“I don’t know about this, Freak.”
“You only wanted to work with one student this semester, anyway.”
“Yeah, him.”
Freak grabs the phone out of my hand and his thumbs start fast typing. He presses send and then hands me back my phone.
“It’s handled.”
Me: Hi, Aaron, so sorry, but I’m booked until further notice.
“This message sounds rude,” I say, shaking my head. “This won’t work.”
“It will work because tonight we’re going out.”
“Are you kidding me? Where? We have three essays to outline.”
“Aaron is throwing a Christmas party tonight at the Tri-Gamma house. He does it every year. We’re going to go and work the second pillar of my plan.”
“Oh, your plan has pillars now?” I want to laugh.
This guy is nothing if not hilarious.
“I’m James Bond out this motherfucker, Teach. Watch and learn.”
Willow
I’ve never been to a Tri-Gamma party for two reasons. First, I don’t believe in the archaic Greek sorority and fraternity system, especially for disenfranchised groups of people including but not limited to nurse nerds. Second, I’ve never been in the inner circle of social campus life to even know when these parties are. I’ve always heard about how crazy fun they were afterwards and that Aaron had something to do with the planning of them.
Tonight’s party is a Tri-Gamma tradition. They hold it every year during Christmas break because so many upperclassmen remain in town during the break.
The party always has a Christmas theme, and Kia advised that we both need to dress accordingly (I’m, of course, dragging her along for moral support). She’s wearing a green and gold sexy elf costume complete with a pointy hat, and I’m dressed as a gift in a red strapless mini dress with a huge white bow cinched around my waist.
“So, we’re meeting Freak there?” Kia asks anxiously.
“Yeah, there’s a guest list, and I’m supposed to go to the front door and ask for him by name. It’s all part of the plan.”
“The plan to hook you up with Aaron?”
“Right.”
“You were smart not to tell me about this arrangement of yours before you agreed to it, because I would have talked you out of it. There are so many ways that this thing can go wrong tonight. They might laugh us right out of the frat house if we go to the door asking for Freak of all people. You do understand who that kid is on this campus, right?”
I understand Kia’s apprehension about tonight. She’s not part of the in crowd on campus either, but I have a good feeling in my gut about tonight. There is some merit to Freak’s plan, and I think this may be my chance to finally get Aaron’s complete attention.
“This might sound crazy, but I trust Freak. I don’t think he’d leave me hanging. He needs me just as much as I need him to make this unholy arrangement of ours work.”
“Okay, girl,” Kia says, unconvinced. “If you like this plan, then I love it.”
I can hear the bass of the speakers from the Tri-Gamma house halfway across campus. The party is in full swing and my nerves rise forward.
“What’s wrong?” Kia asks. “Second thoughts?”
“I’m just a little nervous.”
“You said you trust him, right?”
“As much as I can trust someone I’ve known for less than a week.”
