5. Hailey
5
HAILEY
My phone vibrated on the table in front of me. It was on silent, but I still snatched it up guiltily. I was doing homework in a study carrel at the university library and didn’t want to disturb anyone else. Langley had many specialized libraries, such as engineering, history, and law, but I usually spent my time in the main one.
The text was from Tori. How are the frat boys?
It took me a moment to think of how to answer that. The only one I felt I knew even a little was Theo. But they were supposed to be my employers, not my friends. They’re OK.
Are you? she asked.
Yes.
Do I need to come rescue you?
I gave a rueful grin. Tori was the first friend I’d made here, and it was nice to know she had my back. Not yet, but I’ll let you know.
So what are they like? she asked. I’ve heard all kinds of rumors.
So had I, but the reality wasn’t quite what I was expecting. They’re okay. They went out last night, but I have to cook for them tonight.
Gulp , she replied.
Yeah, that was my reaction, too.
Are any of them cute?
I had to think that one over for a moment. They were all good-looking guys, at least the ones I’d met so far, but cute didn’t seem the right term. So I gave a related answer. I saw two of them in suits last night. They looked good.
It had been when I’d finally gotten up to my room. All I wanted to do was to close the door behind me and study—well, okay, what I really wanted after carrying all that beer up the stairs was a nap. But then I spotted Ian, the guy I’d met when I arrived earlier, and another guy walking down the hall. Both were wearing formal black suits with black ties. Up until that moment, I’d never realized how good a man could look in a fitted—and no doubt very expensive—suit. But Ian sure did. His hair was slicked back, and he’d shaved the scruff along his jawline.
He'd introduced me to the other man. I had to think for a moment before I recalled that his name was Matt, and he also lived on the second floor. He’d looked good in his suit, too, but my attention kept diverting to Ian and those green eyes of his.
Where were they going? A double date?
I shrugged, forgetting that Tori couldn’t see. That had been the first thing I’d thought of, too, but they couldn’t all have been on dates, could they? I don’t know, but I heard them come back about 2 in the morning. They sounded drunk.
And that fit more of my understanding of frat boys. On TV, they were more likely to be drunk than wearing bespoke suits.
Their loud voices had woken me up, but that was probably a good thing because my sheet, which was twin-sized, had slid almost all the way off the mattress. At some point, I’d need to get bedding for the full-sized mattress, but it definitely wasn’t a priority at the moment. Saving up for the fall was.
It sure had been cold in the room, though. Those guys cranked the air conditioning high in the summer. I couldn’t even imagine what their electricity bill was like.
I refocused on my text exchange with Tori. So far, it had been all about me. How are things going for you? I texted.
That guy in my night class, Todd, asked me out again.
Again?? He really doesn’t seem to be getting the message.
Yeah. He’s nice, but just kind of awkward. Oh, and Jenny’s driving me nuts. Jenny was one of her roommates. She went to the landlord and got you kicked out, and now her boyfriend is sleeping over every night. Such a hypocrite!!
Privately, I felt the same way, but I couldn’t complain. Though they hadn’t been exactly friendly, Tori’s roommates had put up with me sleeping on their couch for weeks. I’d tried to be a good guest, but still, five girls in a two-bedroom apartment was a bit much. And those kinds of apartments, with room shares like that, were really hard to find in a town like Haverford. Most landlords knew they could charge more rent—and have fewer problems—with the rich students who didn’t need to share a place.
Tori asked me to meet with her for lunch, but I had to decline. I’d already had a busy morning. I’d walked two dogs and checked in on a cat and a parrot. It involved a lot of walking back and forth, but I enjoyed my time with the animals. And I’d been here studying for two hours. Soon I’d have to go back to the frat house—where the real work would begin.
I tried to get in another twenty minutes of study, but my mind kept returning to the conversation with Tori. She’d jokingly asked if I needed rescuing. And I’d said no, of course, but there was something about last night that bothered me.
When the guys returned, obviously drunk and loud, I’d given them a few minutes to get into their rooms and then I’d headed to the bathroom. While I was in there, someone tried the door handle. It was locked, of course, but that didn’t stop them from yanking on the doorknob, trying to get in.
Five people and two bathrooms on the second floor meant that sometimes there’d be a wait, but nothing makes you feel more vulnerable than someone trying the door when you’re on the toilet. In some ways, it was easily understandable. After a long night of drinking, it was understandable that they might need the bathroom urgently.
Still, it had scared me a little. After washing my hands, I waited a long time before venturing out into the hallway and back to my room.
And, as I rearranged the sheet and blankets, I was grateful that my door had a lock, too.
When I got back to the frat house, Grant, Theo and Ian were in the common room, sprawled in front of a huge television playing some kind of violent video game. All three glanced over when I walked in, but the game, which seemed to involve a lot of guns and explosions, captured their attention.
Grant was on the couch, his long legs spread part as he leaned forward, staring intently at the screen. Theo was next to him on the couch and Ian was in an armchair. Bennett was nowhere to be seen. This was the first time I’d seen Grant without him.
“Hi.”
I got two nods and a grunt in return. It was kind of funny. I didn’t have any brothers or cousins, but I’d seen guys in movies and tv shows look this engrossed in a game. Apparently, it happened in real life.
I walked over, peering at the screen, but I couldn’t really make out what was happening. Maybe it was set in some kind of post-apocalyptic world? All I knew was that things seemed to blow up a lot.
Ian was the nearest one. He was focused on the screen, and the tip of his tongue was out as he concentrated. Okay, that was cute, to use Tori’s term. “Did you have a nice time last night?” I asked him, not the others, because I’d seen him before he left.
“Yeah.” It was a very brief response.
Theo, who was also intent on the game, added a few extra words. “We all did.”
“Good.” I watched them a little while longer. I had the feeling that I could’ve pulled my shirt over my head and stood there in my bra, and they wouldn’t have noticed.
But then Grant looked up from the game and gave me a smile, his eyes sweeping down to my feet and back up again. Okay, maybe he would’ve noticed.
“Bennett was looking for you,” he said.
Somehow, that didn’t surprise me. “Did he forget that I have another job in the morning?”
“Probably.” Grant’s attention returned to the game, but Theo looked up.
“How many jobs do you have?”
“Lots.” That was, if you counted school as a job. It sure took up enough time, even with just one class this summer. There was a lot of reading to do, some papers to write, and I perpetually felt like I was struggling to keep up.
“Hey, can you get me a beer?” Grant asked.
“We can pause the game,” Theo said before I could react.
“But we’ve almost got them.” Grant jerked his chin toward the gigantic screen.
I hesitated for a moment. It wasn’t a big deal, grabbing a beer from the fridge. Then again, as Theo said, he could’ve paused the game to get it himself. I frowned, trying to think quickly. It kind of felt like if I started waiting on them, that might become a regular part of the job, and I already didn’t know how I was going to handle keeping this huge place clean plus cooking for a half dozen men every night.
“Just pause the game,” Ian said, but he made no move to do so himself. He stared at the screen as if trying to memorize it, and the tip of his tongue was between his teeth again.
Grant looked up long enough to give me a quick wink. “If I quit now, these guys will die, because they suck.”
Theo didn’t look over, but he nodded. “We do. It’s almost like there are more important things in life than playing video games.”
“Let’s just finish this level,” Grant urged, and the machine gun noises from the screen intensified. “Before Ian says he has to go study.”
“I do have to go study,” Ian said. “Someday when a patient asks me why I botched his diagnosis, he’s not going to be impressed when I tell him that we unlocked level 42 and gained access to the underground tunnels.”
I laughed, and he took a brief glance up at me. “You’re premed?” I asked him.
“Yep.”
Fetching a drink for a future doctor seemed like a more worthy cause than fetching one so that they could continue to shoot at fake people on the screen. I gave a small sigh of defeat. “Does anyone else want anything to drink?”
I got two head shakes and a fist pump from Grant.
In the kitchen, I grabbed the first bottle I saw in the fridge before remembering that Grant had a special kind he liked. I examined the white label. There were no words in English.
I searched several drawers to find a bottle opener, and then had to laugh when I noticed that there was quite the collection of magnetized ones on the side of the fridge. It figured.
Grant barely noticed when I set the beer down on the coffee table in front of him and then escaped up to my room. I’d barely set my book bag down on the desk before there was a knock on the door.
It wasn’t much of a surprise to find Bennett there.
“I need your number,” he said in lieu of a greeting.
“Why?” I said instantly. On the one hand, it wasn’t surprising for an employer to ask for your phone number, but when a big guy like him loomed over you and demanded anything, it was disconcerting.
“Because I was looking for you this morning and I couldn’t find you.”
“I was working.”
“Unless your other job requires a vow of silence, that wouldn’t preclude me from texting you.” He leveled a look at me. His blue eyes were colder than Grant’s. “Or should I just get a bell to ring every time I have a task for you?”
Nope, I definitely didn’t want that. I gave him my number and he typed it into his phone.
“So, I’m supposed to go to the grocery store today?”
“Yeah, later. But first, you need to clean our rooms.”
“Just the ones where someone’s staying, right?” Otherwise, it would be midnight by the time I was done.
Bennett frowned and then nodded, as if making a great concession. “Yes, start there. Oh, and there’s a study room on this floor. That probably needs to be dusted.”
“So just dusting and vacuuming?” I asked, hoping he didn’t think I’d have time to do a lot more than that.
“And empty the trashcans,” he said. “And just general tidying up. We’re not slobs, but we have more important things to worry about than making the bed.”
My heart sank. I didn’t mind working hard, but I didn’t see how I could hit six rooms, the grocery store, and make dinner in the next six hours.
“You know where the cleaning supplies are?”
I nodded. I’d found them yesterday.
“Then get to it and come find me when you’re done.”
“Will do,” I said, trying not to let my irritation show. Bennett a way of barking orders that made me feel subservient.
But I was a servant, wasn’t I?
One that needed to get to work ASAP.