’s ogling me. Surely he doesn’t know me because I have never seen him before. I am way too anti-social to have crossed paths with this seemingly outgoing creature.

While we indulge in our awkward stare down, I take the opportunity to take in more of his appearance.

His eyebrows are naturally arched upward, which causes his eyes to appear somewhat...evil? His nose is perfect, and his lashes are unreasonably long, making the border of his eyes have a uniquely dark highlight.

The way he is looking at me is the way a criminal scopes out his next victim. Intense and absorbing, as if he’s taking in all my qualities, memorizing my face to come find me later.

His blue marbles cloud with an unfamiliar twinkle and his lips tug in a small but somehow sinister smile. Goosebumps trail my skin and I look away quickly as I feel a knot forming in my stomach.

Okay. Hopefully we never exchange eye contact ever again. He creeps me out.

“These DJs are so lame! Change the music, you dickheads, it sucks!” April exclaims.

Blaze’s friend—the brown-haired guy with a less scary demeanor—throws his arm around her with a flirtatious smirk. “We can go somewhere private and have our own music, April.”

She rolls her eyes and grips his hand, pushing it away from her with a sigh. “Weren’t you just checking out a girl over by the stereo less than thirty minutes ago?”

“Nope. I was only asking her if she got one of the first-year flyers yet.” He nibbles his lip, and she crosses her arms, drooping her eyelids at him.

“And somehow I look stupid. Go away, James.”

“Not until you promise to let us have our own music.”

She tilts her head. “Read my lips. Over my dead body.”

Tia and Yuna crack up in laughter, and I giggle softly at the dejected look on his face. He doesn’t look entirely hurt since he has a smile on his mouth. He’s probably used to it.

Amid my light chortle, however, my eyes land on Blaze’s again, and he is still watching me while he lifts his beer to his lips.

The slim silver ring on his forefinger glistens against the brown bottle, and his Adam’s apple moves as he swallows the liquid.

I avert my gaze. Why exactly is he still looking at me? ~Is there something on my face?~ I self-consciously wipe my lips with my knuckle before shifting in discomfort, tucking my hands into my gray sweater.

I frown a little. The night is freezingly cold and somehow I already feel unproductive, and classes have not even begun yet. I should be back at the dorm getting ready for my first lecture tomorrow.

This is not an orientation, is it? I’d expected long speeches from adults about the university instead of a bunch of young people drinking and dancing and creepily staring at people.

Although lengthy boring speeches are a lot worse in the minds of the majority, partying is equivalent to the first in my world.

I can’t help wondering if I was tricked into coming to a party under the guise of it being an orientation.

“Change the music, idiots!” James bellows toward the DJ section and the music switches to a more upbeat one almost instantly.

“Is this a party?” The question leaves my lips before I even realize it, and everyone pulls their gazes to me.

Attention. I hate attention. Why did I ever open my mouth?

“No, it’s not, Harmony.” April chuckles. “This is just what Homewood’s orientation looks like.”

“Yeah, we’ll begin in a few.” James flashes me a charming smile.

I nod shyly and drop my gaze in hopes that everyone will now shift their focus away from me. I hate the spotlight so much.

“Are you a freshman?”

A smoky voice sounds among us, and I glance up, noticing that the smooth tone belongs to Blaze. I swallow uneasily. He makes me feel intensely weird.

My eyes travel over everyone. The girls are watching him steadily while James has a faint smirk on his face as he rubs his lips.

“Yes.” I avert my eyes to the ground immediately after responding. Please leave me alone.

“Okay, nice,” he says. “I wouldn’t mind showing you around—”

“Noooo!” April chimes in quickly, and I look at her. “You won’t be showing her anything, Blaze. Get your ass away from here!”

Yuna laughs. “She won’t be your next conquest.”

Next conquest? What does that mean?

Blaze chuckles. The sound is appealing and hypnotic as his white perfect teeth make their reappearance. I see exactly where April got hers from, but I can’t help but notice how he doesn’t deny what they said.

“Seriously? Why are you girls being this way? April, aren’t you supposed to be my cousin?”

“Why do you guys want to stop his flow?” James throws his arm around his friend, as Blaze takes another sip of his beer, watching me.

“You should let him do his thing. Plus, she seems like a nice girl, aren’t you, sweetheart?”

I am not sure if I am supposed to respond or if it is a rhetorical question.

April ignores her cousin’s friend. She smiles as she crosses her arms under her bust, glaring knowingly at Blaze. “Harmony is cold. You should go start the orientation or we are leaving.”

He nods, biting back a smile. “All right. Let’s go, Jay.” He glances at me with a smirk as his friend follows behind him.

Curiosity springs within me and I turn my gaze to April. “Uhm, why’d you tell him not to show me around?”

“Listen,” Tia begins, resting a palm on my shoulder, “when Blaze says he wants to ‘show you around,’ he means he wants to show you his dick.”

I gape. I have never met someone as blunt as this in my entire life. The way profanities easily leave her lips has me intrigued.

I spent most of my childhood in church and Collin was a young deacon himself, so I have never been around loud, vulgar languages.

I must admit, the people here are quite interesting; it’s a vast difference from what I am used to. They are so free and self-expressive, and oddly...I think I like it.

“Yeah, he will have sex with you then not call you back the next day,” Yuna adds.

“Rumors have it that he is incredibly good in bed, but most girls who have passed through the experience never comes back out the same.

“You will regret being around someone like Blaze, so just stay away from him. Falling for him is easy but falling out of love with him is hard. Don’t ever let him near you.”

April isn’t adding to the discussion, and as I observe her countenance, she seems almost worried.

The instruction isn’t a hard one to follow. I have lived eighteen years without the need for intimate relationships, and I plan to keep it that way until I am through with my studies.

I am easily distracted, admittedly, hence juggling a boyfriend and school would leave my brain like overly fried potatoes.

I won’t let him near me. Creepy boys who think staring at girls is cool isn’t necessarily my type, and I am way too anti-social. I’d bore those boys to death.

I prefer staying in and binge-watching rom coms, while a guy of his caliber is all for the party. Our auras would clash greatly.

“You’re cute and innocent.” Tia nudges me admiringly. “Don’t let Blaze mess you up.”

“Guys, you can stop badmouthing him now. You do recall that he is my cousin, right?” April finally speaks up; her tone is somewhat peeved. “Enough of him. They are about to begin.”

The music stops and I nod silently as I focus ahead.

“Welcome, you all. I am Blaze Xander!” he exclaims into the mic, and I subconsciously take a mental note of his name.

“Hey, Blaze!” the crowd choruses. The girls are noticeably fawning over him. Twirling their hair around their fingers, smiling exaggeratedly, and crowding at the forefront of the makeshift stage.

“Poor first years.” Tia sighs. “Blaze is going to fuck with their heads.”

Once again, her carefree use of expletives leaves me awestruck, and she notices this and lets out an amused chuckle. “Sorry, are you Christian?”

“Guys, fewer swear words around my roommate,” April warns, and Yuna pretends to zip her mouth with her finger, causing me to giggle before a roar from the crowd steals my attention.

“All right!” Blaze claps his hands. “Homewood University is where you guys will find yourselves—your strengths, and your weaknesses. It’s where you will become who you are as a person!

“With the help of me and James,” he points to his friend, “you will be cozy and at home!”

“Yeah, with your penis inside them.” Yuna chuckles, and April laughs as she smacks her playfully on the shoulder.

James steps forward to whisper something to Blaze, and he leans his ear in, nodding before raking a hand through his dark mop of curls.

“All right, so before we officially read out the survival guide, are there any questions? Anything you’re insanely curious about?”

Several eager hands go up and he points to a short girl with red hair.

“Uhm, do you have a girlfriend?!”

Everyone joins in a series of ‘oohs’ at the blatant question. She is brave, something I will never be, but how is that related to the university?

Tia shakes her head in pity. “She’s his next victim. He’s finding her after this.”

“No, I don’t.” He smirks and the girls cheer elatedly. How is someone with such flawless skin single? Girls are probably cat-fighting to be at his feet.

“Next question?”

“How old are you?” a brunette asks shyly.

These questions are not related to Homewood at all.

“Twenty,” he answers, and she blushes.

“What’s your zodiac?” someone throws in.

“Scorpio.”

“Can I see you without a shirt?!” a voice calls from the back, and I look around to see who on earth asked that.Wow, is she serious? These girls show me how severely introverted and shy I am.

Blaze smiles at the request while James grins, shaking his head as his friend hands him the mic.

He slowly curls his fingers under the hem of his black pullover and begins to raise it slowly. The girls scream crazily loud, a galloping brunette in front of me almost smacking me straight in the eye with her hand.

Tia tries not to laugh as she tugs me safely to her side. It is a crazy stampede, and I cling to the girl’s side so as to not get run over by pairs of feet.

“Take. It. Off! Take. It. Off! Take. It. Off!” they sing, and April rolls her eyes in annoyance, sticking a finger in her ear.

“All right. I’ll take it off.” Blaze chuckles. “And here I goooo... Drum roll, please!”

James laughs and drums his fists against the backdrop board of their makeshift stage, causing the crowd to roar excitedly.

“Is he really going to take his shirt off?” I ask April above the loud cries, and she titters.

“Trust me, Blaze will do far more.”

“He’ll even take his pants off.” Tia sniggers.

“Oh boy...,” I mumble as he swiftly pulls the fabric over his head, causing the crowd to cheer louder as he rotates his sweater in the air, his waist copying the action.

My eyes unintentionally zoom in on his chest, identifying the firm rows of abs lining his tanned stomach.

My mouth mechanically parts in a daze, but the warnings I had received force their way through the thick dopamine clouding my thoughts.

“Don’t let him near you.”

I blink my eyes as I look away from him and to April.

“Wow, he’s brave,” I comment, and the girls all laugh.

His personality is interesting. I am the total opposite of him. Reserved and quiet and just plain not social. He is outspoken and adventurous. All I will never be and all I secretly wish I was.

Blaze ends his free-spirited performance and hops down from the stage. The girls’ eyes greedily follow him as James takes over the orientation from there.

As he moves toward us, anxiety wells up in my stomach.

I think this is what happens when you grow up staying away from boys. They not only intimidate you but a severely handsome one can send your heart into overdrive.

I grip onto the hem of my sweater, and his intoxicating scent fills the damp air once again as he comes to a stop in front of us. He’s still without his shirt and I try to keep my eyes up and away from his defined torso.

“Enjoyed my performance?” he queries. He poses it like a universal question, but I discern that it is directed at me since his crystal-blue eyes are positioned on my nervous green ones.

I swallow, and he raises his brow as he pulls the flesh of his bottom lip between his teeth.

His eyes are like a bottomless ocean, sucking you in and pulling you down deeper and deeper and deeper...

April quickly grasps my arm and tugs me behind her. “Night’s over, Blaze.”

He chuckles, and amusement gleams in his intense orbs as he drags his gaze to hers. “Really, April?”

“Yeah, really. We both know why you should leave her alone.”

She says the last statement in almost a whisper, but I hear anyway. My curiosity piques once more but Blaze speaks again, pulling me from my mental conjuncture.

“Okay, fine.” He raises his palms then cranes his head to look at me, standing behind April almost like a kid who’s clinging to the hem of her mother’s dress. “See you around, pretty girl.”

He smiles and walks back over to the stage, and I look to see Tia and Yuna staring at me.

“He’s on to you.” Tia smiles, shaking her head in what appears to be apprehension. “Stay far away from him, Harmony.”

I narrow my eyes. On to me? What does that even mean?

“On to me as in...he likes me?” I question, and April’s friends laugh, causing me to crinkle my eyebrows ignorantly.

“Blaze doesn’t like anyone but himself,” Yuna clarifies. “If we can speak bluntly, he just wants to get you in bed. That’s what we meant.

“I know he’s hot...damn hot...but don’t let the smile fool you. He’s a devil in disguise.”

“Enough,” April says, and raises her palms. “I am tired, are you guys ready to head to our dorms or not?”

I have never been more ready in my entire life. It has been an odd night, ranging from an unusual party-like orientation to a handsome boy with a full lower lip staring at me with creepy eyes.

I could use some rest.