Joy's heart pounded in her chest on receiving her letter of admission to Moi University. All the stories she had heard about campus life flashed through her mind in quick succession. However, one stood out - it refused to fade. It made her yearning for the reporting date become an insatiable appetite that no delicacy could abate. She had heard a lot about fresher's night from her cousin who was in her third year pursuing Medicine in the same campus.
To Joy this night sounded like a scene from a thriller movie that got the audience edged to their seats. This was her golden chance to breathe the same air with celebrities whom she had only watched on TV. She remembered how every time her cousin came home at the end of semester and bragged about the big names she had rubbed shoulders with; how many gigs she had attended.
It was now almost a month since she joined campus. Posters were all over announcing the upcoming Fresher's night and the artistes to perform. Her best artist Redsan was among them. It was difficult to concentrate on her studies that week. Her WhatsApp status read, "Badder than Most" all week long. Her joy was palpable. Come Friday midday, Joy hurriedly left Lecture Hall 1 for her room in Hostel E. Her feet barely touched the ground and she vaguely recognized her course mates along the corridors in the Halls of Residence. She thought about the many Third and Fourth year students that had flocked her room asking her out for this night.
Her roommate had not attracted an equally being number. For once she felt like a princess waiting to be crowned queen. She quickly scrolled through her phone contact list stopping momentarily at each male name. With each pause she made fast judgement on the pros and cons of her new male friends. When she came to Mark's name her fingers trembled a little. Not that she loved him - No. She had received enough advice on how to be smart. She knew that the horde of senior students who thronged her room had girlfriends whom they had temporarily stopped seeing because of the 'Goldrush'.
Mark was unique. She could feel it. Maybe it was the way he gently held her hand in his as he looked her straight in the eye. She didn't have a boyfriend yet. So Mark it hard to be. She dialed his number and within a few seconds his guttural voice was on the other end of the line. Unbeknown to her Mark had to jump out of his girlfriend's room to receive her call. At exactly 3pm after lunch at a hotel the two walked into a bar and joined other senior students at one table. Mark ordered Smirnoff Vodka and a 500ml krest soda. Since Joy had never tasted alcohol he advised her to take Guarrana which he argued was just like soda. Not wanting to look naive she had no choice.
She sat sipping her drink religiously like a Christian partaking holy communion. The taste wasn't bad after all and she realized she could handle more cans than had been ordered for her. She asked for some more. By the time they got to Students Centre, Joy was already in the lead tagging Mark along. She did not want to waste any minute and as soon as they entered the hall she was on the dancing floor moving her body as a tornado. Soon her wandering spirit was let loose. When Redsan got to the stage she experienced something that felt like a premature orgasm. She couldn't remember what happened next.
She was woken up the next morning with a banging headache and the sun's hot rays which seemed to have conspired to torment her. She could see her clothes sprawled on the floor. For the first time she realized she was not alone in bed. She sure felt a human being breathing behind her neck. She turned round and beside her was one of those senior students they shared a table with the previous day at the bar.
