Chapter 9

Teghan and Annabelle sat at a table in the corner of Dining Hall One. All the hot food looked wretched, so Teghan had settled for a bottle of water, a banana, and a cup of vanilla yogurt.

She peeled the lid off her yogurt and her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and checked the display. It was a text message from Donnie. Teghan rolled her eyes as her heart rate increased to triple time. He’d been texting her since he left so abruptly last night. She’d read every one of them, but hadn’t responded. Yet. She wasn’t sure what she should say to him. Teghan flipped open her phone and read the message.

*Sorry if I pissed u off. Not sure what I did. Can we please talk?*

Teghan’s finger hesitated over the reply button. She hadn’t slept worth crap last night and really wanted to talk to him, but she couldn’t get past his behavior at her parent’s house yesterday.

“Who is it?” Annabelle asked.

“Donnie,” Teghan said.

“Again?”

“Yeah.” Teghan sighed. “He wants to talk.”

“I bet.” Annabelle smiled. “You haven’t shut up about him since you met him.”

“What’s your point?”

“Just talk to him.” Annabelle picked apart her sandwich and made a face. “I haven’t had turkey this rubbery since my dad attempted to cook Thanksgiving dinner two years ago.”

Teghan laughed. “I’m glad he finally just gave up and took my mom’s offer to have you guys over for the holidays.”

“Me too,” Annabelle said. She sipped her iced tea.

“Why should I talk to him?” Teghan asked. “Since I met him, he’s done nothing but cause problems for me.”

“Donnie wasn’t the cause of your problems, Teghan.”

Teghan gave Annabelle a dirty look. It was obvious she didn’t see it because Annabelle continued to talk. “It’s not Donnie’s fault he was thrown into the middle of a bad episode of Jerry Springer.”

Teghan laughed. “That’s a little over the top don’t, ya think? Besides, what was with him yesterday?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, first of all, I can’t believe he showed up after everything that happened the night before. He and Alex barely spoke to each other. I thought for sure he’d go back to CIT. And then he just left, without much of a goodbye, after talking to my dad. It’s just so weird.”

“Talking to your dad is probably what scared him off.” Annabelle laughed.

Teghan groaned. “You’re probably right. God, I hope not. Could you imagine if Donnie and my dad didn’t get along? It’d be a nightmare. I’d really have to stay away from him then.”

“Oh please,” Annabelle huffed. “Staying away from him is the last thing you want to do.”

“And what about Alex?” Teghan asked after a pause.

“What about him?”

“He’s made it perfectly clear that he’s not supportive of me getting involved with Donnie.”

“Not supportive? That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one. Take off the rose-colored glasses, sweetie. Alex is your ex-boyfriend. As far as he was concerned, you two were going to get married, have kids, and live happily ever after. The only thing you can do is talk to him.”

Teghan folded her arms on the table and let her head fall to them. “It’s easier just to ignore them both.”

“And hope it goes away? Let me know how that works out for you.” Annabelle patted the back of Teghan’s head. “Come on. We’re gonna be late for class.”

Teghan rose and followed Annabelle out of the dining hall. The first class of the afternoon was Biology 101 and they had it together. They headed towards the east end of campus where all the academic buildings were located.

“Isn’t it just my luck that Sloyan Hall is the furthest building from our dorm?” Teghan said.

“Stop complaining,” Annabelle said. “The exercise won’t kill you.”

“I didn’t say it was going to kill me, but this is where most of my classes are, and it also happens to be…” Teghan stopped. “What the hell?” She stopped behind a large group of people crowded around the marble fountain in the quad.

They squeezed their way closer to the front. “What’s going on?” Teghan muttered.

“Lambda Delta Pi is about to introduce their new pledges,” the girl standing next to Teghan said. `

“And all these people are here to listen to this announcement?” Teghan asked.

“Just watch. You’ll see why all these people are here.” The girl smiled. “I’m Harmonie, by the way.”

“I’m Teghan. This is Annabelle,” Teghan said.

“Nice to meet you,” Harmonie said. “Oh, here they come.”

Teghan saw the excitement in Harmonie’s eyes. She had no idea what the big deal was. So a fraternity had new pledges. Big deal. It’s not like it didn’t happen every semester. And then she saw them.

Twelve guys dressed in animal print pants with matching jackets and no shirts walked through the crowd and stopped in front of the fountain. The first guy in the line had an old school boom box in his hands. He picked it up, pushed the play button and held it over his head. The beat to LMFAO’s Sexy and I Know It blared from the speakers.

When I walk in the spot, this is what I see. Everybody stops and they staring at me…

That verse repeated as eight other guys walked into the quad dressed in black gym pants with white snaps down both legs. They all climbed onto the ledge of the fountain and stood, waiting for their cue. It came moments later.

Girl, look at that body. Girl, look at that body. Girl, look at that body. I work out.

The guys on the fountain flexed their arms in various muscle man poses. No wonder there was such a crowd of people, she thought. Teghan glanced at Annabelle, mouthed the word wow, and fanned herself with her hand. Annabelle giggled.

I’m sexy and I know it. I got passion in my pants and I ain’t afraid to show it. In complete unison, the guys tore off their pants to reveal fluorescent, spandex underwear.

“No way!” Teghan said. “That’s Logan,” she pointed to him in the line of guys dancing on the fountain.

“That guy from the party?” Annabelle asked.

Teghan nodded, her eyes getting wider as the poorly choreographed routine continued. Too bad he’s a horrible kisser. He’s got one hell of a body on him. Donnie puts all these guys to shame. God, what I wouldn’t do to see him right now. Teghan blew out a breath.

The pledges turned around so that their backs were now to the crowd. They laced their fingers behind their heads and shook their asses in a circular motion. Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, yeah. They all jumped and turned back around repeating the move. Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, yeah.

“I’d like to introduce Lambda Delta Pi’s newest pledges,” the guy with the boom box said. One by one, the pledges stepped forward as their names were announced. “Come on out Friday night and wiggle your stuff with us.”

The pledges jumped from the fountain and filed out of the quad. Logan, however, walked straight up to Teghan. “Hey, Teghan.” He smiled. “You disappeared Saturday night. What happened?”

“Hi, Logan,” she said with a grin. Teghan glanced down at his crotch and tried not to giggle. “Yeah, sorry about that,” she lied.

“So, can I take you out sometime?”

She hesitated. “I don’t know, Logan.”

“Oh.”

Teghan felt bad turning him down like that. It’s not like she was seeing anyone. She and Donnie definitely weren’t a couple. “Maybe we could have lunch tomorrow or something,” she offered.

His face lit up. “I’d really like that.”

“Okay then.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Well, I gotta get to class.”

“Will I see you at the party Friday night?” Logan asked.

“Maybe.” She smiled and waved to him as she walked away.

“You can’t seriously be considering going out with him?” Annabelle said.

“I’m not. I just felt bad for him. It’s only lunch. No biggie.” Teghan shrugged.

“Trouble,” Annabelle said with a shake of her head.

“So lunch with Logan is trouble, but seeing Donnie isn’t?” Teghan pulled open the door to the lecture hall. She’d been in classes for a week now, yet the size of the lecture halls never ceased to amaze her. There were over two hundred seats arranged in stadium style. In the center of the room stood a single lectern that looked, from where she stood, like the size of a cardboard box. Half the seats were already occupied. They took two seats at the front of the room.

“That’s not what I’m saying. Having lunch with Logan while you’ve got unresolved issues with Donnie and Alex is trouble.”

Teghan simply shook her head and sat silently. As usual, Annabelle was right, but she wasn’t going to tell her that.

***

Teghan and Annabelle had lunch with Logan for the past three days and it was rather uneventful. Logan approached their table, a stupid smile on his face, and a curvy brunette following closely behind. “Hey,” he said, setting his tray of food on the table. “I’d like you to meet a friend of mine. Harmonie Frazer.”

“Hi, again!” Harmonie said sitting next to Logan.

“Again?” Logan asked.

“Yeah, we met the other day during your, um, performance,” Harmonie said.

Annabelle and Teghan laughed as Logan’s face turned red.

“Right,” he mumbled.

“Logan told me you’re both freshmen?” Harmonie asked.

“Yup,” Annabelle said.

“Me too,” Harmonie said. “Well, kinda. I should be a sophomore, but I’m technically a third semester freshman.”

“What?” Teghan asked.

“Yeah, I really messed up my first semester. Partied too much and flunked all but one of my classes. So, my second semester I was on academic probation. Thank goodness I did better. Now I’m finally taking my second semester freshman courses even though I should technically be taking my first semester sophomore classes.

“I never realized just how hard college was gonna be. My dad tried to tell me, but I just didn’t listen. Well, let me tell you, I’m listening now. I only party on the weekends now, and I go to all of my classes. Having a boyfriend is simply out of the question. They just take up too much time. Don’t you agree? I bet you have a boyfriend though, don’t you? Or a girlfriend? Hey, that’s cool with me too. I don’t judge. College is about exploration right?”

Teghan drummed her fingernails on the table and listened as Harmonie rambled on. She’d nod at the appropriate times and offer a lame, “wow” as necessary. Holy hell, is she ever going to shut up?

“So, you going to the party tomorrow night?” Harmonie asked.

“Yeah, we’re thinking about checking it out,” Annabelle said.

“We should go together!” Harmonie squealed.

Teghan shot Annabelle a conspiratorial look. “We have that, thing, Annie. Remember? With Tayla?”

“What thing?”

Teghan rolled her eyes. As smart as Annabelle was, she could be really dense at times. “Never mind. I’ll call and cancel. What time does the party start?” she asked, turning towards Logan.

“Nine,” he said.

Teghan nodded and smiled. “I guess we’ll see you at nine then.”

***

“I really don’t see what the big deal is,” Annabelle said after she and Teghan left their afternoon biology class and headed towards their dorm.

“You didn’t find Harmonie the least bit annoying?”

“Of course, but there’s going to be plenty of people there. It’ll be easy to lose her.”

Teghan laughed. “Your problem solving skills are amazing.”

Annabelle rolled her eyes. “It’s better than your lame ‘we got that thing’ excuse.”

“Whatever. That so would’ve…” Teghan stopped. Her eyes felt like they were going to pop out of her head, and her jaw was stuck open. She looked at Annabelle, who wore a smile the size of Texas. Okay, breathe. Annie sees him too, so I must not be dreaming. What the hell was he doing here? And why was she excited when she should be furious? Because I haven’t stopped thinking about him and his rock hard body. Or his brilliant green eyes. Or how soft his lips were every time he kissed me. Shut up!

Teghan shook the thoughts from her head. “Donnie?” she said.

He stood from the step he’d been sitting on. “Hey, Teghan.”