The Hazed Series (New Edition)

by Brittany Butler

  A sporadic, graying man flies in the lecture hall with seconds to spare. He shuffles the syllabus to each student, speaking excitedly as he works. I sigh as he directs us to flip to chapter one, and I tell Lea that I’ll be late for the party. The lecture hall is packed with students. One more trails in, leaving me boxed between two people. I doodle important notes in my notebook, half an hour later we are dismissed.

  “There you are,” Lea says as I walk in our dorm.

  Her dress flips into a whirlwind as she storms around the room, tossing things in her bag. She pushes sun tan lotion and two large towels before yanking the reluctant zipper in its place.

  “Do you have a suit?” She asks, pointing to the straps of her bikini.

  I bite my bottom lip. I want to lie and say I don’t, but that will just give her a reason to loan me one of her bikinis. And that is the last thing I want.

  “Yeah, in the closet,” I say.

  “Perfect, put it on and let’s go,” she says, smiling.

  I step in the closet and change quickly; I tug on a purple cover up before walking out.

  “So, what exactly am I getting myself into?”

  We walk down the narrow hall, bumping into passing students. Lea kicks the front door open, juggling her bag as she walks. When the humidity fills my lungs, I toss my thick hair in a ponytail.

  “Hayze and his roommate have cookouts sometimes. Their apartment has a pretty awesome pool we hang out at,” she says.

  I point to my car in the parking lot. She dumps the heavy bag in the back and slides in the passenger seat. She flips the visor in my car, checking her appearance in the mirror.

  “The apartment complex is fine with parties?”

  I already know the answer before she has time to respond. They aren’t fine with it, but I get the feeling they don’t need permission.

  “They’ve never said no. His apartment is the closest one to campus. It’s basically only students, everything slides in that place.”

  I pull on the packed street and she points. “Pull on the far lane, you’re about to turn right. Okay, turn there and park in front of the office,”

  A gap in the tree line appears and a complex comes into my view. The complex is huge. Red bricks line the outside, while the face consists of white paneling. Six buildings are scattered around the office. As we get out and approach the office, I hear music and chatter. Lea takes the sidewalk leading to a black iron fence that sits between each building. A pool with dozens of students comes into sight.

  My eyes immediately fall on Hayze. He isn’t hard to miss. The group of girls surrounding him makes him an easy target. Although he speaks to them, he looks bored. His leg anxiously jerks up and down on the chair, and a beer rests on one of his knees. With his chest bare, I take in the dark lines etching across his shoulders. A stray line of roman numerals sits below his chest on his left side.

  “Want a beer?”

  A guy taps me on the shoulder with a canned beer, I jerk from the coolness. He looks at me apologetically but holds the beer in place.

  “No, thanks,” I say. He shrugs and tosses it to Lea’s willing hands.

  Lea pops the top of the beer as she walks around the pool, like a lost puppy, I follow closely behind. She drags a chair next to Hayze’s fan group and motions for me to sit. Hayze spots us for the first time. He sets his beer on the table and walks over.

  “You came,” he says, watching me.

  He sits between Lea and me. The pool is scattered with loud students. Some are in the pool but most are at the tables, each table is shaded by an umbrella. Lea brings the silver can to her mouth and disposes the rest of the drink in one gulp.

  “How was the first day?” Hayze asks me, and I notice his voice is rushed.

  His eyes dart around the group, the pool, and finally land on me. He slips sunglasses on and taps the arm of the chair. When I saw him today he was so relaxed and easy going, and now he’s erratic.

  “Err fine. How was yours?”

  “Good. I don’t know why the fuck I’m even drinking that,” he says, distracted. He tosses the almost full beer to the sidewalk, frowning. Lea picks it up and sets it back on the table while scowling.

  “Doesn’t have the same affect, does it?” A guy from across the table asks.

  “Nah, I need to get out of here man. What else is there to do?” He tugs his hand through his hair and sighs as he looks around the group.

  Lea frowns. “You seem a little hopped up on something, you okay?”

  “Christ, Lea, say that a little louder, I don’t think the cop across the pool heard you,” he pauses, “I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?”

  Pulling off her sunglasses, she matches his glare. “I don’t know, you tell me.”

  “Just fucking drop it.”

  He runs a hand down his face. He seems distant from their fight, but Lea crosses her arms, obviously mad at the way he’s acting.

  A blonde from Hayze’s fan club stands and walks over to us. She makes a show of sitting in his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck. When she whispers in his ear, he tenses and grips her side.

  “Seriously Hayze? Get a room,” Lea says.

  “Actually, that’s not a bad idea,” the blonde says.

  The shrill of her voice makes me cringe. Her thin lips curve into a grin as her hands rub his arms. He pushes her from his lap and stands.

  “It’ll get me the fuck out of here.”

  Smiling with victory, she grabs her clothes, and links her hand with his. “Out of here? I thought you lived here?”

  “Darlin’ we’re not going back to my place.”

  She frowns. “I live too far. I don’t wanna wait that long.”

  He walks off and she follows. Like a train wreck I can’t tear my eyes from him, I look behind me. A brunette has joined. Hayze has his arms slung over their shoulders, leading them from the pool.

  “Are they…” I look to Lea in horror.

  “Yup. Welcome to the “Hayze show;” and thank god Joel isn’t here. They like feed off of each other,” she says, cringing.

  “Wow.”

  Lea laughs, “This is your first day of college. Just wait.”

  Her words slice through me like a dull knife.

  “And you’re okay with that?” I ask, daring. I know it’s a huge step, but their relationship is so odd to me. She looks at me and wrinkles her nose.

  “Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?”

  She stares at me as if I grew two heads, so I shrug my shoulders and drop it.

  I peek over my shoulder, but the threesome is nowhere to be found. Lea drags her chair in the sun and slings her beer back. As she reaches for another, I glance around the remaining crowd.

  I kick my feet on the cooler in front of me; with my ankles crossed I let out a sigh and get comfortable. Chatter illuminates around me, they hash out the fresh semester, making promises of nights to come. A girl rises from the pool and saunters by me, flicking drops of water on my dress.

  Lea shifts in her seat and pokes my arm. “Speak of the devil.”

  I follow her gaze; the bikini clad girl is leaning into the iron fence, begging for the attention of the guy in front of her. The olive-skinned guy searches the pool, his hands grip the tip of the fence and with one swift movement he hops over the fence. As he draws near, he takes one last puff of his cigarette and tosses it behind him. His black hair is buzzed; his deep set black eyes grow colder with each step. I’m certain if I tried, I could pop the top of a beer on his cheek bones.

  “Lea,” he grumbles with disdain as he passes.

  She shrugs, I almost ask what that was about, but I decide against it. Lea has odd relationships with everyone aside from me.

  “You sure you don’t want a drink?” The guy from before asks.

  “Do you have anything that tastes better?”

  I look at the beer then to him, grimacing. I’ve only tried beer once but it left a lasting impression on me. It was absolutely disgusting. Lea chuckles at me.


  With a curl of his lips, he pulls a box from under the table. “Slap the tit!”

  “Uh, excuse me?”

  I watch him, waiting for him to apologize. He gestures to the table and I cock my eyebrow at him.

  “C’mon, Fish, don’t tell me you have never played! Get your ass up.”

  The box unfolds as his knife glides the edges. He dangles a dark bag in front of my face.

  “Fish is a high school thing, not college.”

  I rise from my seat and ignore his accusation altogether. I don’t want to get into my strict upbringing with a guy that’s wasted in broad daylight.

  “You’ve seriously never done this?” Lea asks and I roll my eyes.

  “What do you think?”

  “You didn’t sneak off to a party after your parents fell asleep?” She asks with a laugh. The guy looks down at me, amused.

  “I’m almost convinced that my dad never sleeps,” I say, sighing.

  He holds the bag over my head with his fingers on the dispenser. With wide eyes, I take a reluctant step back.

  “You haven’t even told me what I’m supposed to be doing!”

  “Drink,” he deadpans.

  “Here, I’ll show you,” Lea says, pushing her way in front of me.

  She twists the knob and braces for the wine to flow. The chair angled behind me slides across the pavement, Lea stops, wiping the back of her hand across her lips and stares at the guy behind me. He twists his blue hat around, shoving it over his eyes and lights up.

  With a deep inhale he holds the smoke in then turns to us. With a cough, smoke tumbles from his mouth.

  “What?” He croaks out, staring at Lea.

  “Amazing, just amazing. I can’t even come over without you guys pullin’ some stupid shit! Taylor, let’s get out of here.”

  “What’s wrong?” I ask, grabbing her elbow.

  “Lea’s just acting like a fucking saint. She gets on her kicks sometimes. Like she’s never lit one up with us,” he chuckles.

  “There are cops standing at the gate. Someone probably called in on you idiots,” Lea says, shoving her finger in their direction.

  He dips his shades down and snorts. “Those are security guards, big difference.”

  “Yeah? Well don’t call me when they arrest you for possession.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it. For the record, you’d get off my back if knew what Hayze did earlier,” he laughs.

  “I honestly don’t want to know. Fucking idiots,” she says and storms away.

  It takes all the energy I can muster to match Lea’s sharp strides. With her fist balled at her side, she curses with each step. When we reach the car, Lea’s anger has somewhat dissolved.

  “What was that about?” I reluctantly ask.

  She grabs my door handle and slings it open. She lets out a long exhale, trying to calm down.

  “Just a bunch of careless assholes; some of these guys can be very persuasive, just be smart.”

  “Okay.”

  “Be careful. Especially the idiots you saw today,” she huffs.

  I crank my car and sit. With cool air blowing in my hair, I tap my fingers on the wheel, waiting for Lea to elaborate. My mind has come up with a million different scenarios. I want to ask if she’s talking about Hayze, and what her warning means, but I patiently wait.

  “You ready? I need to make a call when we get back.”

  Shifting into drive, I smile, “Just waiting on you.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER THREE

  “Yeah…That outfit isn’t going to work.” Lea scans my body, tapping her chin and shaking her head.

  Frowning, I look in our full length mirror. My jeans are tight, and my gray Beatles shirt clings to me, flattering my unfortunate figure. Then I look at her, shaking my head. Her purple halter top ties at her neck and her black shorts look more like underwear.

  Against my better judgment I agreed to go shopping with her today. It was…interesting, definitely something to remember. She made countless suggestions and I politely declined. She shrugged her shoulders and bought the outfits I vetoed. I ended up buying two dresses, and she teased me calling them Sunday morning dresses, but they’re not something I would show up to church in, or anywhere else.

  “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

  She promised we were going to a laid back bar tonight, but her reluctance with my outfit makes me think that she was lying.

  “Oh, it’s perfect… For your Sunday family dinners! I would be showing my body off if I looked like you! Here, wear this,” she says, tossing clothes at me.

  I wrinkle my nose and stare blankly at her. “What? You’re way skinnier than I am.”

  “Guys don’t want skinny, they want this,” she says, gesturing her hand up my body.

  I cock my eyebrow and inspect the black dress. The cheap material is shiny, too shiny and almost rubbery. Sighing, I walk to the corner to change. The tight dress stretches over my curves. I never thought of myself as fat, but a size six is rare to find on this campus. I can definitely tell that rooming with her might be a problem if she fails to understand we’re different sizes.

  “It’s a little tight,” I say, sucking in my breath.

  “Said no one ever, its perfect,” she says, rolling her eyes.

  She shoves me in front of the mirror. It’s different; maybe if I were looking at someone else this would be sexy. As my eyes reach my face, I know this is wrong. I tug on the hem of the dress, willing it to grow in length. She pulls my ponytail, letting my auburn hair fall down my shoulders.

  She dramatically wipes her brow. “There, now I can take you to a bar.”

  She tugs on my hand, leading me to the hallway. We bump into a pair of girls taking a selfie. The more girls I see scattered on campus, the better I feel about my outfit. If all of us were in a group, I would be the most modestly dressed one. My dad’s voice pushes its way into my head, if everyone else was jumping off a cliff…But I shake that thought. Whatever makes me feel better, right?

  “We’re meeting Hayze at his house,” she says, fumbling for her keys in her satchel style bag.

  She clicks her keys and an older Honda Civic headlights blink at us. When I open the door, water bottles tumble to the ground. I toss books in the back, kick bottles to the side, making a path to sit down. She smiles apologetically.

  “Just push everything over,” she says, scrounging to help make room for me.

  “We are taking mine next time,” I laugh.

  She turns her radio down as she starts the car. She pulls from the parking garage and out into the busy streets. We’re caught at every red light, but she manages to entertain me with lip synching.

  “We’re here! His apartment is ground floor,” she says as she pulls into the near empty parking lot.

  I follow her into the dark hallway and under stairs. She stops at the apartment marked one thousand twenty-two and knocks. Hayze opens the door, a guy, with a low fitting hat, passes by us.

  “Thanks man,” he says.

  “No problem,” he says, looking over us.

  His eyes stop on me, dropping to my bare legs. His eyebrow arches. He lifts his arms, letting us pass under to get inside.

  “Lea, did you dress her? What a damn shame,” he shakes his head.

  “What was that guy doing here?” She asks.

  “He had to pick something up,” he says, grabbing his keys.

  “What did he get?”

  “You should think about changing your major, you would do the police department some good. Where are we going, ladies? Lea, so help me God, don’t say anything that has to do with a dance hall.”

  “The Alley. Cowboys or frat daddies, I guess that’s all that’s in this town,” she says. She walks out the door, looking back at us with impatience.

  “I thought Hayze was in a fraternity?” I laugh, hoping he doesn’t get mad at our teasing, but his face is amused.

  “My freshman year,” he says.

/>   “Hold on a sec, I need to put on gloss before we go,” Lea announces as she rushes into the bathroom.

  He stops walking and turns to me. “I didn’t mean that back there. You look beautiful. It just doesn’t seem like your style,” he smiles.

  “It wasn’t exactly my first choice.” I bite my lip, letting my eyes fall to my feet.

  He moves to my side; his fingers lift my chin. “Don’t let anyone try to change you,” he says. His warm brown eyes are sincere; they burn through my gaze. My face flushes with intensity.

  My eyes dart around the room, noticing the clock on the wall, I change the subject. “It’s really late, does she always go out this late?” I ask him and to my embarrassment, he laughs.

  “It’s nine,” he says, watching me with amusement.

  “Yeah, I know, I saw the clock. On the rare occasion I could go to the movies or somewhere with my boyfriend, we would leave at like six…I would already be in the bed,” I say, laughing at how I sound.

  “You have a boyfriend?” He asks, missing the point.

  His face is no longer playful, he watches me intently. I don’t know him very well, but I think he’s mad.

  “No, I did…He was the only person I hung out with so I was just using him as an example. I guess I should’ve said ex.”

  A long, awkward moment passes. I look down at my feet, kicking around the rug.

  “She’s taking a while in there,” I say.

  I look up and find him smirking at me. “Lea, you’re taking for-fucking-ever!”

  Lea breezes through the room and flips him off. She walks ahead of us, leaving me alone with Hayze. She walks up to an older black muscle car. Although I know nothing about cars, I stare with wide eyes at this one.

  “Sixty-nine Mustang, I fixed it up myself.” He taps the roof, grinning.

  Lea pushes the seat up, climbing into the back. I adjust the seat in its rightful place before sliding inside.

  “Don’t ask him about it, he won’t shut up,” she says.

  Despite Lea’s effort to change the subject, Hayze talks about the car during the drive. I acted like I knew what he was talking about and laughed at their bickering. After a short drive across town we pull up to the bar.