Chapter 4

 

The day had finally come for initiation and the biggest party of the year for the new members, as well as the guys that would be leaving.

John Boy never came around to parties since he graduated and practically married his girlfriend right out of college, but he made an exception for me.

"Fucking Short Stack!" He dropped his duffle bag in the middle of the Common Room and took me in a bear hug. The guy was massive, more like a pro wrestler than a guy who worked doing computer programming at an insurance company a few towns over.

"John Boy. The man. The myth. The legend!" I patted his back as he let go of me.

"Yeah, yeah. All in a day's work."

"Did Melanie make the trip?" I asked.

I always liked her. She wasn't like the other girls that came around the house. She was sweet, had curlier hair than I did that was always crazy. She also kept John in check, which no other girl ever could.

He shook his head. "Naw. She stayed home. Her sister is about to pop out another kid and she would rather be up visiting her in Chicago, than crashing on your futon with me."

"Well, it's technically your futon that you gave me when you graduated."

He laughed, slapping me on the back. I had to suck in a breath so I didn't wince. "Yeah, Short Stack, you know that became yours the moment you fucked Missy on it when you were pledging."

Now I really did wince and didn't want to remember the unceremonious way I lost my virginity, to a girl that I think really was looking to hook up with John. Instead, she ended up with the scared virgin, who threw up on her supposedly really expensive shoes right after.

"I'm just giving you shit, lighten up," John said, patting my back again.

"I am. Sorry. Been a rough week."

"Yeah, is everything okay?"

"Nothing. Just the usual."

"Okay, man.  You know I'm here for you if you need anything."

John could say that all he wanted, but he wasn't around. Everyone had their own life to deal with and I couldn't expect him to be my personal counselor, especially when it came to girls.

"So, are you actually going to hang out with me this weekend or will I find you out in the backyard, looking at the stars or some shit?"

I shook my head but couldn't help but smile. I did tend to look up in the sky and go into my own world a lot. I don't know why I did it. Maybe some psychiatrist years from now would tell me that I was repressing some childhood pain of being the youngest of a bunch of boys and having a crazy Colombian mother that liked to yell at us all in Spanish, but all I could really think was, that I really liked looking at the stars. I liked knowing there was a hell of a lot more out there than what was right in front of me.

I smiled. "Maybe you'll find me around."

 

***

 

After the initiation, it was time for the party. The new members picked the usual Heaven and Hell theme. I hated the theme the most out of all of them, but I think the guys just enjoyed seeing girls dressed in skimpy white dresses and angel wings.

I was sitting outside, as usual, watching the back door so no randoms tried to sneak in. We had a pretty strict policy about letting people in. Everyone had to come through the front door and show their student IDs and then lift their shirts up to show their waist band and do a spin. We did this so we didn't get random high schoolers', or other people who weren't actually students as well as to make sure there weren't undercover cops or just stupid fucks with guns.

I could have gone back inside and hung out with John, or any of the new guys and made someone else take over watching the patio, but I liked it this way. Sometimes being alone was a good thing.

"SHORT STACK!"

I turned sharply to see Cali's blond head hanging out of the kitchen window.

"Yeah?" I stood up and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sober, man?"

I don't think I'd had anything to drink but water all day. Maybe a shot, after the long-ass time it took to get thirty new members through initiation, but that was it. "Yeah. I am. Why, what's up?"

He jerked his head backward. "Just come inside and get your keys."

I was going to ask more questions, but he shut the window before I could. So I did what I was asked and opened the back door and headed through the dining room toward the kitchen.

My eyes first landed on a trail of blood that went down the white tile floor and stopped at a girl, curled in the fetal position with a hand towel covering her face. As I got closer I noticed the mess of blonde hair and the long, tanned legs I'd been staring at since I first set foot on campus.

I crouched down and saw more red than the blood on her face.

"What did he do to you, Betsy?" I whispered.

Her bright green eyes met mine but she didn't say anything. I didn't even know if she could say anything with the blood stained cloth covering her mouth.

Cali knelt down beside me. "Rico said they were just hanging out in his room and she fell off his loft. I'd try and just bandage her up, but I think she needs stitches."

I clenched my fists at my side. The guy, who probably pushed her, wasn't around. So much for a caring dude he was. It was a good thing he wasn't, because I was afraid of what I would have done if I saw him.

"I'll go with you, man." I felt John's grip on my shoulder before I saw him, but when I did look there was an understanding in his eyes. Like he knew I was about to lose it.

"Okay." I fished my keys out of my pocket. "Go start my car and I'll help Betsy out."

He nodded. "Will do, little brother."

"Do you think you can move okay? Does anything else hurt?" I asked Betsy.

She slowly tried to sit up, but I put my arm around her middle and scooped her up into my arms. I wasn't much for strength, but it was as if another force took over. I lifted her into a fireman's carry and took her out the back door where John had my car idling.

I grazed past him to the open passenger door, where I set Betsy down and slid the seatbelt around her before buckling her in. She didn't even look at me, just kept her head down.

I closed the door and went around to the driver's side. I went to close the door but was stopped short when John pulled it back. "You sure you're okay to do this, man?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Someone has to take her."

He raised his eyebrows. "I mean, are you going to be able to keep yourself in check?"

I shook my head. "I don't even know what you're talking about."

I tried to close the door again, but John was stronger. "You're not going to take her and get all weird and emotional and confess your love, then come back and get all huffy about Rico and whine about it?"

I dug my fingernails into the door and yanked it back, until John had to let go and it jerked backwards. "I'm fine. I'm going to take Betsy to the hospital and when I come back, I'm going to bed. I'll see you when I get back."

Before he could get another word in, I sat down in the driver's seat and slammed the door. He stood there, in the middle of the parking lot, his eyes locked on the car.

Yeah, he was probably right about everything he said. I knew I would still be all pissy at Rico, but someone had to save Betsy.

Once we pulled out of the lot, I felt a cold swoop against my hand. When I looked down, Betsy's pinky was brushing against my knuckles. I glanced back at the road and when I looked back down her hand was on top of mine, on the armrest between us.

That was all I needed to know, that even though I left John behind, I was doing the absolute best thing.