Chapter 2

 

The chemical smell of Lysol hit my nose and woke me from a dead sleep. I didn't remember even closing my eyes or my head hitting the pillow.

I rubbed my eyes and then slowly opened them, staring at the clock beside my bed.

9:30.

I didn't expect anyone to be up this early, but I guess the pledges got a start on cleaning the bathrooms.

Groaning, I kicked off the covers and stood up, stretching my arms out. There was no way in hell I'd be able to get back to sleep now that I was breathing in the toxic fumes, so I figured I'd see if anyone wanted to go for a BK Lounge run.

I grabbed a pair of shorts off the floor and rummaged through my dresser for a clean shirt. I probably needed to do laundry, but with the Illinois spring weather hitting I figured it was close enough to flip-flop season that I could go forever between laundry loads as long as I had clean underwear. That, or I'd free ball it if all my jeans were decent.

My room wasn't huge, but at least I didn't have to share it. There were five other rooms on the third floor, all seniors, and all of us had our own bedroom with a walk-in closet. The juniors and sophomores crammed three to four in the rooms on the second floor and the first floor was reserved for the kitchen, dining room and common room. The basement was where the parties were and I didn't want to think about what it looked like after the Boats and Hoes party.

After doing the sniff test on a black White Sox shirt, I decided it was good enough and threw it on before opening the door and was almost knocked on my ass by the toxic smell.

"What the hell?" I held my breath and walked down the hall until I was at the bathroom.

One of the pledges, who was dubbed 'Meatball', since Rico said he was shaped like one, stood over the sink, dumping almost a whole bottle of bleach on it.

"Meatball, what are you doing?" I asked.

He jumped higher than I'd ever seen him and turned toward me, dropping the now empty bottle onto the floor.

"Oh. Hey. Sorry, Short Stack. I, uh, well last night didn't go so well, so I was told I needed to clean it up."

I shook my head, running my hands through my hair. I needed it cut, badly. It was shaggy all over and the guys said I was starting to get a fro. "You can't clean something up just by dumping bleach everywhere. Didn't anyone ever teach you how to clean?"

He shook his head, his eyes widening. "No, sir. That's what my mom was for."

That wasn't the first time I'd heard shit like that. Half the guys still didn't do their own laundry and waited until they went home for the weekend and to have their mommies do it.

"Well, your future wife is going to thank me someday. Get a bottle of bathroom cleaner and some paper towels. I'm going to show you the right way to do this."

He nodded and saluted me. "Yes, sir. I won’t let you down!"

As soon as Meatball left the bathroom I felt a hand on my back. "I thought I heard you down here."

I cringed, hearing Cali's voice. I hoped Rico didn't tell him something that would get me in shit. It wouldn't have been the first time I'd be in trouble with the president for something I didn't do.

"Yeah. Just helping the new guys out." I turned toward him and tried to stand as straight as I could.

I was always the little guy. My brother was Stack, mainly because he was built like a stack of bricks. Even at five-foot-eight, he looked like he could kill someone with his bare hands. And me? Well, I was just the little brother that got in because my brother was a legend...and then dubbed Short Stack because while he was short and ripped, I was short and lean.

I'm not saying I was a skinny little guy, I spent some time in the gym and didn't have the gut hiding under my t-shirt like the other guys in the house, but there was no way I'd ever look as 'roided up as my brother.

Cali rubbed the stubble on his chin before tossing his long blonde hair over his shoulder. "Yeah. You're always good for that."

He shook his head before slapping my shoulder. "You have a guest downstairs, so Meatball is just going to have to wait on you."

"A guest?" I raised an eyebrow. I didn't get many people coming by to see me. Okay, that was a lie; no one ever came to see me.

"Do you have shit in your ear? Yeah. Someone is fucking downstairs to see you."

I nodded. "Okay. I guess I'll go see whoever it is."

We just stood there awkwardly, staring at each other before Cali stepped aside.

I ran down the first set of stairs and heard Meatball near the hall closet, yelling about what color bottle was used for the bathroom. I would have stopped to help him, but I wanted to know who the hell was waiting for me and prayed it wasn't just a prank.

I hopped down the last set of stairs and slid through the laundry room until I was in the dining room. From there, I could see the front door where a set of blue eyes stared back at me.

My visitor was none other than Betsy.

I swallowed hard, wishing I would have, maybe put on a cleaner pair of shorts or something so I didn't look like I just woke up, while she stood there looking like a goddess.

Seriously, the girl was in a white, little, lacy dress with her blonde hair falling over her shoulders and hitting right where her cleavage spilled out. I had to bite my lip and try to think about anything other than her long, tan legs.

"Morning, Betsy."

She smiled a coy smile. "Hey, Short Stack. I just wanted to bring your shoes back."

Reaching into her large purse she pulled out my red shoes and held them out.

"Oh. Yeah. Right. Of course. My shoes." I closed the space between us and reached out for my shoes, my fingers brushing against hers.

If I didn't say that brief touch didn't send an electric jolt through every part of me, I'd be lying.

"Hey, Bets, what are you doing here?"

I cringed as soon as I heard Rico's voice.

Before she could answer, he'd pushed me aside and was standing in front of her, folding his arms across his chest.

"I just came by to drop off something that Short Stack lent me," she said, not even looking in my direction.

Rico glanced back at me and smirked before looking back at Betsy. "How about we go up to my room and hang out, unless you and Short Stack have plans?"

She shook her head, her eyes widening. "No. I don't have any plans. That'd be great."

Rico took Betsy's hand and neither one of them even gave me a second glance as they walked out of the room and upstairs.

I knotted the shoelaces in my hands, wishing I could break them. Wishing I could do something instead of just watching her walk away with a guy that treated her like shit.

But instead, I just went back upstairs and helped Meatball clean the bathroom.