Read Online Common Ground (The Common Ground Trilogy Book 1) by Barry Chaison - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Barry Chaison
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togas. “Only the losers show up on time.”
“I guess that makes you one of those losers Zoe,” laughed Chase from in front of us, the smell of alcohol filling my nostrils.
“Shut up you moron!” snapped Steph, who looked over at me, with an encouraging smile.
“Yeah you idiot,” Annie chimed in. “We don’t want to freak her out, it’s her first toga party. Lighten up.”
“Whatever,” he guffawed.
My head dropped in humiliation from Chase’s comment.
“Don’t feel bad,” Hope whispered next to me. “I was thinking the same thing.”
“I don’t know, maybe they’re right,” I surrendered. “What am I doing here in this anyway?”
“You look awesome,” Hope said enviously.
Annie had gone all out since it was the very first time I had given her permission to make me over. Hair, nails and makeup, she went above and beyond the call of duty. She did keep the makeup light, saying I was so beautiful that too much makeup would ruin my natural beauty, whatever that meant. My toga was a simple white sheet thrown over my shoulder and wrapped around my narrow waist, covering only my torso. It felt quite embarrassing to have so much of my body exposed. But, as we approached Fraternity Row, an enormous line, that stretched all around Beta house caught my gaze and made me feel instantly better. Every single person was in some type of toga. I saw students wearing sheets with cartoon characters on them, an obese guy wearing nothing but a garbage bag, and my favorite, a girl who was wearing nothing but a pillowcase that covered her chest and waist, separately. Seeing other people dressed up like goofballs soothed my nerves.
“Oh man, we have to wait in this?” Chase said angrily. “I want to see some females!”
“Relax man,” Annie said unperturbed, “I’ve got this.”
She led us all to the front door, past hundreds of students who presumably had been waiting for a while. They didn’t have very pleasant and friendly looks on their faces as we glided past. I kept my chin down to avoid the hate filled gazes I could feel all over my body. Next to me, I could hear Hope’s breathing become shallower. She hadn’t seemed very comfortable in her toga, probably because she had compared her figure to the rest of us girls. Annie, Steph, Emily and I were all almost paper thin, whereas Hope was more along the pudgy side. I put my arm around her as we headed towards the front door, both of our heads focused on the ground.
“Annie Johnson,” Annie said to the bulky bouncer at the front door.
The bouncer shuffled through his clipboard, stopped and looked up. His eyes traveled from face to face in our group, surveying our appearance. After a minute, Liam appeared at the front door and put his arm around Annie.
“You made it!” he said happily, his speech a little slurred. “And you brought everyone, excellent!”
He did the same survey as the bouncer, but his eyes scanned everything, not just our faces. As his eyes went from person to person, they eventually landed on me. I could have sworn that his gaze lingered on me a little longer than anyone else. My feet shuffled nervously as our eyes finally met. A slight smirk spread across his lips before finishing off his study with Hope. Liam immediately turned to the bouncer and whispered something inaudible to the rest of us. The two of them laughed lightly, as their eyes randomly looked up at Hope.
“I hate to say it, but we’re pretty close to capacity, so we can only allow three of you in,” Liam said, holding back giggles as he and the bouncer kept their gaze on Hope. Everyone else in our group kept trying to look past the front door into the party, not really paying attention to what Liam and his buddy were trying to pull.
“What? Why?” I blurted out angrily.
Annie looked over at me with a confused look.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Nothing, it’s just that we have a fire code,” Liam started to say, barely able to restrain
“I guess that makes you one of those losers Zoe,” laughed Chase from in front of us, the smell of alcohol filling my nostrils.
“Shut up you moron!” snapped Steph, who looked over at me, with an encouraging smile.
“Yeah you idiot,” Annie chimed in. “We don’t want to freak her out, it’s her first toga party. Lighten up.”
“Whatever,” he guffawed.
My head dropped in humiliation from Chase’s comment.
“Don’t feel bad,” Hope whispered next to me. “I was thinking the same thing.”
“I don’t know, maybe they’re right,” I surrendered. “What am I doing here in this anyway?”
“You look awesome,” Hope said enviously.
Annie had gone all out since it was the very first time I had given her permission to make me over. Hair, nails and makeup, she went above and beyond the call of duty. She did keep the makeup light, saying I was so beautiful that too much makeup would ruin my natural beauty, whatever that meant. My toga was a simple white sheet thrown over my shoulder and wrapped around my narrow waist, covering only my torso. It felt quite embarrassing to have so much of my body exposed. But, as we approached Fraternity Row, an enormous line, that stretched all around Beta house caught my gaze and made me feel instantly better. Every single person was in some type of toga. I saw students wearing sheets with cartoon characters on them, an obese guy wearing nothing but a garbage bag, and my favorite, a girl who was wearing nothing but a pillowcase that covered her chest and waist, separately. Seeing other people dressed up like goofballs soothed my nerves.
“Oh man, we have to wait in this?” Chase said angrily. “I want to see some females!”
“Relax man,” Annie said unperturbed, “I’ve got this.”
She led us all to the front door, past hundreds of students who presumably had been waiting for a while. They didn’t have very pleasant and friendly looks on their faces as we glided past. I kept my chin down to avoid the hate filled gazes I could feel all over my body. Next to me, I could hear Hope’s breathing become shallower. She hadn’t seemed very comfortable in her toga, probably because she had compared her figure to the rest of us girls. Annie, Steph, Emily and I were all almost paper thin, whereas Hope was more along the pudgy side. I put my arm around her as we headed towards the front door, both of our heads focused on the ground.
“Annie Johnson,” Annie said to the bulky bouncer at the front door.
The bouncer shuffled through his clipboard, stopped and looked up. His eyes traveled from face to face in our group, surveying our appearance. After a minute, Liam appeared at the front door and put his arm around Annie.
“You made it!” he said happily, his speech a little slurred. “And you brought everyone, excellent!”
He did the same survey as the bouncer, but his eyes scanned everything, not just our faces. As his eyes went from person to person, they eventually landed on me. I could have sworn that his gaze lingered on me a little longer than anyone else. My feet shuffled nervously as our eyes finally met. A slight smirk spread across his lips before finishing off his study with Hope. Liam immediately turned to the bouncer and whispered something inaudible to the rest of us. The two of them laughed lightly, as their eyes randomly looked up at Hope.
“I hate to say it, but we’re pretty close to capacity, so we can only allow three of you in,” Liam said, holding back giggles as he and the bouncer kept their gaze on Hope. Everyone else in our group kept trying to look past the front door into the party, not really paying attention to what Liam and his buddy were trying to pull.
“What? Why?” I blurted out angrily.
Annie looked over at me with a confused look.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Nothing, it’s just that we have a fire code,” Liam started to say, barely able to restrain
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