Premature Evacuation (Underground Sorority #1) (12 page)

I could barely sit still in my chair at the salon. Anticipation bubbled in my belly. Since I usually blew dry my hair stick-straight like the rest of the cookie cutter girls on campus, I asked for soft waves that feathered out along my face, framing it in a delicate romantic coif.

“You guys, we’re going to have so much
fun
tonight!” Bianca said in her usual manner of emphasizing the adjective in the sentence for a dramatic effect. She turned her head side to side to check out her hair’s progress in the mirror.

“I think that depends,” Erin said, sitting in her chair with perfect posture, “On whether my date is actually fun or not.”

“You can always dance with us. Just like at Quigley’s,” I said.

Our hair took longer than anticipated, so we had to haul ass over to the make-up counter. Bianca kept checking to make sure her updo remained in place as we power walked through the food court. Erin’s hair was at an awkward length due to her growing it out, so her hairstylist pinned her hair into springy curls in a random array on her scalp. My hair was down and free.

We each plopped into chairs at the corners of the rectangular make-up counter. I couldn’t see Bianca’s or Erin’s progress like I could when we were getting our hair done, but I overheard Bianca ask for subtle taupes because her dress was a glitzy teal and she wanted to balance it out. Erin’s request remained a mystery.

“So what do you want today, Miss?” The attendant asked me.

“Dramatic!” I replied with a huge grin. I had my heart set on a complete transformation, something to really make Corey flip.

“What does your dress look like?”

“Slinky black with silver trim. Strapless.”

She leaned back and cocked one eye the way Corey always did. Her hair was pulled back in the tightest ponytail I had ever seen. She had on way too much eyeliner and her foundation powder looked a little cakey. She topped off the look with fire engine red lips. I cringed. This better not be her definition of
dramatic.

“Excellent. I know exactly what I’m going to do.” She paused. “If it’s too much I can tone it down after, don’t worry.”

I clasped my hands in my lap. “Um…maybe you should—”

“Relax, you’ll look beautiful.” Those were the magic words.

The attendant’s brush strokes were very similar to the way I painted, mixing various hues together to create a completely unique color, using smaller brushes rather than wider ones so no detail got overlooked, applying the shadow with short staccato strokes all over the eyelid, then layering another color, and another, and another, blending, layering, blending, until the stark white of the canvas was no longer visible and the process could not be recreated by another hand.

Bianca’s make-up looked radiant. Different hues of browns outlined her eyes and complimented her olive complexion. Erin had opted for an almost nude look, all focus drawn to her plump, pinked lips. The outcome of my make up was exactly what I was going for. Soft silvers wrapped my upper lids, just under the brow, and nestled against deeper shades of silver that swept across my actual eyelid. Heavy black eyeliner circled my eyes, but not in a raccoony way. Soft blush grazed my cheeks and matched my red lip-gloss.

When we left the mall, we were running late so Bianca called Corey and told him to give us an extra half hour. No time for lunch. I was anxious to see him and also feeling strange because of my lack of food. Now my stomach only contained butterflies.

T
HE FORMAL ALWAYS TOOK place in far away locations that wouldn’t sound exotic to the average person, but when you were stuck in bleak, gray, upstate New York, anything off campus seemed magical. When Corey pulled up in front of Rho Sigma, Nate’s head leaned against the passenger seat window. I wrenched open the back door and started to climb in.

“Hold up,” Corey said. “Nate, dude, move into the back with your date.”

“First she takes over my bedroom, now shot gun. What’s next? My body?” Nate grumbled but obliged as he shuffled into the back seat. Bianca beamed a smile at Corey, which helped a little to combat Nate’s glare. Erin’s date would be driving her separately.

Corey squeezed my hand as we sped down the highway. He hadn’t complimented me yet. I wanted him to at least lie and tell me I was beautiful. I wanted him to actually think I was.

Snow slowed down our trip, sticking to the windshield and robbing us of clear vision. Strong winds whipped the heavy flakes in random directions the wipers lost their battle against. By the time we arrived at the hotel, a good foot covered most of the walkways. I stepped strategically into other people’s shoe tracks to avoid getting my pants too wet. Flashes of the last snowfall, Corey’s body heat the only thing keeping me warm, melted into my mind. He and I exchanged mischievous smiles.

“I have a surprise for you,” he whispered into my ear as the warm lobby swallowed us.

Once checked in, Corey jumped in the shower. I rummaged through my bag hoping to find something to eat but came up empty handed. I didn’t even have quarters for the vending machine. I stripped out of my travel clothes and slid on my dress. It sparkled from every angle and hugged my curves, quite a change from the prom I attended with Ryan, where I wore a princess dress too big to fit through the limo door. Now I felt sexy. Worthy. No longer the naive girl who hadn’t known what she was missing. When Corey returned from the bathroom, I was sitting on the edge of the bed, hands clasped in my lap, trying to breathe steadily.

He’d already put on his suit, and my mouth parted at the sight. He looked so clean, so proper, so unbelievably hot. It took all my will power not to jump his bones right there. But Bianca was waiting for us in her room to pre-game.

“You look beautiful.” He grabbed me and kissed me.

At first I didn’t want to mess up my lipstick, but I surrendered to the moment. “So what’s the surprise?” I asked.

He grinned against my lips. “You’ll see later.”

I glanced at the clock. “Okay, it’s later.”

“When we get back.” He tugged me toward the door but stopped at the threshold. “Listen, maybe tonight isn’t the best night for Bianca to tell Nate how she feels, okay?”

My stomach dropped like an anvil to the floor. Did he still have feelings for her? “Why not?”

He shrugged. “I tried to feel him out about it like you asked—not mentioned it directly, of course. I get the feeling he’s not into her that way. So I don’t want her to ruin her night.”

I swallowed hard. “Sure. I’ll tell her.”

On our way down to the Bianca’s room, Corey reached into his pocket and pulled out a small coin, which glinted in the overhead lights. At first I thought it was loose change until he stopped, staring at the gold object resting in his hand. Beams of light surrounded the image of an angel.

“My grandmother.” His voice cracked. He took a deep breath. “My grandmother gave this to me. She told me to always keep it with me so I would know she was thinking about me. I thought I’d lost it.” He patted down his pockets like it might reveal more hidden treasures. “The last time I wore this suit was…her funeral.”

I squeezed his hand. I didn’t know what to say, but I thought the moment was beautiful.

Inside Bianca’s room, Nate doled out drinks, beers for the guys and rum and diet for us. Just in case the sorority held to their promise of no underage drinking, we figured we’d get sloshed before the formal to keep the buzz lasting all night. Corey and Nate were the only ones already twenty-one thanks to being a grade above us. Everyone sprawled out among the two queen-sized beds. I eyed Bianca quizzically, wondering why she had booked me a single and taken a double for herself, but she didn’t catch my meaning.

Erin entered a few minutes later, dressed in a long plum gown that accentuated her boyish figure in all the places she needed extra help. When Harrison Wagner stepped inside the threshold, he shoved his hands in his pockets and swayed awkwardly in the doorway. He had smoldering brown eyes that complimented his dark hair, and his tall, lanky, frame stretched almost to the top of the door. Erin coaxed him forward, but he didn’t move as his eyes narrowed into slits.

“We’re not going to bite.” Corey snapped his teeth, chomping at air.

“Speak for yourself,” Nate snarled. He turned toward Harrison. “Dude, just know you’re on our turf now.”

“Actually, I believe this is Rho Sigma’s
turf
.” Harrison spit the word like an insult. Nate’s threat worked against him because Harrison strode into the room and perched on the end of one of the beds, furthest from Nate.

“Boys!” Bianca said, giggling. She must be at least two drinks deep already. “No fighting. Unless it’s over us.”

Harrison flicked his eyes toward her, as if to convey that could be arranged. She blushed.

I leaned into Corey. “What’s going on?”

He stroked the small of my back and directed a glare at Harrison. “Nothing.”

“What?” Harrison uncapped a bottle of beer with the opener, then arched his arm as if to toss it across the room. He must have thought better about sinking to that level of immaturity because he calmly slithered off the bed and plunked it into the garbage bin. “You still bitter about us stealing all your pledges?”

“You didn’t steal anyone.” Corey let out an exaggerated snort. “You got our leftovers.”

Harrison chuckled to himself as he sat back down. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”

Erin plopped next to him on the bed, spilling her drink over the top of the glass. A drop landed on her dress, and she hopped up, screeching. She frantically rubbed at the wet spot, which darkened the fabric in an unfortunate place right in front of her crotch. “This is satin!”

“I’ll get a wet washcloth.” Bianca headed for the bathroom.

Harrison leaned into Erin’s ear, whispering something while keeping his eyes focused on Corey and Nate. Erin nodded, fighting back a sniffle. This was the only time I’d ever seen her lose control, but just as quickly as she lost it, she composed herself. “We’re going back to the room to use the blow dryer.” She allowed Harrison to lead her out the door. It slammed behind them.

Bianca stuck her head out of the bathroom, a washcloth dripping in her palm. “We have a blow dryer, too.” She tossed the washcloth at the sink. “What was that all about?”

“Nothing,” Nate said, handing the drink back to Bianca.

“They think Beta Chi’s in a rivalry with them, but that’s only because they keep trying to mess with us.” Corey drained the last of his beer. “Hey, Nate!” He shook the glass like a maraca. Nate tossed him another beer that almost hit me in the skull.

“Because of some pledges? That’s so stupid,” Bianca said. Fraternities had both fall
and
spring rush for new members. Sororities only participated in spring rush. Our process was a lot more formalized than theirs. They threw parties and the prospective pledges could attend whichever ones they wanted. After one party, the boys could extend bids to join. Girls had to sign up via the Greek Organization, who placed them in tour groups. After each round, we cut girls from our list of wannabes and they narrowed the houses they were asked back to from fourteen to seven, then from seven to three, and finally from three to one. The Greek Organization then matched the houses’ list choices with the girls’ list to create evenly distributed pledge classes for each house. No sorority could extend bids to more than forty girls. Fraternities could take as many or as little as they wanted.

“That’s not just it,” Corey said. “We’re in an all out prank war with them. Last month they kept all our downstairs furniture hostage until we bargained with them. Then they hung a sign over our door that read
Beta Guy Lameda
, which is stupid and lame in itself. Stuff like that. We’re pissed because we can’t get them back.”

“I don’t mind the rivalries, they’re fun, but this one is totally unfair,” Nate said. Something told me if the advantages were skewed in his favor, he wouldn’t be pissed.

“Why can’t you get them back?” I finished my drink and slid off Corey’s lap to refill it.

“Because they don’t have a house,” both Corey and Nate said at the same time.

I sucked in a breath.
The pageant sashes the shirtless animal-headed boys dropped on Beta Chi members that night.
“I’m confused. What fraternity are they?” I lifted the rum bottle. Bianca held her cup out to me, so I filled both.

“Out House,” Nate said.

“Omega Upsilon Tau,” Corey corrected.

Out house. Out house
. Through Rho Sigma this semester, I’d been to parties at nearly every fraternity. But… “I’ve never heard of them.” I handed Bianca her drink.

“That’s because they’re underground,” Nate said. “And they think that makes them cool.”

I was about to open my mouth to get further clarification, but Corey spoke before I could. “They’re illegal, not recognized by the Greek Org. Basically, it means the rules don’t apply to them. They can do whatever they want: recruit potential pledges before we’re actually allowed, steal them from other houses by offering incentives, that kind of thing.”

“We think that Harrison dude only came with Erin to start something with us,” Nate said.