Awakening (Covenant College Book 1) Read online

  “Everyone knows the guys in this frat are from good families, families that have money. These guys are going places.”

  Brittany’s outlook on life was seriously warped, I decided. “Really? Will’s family doesn’t have a lot of money.” For some reason, I was ready to fight with Brittany constantly these days.

  “What do you mean?” Brittany didn’t seem to believe me.

  “His family. They’re not well-off. They’re not poor, but they’re not well-off either.”

  “Maybe they just don’t let you in on their financial situation because they’re worried you’re a gold digger.”

  Wench.

  “Maybe,” I agreed sarcastically. “Of course, Will’s dad lives in a trailer in the middle of nowhere and his mom spent the entire summer living in a tent in the backyard with some Indian from the reservation in Traverse City. They even built a ceremonial teepee.”

  Why I felt the need to air Will’s dirty laundry was beyond me. In actuality, we had laughed about the situation with his mother all summer – but I could tell, deep down, it embarrassed him.

  “Native American,” Brittany responded primly.

  “What?” I was getting exasperated.

  “Native American. You can’t call them Indians anymore.”

  Tara could tell things were about to get ugly because she stepped in quickly. “Paris wants us to meet her downstairs for dinner.”

  I turned on my heel immediately after Tara spoke. I couldn’t get away from Brittany quick enough. I knew when I found myself hoping one of Will’s fraternity brothers gave her herpes that I was letting her get to me far too much. I didn’t know how to solve the situation, though. I couldn’t exactly banish her from the room – and I didn’t know the area well enough to successfully hide a body. I was still fuming about the situation when we made it to the cafeteria.

  I separated from Tara and Brittany to get my food. When I sat down next to Paris, she could tell something was wrong. A look from Tara, though, told her now was probably not the right time to question me about my anger.

  Conversation at the table was decidedly stressed throughout the meal. I kept catching Brittany casting me furtive looks throughout. I decided to take the high road; I just pretended she wasn’t there.

  After dinner, Paris and I managed to put enough distance between us and Tara and Brittany to get on a separate elevator.

  “What happened?”

  I told Paris what Brittany had said. She didn’t seem half as pissed off as I wanted her to be.

  “You’re overreacting,’ she said.

  “Excuse me?”

  “She’s naïve. She doesn’t understand how the world really is. When she finds out all these grand things she thinks are going to happen to her aren’t really going to happen, she’s going to be bitter.”

  “I hope she’s bitter with herpes.”

  “You can’t get rid of herpes,” Paris chided me. “She can learn just as important of a message with Chlamydia – and that can be knocked right out of you with a couple doses of penicillin.”

  I wondered – briefly – how Paris knew that. Then I decided to let it go. I’d only known Paris for a week. There’s such a thing as too much personal information.

  Paris and I showered first and then went to get ready for the party in the other room. Tara and Brittany showered after us – but there was still a marked tension in the air when they came into the bedroom to get dressed.

  I pointedly ignored both of them while I shrugged into a vintage Star Wars shirt, jeans, DC Comics Wonder Woman shoes and a Star Wars hoodie.

  I turned in time to see Brittany frowning at my outfit.

  “You’re not going to wear that are you?”

  “Why?” I was just itching for a fight.

  “You look like a boy.”

  “What boy would wear Wonder Woman shoes?”

  “Well,” Brittany bit her lower lip. “You still look like a boy.”

  “Why does it matter?” I wanted to tell her no boy would wear pants so tight there was worry about the seam ripping, but I didn’t think that would get me anywhere.

  “You’re never going to attract a guy looking like that.”

  “She already has a guy.” Tara looked confused.

  “Yeah, but it’s not like they’re getting along. It’s only a matter of time until they break up.”

  Paris stepped into my path to stop me from stalking over to Brittany and ripping her head off her shoulders. “It’s not worth it,” she sighed. “She’s just trying to bait you.”

  “It’s working.”

  I listened to Paris’ advice, though, and turned my back on Brittany. Screw Chlamydia. I was back to hoping she’d get herpes.

  Whether in a show of solidarity or not, Paris dressed in a pair of jeans, a Strokes T-shirt and brown Converse – so her outfit mirrored mine in a weird way. I saw Brittany frown when she saw us standing together – but she wisely chose to keep her mouth shut.

  We decided to walk to the party so everyone could have a good time. It was only a half-hour walk and the weather was still nice enough where it wasn’t going to be a factor. We weren’t going to have to implement designated drivers for at least a month.

  Paris and I took the lead on our trek – mostly because I was the only one that knew where the frat house was located.

  Before we knew it, we were a good block ahead of Tara and Brittany. I figured that was by their design so they could gossip about us.

  “You have to stop letting her get to you,” Paris admonished me. “She’s doing it on purpose. She thinks you’re unbalanced.”

  “I am unbalanced.”

  “Yeah, but if it comes down to a fight and we have to get the resident aide involved, then you’re not going to want to be the one that comes off as deranged.”

  She had a point there.

  Paris was quiet for a minute, but I could tell she wanted to ask me a question.

  “Do you think you’re going to break up with Will?”

  The question surprised me on some level – but it didn’t on others.

  “I don’t know,” I admitted honestly. “I thought all our problems were because we were apart so much. Now it turns out they are because he’s a dick.”

  Paris laughed. “I don’t understand why he freaked out that way.”

  “Me either. I don’t have the energy to constantly worry about hurting his feelings or embarrassing him, though.”

  “Yeah,” Paris was staring at the crescent moon. I knew what she was thinking about.

  “Are you going to break up with Mike?”

  “Yeah, I think so.”

  “Are you sad about it?”

  “If you would have asked me a week ago, I would have been broken-hearted.”

  “And now?”

  “Now I’m just anxious about doing it. Then I think I’m going to be relieved.”

  “How long will you wait to go after Mark?”

  Paris turned to me in surprise. She looked like she was going to argue the point with me and then, instead, shrugged her shoulders and giggled. “That obvious, huh?”

  “I don’t think anyone else has noticed. I’ve just been with you guys more.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  “He’s cool, don’t you think?” She seemed desperate for my approval.

  “He is cool,” I agreed. “I like that he’s himself and he doesn’t feel the need to impress anyone else.”

  “Me, too.”

  Paris and I finished the walk to Will’s fraternity house while discussing the pros and cons of dating Mark. Personally, I couldn’t figure out how they were both going to fit on that skateboard to go to the movies – but that wasn’t really my concern.

  When we turned the corner to the frat house you could hear music from almost a block away. Behind us, Brittany squealed with delight when she caught sight of the group of guys on the front porch of the house.

  “Aren’t they hot?”

  I coul
dn’t hear Tara’s response – but I was sure she was agreeing with Brittany.

  Paris and I exchanged eye rolls. I noticed Will was one of the guys out on the front porch. He caught sight of me as I turned on the sidewalk. He smiled warmly and flew down the steps to give me a hug. I was surprised.

  “I’m glad you came,” he said. “I wasn’t sure if … .”

  “I said I was.” I wanted to be annoyed with him, I really did. However, I was merely relieved that he didn’t’ seem to be harboring any ill will toward me. That made me annoyed with myself – but only for a few seconds.

  Will took my hand and led me up the steps. I grabbed Paris’ arm and dragged her behind me. I was not going to be stuck with these guys without someone interesting to talk to.

  I noticed Brittany glaring at me as Will led Paris and I to the group of guys he’d been talking to. I could feel the jealousy roiling off her. I bit back the urge to stick out my tongue at her and spent twenty minutes pretending to be interested in Will’s conversation with his fraternity brothers instead.

  After a while, though, I couldn’t feign interest in the latest edition of Guitar Hero so Paris and I left to refill our glasses at the keg. It was such a nice night; we made our way out to the backyard and seated ourselves in some lawn chairs to talk.

  “Is this what a fraternity party is really like?” So far I was unimpressed.

  “It might be more fun if you were on the prowl like Brittany,” Paris offered.

  “Good point.”

  Paris and I lapsed into an easy silence as we watched party guests flitter about. It occurred to me that there were about twice as many men as women at the party. I thought that was odd.

  “Don’t you think it’s weird that it’s such a sausage fest?”

  Paris furrowed her eyebrow and turned to where I was looking. “I guess I hadn’t thought about it … but you’re right. There are a lot more guys here than girls.”

  “I thought these were supposed to be the hottest guys on campus, wouldn’t the girls be here drooling over them?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe there’s another party we don’t know about?”

  “Maybe.”

  I noticed that two of the frat brothers were now positioning themselves near an obviously drunk girl. One was freaking her from behind and the other was trying to isolate her from the front. Before the girl realized what was happening, the guys had managed to separate her from the small group of friends she’d been talking to only a few minutes before.

  I started to get up and then stopped. What was I going to do? I really had no reason to get involved. Still, something was bothering me about the situation.

  Paris seemed as helpless as I did. “Should we do something?”

  “What? They’re not technically doing anything. They’re just dancing.”

  Paris nodded, but I could tell she wasn’t convinced. I noticed her line of vision, though, had shifted. She saw me looking at her and quickly tried to pretend she had been looking in a different direction. I wasn’t falling for that. I followed her sight line to where it had been trained just a few seconds before and found my jaw falling open.

  Brittany was still up on the side porch of the house trying to get her fraternity boy, I noticed. Unfortunately, the boy she’d obviously set her sights on was Will. She was hanging on his arm and laughing hysterically. I knew he wasn’t that funny. I started toward the porch in a huff.

  Paris looked like she wanted to stop me. When she saw the look in my eyes, though, she wisely backed off.

  I stomped back up the stairs – pushing myself through the fraternity brothers and their animalistic mating rituals. What was that smell? It smelled like sex? I stopped in front of Brittany and Will with a purpose.

  Will seemed to notice me before Brittany and tried to disengage himself from her arms (when had she grown eight of them?). “Zoe,” he sputtered. “I was looking for you.”

  “You were looking hard, I can tell,” I didn’t want to act like I was jealous, but I was so far gone at this point I couldn’t mask my emotions.

  Brittany narrowed her eyes as she regarded me. “He shouldn’t’ have to go looking for you,” she announced. “A real girlfriend wouldn’t just leave a stud like this alone.” She smiled adoringly at Will.

  “Stud? Is he a horse now? If you think that, you’re going to be sorely disappointed when he gets you into bed.”

  My remarks were biting – but Will had known me long enough to realize now was not the time to pick a fight he could never win.

  Brittany was either too drunk – or too oblivious – to care.

  “You should just chill. We’re just having a good time.”

  I noticed she was having a hard time standing up straight. We hadn’t been here long enough for her to get that falling down drunk.

  “What are you on?”

  “What?” Brittany seemed confused.

  “What are you on? Acid?” It looked like she was having trouble focusing.

  “I would never smoke acid.”

  I was too concerned about Brittany to completely drop the hammer on her, but I couldn’t let her lack of drug knowledge go without commenting. “You drop acid. You don’t smoke it.” I grabbed her arm and dragged her away from Will – narrowing my eyes at him suspiciously as I did so. “Did one of your frat brothers put something in her drink?”

  Will looked genuinely shocked. “Of course not.”

  Just because Will didn’t believe they were capable of such an act didn’t convince me.

  “We’re leaving,” I told Brittany pointedly.

  “I am not. I’m having a good time.” She slurred her words.

  “No, we’re leaving. I don’t care what you want.”

  Paris had made her way to my side and was grabbing Brittany’s other arm.

  “Just put her inside and let her sleep it off,” Will offered lamely.

  “Absolutely not. I don’t trust these assholes as far as I can throw them.”

  I noticed that Aric had arrived on the front porch and was eyeing me curiously. When did he get here? Brittany’s sharp intake of breath when she caught sight of him would have been comical at another time. “Who is that?”

  I regarded Aric, doubt evident. “He’s the guy who’s going to help us get home.”

  If Aric was surprised at my pronouncement he didn’t say anything. Instead, he walked toward Brittany and scooped her up in his arms like she weighed nothing.

  “Let’s go,” he made eye contact with me briefly before starting to move off the front porch.

  Will was staring at Aric hatefully. He didn’t say anything, though. In fact, I noticed that while none of the fraternity brothers seemed happy to see Aric, not one of them was willing to get near him. Instead, the sea of people magically parted as Aric made his way down the steps.

  Paris and I followed him quietly. Tara saw that we were leaving and scurried down the steps behind us. “What happened?” She was confused. Where had she been all this time?

  “Let’s just say Brittany and I are going to have a long talk tomorrow and leave it at that for now?”

  Tara nodded in surprise. But, for a second, I saw something darker lurking in the corners of her eyes. Okay, maybe I just imagined that. This whole night was getting weird.

  Thirteen

  The walk home was awkward, and Aric didn’t even bother with the pretense of idle chatter. I couldn’t shut off my inner monologue, though.

  “What’s up with your fraternity brothers?” Apparently I couldn’t shut off my outer monologue either.

  Aric didn’t even bother looking at me. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, what was up with that party? There were like twice as many guys there as girls and it was like they were trying to double up on all the women.” I didn’t mention that it had smelled like sex to me. I figured that was more of a comment on me than anything else, and I didn’t want him to think I was a nymphomaniac or anything.

  “It was weird,” Paris echoed
.

  “I didn’t even notice.” Tara still seemed confused.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Aric answered evasively. Brittany looked like dead weight in his arms, but he wasn’t complaining about carrying her so I didn’t offer to help.

  When we got to the dorms, Paris, Tara, and I extricated Brittany from him.

  “I can carry her all the way upstairs,” he offered.

  “We got it.”

  Aric shrugged and left without saying goodbye. Why that irked me, I had no idea.

  It took us ten minutes to get Brittany up to our dorm room. I didn’t bother trying to get her in anything more comfortable than what she was already wearing. Instead I just dumped her on the floor in the main room – making sure she rested on her side in case she had to throw up.

  “Shouldn’t we put her in bed?” Tara asked nervously.

  “We’re not strong enough to lift her onto the top bunk and I’m not going to bother anyone to help us. She’ll be fine.”

  Tara must have decided it wasn’t worth arguing about because we all went to bed without exchanging another word.

  The next morning, Brittany looked like death warmed over and she was sitting in the middle of the floor holding her head when we all got up.

  “How are you feeling?” Tara knelt down next to her kindly.

  “Like I’ve been run over.”

  “How much did you drink?” Paris asked gently.

  “I only had one cup.”

  I pursed my lips. “One cup couldn’t have done that to you.”

  Brittany glared up at me. “Are you calling me a liar?”

  “No, just a slut.”

  Yep. It was time for the fight I’d been warding off for days.

  “Excuse me! I am not a slut.”

  “Then why were you hanging all over my boyfriend?”

  Brittany looked confused. “I was not!”

  “We all saw you.”

  Brittany looked to Tara and Paris for support. They both steadfastly avoided her gaze. “I don’t even remember talking to Will.”

  “Really? Then you probably don’t remember hanging all over him? Or calling him a stud? Or telling me I was a bad girlfriend because I didn’t give him enough attention?”

  I was a steamroller at this point.