The Core Four Series

by Stacy Borel

  As we approached the front door I hesitated. Not only was I nervous because I never really hung out with the frat types, but it was made worse because of my chosen attire. Silently cursing myself, I wished I’d gone with the onesie. When Luke opened the door, the party was in full swing. People were packed in like sardines; dancing, laughing, kissing, and having a good time. Up against the far left wall was a small DJ booth with speakers planted all over the house. The booming music of Ellie Goulding-Burn was reverberating in my chest. Those who were dancing had their hands in the air feeling the beat. Luke placed his hand on my lower back leading me through the crowd. People were bumping into me left and right, and I lost my balance a few times in these heels. Thankfully Luke was there to steady me. Several couples stopped us as we pushed our way through the crowd, greeting Luke with hellos and eyeing me with curiosity. We made our way into a kitchen that seemed much too small for a house this size. Assorted alcohol littered the counter, along with cups that were half full or tipped on their side. Luke opened one of the cupboards and turned toward me.

  “Pick your poison Nurse Rachett.” The lazy grin he gave me was infectious.

  “Beer from the keg is fine.”

  “I never pegged you for a beer girl. I would’ve figured Cosmos and anything with an umbrella was more your speed.”

  I laughed. “That’s Macie’s thing. I’m not a high-maintenance girl.”

  Filling a red cup, he handed it to me and pulled me into him. “No, you’re really not,” he said with such amusement I wondered if that was what he thought of me this whole time.

  “Hey, where’s my drink?” Macie asked from behind me. She and Dodger came in right behind us but had gotten lost in the crowd. Dodger had been here a few times before, so he knew his way around and I wasn’t overly concerned about Macie staying by my side. Luke grabbed another cup and asked her what she’d like. She thought about it for a moment, tapping her black nail polish covered fingernail on her chin. “Do y’all have anything fruity?”

  Luke and I both chuckled. I caught his smile and shrugged. “I can come up with something. All the guys in here have to keep their dates happy somehow.”

  When he handed her the drink she twisted around to face me. “So what are you two going to do?”

  “I don’t know. All of these people make it hard to move around.”

  “Well, there’s dancing, beer pong out back, there’s also some lounge chairs on the deck that we could sit and relax on if you’d like,” Luke piped in.

  “Relaxing sounds nice. I’ve never been a big dancer, and I’ve never played beer pong before in my life.”

  His boyish grin hadn’t left his face since we came in the door. “You don’t know what you’re missing. I’m the reigning champ in this house. If you change your mind, you would have an undefeated partner.”

  “Good to know,” I said, bringing my cup up to my lips. His eyes were watching my movement, and his pupils dilated.

  Turning my back to him, I gave my attention to Macie. “What about you? Where’d Dodger go?”

  She bristled and said, “Who knows? He got stopped by some whorish-looking angel before I walked in here.”

  My eyes softened toward my friend. I grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Mace, I’m sure he was just being friendly. Besides, does Dodger even know you like him?”

  Rolling her eyes she said, “I’m sure. We’ve gone out a few times, and he’s even kissed me. But when I’ve asked him inside at the end of our dates, he’s blown me off each time. I’m starting to wonder if he’s gay.”

  “Jesus Christ, Macie, I’m not fucking gay,” an irritated Dodger said from the door.

  She spun on her heels, not even remotely embarrassed that she got caught saying that. “Then what’s your deal? You’ll make out with me, but you won’t sleep with me?”

  He looked from me to Luke and back to Macie. “We’ve talked about this, and I’m not discussing it in front of other people.”

  “Oh come on Dodger, anything you tell me, I’m going to share with Keegan.” Gah! Did she really need to bring me into this?

  He vehemently shook his head. “No. This isn’t the time, nor the place.”

  “Well aren’t you chivalrous,” she replied snidely.

  Dodger’s frustration amplified, and he dragged a hand through his almost black hair. “I swear to God, Mace. I don’t know what you want from me.”

  She flung her arms up in the air in frustration. “I want you to fuck me!”

  Dodgers eyes grew wide and then narrowed on her. “You’re pushing it. Keep this up and I’m going to drag you out of here and take you home.”

  “Oh goodie. Then I’m sure you’ll just drop me off and leave me there to take care of my own needs. Such a gentleman.” Her words were laced with venom, and she wasn’t even drunk yet.

  I didn’t want to be in here for this, and I’m sure Dodger would appreciate it if we left them alone to sort this out. Touching Macie on the shoulder I told her, “We’re going out to sit on the patio. Come get me if you need me.”

  Not breaking her stare, she said, “K.”

  Luke grabbed my hand and led me back out through the crowd. “What was that all about?” he shouted in my ear.

  “Long story,” I yelled back.

  As we passed groups of girls chatting and laughing, I noticed that a few of them took notice of Luke. Jealousy stirred in my veins. He was mine ladies, eat your hearts out, I thought. I also took note that of all the costumes and how mine was surprisingly tame. There were barely there bikinis and Playboy Bunny bathing suits. A few girls were wearing outfits where the back went up their butt like a thong. I shivered. I’d never be caught dead wearing something like that. Not even in the privacy of my own home. The guys, on the other hand, had an array of costumes. From Ace Ventura to Chippendales. A few of them made me giggle with their creativeness. Walking out a set of French doors, we stepped onto a very large deck that spanned the whole back of the house. There were no Halloween decorations out here, but Tiki torches, resting in cylinder holders, lit up the backyard. There were about a dozen lounge chairs scattered across the deck. A group of guys were off to the side loudly talking and having a good time.

  “Hey Luke!” a male voice shouted over the crowd. Several heads turned and looked in our direction. Luke smiled, and we went over to where they were sitting.

  Luke palmed several of their outstretched hands, and they all greeted each other.

  “Keegan, I want you to meet some of my brothers from the house. This is Holden, Brent, and RJ.” I gave a shy wave to the three of them. “And the rest of these clowns are pledges.” There was a resounding grunting coming from the males standing in front of me. All I could picture was every one of them sitting in front of a television with a beer and their hands down their pants. The thought made me want to laugh.

  “Aren’t you going to introduce me, Luke?” a sweet female voice said from behind a few of the guys who had stood up, blocking her from my view.

  I noticed Luke’s jaw working back and forth, and something about his posture said he didn’t have any interest in telling me who this chick was.

  “Keegan, this is Veronica. Roni, Keegan.”

  “Ugh, I wish you’d stop calling me that. That nickname is so high school, Luke,” she said with slight annoyance. “Please, call me Veronica. Nobody calls me Roni anymore except for him.”

  “Some things never change,” he said under his breath.

  Veronica was sitting down on a chair, but I could tell she was tall. Maybe even taller than Macie. Her features were a mix of Asian and Caucasian. She had long black hair that touched the top of her breasts, and a pair of lips that were pouty and full. What was most striking about her were her long full eyelashes that surrounded cat-like eyes. The color was almost a caramel, which I’ve never seen before. For as beautiful as she was, she also didn’t give me the warm and fuzzies. She was eyeing me like I was somehow the enemy stepping into her territory. I had no doubt that a g
irl like her held every single one of these boys under thumb. That was fine. I wasn’t interested in any of them. It would, however, be an issue if she were interested in Luke. We’d only been on a few dates together, but it was enough for me to feel possessive of him. The way she was looking at me made me uneasy.

  “So Keegan, what do you do?” the one introduced as Holden asked.

  Breaking eye contact with Veronica, I turned to him and said, “I’m a nursing student here at UG, and I work in Medical Records at Dr. Hill’s office.”

  Holden looked like an average guy, brown hair and brown eyes. Nothing really stood out about him. “Sounds cool. What year are you?”

  “I’m in the middle of my junior year,” I stated proudly.

  “You’re a junior, and you aren’t in the nursing program yet?” Veronica asked, interrupting the conversation. Her voice was suddenly becoming annoying.

  “Stop it, Roni,” Luke scolded. I hated that he had a nickname for her. I wondered how long they’d known each other.

  “What? I’m just asking. Most juniors are already doing clinicals in their third year.”

  Clearing my throat I felt the need to defend myself. “I would be, but I chose to hold myself back. I don’t want to apply without knowing for sure that I am giving myself the best foot forward. The program is highly competitive, and I want to ensure that my grades are up to par. I chose to retake a few science classes. I should be good to go after this semester. I’ll submit my application and hopefully I’ll know if I got in by the spring.”

  Luke was smiling down at me, and I noticed Veronica curling her lip. “Oh, well that’s good, I guess.”

  I nodded, unable to say anything else without it coming across as rude. While I was talking I realized that the group of guys who were pledges were glancing at me every now and then, then turning back to their conversation. I ran my tongue across my front teeth, self-conscious that I had something on them. Why did I get the distinct impression that I was being talked about? Luke’s hand rubbed across my back, bringing me back to the other four still talking to me. RJ and Brent both had brown hair and green eyes. In fact the longer I looked at them, I realized that they could pass for twins. With their tall stance and wide shoulders, I wondered if they were on the football team. Nothing about those two screamed average. In fact, both were very handsome.

  “You okay?” Luke asked, laying his forehead on my temple.

  “Mmmhmm.”

  “Y’all look like you’ve gotten cozy.” I think it was RJ who said that.

  Luke once again became rigid. “I suppose we have. Keegan’s a sweet girl.” I leaned further into him at his compliment.

  The smiles that spread across those four faces made something in my stomach turn. “Good to hear, Luke, good to hear,” Brent said in an almost sarcastic fashion.

  “So how far have you two taken things?” RJ asked.

  “Excuse me?” I said.

  “Fuck off Brent.” Okay, I’d gotten the two guys mixed up.

  Holding his hands up, palms out, Brent said, “Hey man, just asking. I didn’t know how serious y’all were. Maybe I wanted to ask Keegan out later for myself.”

  My brows drew together. “That’s a bit rude, don’t you think?”

  If looks could kill, Luke looked like he wanted to throttle Brent. “Maybe,” he said with a shrug. “But in case you haven’t got the memo, we share around here.”

  The giggle that came out of Veronica’s mouth made me ill. “Well I don’t.”

  “Hey Princess, just stating that you’re a fine piece. And when Luke’s done with you, I’d gladly take a ride.” This time it was RJ piping in.

  “Enough!” Luke growled.

  I was so flabbergasted at the turn this conversation took, I had no response. Needing to take a step back and gather myself, I looked up to Luke and said, “I need to use the restroom.”

  Gritting his teeth, he nodded. “Down the hall, it’s the third door on the right.”

  Without a backwards glance I rushed into the house and tried to find the bathroom. I needed a little bit of solitude. When I found the correct door, I had to wait for two other girls to go in and do their business. When it was my turn I went inside and locked the door. Sagging against the wood I tried to push away the feeling of panic. In that moment Camden came to mind. If those guys had said all of that in front of him, he would have leveled them to the ground. Luke seemed just as upset over their harshness, but there was something else there that caused him to bite his tongue. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it wasn’t right. Having never been to a frat party before, I had to wonder if this was just the way that these guys behaved. Luke had never once treated me like an inconsequential object, but maybe at one point he had acted like them. He was in grad school now, so that must have caused him to do a little growing up and see that women weren’t play things. I deserved to be treated with respect. Even though my outfit said trashy, on any other given day, I was very reserved. Steeling myself I decided I wouldn’t expect Luke or anybody else to stand up for me. I would demand a certain level of respect from these guys, and they would need to know that I wouldn’t tolerate anything less. Washing my hands and checking my ridiculous makeup, I wondered where Macie and Dodger had gone off to, and if they had worked out their issues. No way would they have sat back and listened to the load of crap I’d just heard. Drying my hands I unlocked the door and stepped into the hall. I was greeted by the same cat-like eyes that had been glowering at me outside.

  “Are you having fun?” Veronica asked, her tone sounding weird.

  “I guess so. All this,” I said looking around. “It’s not really my thing, but I’m having an okay time.”

  “It’s all been one big joke, you know that right?” she said to me.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked, confused.

  “Luke dating you, bringing you here to this party.”

  “I’m not following you.”

  She sighed in annoyance. “It’s what they do. They find a Plain Jane girl to see if she will fall for the guy, and then they bring them to this party for the friends to judge how in deep she is. They do it every year.” She casually looked at her finger nails.

  I shook my head. “Luke would never do something like that.”

  “Oh really? So you honestly thought that someone like him would go for someone like you? Sorry to burst your bubble sweetheart, but Luke and I are an item. We have been since high school. I let him take on the challenge, because the winner gets a vacation to Cozumel, and I wanted it. He gives me whatever I want.” Her full lips contorted into a sadistic looking smile.

  My head was spinning, and I felt dizzy. Putting my hand on the wall behind me for support I said, “You’re lying.”

  Her shoulders came up and dropped in a nonchalance attitude. “If you don’t believe me, go back out there. The boys are discussing it as we speak.”

  I darted past her and made my way to the back door. When I reached the handle, I twisted it and hesitantly stepped out onto the deck, trying to keep myself inconspicuous so I didn’t tip them off that I’d come back. This was all a big mistake. She was just jealous. Veronica must have had a relationship with Luke at some point, and she wanted him back. It was the only explanation that I could come up with. For one, he’s never even mentioned her to me, not that we’d really been together long enough to delve into our past relationships. And two, I couldn’t fathom him taking me out, dining me, all of the laughs we’ve shared, and we’d even slept together, for it all to be just a ploy. Stuff like this didn’t happen in real life. This was the shit that you read about in novels. As I neared them, I stayed hidden behind people who were talking, I overheard Luke and the other three with a few of the pledges.

  “I’d say it’s a done deal. The chick RJ brought could give two shits that she’s with him. In fact I just saw her sucking face with some dude from down the street.”

  “Yeah, well Holden’s girl was looking at him with puppy dog eyes, and she looke
d like she would have gotten on her knees in front of everyone if he’d say he loved her.”

  There was a round of laughter. “Luke has it in the bag. Maybe after you break the news to her, I’ll be the one to pick up the pieces, and she’ll let me fuck her sadness away.”

  “Fuck you dude. Leave her alone, okay?”

  I was getting aggravated that I couldn’t hear who was saying what, but it didn’t matter. My stomach was sitting in my throat. Everything Veronica said was true. This all was for some big game, and I was a pawn for Luke to win.

  “Dude, don’t tell me you’re falling for her. Roni would be pissed.”

  “I’m not falling for her. But she’s a good girl, okay? I’ve gotten to know her is all,” Luke argued.

  “Either way assholes, we’ve got another two hours before we call this thing. Keep your dates happy and their cups full,” someone else said.

  I was going to throw up. Instead of breaking up their little charade and letting them know I heard everything they said, I rushed back into the house. Looking around frantically, my eyes darted everywhere in search of Macie or Dodger. I weaved in and out of people, bumping into some so hard I thought I’d fall over. I was trying to hold back the bile that was rising up in my throat, but I knew it was only a matter of time before I tossed my cookies. Just then strong arms wrapped around me, and I pushed back against the hold. I thought it was Luke who might have come inside to find me, but I heard Dodger near my ear.

  “What’s the matter?” His deep voice was like a gentle stroke to my breaking heart. Turning into his arms, I pressed myself into his chest and let him hold me. Tears began to flow freely down my cheeks, and I could tell I was worrying him. Pulling back slightly he tipped my chin up. “Tell me what happened?”