3

"Penny, there is nothing you can say that will get you out of going to this party. Now put this on," she tossed some clothes at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. You win. As always." I went to the other side of the room and slowly undressed. I pulled the sparkly blue miniskirt on and put on my best pushup bra and a low-cut, white tank top. I was just finishing my mascara when Melissa walked back into the room.

"Penny, you look amazing."

"I look like a hooker. Melissa, it's going to be cold out tonight. Shouldn't I wear a little, well, more?"

"These are the last few days of summer. You have to rock that outfit while you can. These shoes," she said and handed me a pair of shimmery heels. The heels had to be at least five inches tall. Melissa was dressed similar to me, except her skirt didn't sparkle, and if possible, it was slightly shorter than mine.

"I can't wait for autumn," I said, and strapped on the shoes. I glanced at Professor Hunter's sweater that was still folded up on my chair. All I wanted was to put it on, curl up in my bed, and watch T. V. all night. Instead, Melissa grabbed my arm and pulled me out of our dorm room.

When we exited our dorm building, we walked arm in arm along the sidewalk toward Main Street. Boys whistled as they walked by us and cars honked.

"Do you think it's going to rain?" I asked her.

"Stop worrying about everything. Let's just have fun tonight!"

We turned onto a side street and in a few minutes I could hear the music blaring. The large Sigma Pi letters were nailed to the top of the house. A guy was peeing in some bushes off to the left.

"And so we have arrived," I mumbled.

"Ladies!" A classically tall, dark, and handsome boy walked over to us. "Welcome to Sigma Pi. Looking for anyone in particular, or just here for something new to do?" He winked at Melissa. Her arm unwound from mine as she introduced herself to him. I didn't hear their exchange.

"Tyler invited us," I said to him.

He turned around to the house. "Yo, Tyler!" He added a whistle. "Tyyyyyler!"

"Find me before you leave," Melissa said as she was steered away by her new acquaintance.

I was left standing there alone in my skimpy outfit. I looked back toward Main Street. Maybe I should just leave. Melissa would never even know.

I was about to walk away when someone yelled: "Penny!"

I turned around and saw Tyler strolling over to me. He had two red, plastic cups in his hands. He was wearing a black t-shirt with Sigma Pi printed across it in neon green letters. His jeans weren't too baggy or too tight. He looked good. When he reached me, I noticed that he was a few inches taller than me even with my heels.

"I didn't think you were coming, Penny," he said and handed me a cup. "But I am so glad to see you. You look amazing, babe."

I flinched when he called me "babe." Austin always used to call me that. I took a long sip of the beer.

"You clean up well yourself," I replied.

He smiled at me. "Want to come inside?"

"Of course," I said. He wrapped his arm behind my back and his hand lingered on my waist as he led me toward the frat house.

The music was booming and it almost seemed like the house was shaking. I drank my beer while he gave me the tour. When we finished walking around the first floor I needed a refill. We headed into the basement and both refilled our glasses.

"Do you want to dance?" He almost had to yell so I could hear him.

"And by dance, do you mean that?" I asked and pointed to a couple who was grinding.

"Well, if you want to dance like that I might need another drink."

I laughed. "Probably something stronger than beer." I smiled up at him.

"Well that, babe, I can arrange." He grabbed my hand and brought me back over to the bar. He walked behind the counter and brought out a bottle of vodka. "If I'm going to dance crazy, so are you." He poured the vodka into two shot glasses. "We should probably finish these first," he said and held up his red cup. "It would be a shame to waste."

I rolled my eyes and drank the rest of my beer. I tossed him my empty cup. "Satisfied?"

"Not yet," he said and stared at me playfully. He lifted up his shot glass and I did too. The alcohol burned my throat as it went down. I slammed it back down on the table. Tyler looked back at the people dancing. "I don't know, still looks pretty provocative. Maybe one more?"

"Tyler, are you trying to get me drunk?"

"Me? You're the one that wants to dance like that. You, Penny, are trying to get me wasted. I don't know what I'm going to do with you."

"Fine, one more shot each. Then I'll see what moves you have."

Tyler grinned and poured more vodka into the shot glasses. "Here's to a fun night," he said and raised his glass.

Here's to forgetting Austin. My head was beginning to grow foggy, but I downed the second shot as well. Tyler grabbed my hand and we ran into the sea of people dancing. He turned me around and pulled my hips into him. I let my body move to the beat.

"Penny," he whispered into my ear. "What are you trying to do to me?"

I reached my hand up behind his neck and let him control my hips. He turned me around so that I was facing him.

"You're a great dancer."

"Tyler, this is not dancing," I laughed.

"Oops, alcohol must have worn off." He quickly picked me up and lifted me over his shoulder.

"Tyler!"

He walked me over to the bar and placed me back on my feet. Everything seemed a little blurry. He grabbed the bottle and wrapped his free hand around my waist. He led me toward the staircase. When we reached the first floor he led me to another set of stairs.

"I haven't shown you the second story yet," he said as we made our way upstairs.

"You mean your room?"

"Penny, you are quite the cynic. Actually, no, not my room." He touched a tie on one of the doorknobs. "This room," he said, and opened the adjacent door that didn't have a tie hanging from the doorknob.

"I can assure you, Tyler, that you will not be getting lucky tonight."

"I don't even know what you're referring to. I just wanted you to show me how you prefer to dance. Without all those other people around." He took a swig from the bottle and handed it to me.

I took a small sip and set it on the bureau. I grabbed his hands and placed them on my hips. Then I reached up and wrapped my hands around the back of his neck. We slowly swayed back and forth. This was probably the sweetest thing a guy had ever done for me. I moved closer to him so that our bodies were touching.

"So you like it nice and slow?" Tyler said gently.