Adam
“This is fucking horse shit!” I bang my fists on the wooden table for emphasis, rattling the entire thing and causing half-a-dozen students to startle at the sound.
“Shhh!” the librarian immediately scolds, her brows folded hard as she shakes her head. She points her bony finger at me as one last warning — likely because this isn’t my first outburst in the last four hours, but she’s saying it’ll be my last, or else.
I murmur an apology before letting my head fall into my hands again, digging my palms into my eyes enough that I see colors behind the lids. I suppress the urge to groan, to growl, to flip the fucking table and try to force a calming breath.
This is supposed to be the easy part.
It’s November. I’m supposed to be coasting after fighting with the alums and the exec board, supposed to be watching all the fruits of our labor come together, supposed to be taking my hands off and letting these brothers ride their metaphorical bikes on their own, supposed to be more focused on planning what Cassie and I will do when she visits for Thanksgiving than anything Alpha Sigma related.
Instead, I’m nose deep in books far too thick with words far too big explaining policies far too complicated — all because the alumni brothers decided to be twats.
“Wow,” a voice purrs over me. I look up to find Chandler smirking, her fingers toying with a few pages of one of the books spread out around me. “I haven’t seen this much fun since senior year Spring Break.”
I try to smile, but know it falls flat as I slump back in my chair.
Chandler chuckles, shrugging off her small backpack and tossing it on the table before taking the chair next to me. She peers over at the book currently splayed at the center. “Aspen University Student Organized Event Policies,” she reads, arching a brow at me.
“Don’t even ask.”
“Too late.”
I sigh, sitting up a little straighter as the back of my hand slaps against the open pages.
“I’ve been working with the brothers on an event that will hopefully help put them back on the map — an Anything But Clothes Bubble Bonfire.
” I pause when Chandler has to fight back a smile.
“Hey, they came up with it, alright? And honestly, as cheesy as it sounds, they’ve been working their asses off and it’s going to be a kickass event.
They got a popular band on campus to come play, have an epic set up for the bonfire, all these different seating areas and photo ops, plus a foam pit. ”
“Girls do love a foam pit.”
“And the theme being Anything But Clothes? Can you even imagine?”
She laughs. “I know me and my sisters would have been all over that.”
“Everyone on Greek Row is talking about it, and the guys are so stoked.” I sigh. “They’re going to be crushed when I tell them it can’t happen.”
Chandler frowns. “Why not?”
“Apparently, there’s some policy that states that student-run events can’t have any kind of open fire.
I mean, I get it,” I added. “It’s Colorado.
And even though we’re out of fire season, I’m sure they don’t want some fraternity event causing the next wildfire that runs rampant across the Rockies. ”
“Is it an open fire?”
“I guess,” I say, waving my hand at the books.
“That’s what the asshole alumni guys I’ve been working with explained to me this morning.
I’ve been digging through these books all afternoon trying to find the exact law, but so far, nothing.
I figure there’s got to be a loophole, or some way we can still have the event but be in line with the policy. ”
Chandler frowns even deeper, and then she scoots her chair in closer to the table and digs her laptop out of her bag. I watch as she types in the university website, fingers clicking away a lot faster than I can type.
“What are you doing?”
“Helping,” she says easily.
“You don’t have to do that. It’s Friday, I’m sure—”
“I’ve got nothing to do,” she says with a look that tells me she’s not too happy about that fact. “Besides, you helped me once. Remember?”
Her eyes find mine, and the smile we share is one I imagine only kids caught between being in college and being an adult could really understand.
“You can leave at any time,” I say as I turn back to the books.
“Shut up and keep digging.”
Silence envelops the library again, other than the soft sounds of students whispering, typing, and flipping pages. Every now and then, Chandler will pause me to show me something, or I’ll show her something, but we never quite find what we’re looking for.
Until…
“Aha!” she says — loud enough that the new librarian on shift gives her a look. She apologizes before moving her laptop over closer to me and whispering, “Look at this.”
I follow her cursor, reading to myself. When I finish, I sigh, pushing back in my chair again.
“So it is a real rule.” I shake my head. “I mean, not that I doubted it, but I hoped there would be a way. Stones around the fire or… or… a number of fire extinguishers on hand, buckets of water, something.”
“Adam, you didn’t read it all.”
I frown, looking at a smiling Chandler before I lean forward again. She lets me take the laptop from her, and I scroll down until I see the starred amendment at the bottom.
The amendment that says bonfire events may be approved by the Student Union so long as the following requirements are met and sufficient paperwork is provided.
The article goes on to list out the requirements — and just like I thought, it’s all things we can manage.
“I fucking knew it!”
“Shhh!”
Chandler and I bite back our laughs as we apologize, yet again, to the librarian. Then, we huddle closer as we look through the website.
“Okay, so we just need to make sure the fire is contained within a permanently structured area — easy enough, we could have it be a new addition to the house — and have a hose hooked up to the house for emergency.” I shake my head, and when I turn to Chandler, we’re nearly nose to nose. “Holy shit, you figured it out.”
“We figured it out,” she says, and as if she realizes how close we are, she clears her throat and sits back in her chair. Her hand sweeps out over the screen. “So, once you get those things taken care of and provide the paperwork and proof? You’ll be good to go.”
“Thank God,” I say, pushing her laptop back toward her. “Can you email that to me? I’ll get started in the morning.” I pause. “After a round of very stiff drinks tonight.”
She chuckles. “You got it.”
“Thank you,” I say earnestly.
“No problem,” she insists, her cheeks turning a soft shade of pink.
“Is there any way I can repay you?”
“Well, I kind of owed you, anyway,” she reminds me. “But… if you insist, how about not letting me hang out alone on a Friday night?” Her eyes meet mine then. “I’m so sick and tired of being the old girl on campus with no real friends.”
I bark out a laugh at that. “You are far from old.”
“Tell that to these eighteen-year-old bitches.”
Another laugh from me before I look at my phone, frowning at the time. “I’m supposed to have a video chat date night with Cassie in about an hour.”
When I look up at Chandler again, it’s just in time to see her playful smile slip, her eyes going back to her laptop as she sends off the email before closing the lid.
“Oh,” she says, forcing a smile again and waving me off.
“Well, consider us even, then. I’ve got some shows to catch up on, anyway. ”
She’s already packing her things away, but I sigh, because I know exactly how she’s feeling. It does feel weird, to be too old to party and be a student, but too young to be an adult. It’s the strangest in-between, and being in a new place with no friends…
Well, it’s lonely.
“Wait,” I tell her, stopping her before she can stand. “Let me just step out and call Cassie. We can reschedule.”
Chandler shakes her head. “No, no, don’t do that, I’m sure she’s looking forward to it.”
“We talk all the time,” I assure her. “And I’m going to see her in just a couple weeks. She’ll understand.”
Chandler bites her lip. “You’re sure?”
“Positive. Give me a sec.”
We walk out of the library together after putting away all the books I’d strewn out, and then I excuse myself to the corner of the building, cursing against the biting cold as I find Cassie’s contact and let my thumb drop on the screen.
“Hey, babe,” she answers. “I thought we had another forty-five minutes.”
“We did. Uh, do. Um…” I grab the back of my neck, casting a look at Chandler. “Hey, would you mind if we rescheduled?”
A pause on the other end was my only answer.
“I can explain later, but a friend just helped me out of a bind, and… well, again, I can explain later. But if you’re cool with it, could we have our date tomorrow night instead?”
The silence is long before Cassie finally says, “Sure. I mean… Yeah, I don’t see why not.” She pauses again. “Who’s the friend?”
“It’s Chandler, the one you met when we video chatted after Big/Little reveal.” I let out a breath of a laugh that fogs in the cold night air. “She literally just saved my ass. I owe her a drink.”
“Oh.”
I smirk, narrowing my eyes as I turn even more so Chandler can’t read my lips or overhear. “Is someone jealous?”
“No!” A pause. “I just… you promise she’s just a friend?”
I don’t mean to laugh, and by the way Cassie screams my name when I do, I know it’s an asshole mistake. “I’m sorry,” I say, still laughing. “It’s just, the fact that you think I’ve got eyes for literally any other woman but you is hysterical.”
“You’re a prick,” she says, but I can tell by the way she says it that she’s smiling, too. “I’m sorry. Of course, you should go have fun. I know you don’t know anyone there, and I’m glad y’all have become friends. I just…”
“You miss me,” I finish for her. “And I miss you, too. And if it’ll ease your mind, I’ll tell you a million times. She’s just a friend. You are the love of my life. You have nothing to worry about.”
She sighs. “That does help.”
“I love you,” I say softly. “Call you in the morning?”
“Text me later tonight,” she says. “When you’re home.”
I chuckle. “Yes, ma’am.”
“And Adam?”
“Yeah?”
“Have fun.”
I blow her a kiss through the phone before we both hang up.