“Hurry up!” Brandi called as Rachael made her way up the sidewalk. “Get over here.”
Everyone was lining up for the large bus that sat idling in the parking lot. Rachael went over to join her sisters on what she hoped would be a pleasant evening. Car loads of guys pulled into their lot and came over to join them in line. Rachael looked confused.
“What up with the guys?”
“We split a bus with Alpha Phi Beta. The other two groups are over at the house across the street catching a bus there. That way the cost was less for each group and no one parking lot was overflowing.” Lucia explained the process to her.
“Cool,” Rachael grimaced.
“Travis will have socials, too.” Brandi stated matter-of-factly.
“Great,” Rachael looked around at the guys who were obviously already well beyond drunk. They loaded onto the buses and the games began. Drinking song after drinking song, loud chants, and girls seated on guys laps. There were more people on the enormous chartered bus than there were seats. Rachael found herself standing in the aisle. A guy offered to share his lap with her and she gladly said a polite, “No, thank you.”
Rachael accepted a beer from Brandi and chugged it back. She decided she might need it to make it through the night. After half an hour on the road they finally arrived at their destination and Rachael couldn’t have been more thankful. They climbed off the bus and joined the other group that had arrived just ahead of them. Rachael stopped cold at the sight of Colten and a few of their friends from back in West Palm Beach. She hadn’t known that TJ and the gang were going to school here, too. They rushed over to hug Rachael and she was truly glad to see them.
“I can’t believe how much you’ve changed!” TJ stepped back and looked at her. “College looks good on you, Rachael.”
“Hi, I’m Matt. We met years ago at the club.” Matt offered his hand.
“Nice to see you again.” Rachael vaguely remembered Matt as Brittany’s fling from freshman, or maybe sophomore year. She couldn’t be sure. All she knew is it was before Brittany hooked up with Colten, slept with him, and subsequently started dating him behind her back. That chain of events was still crystal clear.
Rachael wanted to ask about TJ and Ellery, but the fact that another brunette with short curly hair was hanging all over him and he made no attempt to push her away told her everything. They must have broken up.
Why hadn’t Ellery mentioned it? They had just talked a couple of days ago.
She was going to school in South Florida.
“So, you’re still dating the cowboy.” TJ glanced down at her ring.
“Engaged to the cowboy. June’s coming faster than I know it.”
“Getting married in June!” TJ cut his eyes at Colten and nodded.
Rachael had no idea what was going on here, but she didn’t like it. For one, TJ was not acting like the TJ she remembered. And if he and Ellery were still together- then, what was he doing with this other girl?
“Yep, June. Well, it was great bumping into y’all. See you around,” Rachael excused herself and went in search of her friends.
She was glad to see they’d saved her a seat. Brandi patted the seat next to her, while Lucia didn’t even notice her approach. She was lip-locked with some guy next to her. Brandi gave Rachael a knowing look.
“Having fun?” Brandi inquired.
“Not yet,” Rachael answered honestly.
“Give it a chance. You’ll have fun. If you can just stay above all the noise, you’ll have fun.”
“I’m trying.” Rachael saw that the lights were dimming and she hadn’t even eaten yet. She took a gulp of whatever the dinner beverage was, apparently some stale ale, and dug into her chicken, potatoes, and salad.
At least the food is decent…
“Hear ye, hear ye.” A man, dressed as a Joker in the center of the rink, read a proclamation from a scroll. “In this year, the sixteen-hundredth year of our Lord, The Duke of Universityshire, we found there two noble knights in search of love. Could those knights please come forward?”
Rachael and everyone else in their private dining party watched as Colten made his way down to the railing and jumped over it onto the dirt floor arena beneath.
“And his challenger?”
TJ sprinted down to join him.
“They fought for the love of this fair maiden.”
A girl stepped out onto a stand in the center of the arena. She had wildly curly, blonde hair and an enormous chest.
“The man eater in the flesh. She goes through them like water. She’s best friends with your old roomie, Caroline.” Brandi muttered.
“Ah, a match made in heaven.” Rachael whispered.
“Exactly. I guess they both like your ex,” Brandi nodded towards Colten.
“They can have him.”
“And for the honor of one, sweet kiss, the knights would duel…to the death!” The crowd oohed and awed on queue for the Master of Ceremonies. “And so, it began…”
Colten and TJ used wooden swords to battle it out, and fake blow for blow, they made it look quite convincing and very comical. Rachael had to give them both credit for giving it their all.
“But in the end, only one stood…” The Joker waited for one to fake his own demise. TJ fell to the ground and the crowd cheered. “And to the victor went the spoils of battle.”
“And with this the fair maiden kissed the winner.”
Rachael ignored the outrageous display going on. “What’s the temptress’s, I mean maiden’s name?” She asked.
“Jade. Love that girl,” Brandi said in a clearly sarcastic tone.
From there the show continued with real jousting and loud cheers. Everyone ate and ate, until they felt like they could burst and the night came to an end. Rachael felt a little dizzy from her two drinks and was ready to do nothing more than crawl into bed. She walked outside and looked at the awaiting bus, not wanting to ride it back. The thought of more songs, chants, and lap dances wasn’t at all appealing.
“Well, my job’s done here.” As the Social Chair it was Brandi’s job to make sure the evening went as planned. She handled the check to pay for the event as well. Now that she was done, she obviously had no plans to hang around. Brandi gave her a hug, “see you tomorrow.”
“You’re not riding the bus?”
“No, it gets crazy on there. I texted my boyfriend. He’s coming to pick me up.”
“Can I grab a ride, too?”
“Sure.”
They watched as the bus pulled away and the din coming from it could be heard even as it faded into the distance. The other bus wasn’t far behind, and Rachael immediately took a seat on the curb waiting for their ride. She texted Travis about her night and everything that had transpired. He’d had a social, too. His was to some Comedy Warehouse place. He said he was still there and it was really quite fun. He offered to come pick her up.
I guess he’d been smart enough to drive his own truck.
Rachael turned to Brandi, wondering why she hadn’t driven her car to their social. “Why didn’t you drive your own car?” Rachael asked.
“It’s against the rules. No drinking and driving- and all that liability. This way we can ensure everyone makes it to and from the event safely.”
“That certainly makes sense.” And while Rachael agreed with the liability piece, she didn’t like the rule.
“Here’s our ride.” Brandi’s boyfriend pulled up in a Hummer. He rolled down the windows and smiled over at them. “Hope I didn’t keep you ladies waiting long.”
Rachael was shocked. He looked to be in his early thirties. He wore a nice dress shirt and slacks. Brandi obviously didn’t go for the frat guy type. She had her sights set on something entirely different. It made sense. She was mature and she’d certainly go for a more mature kind of guy.
“Thanks, it has been a fun night.” Brandi leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek.
“A loud, fun night.” Rachael sneezed. The mixture of saw
dust, dirt, and horses had gotten to her nose. It tickled.
“This is Rachael, Rachael this is Bill.”
“Hey, Bill. I can’t thank you enough for the ride.”
“No, problem. Where to?”
“The house.” Brandi offered for Rachael, who gently blew her nose in the backseat. She didn’t usually have allergies, especially in barns and such, but there was a first time for everything. Or perhaps, maybe she had the sniffles.
The fresh night air on her face made her feel better. It swept away any grogginess the ale had caused. Her phone rang and it was Travis. She answered on the first ring.
“Did you survive?”
“Yep, you?”
“Barely, I got hit on by some crazy drunk girl and snuck out at intermission.”
“Quit joking, Travis. That isn’t funny.”
“That’s because I’m not joking. I barely got out of there.”
It was then that Rachael realized he was serious. Jealousy sprang forth like a caged lioness and she didn’t like the idea of him getting hit on by other girls. She got hit on all the time and she didn’t know why she thought it would be any different for him.
“The guys thought it was funny. Her name was Caroline.”
“Caroline! What did she look like?”
“Tall, thin, fit, brunette.” Travis cleared his throat. “What does it matter?”
“I think she was my old roommate.”
“Ah ha. I thought she was one of those girls. I guess she is. I hear she likes to go to all the Sigma socials. It’s her thing.”
“Got a thing for Sigma’s. I hadn’t heard that.” Rachael sneered. She thought it was strange that Caroline’s sorority had a social with hers tonight, yet Caroline had chosen to go with the Sigma’s on their social with two other sororities that she was not a member of. Furthermore, her best friend Jade had managed to attend their social- so why hadn’t Caroline? She must have bigger fish to fry at Sigma…
“Well, now we know. Don’t let it bother you,” she heard the despair in his voice.
“She must have known who you were. I had a picture of you up in our room.”
“Maybe not, some people aren’t good with details.”
“Sure they aren’t. Night Travis,” Rachael needed to hang up before Brandi heard her say something unkind- unpanhellenic. Panhellenic was some word that meant being nice and respectful to other Greeks. Treating other sorority and fraternity members on campus with kindness and behaving in an all-around altruistic way. Was hitting on someone else’s fiancé considered Panhellenic? Rachael knew she could think of several other words to describe Caroline and Panhellenic didn’t play any part in those adjectives.
“Don’t tell me you’re ticked at me.” Travis jested.
“Nope, but her yes. Night,” Rachael stuck her phone in her pocket and seethed. How could a girl just choose to attend another sorority’s social events just to be near one fraternity? Perhaps the fraternity allowed them to do it. Like groupies!
Guaranteed sex and hook-ups at the end of the night!
The more Rachael thought about it, the angrier she became. She’d gotten rid of one Misty, she certainly didn’t need another. Not that she was in any danger of losing Travis to this Jezebel, but she didn’t want to leave the door open for her either. Rachael would need to shut this down- and she would do so immediately. If Caroline thought she could wiggle her way into Travis’s life she was sorely confused and mistaken.
Back at the house, Rachael found her bedroom door locked and a handwritten note taped to it.
Would it be too much to ask you to stay at Travis’s? Love, L
Rachael walked back down the hall and found Stacy sitting outside her bedroom door reading a book.
“You too?”
“Yep, always happens after socials. You want to hang out?”
“No, I have a car. Heading to my fiancé’s place. Need anything?”
“Nope, I’ve lived here for three years now.” Stacy winked. “I’m used to it.”
“Okay,” Rachael went out to her car and decided that maybe she shouldn’t drive. She wasn’t a big drinker and she still felt tipsy.
She rang Travis back. He’d sent her three texts and she didn’t want him to think she was mad at him.
“Okay, come get me.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m locked out.”
“Don’t you have a key?”
“Yep, but I can’t go in there.”
“I’ll be right over.”
Travis got there in record time. He pulled up out front and she ran over to climb in.
Rachael decided to feign really drunk. Slurring her speech and everything.
“How many drinks did you have?”
“Five, maybe six.” She giggled.
“I know you’re playing me. You’d be passed out.”
“Two and I didn’t even finish the second. I tried, but I think I’m coming down with a cold.”
“So much for no guys beyond the firewall,” Travis chuckled.
“I guess this happens after socials.”
“Oh, really,” his eyes sparkled. “We have a social coming up.”
“No way, my luck I’d get called to Standards.”
“I’ve heard about that. We don’t have that sort of thing. If someone does something really stupid, Nationals steps in and handles it. None of this Big Brother Bull on a local level,” Travis clearly thought the Standards thing was a load of crap.
Rachael laid her head on his shoulder.
“Get a shower when you get home. It’ll make you feel better,” he tapped his hand to the beat of the music on her thigh. “Short skirt. I’m not sure about this skirt. It may disappear.”
“Stop it. If you say another word, I’ll wear those black shorts on every social I have coming up.”
“My lips are sealed,” he kissed the top of her head.
A short while later, Rachael emerged from Travis’s bathroom, wearing his Browning sweatshirt. He was asleep already in bed. She cuddled up behind him and fell fast asleep, but didn’t sleep soundly. She tossed and turned. At one point her own sneezing awoke her from a dead sleep and she decided it was useless to try any longer. She got up and set to work making some breakfast. She snuck out to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. It was nearly empty. Half a gallon of milk and some dried-out fried chicken that appeared a week beyond its shelf-life stared back at her. She decided to dare to look in the small pantry and test her luck there. A few cans of SpaghettiOs, along with a dozen or more cans of condensed soup sat neatly stacked in alphabetized order. Packages of ramen in chicken flavor looked appealing as well. Rachael drummed her fingers on the door frame. After several moments of staring aimlessly into the pantry, she finally opted for the can of Creamy Asparagus. It sounded yummy and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a cup.
Rachael padded her way over to the microwave. Seizing a bowl from a nearby cupboard, she upended half of the contents of the can into the bowl and filled it the rest of the way with bottled water from Travis’s gallon of spring water she located near the kitchen sink. She opened another drawer and spied spoons, selecting one to stir her soup. She lifted the bowl off of the counter and set it gently into the microwave, setting the timer for two minutes.
Rachael leaned back against the counter’s edge, spying Travis’s charging station in the kitchen along the bar. She decided she might as well see if her own phone needed charging and went to fetch it from her purse on the kitchen table. She glanced at the screen, seeing that she didn’t have any new messages. Then, she walked over to plug it in. That’s when she saw a text scrolled across the screen of Travis’s cell.
I hope you liked what I sent you earlier…
The rest of the text wasn’t visible to Rachael. She’d actually have to enter the password in order to be able to fully read the text, but she knew doing so would be devious. And yet, she didn’t recognize the number. It was a 407 area code. She quickly looked th
e area code up on her own phone and discovered it was a Central Florida area code. The Orlando area, but it also included other areas like Kissimmee, Winter Park, College Park, and the tourist areas. Rachael entered the number in her phone and found that she knew no one with that number. She decided that playing investigator any further would make it appear that she didn’t trust Travis and she certainly didn’t want it to appear that way. The timer on the microwave beeped signaling the readiness of her soup. Rachael slowly walked back over to open the door and lift it down. She carried her steaming hot bowl to the kitchenette and sat down to sip it. It was incredibly hot and she decided she should let it cool a while longer. And in all honesty, she had something else on her mind- something other than soup.
Rachael returned to the charging station once more and glanced at Travis’s screen. Another text came in and this time it was a photo. Rachael’s jaw dropped, as did her heart, at the appearance of a nude photo on his phone. Her initial shock was very quickly replaced with anger, because while the sight of any naked girl on his phone screen would be bothersome at the least, but this girl she recognized!
Caroline.
Rachael studied the pic and had to refrain from throwing the phone across the phone. She had to admit that she was stunning and her body was amazing. The idea of her sending a nude pic to Travis made her skin crawl and blood boil. She knew he wasn’t a cheater and the fact that she wasn’t even in his contact list told Rachael all she needed to know. The pics were unsolicited. And then, it hit her. There was more than one picture. The first text indicated an earlier photo or something else had been sent. Rachael had half a mind to fire off a text of her own. The only thing stopping her was the past.
Rachael remembered back to when she felt Travis didn’t trust her to handle things on her own with Colten. She remembered how mad it made her that he didn’t believe in her and her ability to handle the situation. Of course, in time he had trusted her to address the problem and put an end- as well as a permanent distance between herself and Colten. Now it was Rachael’s chance to offer him that same trust. He’d shown he could do it when it came to Misty, his gorgeous ex-girlfriend back home. And Rachael knew she could trust him to do it again. This situation would be no different.
Cowgirl Coed (Redneck Debutante Series Book 4) Page 8
