eyes, I think.
“If
you leave this party tonight without a kiss, I'm going to kiss you.”
I
laugh. “You wouldn't play with my heart like that.” I move to stand in front of
the full length mirror on the back of the bathroom door. She's pulled my hair
up into some sort of knot on the top of my head. The shirt and shorts are cute
together.
“My
brown sandals?” I ask with a frown.
“Oh
my, God, there's hope for you yet. Give me about ten minutes to change and
we’ll head out.”
Eight
minutes later she's standing in front of me with jeans shorts, much like mine,
and a navy blue tank top that has flutter sleeves. Her butterfly tattoo peaks
out from under one strap. It's only one of the five butterflies she has
stretched across her back, all in various stages of flight.
I
wish I had the guts to get a tattoo. But I don't think I could let anyone touch
me for that long.
“Okay,
let's go.”
“What's
the rush?”
She's
practically shoving me out the door.
“I'm
afraid you'll change your mind.”
Her
cell phone chimes in her pocket and when she pulls it out I see the picture of
her and Grant that she has set up as Grant’s contact picture on her phone. She
slips it back into her pocket without answering.
“Grace,”
I say softly.
“Don't
worry about it, I told him I was going to hang with you tonight.”
I
jerk to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. “No.”
“What?
Come on, Del, it’s fine. He's totally cool with me hanging with you. I see him
all the time.”
I
cross my arms over my chest. “Exactly. Why should tonight be any different?”
“Ummm...because
absence makes the heart grow fonder?” She gives me an exasperated look.
“Will
you just come on?”
“Only
if you call Grant and tell him to meet us there.”
Honestly,
I would feel better with him there. Maybe Robby would come with him. Robby was
such a big guy that no one was going to mess with him, or anyone with him. The
more I think about it, the more I warm up to the idea.
“Delaney,
it's really fine.”
I
shake my head. “Call him. Tell him to come or I'm going back upstairs to finish
my homework.”
“I
think I liked you more when you weren't as mouthy,” she mutters, but she pulls
her cell phone out of her pocket and shoots a quick text to Grant. It doesn't
take long for his reply to come back.
She
reads it as we step out of the building.
Fraternity
row is located on the opposite side of campus so we head in that direction.
It’s a line of craftsman style houses that spans the length of about three city
blocks. I honestly couldn't name a single fraternity or sorority house we have
on campus. They seemed to be made up entirely of the types of guys and girls I
had gone out of my way to avoid in high school.
“Is
he coming?”
“Yeah.”
She finishes a text to him and then shoves her phone back into her pocket. “I
would have survived a night without him.”
“I
know.”
“He
was over at Cole and Holden's place so he'll just meet us there.”
Huh.
I hadn't thought about the possibly of Cole coming with him. Or maybe I had and
I didn’t want to admit it.
I can
hear the music from the party before we can see the first fraternity house.
It's so loud I can’t make out the words, but it doesn't seem to be bothering
anyone. It looks like the majority of the party-goers are outside. The entire
street seems full of them. There are guys, and girls, in various states of what
I'm assuming they think is luau attire. I'm pretty sure that grass skirts
weren't meant to be worn in the way some of them are being worn.
We
have to show our college ID to a couple of guys who have a small card table set
up at the top of the street. They take a quick peak at them, and then mark big
black X’s on our hands. I'm assuming that because we’re underage, but I spot
several other people with the same mark on hands that they are using to hold
cans of beer.
Within
seconds of us leaving the check-in table someone is shoving cans of
“If
you leave this party tonight without a kiss, I'm going to kiss you.”
I
laugh. “You wouldn't play with my heart like that.” I move to stand in front of
the full length mirror on the back of the bathroom door. She's pulled my hair
up into some sort of knot on the top of my head. The shirt and shorts are cute
together.
“My
brown sandals?” I ask with a frown.
“Oh
my, God, there's hope for you yet. Give me about ten minutes to change and
we’ll head out.”
Eight
minutes later she's standing in front of me with jeans shorts, much like mine,
and a navy blue tank top that has flutter sleeves. Her butterfly tattoo peaks
out from under one strap. It's only one of the five butterflies she has
stretched across her back, all in various stages of flight.
I
wish I had the guts to get a tattoo. But I don't think I could let anyone touch
me for that long.
“Okay,
let's go.”
“What's
the rush?”
She's
practically shoving me out the door.
“I'm
afraid you'll change your mind.”
Her
cell phone chimes in her pocket and when she pulls it out I see the picture of
her and Grant that she has set up as Grant’s contact picture on her phone. She
slips it back into her pocket without answering.
“Grace,”
I say softly.
“Don't
worry about it, I told him I was going to hang with you tonight.”
I
jerk to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. “No.”
“What?
Come on, Del, it’s fine. He's totally cool with me hanging with you. I see him
all the time.”
I
cross my arms over my chest. “Exactly. Why should tonight be any different?”
“Ummm...because
absence makes the heart grow fonder?” She gives me an exasperated look.
“Will
you just come on?”
“Only
if you call Grant and tell him to meet us there.”
Honestly,
I would feel better with him there. Maybe Robby would come with him. Robby was
such a big guy that no one was going to mess with him, or anyone with him. The
more I think about it, the more I warm up to the idea.
“Delaney,
it's really fine.”
I
shake my head. “Call him. Tell him to come or I'm going back upstairs to finish
my homework.”
“I
think I liked you more when you weren't as mouthy,” she mutters, but she pulls
her cell phone out of her pocket and shoots a quick text to Grant. It doesn't
take long for his reply to come back.
She
reads it as we step out of the building.
Fraternity
row is located on the opposite side of campus so we head in that direction.
It’s a line of craftsman style houses that spans the length of about three city
blocks. I honestly couldn't name a single fraternity or sorority house we have
on campus. They seemed to be made up entirely of the types of guys and girls I
had gone out of my way to avoid in high school.
“Is
he coming?”
“Yeah.”
She finishes a text to him and then shoves her phone back into her pocket. “I
would have survived a night without him.”
“I
know.”
“He
was over at Cole and Holden's place so he'll just meet us there.”
Huh.
I hadn't thought about the possibly of Cole coming with him. Or maybe I had and
I didn’t want to admit it.
I can
hear the music from the party before we can see the first fraternity house.
It's so loud I can’t make out the words, but it doesn't seem to be bothering
anyone. It looks like the majority of the party-goers are outside. The entire
street seems full of them. There are guys, and girls, in various states of what
I'm assuming they think is luau attire. I'm pretty sure that grass skirts
weren't meant to be worn in the way some of them are being worn.
We
have to show our college ID to a couple of guys who have a small card table set
up at the top of the street. They take a quick peak at them, and then mark big
black X’s on our hands. I'm assuming that because we’re underage, but I spot
several other people with the same mark on hands that they are using to hold
cans of beer.
Within
seconds of us leaving the check-in table someone is shoving cans of
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