Chapter 30 Beth
Beth
It’s like being back here, back in this nearly identical setting in the desert, has opened the floodgates, and I cannot seem to close them.
And now I’m beginning to see her here at Gentry House, little signs of her everywhere, in paintings and glimpses, hints and nightmares.
I remember like it was yesterday the mischief in Sunny’s smile when she told me we were going to a fancy hotel for spring break.
“Beth, look at this place,” Sunny had said, pointing to the website for the Desert Sunrise and scrolling through photos of the property.
Her hair was up in a high ponytail, and her green eyes sparkled with excitement.
I wanted to be as excited as she was, and I tried to smile.
“Look at the pool. We are going to get so tan.”
“It looks amazing, and expensive,” I’d answered. Sunny knew I couldn’t afford a trip for spring break, certainly not to a luxury hotel in the desert. The SCU campus was only a two-hour drive away. “You guys will have a great time.”
“You mean we will have a great time. You and me. It’s already booked. My treat! You’ll have your own room, and I’ll share with Ryan, if he behaves himself,” Sunny said.
“Sounds too good to be true. But I can’t have you pay my way,” I said. A weeklong trip, even though we could drive to the desert from campus, would be too much for my limited budget.
Sunny grinned and jumped out of her chair, wrapping me in a big hug.
“Well, actually it’s Theta Gamma Mu’s treat.
I borrowed from the sorority’s party fund to pay your way.
Spring break is one big party, after all, and you’re not missing it.
So many fraternity and sorority seniors are booking hotels out there. It’s going to be one huge party.”
“What? Really? Can you do that?” I asked. I knew my best friend would do anything for me, but I didn’t want her to get into trouble. “I think it’s too much.”
I looked around the room we’d shared for the past two years, walls covered with boy band posters and fairy lights.
Our twin beds had matching purple spreads and an array of throw pillows we’d picked up along the way.
Our desks were side by side, messy with textbooks and candy wrappers, and each of us had a bulletin board above our desks with cherished mementos pinned to it Polaroid snapshots captured spontaneous moments that turned into memories.
Our clothes hung on rolling racks—the room didn’t have its own closet, but we didn’t care.
The racks showcased our low-rise jeans, velour tracksuits, and our sorority garb.
I was going to miss this room. I was going to miss Sunny when we graduated.
We’d been together since move-in day freshman year when we discovered we were roommates.
I wanted to be with her on spring break; I wanted more memories together. I looked at her and shook my head.
“You can’t, Sunny,” I said. I put my hands on my hips and shook my head again.
“Oh, but I can,” she said with a grin. “There’s an upside to being the chapter’s treasurer and having sole access to our bank account. It’s a justifiable expense. Think of how much work you put into our charity fundraiser. This will be the sorority’s little way of saying thanks.”
I was so excited I couldn’t think of anything to say except, “I’m speechless.”
“You work so hard, Beth. School, your part-time job, and being the philanthropy chair for the chapter, you need to have some fun. And we will,” Sunny said, sitting down at her desk.
I drew in a breath, feeling the grin take over my face. “In that case, I accept. Thank you so much.”
“Totally my pleasure. It’s nice to use my treasurer powers for good. Trust me, there are other Theta Gams who make this job a lot less fun.”
“Really? Like who?” I’d asked, intrigued and sitting back down beside her at our desks.
“Well, I can’t divulge names, but I can tell you that I’ve had to threaten one member who is falling far behind on monthly dues, and another who I caught stealing money to buy drugs,” she said with a frown.
“It’s tough. That’s why providing you with the ability to join the chapter on spring break feels right; it is right.
I’m not stealing money for nefarious purposes.
I’m helping a sister. And that’s what sororities are supposed to be about. ”
“You’re the best. And, wow, I had no idea you’ve been dealing with all of this,” I said, truly shocked.
She’d never mentioned any of this to me before.
As far as I could tell, all my fellow Theta Gams had picture-perfect lives.
But maybe I hadn’t been looking closely enough.
“I’m sorry. Tell me who they are. Maybe I can help you? ”
Sunny looked up from her laptop, considering, perhaps, revealing the identities of the rotten sisters.
“I can’t. I wish I could because you’d never guess, but I can’t,” she said and turned back to her homework.
I never did find out who Sunny was referring to that day. It could have been anyone. Now I’m standing in the formal living room, my back to the dead body, when I feel a hand on my elbow and startle. I hadn’t heard anyone walk into the room.
“God, you scared me,” I say to Ryan, studying him while I wait for my racing heart to calm. “Don’t you look handsome.” His dark blue, perfectly tailored suit was more than handsome and made his eyes reflect an even darker blue.
“Thanks. And you look beautiful. You’ve always been beautiful, and you don’t even know it,” he says with a smile on his face that doesn’t reach those blue eyes. He touches my shoulder. “I’m sorry for my outburst earlier. It was unacceptable. Roxy has pushed me too far, and I exploded.”
“Please don’t apologize to me; I think Roxy is the one who deserves that,” I say. “Shall we go check on the dinner arrangements? I didn’t want to leave it all up to Roxy, after everything that’s happened.”
“Don’t worry. Roxy has an entire team at her disposal.
Fortunately, they are housed in another wing of the property, out of sight but close enough to still make it here during the storm, with face coverings, of course,” Ryan says.
“It’s a large estate, with plenty of places to hide staff, and other things. ”
“I wondered how everything would get done in this storm,” I say.
That explains it. Staff a minute away. We’ve stopped walking and are in the front entryway, another déjà vu part of the house that is eerily like the lobby of the Desert Sunrise.
Sunny’s smile pops into my head before the memory melds into a vision of her floating face down in the pool.
Stop it, I tell myself.
“Are you feeling all right?” Ryan asks.
My face must be giving my thoughts away. I paste on a smile. “Of course. How could I not be. We’re all together to celebrate our children.”
Ryan chuckles. “Is that really why we’re here? Do you believe that?”