Greek: Double Date (7 page)

“Cappie’s not here yet. I mean, if he is coming. I didn’t tell him Casey was going to the formal instead, but he might have figured it out.”

“Aw, your loyalty is cute. What about Dale?”

“I haven’t seen him. I’m stuck at the entrance for alumni and professors. Students go in the other door. Did Casey let him down easy?”

“She sent him a bunch of messages. He hasn’t called or written back.”

“That’s weird.” It didn’t seem like Dale, but Rusty couldn’t answer for his whereabouts. He’d been too busy and hadn’t seen him all day. “I miss you. How’s the formal?”

“I don’t know. The pledges are going together, but we got held up by a stocking emergency and we’re at the campus drugstore. Not very formal.”

“If I can get out of this thing, I promise you I will.”

“You should stay. Make contacts. Get deans to like you.” She was really trying to be encouraging. “Enjoy.”

“Talk to you soon.” He hung up in time to greet his advisor. “Professor Hastings.”

“Mr. Cartwright.” He always called people by their names in a way that seemed calculated to make them flinch. “How is our attendance looking?”

“Not so bad. Most of the people who got sick yesterday are already here. Everyone else is straggling in.”

“And the caterer?”

“I specifically told them ‘no fish,’ and they came very highly rated by the president of the university.” That had been a very awkward call. “So, okay, I think.”

His advisor actually showed a hint of a smile. “Good job, Cartwright. Keep your grades up, and you may well be just
attending
next year.”

A backhanded compliment if he’d ever heard one. Rusty just said, “Thank you, Professor.”

Rusty was watching his advisor turn around the corner when someone said from behind him, “Jerkwad.”

“Hey, Cappie.”

“Just because you can’t say it doesn’t mean I can’t, despite my great esteem for the professors of the engineering department,” Cappie said. He was dressed appropriately for the event, which was not black tie but still quite formal.

“Students are supposed to go in the other side.”

“I am not a student. I am either a connoisseur of the hard sciences or your date. Pick one.”

Rusty rolled his eyes, but he had to be honest with his big brother, now that he was facing him. “You know, I heard Casey is going to the formal instead. ZBZ responsibilities and all.”

“That’s sad,” Cappie said with remarkably little remorse. “And if my sole intention in attending this fine event was, as you say, to stalk Casey Cartwright, then I would be quite disappointed and tempted to desert you and relieve Heath of his presidential duties at the formal. But, as I have always maintained, your sister’s well-being is not my only concern in life.” He said it so smoothly that it almost sounded true.

“So you’re avoiding the formal.”

“Spitter, you’re so quick to judge sometimes.”

“You are
totally
avoiding the formal.”

Cappie rather hesitantly nodded. “Rebecca’s been texting me all day to be her date.”

“Rebecca? As in Rebecca Logan? Did you get back together—”

“No. The answer is no, but her messages were insistent. Whatever her scheme is, I would much prefer the comfort of the warm bosom of engineering—”

“Please never say that phrase again—”

“—to suiting her needs at the formal. I’ll take my chances with the poli-science—”

“Polymer science—”

“—majors. Thanks for the invite.” He patted Rusty on the back, then strutted in as only Cappie could, as if he owned the place.

“Remind me why I’m doing this.”

Calvin barely held back the mandatory eye roll that now came so often when dealing with Evan, as he entered to find, with some surprise, Evan perfectly dressed for the formal. Giving up your trust fund apparently didn’t affect your ability to properly position a cummerbund. “Because you’re president of Omega Chi.”

“Yeah, and?” Evan did not sound convinced.

“It’s your IFC duty, and you want the house to look good in front of Panhellenic.” Everyone knew that, when it came to the Greek system, the Panhellenic organization, which handled sorority issues, wielded more power, if only by virtue of their seriousness, than the far more easygoing Inter-Fraternity Council.

“Yeah, and?”

“And because you’re tired of being a wuss.”

“Okay, good enough.” Meaning, it was enough to inspire Evan to leave his room. “You going stag?” Evan generally didn’t ask about Calvin’s current status, which all things considered was very understandable.

“Yeah. Currently am.” Actually, Calvin had given up on his Dale-inspired purity pledge and was now with his roommate, Grant, but he could tell Evan was not in the mood for a chat about his personal life. “I heard my ex is standing in as Kappa Tau president.”

“Why? Cappie would never miss an open bar. Is he avoiding someone?”

“You know, avoiding your ex is not the only reason someone would want to miss a formal. There’s the tux, the crushing boredom of formality, the distinct possibility of embarrassing yourself and therefore your house in front of Panhellenic—”

“Which some of us excel at,” Evan said. “But if Cappie’s not there…”

“Or Rusty.” Rusty’s public brawl with Evan from back when Evan had been caught cheating on Casey was still legendary.

“Rusty’s not going?”

“He has some honors engineering event that his advisor is making him help with.”

“Sucks.”

“I know. So really, we’re the lucky ones.”

“No Cappie, no Rusty, no Frannie. Trying to keep the drama to a minimum might be easier than I thought.” He stopped on the sidewalk. “Or not.”

With her extremely nice and expensive automobile behind
her and her floor-length gown, Rebecca Logan looked as if she’d stepped right out of a car commercial. Or a champagne commercial.

“Calvin,” Rebecca said, and it was hard to tell whether she was angry or not because she was so good at being politely dismissive. Calvin shot Evan a supportive look, but his ability to prop up his big bro did not extend into Logan territory.

Evan exhaled, waiting until Calvin and any other frat brothers were well out of earshot. “So…what did I do?”

“I need a favor.”

He held up his hands. “You know that I’m broke these days.”

“Do I look like I need money?” But then her facial expression actually softened—for Rebecca. “I need a date.”

“With me?”

“It’s only for the length of the formal, and any after-party that we mutually agree to attend.”

He cocked his head. “What’s the catch?”

“No catch. Unless you consider being driven by a girl to the formal and not the other way around as a catch.”

“Okay, now I
have
to know the catch.”

Rebecca hesitated. “There’s this guy.”

“Do I know him?”

“No. He’s a transfer student working for Dean Bowman named Robert Howell.”

“That guy? He came by with a list of rules of behavior for the formal.”

“Uh, yeah. He did that for everyone. He’s Casey’s date.”

“And?”

“And I hate him. For reasons that are not what you’re immediately thinking. I haven’t seen him in years.”

“Do you want to disclose those reasons?” Evan asked.

“No. I want to go to the dance and not be annoyed by him or the presence of him or the pledges obsessing about it since I mentioned he was a scumbag. So can you just…escort me? Knight in shining armor?”

“Not if I have to fight some random guy and I don’t know why.”

“You don’t have to fight him,” she said.

“That’s what knights do. Fight people. And…dragons, I guess. Look, what is this about?”

“Me asking you for a favor,” she said.

“And why me?”

“Because I would rather hang out with you than anyone else there tonight.”

The problem was it actually sounded legitimate. It actually sounded as though Rebecca Logan, political and social wonder woman, needed help—
his
help. And she looked pretty hot in that dress. Evan sighed. “Fine, but at the end of the night, you have to tell me what this is about.”

“Or get you drunk enough that you forget.”

He was open to possibilities. “Either one.”

Casey and Rob arrived at the formal fashionably
late, which was precisely on time for both of them. Ashleigh was already there of course, with Fisher hovering nearby but never straying far from the sushi bar. Most of the pledges were there, too, either with their dates or staying together looking giggly and nervous. The evening was excessive even by Greek standards, as a number of deans were in attendance. It was a bit like a prom, but without teenagers sneaking out the back to smoke joints in the parking lot. There was also serious carding, which meant a lot of people’s long champagne glasses were filled with bubbling cider, but it was a good presentation. The theme was white, or at least the drapes were, and all of the balloons and decorations. It was either supposed to be romantic or the university had skimped on the Greek budget and had old tablecloths bleached. Only the dance floor had some color, if black checkerboard counted as a color. Either way, it looked nice.

“Too bad your boss isn’t here,” Casey whispered as they
entered without incident. “The Greeks are on their best behavior.”

“Dean Bowman at a Greek formal?” Rob laughed in a nice way. “That’d be fun to see. But the engineering event is of course more important to him, because of the alumni attendance. Also, I think the university’s trying to talk up their scientific departments to the whole college world.” The mention of the engineering awards pained Casey, who tried not to flinch. “What is it?”

“Nothing.” She smiled, though it was superficial. “I definitely need a drink.”

“And I just passed the big two-one. Can I get you something?”

This time her smile was real—and gracious. “Thank you.” She dispatched him with a drink order, fumbled with her purse to make sure it was hanging appropriately from her shoulder and joined the pledge group. “So how are you? Not that you should be way different from half an hour ago.”

There was some talk of dresses, of course, as it was the first thing anyone talked about, aside from who showed up with whom.

And then, the defunct IKI sisters arrived.

People almost didn’t notice, as many of them had legitimate reasons to be there with their still-Greek dates, but a few were there not of their own standing. The sisters themselves were no longer Greeks, but a few seemed to have slipped in anyway and immediately made their way to the bar. The IKI sisters were making fools of themselves but didn’t seem to know it.

Casey kindly reminded her snarky pledges—
kindly
being the operative word—that, “Some of the IKI sisters were originally ZBZ sisters.”

“But they left!”

She sighed. “They didn’t mean to. Sort of. It’s complicated.” Seeing they weren’t satisfied by that, she added, “We might one day welcome them back to ZBZ—and forgiveness is a sisterly virtue.” She left the pledges with that, this being a formal and not a house meeting, and they would just continue when she was gone.

Realizing one pledge was missing from the group, Casey looked around and found Jordan texting on her phone in a corner. “Hey.”

Jordan looked up. “Hey.” Despite her position, she did not sound overly distressed or bored—yet. “Rusty says hi.”

“How’s the engineering event going?”

“Their ice sculpture is way better than ours. He sent me a picture.” She glanced at the ice roses melting at the cocktail table now on the other side of the dance floor, impressive in their own right. “At least it’s not a swan.”

“You know, Jordan, there
are
benefits to the formal. Mainly, gossip about people’s dresses, it seems so far.”

“I don’t even like
my
dress.”

Casey thought her dress looked beautiful, but Jordan looked as if she was in physical pain just by virtue of wearing it. “Hopefully someone will get drunk and make a fool out of themselves—and it won’t be a ZBZ or someone I’ve gone out with. Then there’ll be something to talk about.”

“We can only hope.”

Through the thickening crowds of cocktail hour, with everyone racing to scarf down the best food and not look as though they were doing it, Casey relocated a somewhat exasperated Rob, who had her drink. “Cheers.” They clinked glasses. “So…is this par for the course?” He didn’t look as though he was used to the Greek social scene, especially the high-class version.

She sipped. “Sometimes there’s a dramatic entrance or a weird couple that everyone immediately has to run off to a corner to judge, but so far it’s been smooth sailing. Too smooth.” She saw Ashleigh and Fisher approaching. “Hi.”

“Hi!” Ashleigh was overexcited, as usual. “Oh—Fisher, this is Rob—Rob, Fisher.” The men shook. “Rob works for Dean Bowman.”

“How’s that going for you?” Fisher asked.

“Pretty well. Tonight, the rich alums are clustered at the engineering gala,” Rob said. “So the dean’s happy. He has his priorities.”

“Speaking of priorities,” Ashleigh said, “Casey, behind you, it’s Janette. Don’t freak out.”

“Janette? The Gamma Psi?”

“And the Panhellenic member who recommended I be expelled over the homecoming ‘incident.’”

Casey did not freak out, or turn around. “Who’s she talking to?”

“Katherine, her Gamma Psi sister and president of Panhellenic. This is totally the second board member I’ve seen her talking to tonight.”

“Are they going to kick out the IKI girls?”

“I don’t know if they have the power to do that. They’re not bouncers. Not in those heels,” Ashleigh said. “I don’t know! Oh, she’s coming this way. Act natural! Discuss!”

But they didn’t have anything to discuss except the person coming their way, whom Ashleigh didn’t properly identify and Casey couldn’t turn her head to see without violating the rules of their “we’re not spying” clause. The guys knew what to do—act oblivious—as they waited for the girl to reach them. “I can see that the ZBZ women are in order.”
For now
was
implied. It was Katherine, who was big on referring to sisters as “women” and not “girls.” She looked at Rob. “I don’t think we’ve formally met.”

“I’m Rob Howell,” he said, appropriately neutrally, adding, “I’m with Casey.”

Score one for him, Casey decided.

Katherine nodded just as neutrally. “Moving on,” she said, and left.

“Either something’s in the water or she’s up to something,” Casey decided.

“She’s not drinking water, and she’s definitely up to something. I don’t think she thinks much of ZBZ. Like she’s waiting for us to screw up—as if we could possibly outshine the IKIs,” Ashleigh said. “But can we not spend the night obsessing about Katherine? There’s…Rebecca!” Ashleigh gestured to the ZBZ sister currently making her entrance. “With…Evan?” Because it did appear as though she had Evan Chambers on her arm. There was one hard glance in their direction, and then the couple headed into the crowd, going another way.

“Evan looks kinda coerced,” Casey said, and she would know. She had dated him for almost three years. “That’s…weird.”

“You two are obsessed,” Fisher said, and Casey turned to Rob, who notably hadn’t said anything.

Instead he just said to Casey, “You’re staring at me.” It wasn’t accusatory, but it could have been.

“Uh, so cat’s out of the bag. Sort of.” Ashleigh jumped in for Casey. A small mercy. “Rebecca mentioned in this extremely offhanded and super imprecise way that she knows you from somewhere.”

“I interned in her father’s office, for his chief of staff,” he
said without missing a beat. He didn’t sound proud of it, but he wasn’t hiding it, either. “Obviously, when he was still a senator, and not totally immersed in scandal. This was in high school. And before you say anything, I did not know anything about the whole prostitution ring thing. They don’t tell interns about stuff like that. It was more like a congressional page program, but for senators. Less prestigious but a good résumé builder.”

“So you kind of…crossed paths with Rebecca?” Casey prodded.

“Yeah.” He nodded. “Look, it was a long time ago and not something I want to get into, okay?”

“In the past. Done,” Casey said.

“Buried. Like, Valley of the Kings buried,” Ashleigh said.

“You know they dug up the Valley of the Kings,” Fisher said, more joking than to be unhelpful. Ashleigh gave him a little shove anyway. “Ow!” As if he was hurt by that.

Casey and Rob made the rounds, which for Casey meant greeting the rest of the Panhellenic board, all of whom were in attendance. One was more than eager to go on and on about university disciplinary councils—
way
too much information. But Casey struck gold with Lauren Parke, a slightly bubbly—meaning, inebriated—member whose term was expiring. She was more than happy to both bitch and praise the council and her tenure on it.

“Most of it is paperwork,” Lauren said. “The university has its own codes of conduct for the Greek system, and there’s a really long and boring but surprisingly complex binder. You could basically bring anyone up on anything if they don’t know their rules. Fortunately most of the Greek presidents do. Weren’t you president of ZBZ?”

“Interim.”

“Right. That whole scandal. Anyway, we had to make a big deal out of it, but I think most of us were really just relieved it wasn’t our houses that were subject to scrutiny. The university higher-ups and administration took care of most of the work. We were all sort of quiet. Suddenly we weren’t the Panhellenic board—we were drunk, sex-crazed Greeks. So in a way we got off easy on the paperwork and telling off other members of the system. But most of the time, we’re reciting rules to people who should already know them. The worst houses are the ones who are established, and on good terms with the university—you know, the boring ones—because they don’t think they need to know the rules. The Inter-Fraternity Council seems far more interesting. The best house is Kappa Tau.”

“Kappa Tau?”

“Oh, my God, they always have the best presidents when it comes to dodging the Greek system. Cappie is a master. He’s quoted the rule book verbatim and pulled out some obscure thing to save Kappa Tau’s butt more times than I can remember. He could probably find a way to join on IFC if he wanted to.”

Casey snorted.

“The worst part is dealing with Nationals for different houses, when their senior officers call in wanting to know what’s up with their houses. Because they have their own set of rules for behavior—and obviously the sororities are way stricter than the fraternities—and then the university has its rules, and I think at the end they don’t want anyone to do anything but look pretty and have charity fundraisers. As if
they
didn’t join a sorority to party.”

“I’ve been to ZBZ Nationals,” Casey said. She’d gone to the
ZBZ national convention the previous year. “There’s a bit of self-delusion in the air. Or maybe ZBZ was all about feminine virtue sixty years ago.”

Lauren laughed. “Totally. It was the same at Tri-Pi Nationals. Did they make you sing horrible songs?”

“And snap. ZBZ sisters don’t clap. We snap.”

“Oh, that’s awesome. I know we used to be rivals, before Gamma Psi moved up in the ranks, but I think we all meld together in the end. After all, we attract the same type of pledges—girls who want to be sorority sisters.” She shook her head. “This is my last term and I can’t wait for some free time. Granted, it is a great résumé builder, and I’m glad I did it. I made a ton of contacts, but it’s way too much work. I want to live a little before I work the rest of my life. Ooh, mini hot dogs. Do you know how many calories they have? Screw it, I can have one.” She waved goodbye and went for the passing tray. “E-mail me if you have more questions!”

Casey retreated to a convenient balcony with Rob. “Sorry about that. Politics.”

“I’m used to it. Just with less alcohol,” he said. “I like it better with the alcohol.”

She giggled. “I really didn’t invite you so you could be subjected to the same things you’re subjected to at work. There are good reasons to join the Greek system, by the way.”

“Parties.”

“Right. And not having to live in a dorm. And spring break. And a lot of stuff about being a big sister or little sister and a lifelong connection to a group of women who at times seem completely nuts. I think I made the best of the difficult parts. Actually it took a little getting used to, but there are definitely perks, once you get used to it. It can even be great.
The time of your life—except sometimes the social connections thing.”

“Résumé building can be painful, but I think that’s why it’s called building,” Rob said. “My résumé to get into college was full of things I built into it, and now my job résumé will be the same thing.”

“Getting into Cyprus-Rhodes was the only reason I was vice president of my high-school literary magazine. I don’t remember reading the submissions so much as arguing as long as possible as to which ones were the best. And they were all pretty terrible.” That seemed so long ago, and so petty—was that how she would view college in four years? Or even less? “But hey, it got me into college.”

“And Panhellenic will get you into grad school? Or just be a career builder?”

“There are some people with interesting jobs who are ZBZ sisters. And that
is
the reason a lot of people join sororities—because of their older, well-connected, job-offering sisters. I got a congressional internship because of a recommendation from Congresswoman Paula Baker over the summer. Again, great for the résumé.”

“It does seem to always come down to that. Our lives down to a piece of paper.”

“It’s part of the reason I’m here—aside from you, of course. But before I met you, I was going, date or not. You were just…a happy accident.” She wanted to reassure him, and he seemed to trust her on that. “I need contacts like Lauren if I’m going to get a term on Panhellenic next semester.” Her phone rang. “Hold on. And I thought I shut this off. Hello?”

“Hey, Case. It’s Betsy!”

Casey rolled her eyes at her overexuberant ZBZ sister, eager to prove herself. Way too eager. “Yes?”

“So this guy was here. He came to pick you up, but you weren’t here.”

“Rob already— Wait, what did he look like?”

“Um, hair was way too long, outfit kind of clashy? I don’t mean hippie long, just a little too long. He’s too short for that haircut.”