Sorority of Three: Freshman 101

by Melissa Brown

  After her second shotgun, Grace walked me through the process. I was hesitant. I didn’t mind beer—hence my costume—but I was usually a slower drinker. I wasn’t sure I could finish an entire beer in four to five seconds. It seemed like a ridiculous thing to even attempt.

  “What the hell,” I said, grabbing a towel from the countertop and draping it across my chest.

  “Atta girl,” Max said. “Try not to freak out when it runs down your throat.”

  “Did you seriously just say that?” I asked, my eyes wide.

  His cheeks turned pink. “Sorry.”

  “If I can do it, so can you,” Grace said. “Go for it.”

  “Here goes.” I pressed the can to my mouth before popping the tab. Like a freaking waterfall, the amber liquid went cascading down my throat, and I gulped madly. Holy hell, can I do this?

  Two seconds later, I dropped the can, spraying beer everywhere. “Shit, I’m so sorry,” I said between coughs.

  “It’s okay, Sun,” Max said, holding back his laughter. “Maybe next time we’ll get you a beer bong. I think Steve has one.”

  “I think I’m good.” I wiped my mouth with the towel, and noticed Max was looking at me with a strange look in his eyes. “What?”

  “You missed a spot. Here, I’ll get it.” He took the towel from my hand and wiped my temple. “There, you’re good.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “I think I’ll sit the next one out.”

  “Let’s dance!” Grace hopped up and down, a good indication her buzz was kicking in.

  Grace emerged from the kitchen as a new woman, all giggly and smiling uncontrollably. Max led us onto the dance floor, dancing in between us with a huge grin on his face. What guy wouldn’t want to be in a sandwich between a flapper and a beer maid?

  After a couple of songs, I needed a break and a beer to sip. I left Max and Grace on the dance floor, but when I returned from the kitchen, another guy had made his way over to Grace. He was tall and lanky with tan skin and dimples. Not wanting to intrude, I stood next to Claudia, who was nursing her beer and talking to Angie.

  Max must have sensed Grace’s interest in the new guy, and headed over to us. I nudged Claudia, who looked surprised when she looked toward Grace. We watched as Grace danced and talked to the new mystery guy. Neither of us had ever seen him before. Since there were so many people there, we both assumed he was just a friend of somebody in the frat. We knew Grace would eventually make her way back to us to fill us in and get our approval.

  After three songs, that was exactly what she did. “His name is Luke. He’s a freshman and he plays football.”

  “Wait, he plays for us? He doesn’t look very big!” Claudia said in disbelief. Being a Big Ten school, U of I had a highly selective football team.

  I had to agree with Claudia. This guy, although tall, was pretty slim. In my mind, he didn’t look like a football player. Not at all.

  “I guess so, yeah. Isn’t he cute? I think he likes me,” Grace said, her speech beginning to slur.

  But she was having fun…with a guy. And I had no intention of killing her buzz.

  “He is cute,” I said. “Go have fun. Let us know if you need anything.”

  “Okay,” she said, grinning.

  “We’ll be on the balcony with Max.” I smiled as I pulled Claudia toward the fresh air.

  About a half hour later, I decided to check up on Grace. When I looked inside, I saw she and Luke were dancing closer to each other. Luke had his mouth pressed up to her ear. Grace smiled and laughed as she listened. This was just what she needed!

  Luke stroked her hair and Grace leaned in, the tip of her nose brushing against his chin. He smiled down at her before pulling her in for a kiss. I felt guilty watching as that simple kiss turned into a full-on make-out session on the dance floor.

  When they came up for air, Luke leaned in and whispered into her ear. She laughed and answered. Their conversation seemed to go on for a while. I was happy for Grace, loving that she’d found someone to erase Trevor, and his puke, from her fragile heart. Then everything changed when I looked back to the dance floor.

  Shock was plastered across Grace’s face. She laughed maniacally, grabbing his arm and pushing him away. “Are you serious?” she yelled. “You’re joking, right? Tell me you’re joking!”

  Luke looked down at the dirty floor and shook his head. He made one last attempt to hold her hand, yet she slapped it away quickly.

  Grace saw me walking toward her. She spun around and darted toward me, leaving Luke alone on the dance floor.

  “Wait, what did I do?” Luke pleaded, his face pained. “Grace, come back!”

  Grace grabbed my arm and pulled me back toward the balcony. “He’s a freshman in high school. Get me out of here!”

  “What?” I shrieked, looking back to get one last glance at Luke. “No way.”

  “I’m serious,” she said, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “I think I’m cursed.”

  “No, you’re not,” I said with a laugh.

  “Sunny! I committed a crime! He’s fifteen at the most. Disgusting!” She pursed her lips together, her eyes wide in panic.

  “Shh, calm down,” I said, smoothing down her auburn hair. “Seriously, it’s okay.”

  Claudia walked up behind Grace. “What’s up? Where’s your football player?” Her tone was a little snide and I winced, wishing I could warn her without setting Grace off all over again.

  “He’s in high school,” Grace muttered. “And I’m a child molester.”

  “Oh my God, stop!” I snapped. Grace was always so hard on herself. And sometimes she hit my limit.

  “Um, excuse me?” Claudia asked, one eyebrow raised in confusion.

  Grace covered her face with her hands and shrieked, “He’s a kid!”

  “What the fuck ever, Gracie,” Claudia yelled. “How could you have known? What the hell is he doing here anyway? He’s a friggin’ child!” Claudia looked around, probably hoping that the “child” had heard her.

  “Ladies, you look like you could use a shot,” Max said, walking behind us with a bottle of RumChata.

  “You have no idea.” Claudia took a plastic shot glass from Max, then he passed one to Grace and me before filling ours and then downing one himself.

  “He’s visiting his brother. He just kept saying that he was a freshman. How the hell was I supposed to know he was a freshman in high school?”

  Grace forced down the first shot and leaned her head up against my shoulder. She was mentally exhausted. This night wasn’t exactly turning out to be what she, or anyone, had planned. But it was still only eleven thirty and I was determined to be optimistic. Good things could still happen for Grace. I had to try to salvage her weekend.

  “Forget about him,” Claudia said, rolling her eyes. “Max, pour us another shot!”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Max happily poured another round.

  I knew I was inching toward being incredibly drunk but I was having fun, despite the inevitable drama that tagged along behind Grace like her shadow.

  “Clear him from your head, Grace. Seriously,” Claudia said, her expression serious.

  And right then, it became clear. Claudia was trying to clear someone from her head, which was so unlike her. Rather than confront her, I distracted Claudia by taking her by the hand and leading her and Grace to the dance floor. It was time to dance with the girls.

  After several booming songs, my neck was sweaty and my feet were tired. I felt a tap on my shoulder, and turned to see an all-too-familiar face. Shit.

  “Xander?”

  “Hey, you,” he shouted above the music.

  “Oh my God,” I said, horrified…yet excited. “What are you doing here?” I quickly ran my fingers through my hair and wiped the sweat from my forehead.

  “My roommate’s brother is in this frat, so he brought us with him. I just got here.”

  “Oh.”

  “You look great,” he said, looking me up and down.

 
“Thanks,” I forced out. I had no idea what to say.

  Xander looked good; not as good as I remembered him, but my vision was pretty cloudy. His hair was shorter, his skin clean-shaven. His muscles still bulged from his T-shirt, just as I remembered. I felt my resolve slipping as he leaned in.

  “I’ve missed you.”

  “Yeah?” I asked, not sure how to respond. I wouldn’t say that I’d missed Xander. But the attraction I felt to him was undeniable. Hell, I’d probably always be attracted to his athletic build and thick hair.

  “Dance with me,” he whispered, pulling me by the waist.

  I hesitated and glanced at Claudia. She raised an eyebrow, tipping her chin forward, wanting to know if I was okay. I mouthed “Xander” to her and her mouth dropped open in shock.

  As the next song began, Xander put his arms around my waist and started to dance close, very close to me. It felt nice. The next thing I knew, my arms were around his neck and my head was on his chest as we danced to a countless number of songs.

  Xander’s friends approached us. The tall one with stringy brown hair leaned in and said, “Hey, man. We’re taking off. You ready to go?”

  Xander’s response was out of the ordinary. “No, man. I’m going to stay here with my girl, Sunny.”

  That was a surprise. I figured he’d definitely find a way to leave with them and strand me on the dance floor, thinking about him and his smile for the rest of the night.

  When my eyebrows shot toward the ceiling, he asked, “What?”

  “I just…I figured you’d go.”

  “It’s been a while,” he said with a shrug. “I wanna spend time with you. Is that a problem?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “I guess not.”

  Xander pulled me close as we danced. His touch made my heart race, and it felt like the temperature in the apartment began to rise. I pulled my long hair away from my neck and held it in my hand, trying desperately to cool down. Xander wasted no time, instantly nuzzling my bare neck.

  “Can I take you home?” he asked as he kissed my ear.

  Part of me wanted to say no, but Drunk Sunny happily said, “Yes, Xander. You can take me home.” It was hard to resist a man who was kissing your ear while making a request.

  Claudia was not happy with me as we headed back to the dorm, especially when she overheard me telling Xander that my roommate, Holly, was spending the night at her boyfriend’s apartment. She gave me a glare that I still haven’t forgotten, trying to protect me from the guy who had hurt me before. At the time, Drunk Sunny was annoyed that someone was trying to prevent her from having fun. So I glared right back.

  When we reached my room, we wasted no time at all. Xander closed my door, locking the dead bolt before pulling me in by the waist and kissing my neck.

  “You taste good,” he murmured.

  I held back a cringe as I couldn’t imagine what I could possibly taste like, knowing I’d been sweating for hours.

  “Can I help you out of your costume?” he asked, pulling on the strings of my corset. I nodded and he pulled on the strings again, loosening the fabric from my torso. Once the corset had fallen to the floor, he removed the white blouse and slid my skirt down to my ankles.

  “Xan, maybe—” I said, feeling hesitant.

  “Are you still, you know?”

  “A virgin?” I asked.

  “Yeah.”

  I nodded.

  “Are you sure we can’t take care of that?” His lips tickled the fleshy portion of my ear. I could feel his breath lingering on my skin.

  “I’m sure.”

  Even drunk, I wasn’t ready to have sex. I didn’t consider myself a late bloomer, but being the romantic person that I was, I wanted, no I needed to wait until I was with someone I truly loved. That was a priority to me. And so, as good as his lips felt against my skin, and as turned on as I was, standing in my bra and underwear in the middle of my dorm room, I was not about to compromise.

  “Okay, well, we can still have fun, right?” he asked with a chuckle.

  “What’d you have in mind?” I asked, playing hard to get. After dating him for a few months, I knew exactly what he had in mind.

  “You know…a little of this, a little of that,” he said, looking at the bed.

  “I could probably arrange that,” I said, acting coy.

  “Good.” He ran his fingers through my hair, then asked, “Which one is yours,” gesturing to the beds.

  Taking his hand in mine, I led him to my bed.

  “Lay down,” he said. And I did.

  Xander’s hands drifted up my belly as he kissed my belly button, lowering his head little by little, taking his time, making me crazy.

  Desire flooded my abdomen. I wanted him, needed him.

  “Beg me,” he said.

  “What?” I asked, panting, pulling my head from the pillow. “Don’t be a dick.”

  Xander flashed me a grin, then said, “I’m just kidding.”

  Then he ran his tongue down, down, down until I was thrusting my head back into the pillow, clenching my teeth and enjoying every teasing touch from his eager tongue. Within seconds, I came. And a few seconds after that, I was mortified.

  “That was fast,” he said.

  “You’re way too proud of yourself,” I said, trying so hard not to show how embarrassed I was.

  “I love that I still have that effect on you.” He stroked my inner thighs with his fingertips, still way too proud of what he’d accomplished in less than a minute.

  “Whatever.” I laughed, sitting up and running my fingers through my hair. “You’re so cocky.”

  Xander gave me a lopsided grin. “With good reason.”

  “Will you ever change?”

  “Probably not,” he said with a chuckle. After we sat together in silence for a few seconds, he turned serious. “Do you, like, want me to go or something?”

  His question surprised me. I couldn’t imagine Xander leaving without being satisfied. He’d taken care of me and was asking nothing in return? Weird.

  “No.” I shook my head and pushed my hands into his chest, easing us down to the bed. My hand gripped his zipper.

  “Seriously, Sun. It’s okay,” he said. “I know you like to take it slow.” He took my hand from his jeans and pulled me down so my head rested against his chest.

  “Oh,” I said. “Are you sure?”

  “My balls will never forgive me, but yeah.” His chest vibrated as he chuckled. “I’ve put you through enough, don’t you think?”

  I said nothing, knowing that even though my instinct would be to dismiss what he said, I couldn’t do it. He’d hurt me. Like, really hurt me. And I wasn’t ready to let him back in. Besides, who knew if he actually wanted to be let in.

  He kissed the top of my head. “’Night.”

  Xander snored quietly beside me as I stared up at the ceiling. I was sure he wouldn’t be there when I woke up. He was my weakness, and I had been extremely weak.

  I surprised myself, though. As I drifted off to sleep, visions of Sawyer popped into my head, not Xander.

  Good Lord, I was in such a bad place. I had one guy in my bed and another lurking in my heart.

  Just as I suspected, when I woke the next morning, Xander was gone. Some things never changed.

  Chapter 7

  Sub Guy

  Grace

  November, a Wednesday afternoon

  Two weeks ago, I was mortified…twice. Since then I’d been hiding at Weston. I told my friends that I was trying to focus on my work, but they knew me better. They knew I was getting over the Puking Guy, the nickname Claudia had coined for Trevor, and Baby Face Guy, as she’d named Luke, despite my begging her not to give him a nickname. I could never escape Claudia’s nicknames.

  I was finally starting to feel like I could move past that horrible weekend. Trevor had avoided me, which was a relief, since I wasn’t yet ready to be in a room with him either. Luckily we didn’t have any classes together and our frat didn’t have a
ny parties planned for the entire month of November. I needed a break.

  When I walked into the student union to meet Claudia for lunch, she was busy texting on her phone. When I stood behind her and placed my hands on her shoulders, she jumped. Really jumped. Lately Claudia had been downright jittery. It didn’t make much sense, but I knew her better than to push. She wasn’t the type to keep things to herself. If she wanted me to know what her deal was, she’d tell me, or she’d tell Sunny. So either there was nothing bothering her at all, or whatever it was, she wasn’t telling a soul.

  “Whoa, relax,” I said, backing up and raising my hands in surrender. “I wasn’t trying to scare you.”

  “Sorry, too much coffee this morning,” she said, but her cheeks deceived her. She was lying to me. I resisted the urge to call her out. I had to. This was so unlike her and I needed to talk to Sunny. Needed to figure out what the hell could possibly be going on with her before saying a word. “Ready to eat?”

  With a start, Claudia jumped out of her chair, stuffed her phone into her backpack, and started walking toward the food court in the basement of the student union.

  “Do you think he’s working today?” Claudia asked.

  I tried to play dumb. “Who?”

  “You know who,” she said with a coy smile.

  She was referring to the Sub Guy. He worked at the sandwich shop and always created the very best turkey subs for me. His nametag read Sam, but to us he was the Sub Guy. I’d had a crush on him since our first week on campus. Despite the fact that Claudia insisted the crush was mutual, I didn’t see it. Sam was funny, yes. He was sweet to me, sure. But wasn’t he like that with all his customers? What made me so special?

  “Maybe.”

  “I’m surprised you don’t have his schedule all mapped out,” Claudia teased, nudging me on the elbow.

  “Claude,” I snapped.

  “Sorry,” she said with a laugh. “But you should go for it. Seriously.”

  “After Halloween weekend? I don’t think so.”

  “Ugh. You know that had nothing to do with you. Trevor drank too much and that Luke kid did look older than fourteen or whatever he was.”