The Only Exception

by Magan Vernon

  “Yes, Dad, it is nice to get out of the city. It’s nice to have a boyfriend who cares about me for more than the Greek letters on my shirt, and I think everyone could use a fresh start once in awhile,” I said, putting my chin down. I didn’t challenge Dad often, but every time I did he either blew up or just smiled.

  This time he decided to talk. “You’re right, Mon.” He glanced at Trey. “Everyone does deserve a fresh start and a second chance. First impressions aren’t always what we think.”

  He raised his eyebrows. I knew exactly what he was talking about, but knew there was no way in hell Trey would catch on. He knew about me crying the first day I went to Taylor about how none of the sororities wanted me, and yet, I wanted to be a part of one so bad. Dad told me that same thing; that maybe their first impression of me just wasn’t right and they had to get to know me. We got to know each other all right and that left me looking for my fresh start. My own second chance.

  Trey took my hand and squeezed it. “The first time I met Monica, I thought she was breathtaking, but I also kind of knew she hated me just because of who I was. First impressions aren’t everything.”

  “And I thought you were a smug, arrogant, governor’s son. I wasn’t completely wrong.” I laughed.

  “I try.” Trey smiled.

  “Awww,” Mom said, leaning her head on my dad. “Young love.”

  I bit my bottom lip, glancing at Trey and he shot a wink in my direction. I didn’t think we were to that word yet, but at least he didn’t go running for the hills.

  Dad cleared his throat. “Well, it’s getting pretty late, and I have to work tomorrow. We’d better head back.”

  “Okay.” I nodded, swinging Trey around and walking the short distance back to our apartment building.

  My parents’ sedan was parked on the street, and Mom gave me an extra long hug when we got to the car. “Don’t be a stranger now! I hope we’ll see you soon. And Trey?” She walked over and threw her arms around him, embracing him in a big hug. “You don’t be a stranger either.”

  Trey smiled when she let go of him. “As long as you keep making that amazing lasagna, I’ll be around.”

  Dad patted my back, and I turned toward him. “It was good to see you, Mon.”

  “Yeah, good to see you too, Dad.”

  He pulled me into a hug and then leaned closer, whispering so only I could hear. “He’s a good kid, Monica.”

  My eyes widened. I wasn’t expecting that from dad. He seemed like he was too busy scrutinizing Trey to really try and get to know him. “I know, Dad.”

  “Just be honest with him and the rest will fall into place.”

  I nodded as he let go of me. I knew what he meant, but there was no way I could be completely honest with Trey. I wasn’t ready for that. And I didn’t know if I ever would be.

  Trey put his arm around my waist as we watched my parents’ car disappear down the street.

  “I think I left something in your apartment, is it okay if we go back up there?” he asked.

  “Um, sure.” I said. I figured I would invite him back up anyway; he didn’t need an excuse.

  We took the elevator up to the second floor then walked down the hall to my apartment. He watched me put my key in the lock like he was waiting for me to grow horns or something. I took his weirdness as just being horny and unlocked the door.

  A trail of rose petals led from the front door into the living room, the whole place was lit only by candles. I half-expected the trail to lead to the bedroom for some cheesy first time set up, but instead they trickled into the living room. I followed the petals until they ended. My coffee table was pushed aside and written out in white and red petals on the floor were the words “Barn dance” with a big question mark.

  “What? When? How...did...wow...”

  Trey took my hand and whirled me toward him. His eyes were lit up like the Fourth of July, and he was grinning from ear to ear. “I made sure the door was unlocked when we left, and texted some of the pledges to come by while we were gone. I know you’re against all of this fraternity stuff, but I have to go to barn dance since they need a sober person and, well, I was hoping if I made enough of a show that you would agree to go with me.”

  I looked down at the display and up then back up at Trey’s expecting eyes. Melanie was right; I needed to face my fears. After spending the afternoon with Trey and my parents, I knew I owed him for everything he had to deal with from my dad’s grilling questions. It wouldn’t hurt to spend one night at a fraternity function with him, and I had a feeling he would be adorable dressed in plaid.

  I put my arms around his neck and kissed the tip of his nose. “How could I say no to a guy who has to work this hard for his stubborn girlfriend?”

  Chapter 16

  It had been almost a week since my parents came and Trey asked me to barn dance. I stressed about the idea of going to a fraternity function; especially one that was all about drinking beer at some barn in the middle of the woods, but the thought of being there with Trey made it not seem as bad. I barely got out of the room when I heard Sam hacking a lung from the couch. She really needed to lay off smoking.

  “What the hell are you wearing?”

  I guess it wouldn’t be that easy to sneak past her. I slowly turned to where she was spread on the couch with a bag of chips in her hand. It wouldn’t be long before she either had her friends piling in or was out somewhere half-baked.

  I grimaced. “It’s for a barn dance.”

  She sat up, raising one of her painted-on eyebrows. “You’re seriously going to one of those stupid fraternity functions with Trey?”

  Sam appeared to have gotten used to the fact that I was seeing Trey, or at least tried not to make too many comments about him when I was around, but I guess his fraternity was up for grabs.

  I sighed. “Yes, Sam, I’m going to his stupid fraternity barn dance. I’m not thrilled about it, but sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and do it.”

  Before she could get in another word edgewise a knock came at the door. I ran for it and quickly opened it to see Trey standing there with his hands in the front pockets of his jeans and his legs bowed like an awkward cowboy.

  “Howdy, Miss Remy,” he said in a horrible, fake country accent that sounded more like a kid with a cold.

  I put my hand to my mouth, trying to stifle my laughter. It was the first time I’d ever seen him in jeans, but he couldn’t get away from tucking his plaid shirt into them and wearing a pair of cowboy boots that probably came from a fancy department store. “You look like some sort of designer cowboy.”

  “And you look like a liberal farmer,” he said, dropping the accent and pulling at the straps of my overalls.

  “Ugh, you two are just too damn cute,” Sam scoffed from the couch.

  “Nice to see you too, Samantha!” Trey waved.

  I didn’t even look back to see her reaction. “All right we’re going, bye!” I quickly pushed him out into the hallway and closed the door behind me.

  “Seriously, where did you get those things? You wear them to clean, and now you have them all dressed up with this fine plaid shirt.” Trey slid one arm around my waist and guided me to the elevator.

  “A thrift store uptown. You’ve probably never heard of it. Only us liberal farmers hang out there.”

  “If you’re there, then that’s where I want to be.” He nuzzled my neck before leaving feather-light kisses down it.

  Originally the idea of being a couple was something I was reluctant to do and I was never big on PDA, but with his soft lips on my neck all I could think about was what else he could do with those lips.

  “You sure you still want to do this?” I asked for the millionth time, walking in step with him through the underground parking garage to his bright red Mustang. Last time we did an Alpha Mu function I had to leave early and had been able to avoid going to anything else since. I’d also successfully avoided the Kappas and knew they would probably all be there as well.

>   “You know the answer to that, but you know we’re going any way. Do you know how many fundraising events Dad goes to in a day? He probably doesn’t want to go to half of them, but he does. The least I could do is show up to an Alpha function every once in awhile.”

  “If you’re going to use your political voice with me I’m staying home.”

  “Fine.” A large grin spread on his face before he turned me around and pulled me against him. I inhaled his scent, a mixture of his expensive cologne and mint. “I’ll just use the crazy-for-you voice.”

  He pressed his forehead to mine, his words a whisper on my lips. “I don’t enjoy any of this. The drinking, the hanging around a bonfire and yelling random slurs, and I can’t stand half the guys there. But I do it because I made a pledge to be loyal to these guys. And as long as I have you by my side; I can be happy anywhere.”

  “I’m sure we can be just as happy sitting at your apartment and watching a Western.”

  He groaned. “Monica, look, I don’t want to do this either, and I’m tired of fighting you on this. You always expect the worse in everything, but sometimes everything doesn’t need some grand expectation. Once in awhile you just have to jump in with both feet, and if you come up knee-deep in a situation you don’t think you can handle then you know what to do for next time.”

  I let out a deep breath. That was easy for him to say. He probably never had to face his fears head on. He probably didn’t have any. I survived my first night with him at the Alpha Mu house and didn’t have too bad of a break down. Maybe I really was on the road to recovery, and this could just be another stone on that path.

  ***

  We pulled up to the Alpha Mu house, and it was in all its natural glory. Guys in cowboy hats stood on the front lawn with a beer in one hand and the other on the ass of some girl in a short skirt with a tied up plaid shirt.

  Trey parked out front and ran around, opening the door for me before I could even protest. At that point I wouldn’t have. I felt like all eyes were on me as soon as I got out of the door. Maybe it was because I was the only girl who was actually covered.

  “Hey, little bro, you made it!” John Boy shuffled over to us, holding onto his cowboy hat.

  Trey briskly shook his hand. “Yeah, I never go against my word.”

  John Boy stumbled back a bit, spilling some of his beer on the ground. He widened his eyes at me. “Holy shit, and you got the lib to come with you!”

  I smirked, noting the sarcasm in his voice.

  Trey took it all in stride, taking my hand and intertwining our fingers. “I couldn’t very well leave her behind. We’ve seen what happens to republicans when they do any sort of left behind acts.”

  John Boy laughed like a rabid hyena, and I rolled my eyes.

  “You’re too much, son,” John Boy said before downing the rest of his beer and tossing the can in a nearby trash bin. “Now, come on and mingle before the bus gets here.”

  Trey squeezed my hand, and I reluctantly followed him and John Boy to the waiting crowd. I recognized some of the Kappa girls hanging around a small space heater on the porch. It served them right for not wearing any clothes when it was thirty flipping degrees out. Not that it wouldn’t have been me doing the same thing a year before.

  “Hey, lib, you want a beer or something?” John Boy asked, completely ignoring his blonde, short-skirt-wearing date that saddled up to him.

  I shook my head. “Um, no, I’m good. I don’t drink.”

  “We got other shit than beer. Some of the Kappas made that fruity jungle juice shit that you girls like,” he said, grabbing another beer from a nearby cooler.

  “No. I mean I don’t drink at all.”

  He tilted his head back, laughing. “Oh man, never thought I’d see the day Trey would meet a liberal girl just like him. Looks like we’ve got our sober monitors and DDs for the after party.”

  I opened my mouth to say something but before I could a noise that sounded like the General Lee, blasted from behind me. I turned and saw a giant, white school bus glowing from the inside like a cheesy disco ball; pull up to the front of the house.

  “Looks like our ride’s here!” John Boy chugged his beer and then threw it to the side before charging after the giant, white bus.

  I glanced over at Trey and saw his political smile plastered on. It looked like we were thinking the same thing. How did we ever get roped into going?

  ***

  If the bus ride wasn’t bad enough, sitting on ripped vinyl seats while a guy who smelled like a bar sat next to us; the actual barn dance wasn’t looking any better.

  We drove for thirty minutes of drunken songs before the bus pulled down a gravel path and in to a clearing where a large, looming red barn stood. It was open on both sides and a roaring bonfire blazed in the back while a DJ spun music on a wooden dance floor inside.

  We were one of the last ones off the bus, but by the time we got off everyone was gathered around a plethora of kegs near the opening to the barn.

  “If we’re going to do this, we might as well make the best of it.” Trey grabbed my hand and pulled me past the kegs and onto the hay-lined dance floor. “Let’s dance.”

  The DJ played some sort of random dance mix I’d heard on the radio. I usually hated the song, but when Trey pressed his hands on my lower back it made every part of my body aware of his touch and warmth of his fingers. There was no way I could say no. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer, pressing my hips against his. He guided my body along to the beat of the music; his hands firmly pressed on my back. If there was one thing Trey could do that I didn’t expect, it was that he could dance.

  Other people made their way to the dance floor, bumping against us and spilling beer all over, but with Trey’s emerald eyes locked on me, I felt like I was the only girl in the world.

  Another song picked up and I turned my back to Trey, pressing my back against the hard contours of his stomach. He moved his hands down to my hips and pulled me as close as possible. His face was buried in my hair, and he placed light kisses down my neck, making my libido do somersaults below my panty line. I kept my lips pressed together to keep from moaning. My body didn’t seize up from his touch anymore but did the opposite and I became acutely aware of every part of him pressed against me.

  “You move like you’ve done this before.” His breath was hot on my ear.

  I grabbed his hands, intertwining our fingers and then moved my hips in a small circle, grinding my butt against the ever growing bulge in his pants. “You can say that.”

  I felt his smile on my neck before he kissed it. “You amaze me.”

  We moved together for another few songs before Trey pulled back and had to yell into my ear over some random auto-tuned mix. “I’m going to grab a water. Do you want one?”

  “Yeah!” I yelled.

  He released his grip on me and pushed his way through the crowd. It wasn’t very long before I felt a body pressed against my back. I didn’t think Trey made it back that fast and that was when a pair of calloused hands reached around my waist and pulled me against his beer gut.

  That was when I remembered that I left the house without my mace for the first time since I started Central. I froze. His hands fumbled over my hips, circling very dangerously close to my thighs.

  “I like the way you move, and I know I’ve got some better ones than your preppy-ass boyfriend,” the voice was wet on my earlobe.

  I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. His calloused hands made their way down until they were right on my pelvic bone.

  “Please, stop,” I whispered. But he didn’t. His hands didn’t stop until they found the treasure. His hips rammed against my back while his hands gruffly scratched at my front. I tried to wriggle away, but the more I struggled the harder he pushed.

  “Please, stop,” I begged, the tears pricking at my eyes.

  “Damn, Monica, those long legs look good in that skirt.” His hand moved up my thighs until there was a rough push onto m
y panties. “Does the carpet match the drapes?”

  My body was stiff. My throat closed up, and I couldn’t breathe. I prayed if I didn’t respond he would just stop. He didn’t. Instead he slipped another gruff hand up my shirt. The only sound that could escape my lips was a rocky gasp when his cold fingers made their way under my bra and tweaked at my nipples.

  “Hey, get a room, JDawg!” someone yelled from the crowd.

  I looked at the girls dancing around me, pleading with my eyes and mouthing ‘help,’ but none of them did. They just turned their backs and kept dancing as he pulled me into the basement bathroom. I wanted to cry, to scream out, but my voice and body failed me. I was trapped.

  “What the hell is going on?” I looked up to see Trey standing in the middle of the crowd with two water bottles in his hand. The crowd parted, leaving us standing in the middle of a small circle.

  The calloused hand let go of me and pulled away. “It’s cool, man. We were just dancing.”

  “Dancing?” Treys eyes were lit like a fire was brewing in them. “It didn’t look like that’s what you were trying to do to my girlfriend.”

  I took a step away from the guy, toward Trey. I tried to keep my head down, but Trey put his hand on my chin, tilting it upward. “Are you okay?”

  “Come on, man, your liberal bitch is fine,” the guy said, putting his hand on Trey’s shoulder.

  In one fell swoop Trey pushed the guy’s hand off his shoulder and then his fist connected with the guy’s jaw. I heard a snap and then the ‘oomph’ of his back hitting the hay floor.

  The DJ stopped the music and everyone stared at us, like a zoo exhibit.

  Trey put his arm around my waist. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  Chapter 17

  We stood outside of the barn until a cab arrived. No one came out to bother us. No one left the party. Trey spent all the time he wasn’t asking me how I was, clicking buttons on his phone and staring down at it like it would give him the secrets of life. I didn’t know what kind of damage control he would have to do, but no one wanted to be around him.