by S. L. Stacy
She balls up the tissue in her hand and sneers. “It’s not ‘Lynne,’ either,” she says, turning and flouncing away. Tanya and a few of the other sisters launch into a half-hearted chant, but many of the girls from our last party leave in a huff, just like…oh, whatever the hell her name was.
“Your recruitment strategy certainly is…unique.” Samantha has one eyebrow raised as she watches the girls leaving our house.
“I’m sure you have no idea why all of our plumbing suddenly malfunctioned during our largest party of the night,” I say, the words at odds with the sweet smile I keep on my face for the benefit of the rushees walking past us.
“What horrible timing! Well, I’m sure a little water won’t keep them from coming back tomorrow night.”
“I’m not worried about it,” Victoria says, appearing next to me. “But I am starting to get pissed. And trust me—you don’t want to see me when I’m pissed.”
“Oh, what, you’ll send your army of little blonde birds after us? I’m so scared!”
A sob breaks out a few feet away. I assume someone must be upset about the water until I look over and see Alec and Carly locked in a heated argument. Carly’s face is trembling like she’s about to burst into tears.
Samantha chuckles to herself. “Yeah, really scared. Looks like there’s trouble in paradise.” She walks away, joining her sisters on their patio. Everyone who was watching us trudge out of our house soaking wet is now fixated on Alec and Carly’s screaming match.
“You’re really going to do this now?” Carly is yelling as I jog over to them. Her curls droop down her back, heavy with water. “After what just happened? In front of all of these people?”
“This is the way it has to be!” Alec bellows. “I can’t be with you, Carly! I just can’t!” His face is contorted as if even he can’t believe he’s saying the words.
“Is this because we…because I…” Carly’s eyes plead with him to tell her she’s wrong.
Alec nods his head slowly. “I just can’t do this anymore. I’m sorry.”
Looking at the ground for a moment, Carly sniffles, flicking the back of her hand across her nose. “Okay. Fine. Have a nice life.” She turns on her heel. Alec puts a hand on her shoulder before she can walk away.
“Carly, I—I need the necklace back.” Alec’s voice is barely above a whisper.
Carly pulls away from his hand. “What?”
“Just give me the necklace back. Please.”
“Forget it!” she cries, clapping a hand over the pendant protectively. “It was a gift! It’s mine now!”
“Carly—give me the necklace! Please!” Alec calls after her as she sprints across the lawn. “And stay away from the Sigma Iota house!” He takes a few steps forward like he wants to follow her, stopping short when I step in front of him
“I can’t believe you.” I jab a finger in his chest. “I can’t believe you would do that to her. In front of the entire Quad.”
Alec regards me with some surprise, but mostly he just looks solemn, desperate. “You have to get that necklace from her, Siobhan. Do whatever it takes. Get that necklace off her.”
“Um, okay,” I say, my outrage unraveling slightly. “Tell me what’s going on, Alec.”
“Promise me.” His words are becoming choked, garbled. “Promise me you’ll do it.”
“I…I promise…but wait!” I shout when he starts back for the Sigma Iota house. “Alec, wait! What’s going on?”
“Little!” I look over my shoulder. Victoria waits for me, propping open our front door with her back. “We need you inside!”
I look back and forth between her and Alec’s hunched shoulders. Sighing, I give up and go into the house.
The sprinklers, sinks and pipes have mysteriously stopped leaking. The puddles forming on the floor have receded, and the damage is minimal. Farrah barks instructions while we use mops and towels to dry the floor and surfaces. No one seems to mind that our house manager isn’t pitching in. Carly is half-curled up on the couch, staring into space with glassy, disbelieving eyes.
While we clean, Tanya runs down the roster of girls going through recruitment. We have to decide who we’re inviting back tomorrow night. At this moment, the rushees are also ranking the houses they visited. The process is called mutual selection. We choose them; they choose us.
“Who talked to Harriet?” Tanya calls out.
“Me,” Carly says, raising a floppy arm. “That’s the awkward girl from the first party. Don’t invite her back.”
“Ah, the one with chronic bitch face and no fashion sense,” Tanya says. “I agree.”
“Wait, ladies,” Farrah says, holding up a cautionary hand. “Before you make your decision, you should know she’s a legacy.”
Tanya taps her jaw with her pen. “I’m sticking with no.” A few sisters nod in agreement.
“If she’s a legacy, we’re inviting her back,” says Victoria.
“But she’s not very pretty,” Tanya argues, lower lip jutting out in a petulant frown.
“It’s not even that,” Carly insists, reluctantly sitting up further on the couch. “She only gave me one word answers to anything I asked her. When she did have something to say, it was usually just plain mean. She said I looked like an 80s dance instructor. And I don’t think she meant it as a compliment.”
“Well, if this is the case, I do not think we should extend her an invitation to return tomorrow night,” Farrah advises. Tanya starts to mark something on the roster, but Victoria’s sharp voice makes her pen stop just above the paper.
“We’re not dropping girls because they’re not pretty or perky enough!” Victoria erupts. “It’s shallow—and we simply can’t afford to, anyway!”
“Just because you have never valued charm and presentation, Victoria, doesn’t mean there’s no place for them—”
“Please, do not pretend like you know me,” Victoria snaps. A chill descends upon the room, locking all of us in an icy embrace. Victoria glares at her mother, her body trembling with years or maybe even ages of pent-up resentment.
Farrah’s pink lips are round with shock. “It’s a suggestion. I’m just trying to help.”
“Well, stop. We don’t need your help. You can leave. Really. Anytime, now.”
“Because you were doing so well before I got here,” Farrah says, some sarcasm sneaking into her tone. She continues, “I simply think that we also have to consider the solidarity of the sisterhood. If someone isn’t going to fit in well here, even a legacy, we’re better off—and, more importantly, she’s better off—if we let her go. We have to show Ares we’re a united front.”
Victoria sighs grudgingly. “You have a point.” The air returns to room temperature. “Considering she is a descendant, I think we should give her one more chance. Siobhan, we’re assigning her to you.”
“I’m not really the best person to stick on anybody right now—” I start to protest.
“You’re our best recruiter. After tomorrow night, if you don’t think we should invite her back, we’ll drop her.”
I purse my lips and nod slowly. “Okay. I’ll do it.”
“Sounds like a plan!” Farrah rubs her hands together in satisfaction. “Tanya, who’s next?”
It takes about an hour to go through the rest of the names and finish cleaning up. As we’re putting away the cleaning supplies, Farrah claps for our attention.
“One last thing before we call it a night,” she says. We all pause and look at her with weary eyes. “Hephaestus and I have been called away to an emergency Elder Council meeting. These things tend to drag, but we will be back as soon as we can. I expect you all to be on your best behavior while we’re gone, adhering to curfew and all of our other rules. I know what’s going on here—it’s futile to keep things from me.” Her eyebrows slant in Victoria’s direction. “This childish drama stops now. It’s beneath us. And if I come back and find out that any of you have participated in it, I will dissolve this chapter myself.
“That’s all.” Farrah gives us her most sickeningly sweet smile yet. “Great job tonight, ladies. Everything will be just fine. Remember to get your beauty sleep tonight!”
***
“Well, that was quick,” Tanya says. She has one arm out of her damp sorority t-shirt, pausing to look at her phone.
“What was quick?” I wonder. She hands me her phone, the homepage of The Grapevine pulled up on the screen. “Victoria will kill you if she finds out you check this.”
My roommate shrugs and continues to change. “How else will I get my news? It’s not like I post anything. Just read it.”
The most recent post is a picture of Alec and Carly on the Quad, arguing. Carly is soaking wet and bawling. The caption says: Carlec has broken up! Thurston’s golden couple is no more!
“When did Carly and Alec become Thurston’s ‘golden couple’?” Tanya says.
“When did people start calling them Carlec?” I give Tanya her phone back. “Whoever Lady Blah Blah is, she really has it out for the Greeks.”
“She really has it out for us. It has to be one of the Alpha Rhos.”
“Maybe.” I feel a pang of doubt as I think back to Rebecca’s reaction to my accusation. I don’t think Genie would have wasted time taking the pictures of our formal, but it must have been one of our guests. “What if it was…Max? He must resent me for the way I broke things off with him. Maybe he’s trying to get back at me by hurting all of us.” Maybe this is all my fault.
Tanya shakes her head. “Max might be clingy, but I don’t think he’d do something like that. And, anyway—it’s Lady Blah Blah.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. It’s a screen name. It could be a guy.”
“You’re making this way too complicated. It’s the Alpha Rhos.”
“Fine. Whatever. Just make sure Carly doesn’t see it—”
“Make sure Carly doesn’t see what?” Carly pauses in our doorway on her way to the bathroom.
“Nothing!” Tanya and I say together.
Carly sighs miserably. “Come on, you guys. Don’t fudging lie to me.”
“For once in your life, just say it. Fuck-ing,” Tanya enunciates for Carly as she hands her the phone.
As Carly’s eyes skim the post, her chin trembles. Her face stiffens as she holds back another onslaught of tears. “Carlec?” she sniffs.
“It’s ‘Carly’ and ‘Alec’ smooshed together—” I start to explain.
“I know what it is. I just think it sounds stupid. It rhymes with garlic.”
“At least your names make something. No matter how you put ‘Siobhan’ and ‘Jasper’ together, it sounds like gibberish.”
“Which is obviously why you weren’t meant to be,” Tanya says. “I know what will make you feel better,” she adds to Carly. “Coming out with us tonight!”
Carly bites her lip. “I’m not really up for going out.”
“Come on. You can’t just lay around here and mope all night!”
“Yes I can. Where are you guys going?”
“The Sigma Iota party,” I tell her.
“Oh, no, no, no. That’s literally the last place on Earth I want to be tonight.”
“There will be tons of people there,” says Tanya. “It’ll be easy to avoid Alec.”
Carly doesn’t look convinced. “We’re not even supposed to go to fraternity parties during rush.”
“Stop being such a goody-two-shoes!” Tanya stomps her bare feet in impatience.
“Victoria is seeing Farrah and Hef off,” I say. “No one will ever know.”
“But…” Forehead crinkling, Carly rakes her brain for another excuse. “Alec doesn’t even want me there! He told me to stay away from their house!”
“So you’re going to let a boy tell you what to do—”
“Let it go, Twin,” I tell Tanya. Carly is still wearing her wet clothes, her air-dried hair frizzing around her face. My stomach clenches with guilt. “Carly, it’s okay if you don’t want to go. We understand.”
“Fine,” Carly huffs almost at the same time. “I’ll go out for a bit. Just let me get ready.”
“Yes!” Tanya punches the air in triumph, going into the hall to check herself out in the full-length mirror.
“Siobhan, I need you to do me a favor,” Carly says.
“Name it. Um, what are you doing?” I retreat a few steps as I watch her take off the shield necklace.
She holds it out to me. “Can you give this back to Alec for me?”
“I thought you were keeping it,” I say, keeping my hands glued to my sides. When Alec asked me to get the necklace from her, I didn’t think it would be quite this easy. I was praying it wouldn’t be, so I would have an excuse not to be near the thing, to touch it. Even now, as it swings back and forth from Carly’s hand, the colorful sparks in the black opal are spiraling, drawing me in.
“I just said that. I didn’t want to give it back in front of everyone. The truth is, I still don’t like it.” She absently massages her neck. “I’m relieved he wants it back. But I don’t want to do it myself. Can you do it? Please?”
“Sure.” I gulp, holding my hand out. She drops it, and the chain falls silkily into my palm. As I close my hand around it, it beats faintly, feeling strangely warm and alive. “No problem.” I try to smile, but I’m sure it looks more like a grimace.
“Thanks. I’ll be ready in a few.”
When Carly’s gone, I sit down at my desk and open my palm to stare at the necklace. With its fiery opal and blood red garnets, it’s really rather beautiful. I wonder what it would look like on…
I shove it into my pocket. I know Alec is the last person Carly wants to see tonight, but he better be there so I can get rid of the necklace. Carly’s so innocent her body practically rejected the damn thing, while my veins hum with the nearness of it, warm and throbbing at my hip.
Ten minutes later, the three of us check ourselves out one final time in the hallway mirror. I’m wearing black skinny jeans and a lacey pink tank top. Tanya has on white leggings cut off just below the knee and a neon pink halter top with a plunging neckline. Carly has changed out of her wet clothes into a fuchsia sequined mini dress.
Carly squints at our reflections. “We look like…”
“Sorority girls?” I finish for her.
“Let’s go,” Tanya says, giving a resolute nod. We clomp downstairs and out the front door and cross over to the Sigma Iota house.
“Welcome, ladies,” says the brother manning the front door. He holds it open for us, then stations himself in the doorway, thrusting his palm out to the four guys behind us.
“Hey!” one of them protests. “You just let those girls in!”
The bouncer shrugs. “Sorry. You’re not on the list.”
“You don’t have a list!” I hear someone else exclaim before the throbbing bass of the music drowns out his voice.
The thick mass of bodies packed into the first floor instantly absorbs us. Strobe lights streak color across the dark walls and ceiling, briefly illuminating gyrating couples and people doing shots at a makeshift bar. All of the furniture has been pushed to the sides to clear space for the dance floor. One of the brothers is stationed in the kitchen, playing deejay. Tanya, Carly and I go up to the bar and grab red plastic cups brimming with cheap beer. As we sip, we dance in a tight huddle, people crushing us from all sides. I catch a glimpse of bright red hair as Sam and a friend weave their way toward us.
“Cheers!’ Sam says. He hits his plastic cup against mine, making some of my beer slosh over the side.
“Great party!” Tanya tells them, holding up her cup.
“Thanks!” says Sam’s friend. He’s wearing nothing but shorts and a baseball hat. “Wanna dance?” Tanya nods. He eases her against his washboard abs, Tanya moving her hips to match his pace.
“How’d the first night of rush go?” Sam asks.
“Okay. It was a little…wet!” I tell him. He raises his eyebrows. “The Alpha Rhos sabotaged our last party.”
“Those bitches! Well, you won’t find any Alpha Rhos here.”
“They’re not on the list?”
“Huh?”
“Never mind!”
Sam puts a hand on the small of my back, leaning into me. His breath smells like mint and alcohol. “Let’s dance!” As he wraps his arms around my waist, I back into him, and our hips begin to sway together in time with the music. Although he doesn’t inspire an overwhelming burst of desire within me, his body feels pleasant crushed against mine. We bump and grind through three nineties rap songs while Carly dances by herself nearby.
Something buzzes against my hip. Sam takes one of his hands off of me and digs his phone out of his pocket.
“I have to take this!” he tells me, withdrawing his other arm. He turns and holds the phone up to his ear to answer a call. Shouting into the phone, he swaggers over to the basement door, pulling it open and disappearing down the steps into the darkness below. Carly and I gravitate closer together, our feet losing momentum. We shuffle in place for a few minutes, bobbing our heads.
Carly’s brow furrows at something over my shoulder. “I think that’s your friend over there!”
“What?” I turn around. A girl dances on one of the tables, her hips encased in tight jeans and undulating to the bass of a Ludacris song. She waves her arms in the air, red top lifting to expose golden skin and a slender midriff. Long, brown hair sweeps through the air as she dances in a circle, turning to face the crowded room.
“Anna. I’ll be back,” I tell Carly. Her understanding nod is a little resentful as she glances at Tanya and Magic Mike still engulfed in each other a few feet away.
“Anna!” I elbow people out of the way as I hurry toward the table. Anna’s eyes are closed, and she doesn’t seem to hear me calling her name over the loud music. Only when I tug on her ankle does she open her eyes.
“Siobhan!” She gives me a huge smile and bends down to take my hand. “Get up here! Dance with me!”