The Hazards of Skinny Dipping (3 page)

“Aren’t we all supposed to trust each other?
Isn’t that what this is about?”

“Yes. Eventually. But, it can get rough.”

“Remind me why I’m doing this…”

“You’re so funny, Juliet.” She took my hand
and pulled me along to find out what houses the rest of the girls
on our floor got. It turned out we were the only ones in Delta
Mu.

Cara and I had instantly hit it off. On the
surface, we seemed really different, but underneath her peppy shell
was some serious attitude. I had an attitude too, but I lacked the
peppy exterior.

Cara wasn’t my roommate. I still hadn’t met
that girl. The rest of the freshman class wouldn’t get in for a few
more days, but you had to arrive early if you wanted to rush.

Cara and I headed over to the Delta Mu house,
completely unprepared for the welcome the active sisters had
waiting. You’d have thought we were celebrities or something. They
all lined up in matching t-shirts, clapping, with huge smiles
plastered on their faces. The line spilled down the brick stairs,
making for an interesting climb up to the porch. As we walked
through the front door, they handed each of us a shirt.

After changing into my “The Finest Go Delta”
shirt, I took a seat with the rest of my pledge class. I glanced
around the room. The last time I’d been in there, it had been
swathed in black, resembling a night club rather than the pastel
living room I saw now.

A perky brunette walked to the front of the
room and greeted us with a grin. “Welcome, girls. Whether you know
it or not, today is one of the most important days in your life.
You’re embarking on an experience like no other. I’m Amanda, and
I’ll be your pledge mom, your guide, your shoulder to lean on, and
pretty much anything you need through your time as a pledge or
rather, ‘new member.’” From the air quotes she used, I got a good
idea of what she thought of the PC term.

We all clapped. I’m not really a big clapper,
but when the other twenty girls started, it seemed like the right
thing to do.

Amanda grinned again before gesturing a
redhead up to the front with her. “This is Jana. She’s going to be
helping me with your new member orientation. Aren’t you, Jana?”

“Yes, and I can’t wait!” She clapped. There
was entirely too much clapping going on. “I’m sure you guys are
wondering what we’re doing today—we’re going to play laser
tag!”

Cara nudged me. “Laser tag?”

“The bus will pick us up in a few minutes, so
take a moment to get to know each other, and we’ll be ready to
go.”

“Hey, I’m Mallory.” A gorgeous girl with
long, black hair held out her hand to both of us.

“Hey, I’m Cara, and this is Juliet.”

“Juliet? That’s a fun name.”

“Fun?”

“Yeah, so classic yet so edgy.” Mallory
fidgeted with one of her bangle bracelets. If I wore the bracelets,
I’d look like I was five. Mallory looked chic.

“Have either of you actually played laser tag
before?” Cara asked.

I put a hand in the pocket of my skirt.
“Yeah, I have two brothers, so I got dragged to a lot of those
parties.”

“It’s all about sisterly bonding.” Jana
sauntered over to us. When I say sauntered, I mean sauntered. She
might as well have been on a runway.

“Oh, okay.” I nodded.

“Are you guys having fun yet? Bid day can be
really overwhelming, but it’s supposed to be fun.”

“Lots of fun,” Mallory answered for all of
us. I was sure I detected some sarcasm—Mallory was my kind of
girl.

“Great! I think the bus just got here.” We
followed Jana out, and sure enough, a yellow school bus was parked
out front.

Cara laughed. “Wow, flashback to elementary
school.”

“I know. I didn’t think they actually meant a
school bus.” I got in line to board.

I turned when I heard some loud whistling.
“Delta Mu’s looking hot!”

“Be nice, boys!” Jana yelled at a group of
guys walking by. They were all huge—as in
giant-muscles-I-wouldn’t-want-to-meet-you-in-a-dark-alley huge.

One guy yelled back, “We are being nice. See
you in a few.”

“Wait, those guys are going to be at laser
tag?” My jaw dropped.

“Usually we’d have the whole place rented
out, but the owners double booked. We’ll be sharing with the
Kappas.”

“This is going to be interesting.” Mallory
laughed.

“Sisterly bonding with frat guys…right,” I
mumbled.

Jana turned toward me. “What was that?”

I smiled. “Nothing.”

“Their bark is bigger than their bite.
They’re actually really nice,” Jana assured us.

“I’m sure.” I stepped up onto the bus and
took a seat. Cara slid in next to me, and Mallory sat with Jana
across from us. I looked out the window, watching a crowd of guys.
I’m sure they were some frat’s new pledge class.

“This place is hot guy central. I don’t even
know where to start.” Cara ogled the guys.

“I agree.” I did, but the only guy on campus
I was really looking for was Dylan.

The ride went quickly as we learned some
sorority songs. I hate to admit it, but they were kind of catchy.
Before I knew it, we pulled into the lot of the laser tag place. It
was located in a strip mall, the kind of place where you went for
groceries or frozen yogurt. It must be the cheapest kind of rental
space because that’s where laser tag always was.

Inside, we geared up. It was a really funny
sight to see a bunch of sorority girls wearing electronic vests and
holding guns. We were about ready to go into the game room when the
door opened, and the Kappa guys flowed in.

The pledges all wore black t-shirts that read
“An offer you can’t refuse.” The shirts weren’t particularly
original, but who doesn’t like a
Godfather
reference?

We listened as a middle-aged guy read off a
list of instructions. Pretty much, we weren’t supposed to hurt each
other or the equipment. After we grumbled our agreement, we were
allowed in. It was just like any other laser tag place I’d been to.
The neon lights and fog made it feel like we were stuck in
Tron
.

I wasn’t going to lose easily. Most of the
girls were done within minutes, giggling as Kappas took them out.
Cara, Mallory, and I set off together, but we got separated when a
group of guys came at us Rambo style. The guy leading the pack wore
a backward baseball cap. I hoped he was doing it to be funny. Not
that I would have questioned it. He was giant, at least 6’4” or
6’5”, and a solid wall of muscle.

I hid behind a blockade, determined to wait
out baseball cap guy. There was no way he was taking me down. I
waited and waited, and finally I saw him turn the corner. I pointed
my gun, aimed, and hit him straight in the back.

“Damn it.” As his vest lit up and buzzed, he
searched for the culprit.

I smiled and winked at him. “Better luck next
time.”

“That wasn’t very lady like.”

“Who said I was a lady?”

An active sister I was pretty sure was named
Dana walked past us. Her vest blinked. “You’re a Delta Mu. Of
course you’re a lady.”

I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at
her. “This has been fun and all, but I’m still alive.” I gestured
to my vest.

Baseball cap guy smiled. “Yeah, yeah. Go kill
some more men, Annie.”

“Annie?”

“Yup, see you around.” He nodded before
disappearing into the man-made fog.

I moved back into my hiding spot, but before
I could even look for my next victim, the lights flashed, and the
game was over. I reluctantly walked toward the exit. Maybe laser
tag was more fun than I’d remembered.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Subject: Re: List Complete!

Dear Juliet,

I really hope that email was a joke. I’ve
warned you about Dylan. He’s a jerk. In other news, I heard through
the grapevine you’re pledging Delta Mu—I’m so psyched for you. Feel
free to raid my closet next time you’re at my house. I have tons of
shirts and stuff. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.

Your Only Cousin,

Amy

“You must be Tally.” I awkwardly pulled my
towel tighter around me. Of course, my roommate and her family had
to come by right as I came back from the shower. The floor was all
girls, so most of us didn’t bother dressing in the bathroom.

“Yeah… and you’re Juliet?” The leggy brunette
held out a hand.

I accepted the handshake. “Yup. Nice to meet
you. I’ll just go get dressed in the bathroom.” I grabbed some
clothes and headed to the door.

“No, don’t be silly. We’ll wait outside for a
minute.” Tally’s mother smiled.

“Oh, thanks.”

I dared a look at who I assumed had to be
Tally’s younger brother. He was probably fifteen or sixteen, and he
had the biggest, cheesiest grin on his face.

“Come on.” Tally tugged on his arm, and they
walked out.

I pulled on a pair of khaki shorts and a blue
tank top. Black flip flops completed the outfit. I brushed out my
hair before securing it back into a bun.

“It’s safe to come back in.” I opened the
door.

“Cool.” Tally smiled.

“Obviously, I took that side.” I pointed to
my bed. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.”

“Good. Well, I’ll get out of your way so you
can unpack.”

“You don’t have to.”

“No, it’s totally fine. I have to be
somewhere in twenty minutes anyway. I’ll see you later.” I glanced
at her family. “Nice meeting you.”

“Same to you.”

The brother grinned at me as I walked out.
Poor kid, he really needed to get a girlfriend.

I thought about stopping by Cara’s room, but
I opted to go for a walk instead. I’d been on campus over a week,
but I’d barely done anything that didn’t involve Sorority Rush or
the Delta Mu house. I took a walk around the quad before cutting
across campus to the sorority houses. I turned onto Coming Street
and went up the front steps.

I was starting to get a hang of the pledging
thing—or at least I thought I was. We spent at least half of the
time being forced to memorize every minute detail about the history
of Delta Mu and our local chapter. It would have been somewhat
interesting if we didn’t have to prove we’d taken in every word. I
also wasn’t a huge fan of our pledge mom, Amanda. Sometimes, I felt
like she wanted us to screw up. The look of disappointment that
crossed her face when I correctly named each of the original
chapters and their school affiliations might have been comical if
we hadn’t been at it for two hours already.

After an hour of history, the topic of
conversation moved on to the social scene. “I want all of you girls
out and about tonight. Make sure to show off your pins, but
remember, nothing with the actual Greek letters.” Jana smiled.

“Because you haven’t earned them yet.” Amanda
always had to play bad cop. “But that doesn’t mean you aren’t
representing us. Make sure you dress cute. People are
watching.”

I wasn’t one hundred percent sure what
dressing cute actually meant. In my book, that meant a nice tank
and skirt, but I had a feeling it also entailed something other
than flip flops and a messy bun.

“I heard there’s a really fun party over at
Phi Omega tonight.” Mallory applied mango scented lotion to her
hands.

“Yeah?” I tried to sound nonchalant, but my
heart was racing a mile a minute. I knew from my internet stalking
that, not only was Dylan in that house, he was the president. Dylan
and I hadn’t interacted in any way since the night at the beach
house. I doubted he even had my number. Maybe he’d just pretend it
never happened. I wasn’t sure whether I’d be more relieved or
disappointed by that reaction.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Subject: Hey!

Dear Amy,

Don’t worry about Dylan. I haven’t even seen
him yet. Don’t do anything you wouldn’t do? Based on that list, I’m
guessing you’ve done some pretty crazy things. I may take you up on
those shirts. Do you have last year’s formal shirt?

Your Sweet and Well-Behaved Cousin,

Juliet

Cara, Mallory, and I grabbed drinks from the
big vat and explored the party. I kept glancing around for Dylan,
equally excited and terrified at the thought of seeing him. The
place was happening, and it wasn’t even nine-thirty. I didn’t
recognize too many people, but other than the girls in my house and
my floor, I’d barely met anyone yet. The crowd was so noisy I
couldn’t even make out what kind of music was playing. I
concentrated really hard, determined to figure it out. Two arms
slinked around my waist.

I spilled a little of my drink as I was
yanked back against a solid chest. “You have some explaining to
do.” I didn’t need to turn around to know it was Dylan whispering
in my ear.

“Hey…” I needed to stay calm. It wasn’t a big
deal—I’d already slept with him.

“Hey, yourself. You were supposed to stay the
night.”

“I wasn’t tired. I figured you wouldn’t
notice.” I tried to move out of his arms so I could look at him,
but he didn’t loosen his hold.

“I woke up in the middle of the night wanting
you so bad, and you weren’t there. Not even a note with your phone
number. Your house was empty the next day. And are you the only
person on the planet without Facebook? I couldn’t even find you
that way.”

“I have it, but only my friends can find my
profile.”

His lips brushed my earlobe. “Add me as a
friend, Juliet.”

I shivered. Why was I shivering? “Okay. Are
you going to let me go now?”

“Only if you promise not to run off on me
again.”

“I promise.” He moved his arms, and I took a
step away. I glanced at Cara and Mallory. They both looked
shocked.