9. Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
Alex
By nine fifteen, I’m convinced she’s not going to show up. I’m halfway finished with my black coffee when the bell rings above the door and the sun shines through the doorway, adding a halo around the head of the girl that just walked in. Does that happen to her everywhere she goes or is it just for me? Every time, it shocks me.
Bolting from my chair, I step in front of her before she can get in line for her coffee. “On me, remember.”
“How could I forget?” she says with a roll of her eyes. “Hazelnut oat milk latte.”
I nod, repeating the order over and over in my head. I cock my head in the direction of the table I was previously occupying and Margot heads over to sit while I order her drink.
After a few minutes, I join her at the table, her latte in hand.
“Thanks,” she says, holding the drink in both her hands and taking a huge sip immediately. It’s actually pretty cute the way the normal-sized mug looks so massive in her small palms.
“I still don’t understand why we couldn’t just meet on campus.”
I shake my head as I shift in the wooden chair across from hers. “Too many witnesses.”
Margot’s eyes widen as she sets the mug down. Taking a second to gather herself, she leans back in her chair and motions toward the table with her palms up. “Well, frat boy, the floor is yours.”
“Lovely nickname, by the way.”
She only scrunches her nose at me, seemingly determined not to speak until I tell her the deal. Fair enough, sunshine.
“First of all, I want to apologize for saying what I said. It was uncalled for and untrue. I was caught up and distracted but that’s no excuse. I don’t want you to think that’s the kind of person that I am, because it’s not.” Margot blinks at me, apparently surprised by my apology. She remains silent, allowing me to continue.
“The reason I blew up the way I did is because of the prank. For the role I need you to fill, you need to be kind of invisible.” Her eyes narrow and I raise my palms up. “Let me explain.” I take a sip of my coffee before diving in.
“Every year the seniors in the fraternities set up one grand prank each to try and one up each other. It sounds completely childish and it is, but it’s tradition. Delta Epsilon is my fraternity’s rival and it’s up to me to come up with the prank of all pranks to take them down.”
“Why is it up to you?”
I didn’t expect her to ask any questions just yet, let alone that one, so for a second, I’m silent. “What do you mean?”
“Why do you have to be the one to come up with the prank?”
“Because I’m the president,” I say, as if it’s common knowledge. I thought everyone knew that? I mean, every girl I ever interact with certainly does.
Just as I’m thinking at least this will impress Margot a little, she hits me with a quiet, “oh,” before falling silent again, allowing me to proceed.
“Anyway, for this year’s prank, we’re doing a lock-in.”
“What’s a lock-in?”
“It’s when we lock all the members in the house so that they miss an important event, that event being the Alumni Gala next Sunday.”
“Why do you want them to miss the event?”
“It doesn’t look good for a whole frat to miss an important event like that, and it’s funny as hell.”
Margot nods her head slowly. “Sure.” She’s quiet for a moment, then she speaks again. “How exactly am I supposed to help you with a lock-in?”
“Sunshine, you’re actually the perfect missing piece of this puzzle. The idea formed completely in my head the minute you said you worked on the newspaper.”
She’s silent again, allowing me to continue.
“We need to make sure that all the guys are in the house and preoccupied while we sneak around and seal up their doors and windows.” Margot opens her mouth. “Don’t ask for specifics on that.” She closes it.
“They’re all dressed up, looking sharp, would be a perfect time for a member of the campus newspaper to come take a picture of them for the paper. Say, write an interview about the house? Distract them long enough for us to do what we need to do on the outside.”
“So, let me get this straight,” Margot says, sitting up in her chair. “You’re willing to spend hours on end with me doing this podcast for who knows how long and all you need from me in return is to distract some guys for an hour?”
“Yes.”
Margot shocks me by shaking her head. “That’s hardly comparable. I owe you much more than that for all the work you’re about to do for me.”
“I promise you, this is all I want in return. Besides,” I start, lifting the coffee mug to my lips with a slight smirk. “What makes you think that spending time with you won’t be payment enough?” I hit her with my classic charming smile, expecting her to swoon, as they always fucking do but instead, I watch Margot’s face transform into one of revulsion, as if she’s just smelt an awful odor.
“Cut the flirty crap and you’ve got yourself a deal,” she says, matter-of-factly and again I find myself stunned into silence. This girl truly shocks me at every turn. Just when I think I’ve got a handle on her, she surprises me again.
Margot holds her hand out for me to shake to make things official but just as I’m about to grip her palm, she pulls her hand back. “Just one last thing,” her gaze jumps to mine and for a second, all I see is pure vulnerability. “This internship opportunity is the most important thing to ever happen to me. Don’t shake my hand unless you are ready to promise me you’re all in. I can’t lose this contest,” she says, with a sense of courage that I feel isn’t entirely her own.
Reaching over the table, I grab her lifted hand and pull it down into a shake. “Sunshine, I would never let you down.” And I mean it. As important as this prank is to me, I know this internship is a hundred times more meaningful to the beautiful girl sitting in front of me.
After Margot promises she’ll follow up with me soon, she leaves, her half-drunk coffee left waiting on her side of the table. I’m tempted to take a sip and figure out what all the fuss is with oat milk lattes, but I decide against it. Instead, I take out my phone and text the boys that I’m headed to campus and hitting the gym. The sad excuse for a weight room in our house is just that–sad. The fitness center on campus is much nicer, albeit not as convenient.
Ignoring a text from my father, I swipe up on my instagram app as I’m walking. Already there’s about twenty unread messages from various girls on campus. I hardly ever look at those anymore. If I wanted to find a hook-up, I wouldn’t go looking through my DMs.
Holding my empty coffee cup out, I take a picture of the outside of the shop and the cup. With the caption: “Morning cup of Joe,” I post the picture to my instagram story. Another couple of messages and reactions come in immediately but I silence my phone and put it in my pocket without looking at them.
I’m hoping some gym time can help me clear my head about this whole podcast thing. I think it’ll be a fun experience for the most part, but I’m starting to get a little concerned about how much work she says it is. I’m not the most studious person on campus. I don’t have to be since I know my fate is out of my hands the day I graduate from TU. No matter what I want to do with my life, the VP position at Prescott Cars has had my name on it since my dad founded the company.
Because of that, I never cared much about my studies. “Just get that piece of paper, Alexander, and I’ll take care of the rest,” my dad always said.
I always wonder what my mom would say about that. I don’t have too many memories of her but I would hope that she would’ve advocated for me and Drew to do whatever we want with our lives. But at the same time, she was clearly not in her right mind. So, who knows what she would’ve done.
The ride to the gym takes enough time for me to distract myself from my dark thoughts. Blasting Kendrick Lamar can help you forget anything. Once I arrive, I pull into the lot and unintentionally park next to Margot’s roommate’s car, a fact I only know because she gets out of the driver’s seat at the same time as me.
“Sydney, right?” I ask, pulling my gym pack onto my shoulder.
“Yeah, hey, Alex,” she replies. We fall into step together as we walk toward the gym. The silence is a bit awkward, like we have no idea what to say to each other.
“We’ve got Exercise Physiology class together, right?”
Sydney nods and we walk again in silence. I should probably get some tips from her for women’s workouts for my instagram. Maybe she would do some posts for me.
“Thanks for helping Margot with the contest, by the way,” Sydney says. “I know she can come off a little strong about some things but she really wants this. And she deserves it.”
Her comments shocks me a bit but I find myself nodding in agreement. “I’m happy to help. It sounds like a fun idea.” As we get to the building, I hold the door open for Sydney to pass though.
“You guys are gonna kill it,” Sydney says with a smile before walking over toward the treadmills. As I make my way toward the free weights, I think about what Sydney said.
I have to admire how headstrong Margot is. Clearly this internship means the world to her if she’s willing to basically do anything I ask her to do for this prank. I just have to make sure that I put my all into this contest for her and she’ll do the same for me. That shouldn’t be too difficult.