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Having been picked up by friends earlier, Adam realised a little too late that he wouldn't be able to hitch a ride back. Standing on the curb outside the house, he glanced around, wondering if anyone was leaving that he could catch a ride with.
No such luck. Everyone remained indoors, and the few stragglers drinking on the lawn barely spared Adam a glance. Tory seemed to have gone, too, so not even a person who might be willing to walk with him. Nothing for it but to walk. Heaving a sigh, Adam started down the street, in the direction of his dorm.
Fifteen minutes later Adam stood in front of the dorm building, his breath misting in little puffs in front of his face. He hadn't anticipated this cold, and the trek back to campus had been tiring. At this point he wanted nothing more than to take a hot shower and collapse into bed.
As if mocking Adam, the lift was cordoned off, its usual display of 'LENZ COURT - FIRST FLOOR' replaced with 'UNDER REPAIR', the crimson words blinking silent laughter at him. Seething, he climbed the stairs, footfalls echoing through the entire stairwell. The third floor could not have come soon enough.
The door to the room he and Tory shared swung open silently, and for a moment Adam stood frozen in the doorway. For - unless the cold and his tiredness had conspired to trick his eyes - Tory was there with another boy, and the noises they were making made clear the nature of the other person's visit. Adam briefly registered him as Anthony, someone he'd met at a student mixer, but that was of little importance.
"Um, excuse me?" he tried, then when that went unnoticed, raised his voice a few notches. "Hey! What the hell, man?"