Adam
There’s nothing quite like the feeling of seeing something you’ve worked hard for pay off. You bust your ass for weeks, months, or maybe even years and then it all comes together and you finally feel like you can breathe again.
That’s how I feel right now as I stare up at the big stage while a local band kills their set and the crowd goes crazy. Crowd. Yeah, there’s actually a big turnout at an Alpha Sigma event. I shake my head, still shocked I somehow pulled it off, and glance down at my clipboard.
“Okay, Filthy Innocents are wrapping up. Give our headliner the five minute warning,” I say into the mouthpiece wrapped around my head.
“Ten four,” Jeremy answers and I roll my eyes.
“You don’t have to talk like a fucking trucker, Jeremy.”
“Ten four.”
As I make my way across the crowded lawn to the stage, I spot Skyler, Cassie, and a group of their sorority sisters close to the front row.
It’s Cassie I notice first, her scarlet hair standing out in the crowd of brunettes and blondes.
She’s dressed in a tight little green dress that takes my eyes down her body whether I try to fight it or not.
Which I don’t, by the way. She looks great tonight, and she’s definitely the one I noticed first.
But it’s Skyler who keeps my attention.
A stark contrast from her sisters, she’s in distressed jeans and her sorority jersey. Her hair is pulled up into a messy bun and even though I can tell she has makeup on, it doesn’t look like she tried as hard as her sisters to look as amazing as she does.
Fucking Christ, the girl is gorgeous.
“Well if it isn’t the –”
“Don’t even say it,” Cassie cuts me off, shoving me playfully as Skyler and the rest of the girls turn around.
The three blondes, one I know to be Erin Xander and the other two I’m not familiar with, give me a onceover before turning back toward the stage.
Skyler’s eyes, however, stay fixed on mine.
“You know, I can honestly say you surprised me tonight.”
I cock a brow. “Oh?”
“Yep,” she nods. “I did not think A Sigs could get down like this. I’m impressed.”
“Me too,” Cassie chimes in, her cheeks flushing a bit with the words. It’s not lost on me, and I can’t say it doesn’t give me a thrill to know that blush is because of me.
“Let’s get a drink before the headliners go on,” one of the blondes says, grabbing Skyler’s arm before turning to Cassie.
“I’ll save our spot,” she says. The girls all nod and squeeze their way past me toward the Alpha Sigma house where the open bar is.
It’s an illegal open bar, one the campus coordinators wouldn’t approve as part of the concert, but I knew without booze this show would go down in flames.
So, our basement was transformed into a speakeasy.
“I’ll stay with you.” Cassie turns to me wide-eyed and I flash a smile. “It’s the least I can do, since I’m assuming it was probably you who got all your sisters here.”
She flushes a deeper red. “It didn’t take much to convince them. Music. Food. Booze. And boys.”
“Which of those did you come for?”
She gulps. “The first one… mostly.”
I grin. “How’s your first semester going?”
“It’s good.” I can tell by her hesitance there’s something she’s not saying. “Lots of parties and sorority events. I’m having fun.”
“But?”
“But what?” She looks at me confused.
“You’re upset about something.”
“Why do you say that?”
I shrug. “I can just tell.”
Sighing, she looks down and picks at her nail polish.
“It’s nothing, really. I just… I moved here with my best friend.
We both rushed together, but she went Zeta.
Ever since rush, she’s been a mega bitch and it’s just getting worse every day.
She doesn’t understand why I went KKB and she thinks Zetas are better.
She keeps pulling away from me and I feel like I’m going to lose her this semester if I haven’t already. ”
“Is she really that great of a friend if she’s treating you like this?”
“She used to be. I don’t know, maybe this is just the whole growing up thing. I just miss the girl I knew a few months ago.”
I lean in closer, speaking over the sound of instrument tuning and mic checks.
“People change, Cassie. You’re going to notice in the next few years and probably for the rest of your life that some friends stay and some friends go.
The trick is learning that real friendships don’t have to be fought for. ”
She smiles, looking up at me through her lashes. In the bright blue and green lights of the concert, she looks sort of angelic. And I know she kind of is – she’s innocent in a way I’ve never seen a girl before.
Suddenly, there’s a surge in the crowd as the lights go down and Cassie is knocked forward hard.
When she smacks into me, she apologizes, but I just grab her arms to steady her.
“You okay?” She nods, but then suddenly the air around us is thicker than before.
Her body is pressed against mine and I can feel the slightest hint of shaking as I hold her.
Before I know what I’m doing, I lower my mouth to hers, our lips touching just as the first notes of the new set play.
She sighs into my mouth and I pull her closer, parting her lips with my tongue and moving my hands up to cup her face. Her hands fist my shirt and a soft, almost inaudible moan escapes when I dip my tongue in again. It’s then that I realize what I’m doing.
I pull back, pressing my forehead to Cassie’s. Then I laugh. What the hell am I doing?
“Man, I’m so sorry. That was weird, huh?”
Cassie pulls all the way back.
“I don’t know why I did that. I guess I’m just caught up in all the excitement tonight.
I hope this won’t make anything weird between us.
” I rub the back of my neck with one hand and shove the other in my pocket.
This chick is one of the coolest I’ve met at Palm South and of course I let my penis talk me into fucking up that friendship.
Cassie bites her lip, her brows pulled together. I can’t tell if I really wigged her out or if she’s still trying to register what happened. “No, uh, no. Not weird at all.”
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “Good. I really like hanging out with you, Cassie. I didn’t mean to take it there.”
“It’s not, you didn’t,” she stammers, shaking her head. “It’s all good. You were just excited. Zero weirdness, I promise.”
I pull her in for a hug just as the girls join us again. “Thanks. I have to run backstage. See you after the show?”
“Yeah. See you.”
I turn to leave, still shaking my head at how idiotic I am when Skyler grabs my arm.
“Hey, do you have a thing for my Little?”
I glance at Cassie behind her, but her eyes are fixed on the stage. “No. She’s cool, though. I like her, but as a friend.”
Skyler nods. “Okay.”
Once more, she grabs my arm as I try to leave.
“I just had to clear that up before I did this.”
“Did what?”
She runs her soft hand down my arm, her blue eyes dazzling in the rave lights as she tucks something into my front pocket. I swallow when she does, her hand falling way too close to a part of my body she awakened earlier tonight.
“My number,” she answers the question I haven’t even asked yet. “Call me tonight.” With that, she winks and rejoins the girls, not even giving me a second look.
I jog backstage with a shit-eating grin on my face, but it’s knocked off almost immediately.
“This concert sucks,” Clay says, draining the rest of the dark liquid in his water bottle. From his breath, I assume it’s whiskey.
“Don’t be a prick, Clay.” I shove past him, ordering a few of our brothers to get everything ready for the finale.
“It does. These bands are all local. No one gives a shit.”
“Well, there’s about a thousand people out there that say you’re wrong.”
“Whatever. I’m embarrassed that our name is associated with this mess.”
Clenching my jaw, I whip around to face him again.
“What the fuck is your problem? Are you worried, Clay?” I know I’m crossing a line I shouldn’t, but I don’t care, even with Jeremy grabbing my shoulder in warning.
“Afraid someone might notice what a shit president you are and vote someone else in who actually gives a fuck?”
“And what?” he challenges. “You think that someone is you?”
“Maybe.” I stand tall, and Jeremy finally drops his hand, giving up.
Clay stares at me for a moment, then he lets out a guttural laugh, leaning over and bracing his hands on his knees. Clenching my teeth, I surge toward Clay but Jeremy holds me back.
“It’s not worth it, man,” he mutters.
“I’d listen to him, Brooks,” Clay says through his laughter. “You may not want me to be, but I’m still your president. And I can have you kicked out of this fraternity faster than you come in bed. And that’s saying something.”
I rush forward again, but this time more hands join Jeremy’s and they all hold me back. Clay chuckles once more before turning and disappearing into the crowd.
“Don’t let him ruin your night, man,” Jeremy says. “He’s just being a dick. He’s mad he didn’t think of this first and he’s even more upset that you actually pulled it off.”
I know he’s right, I know it’s jealousy – but he’s still a fucking prick who deserves to have his jaw broken. Shaking Jeremy off, I nod and check the set list. One song away from the finale. “Let’s do this.”
In the middle of the last song, just as the music builds, two cannons shoot neon confetti over the black light crowd and the lights strobe in time with the beat.
The crowd goes crazy, fog machines mixing with the confetti and the lights.
It’s exactly the ending I wanted, everyone’s going nuts, but I can’t even fucking enjoy it.
Then, through the fog, I spot Cassie. She’s looking up at the confetti falling, a wide-eyed look on her face. She looks happy, and that makes me feel like maybe it’s okay for me, too. I may not be innocent like she is, but I’ve worked my ass off for this moment.
Grabbing one of the bottles of champagne lined up backstage, I run out into the crowd with Jeremy and several other brothers following.
I shake the bottle and open it quickly, spewing the liquid everywhere as more people scream and jump in time with the music.
The feeling coming from the crowd is electrifying and the band feeds off of it, making the show even better than I could have imagined.
Clay may have power over me now, but something tells me it won’t be that way for much longer.