Aaron approaches us, and he’s probably the only person in the room not in costume. He’s wearing a pine green sweater and a pair of dark rinse jeans. He looks really nice, but I’m a little surprised that the guy who planned this whole event isn’t appropriately dressed for it.
“Oh, hi, Aaron.” I feign surprise. “How are you?”
“I’m good. I mean, it’s good to see you. You look great. Love the dress.”
He gives Freak a slight head nod. “Hey.”
“What’s up?” Freak returns his greeting half-heartedly.
Once again, they greet each other coolly, and I wonder what the history is behind their treatment of each other.
“This is a great party, Aaron,” I compliment him. “I thought you might be deejaying it.”
“Oh, I’ll do a set a little after midnight, but I never deejay the entire party.”
Freak exhales harshly. “Aaron thinks he’s some sort of celebrity deejay,” he quips. “Only doing one set for the party people, eh? Keep them wanting more? Is that the strategy?”
I notice that Aaron is uncomfortable with Freak’s sarcastic comments. To be fair, Freak is being unnecessarily rude and probably embarrassing his cousin.
“Well, Aaron is a celebrity at Copper Grove,” I say, defending my future husband with sincerity. “I heard that kids come from as far as South Carolina when he throws a party for homecoming.”
Freak makes a face like he just smelled a pile of dog poop, but Aaron grins at me with what I think is an appreciative smile. Funny though, his grin doesn’t make my stomach flutter like it usually does when I’ve seen him in the past. I chalk that up to the beer sloshing inside of me, numbing me from having my usual reactions.
”You should see the lights out in the backyard,” Aaron brags. “It took me like two days to put them all up. Tri-Gammas are notoriously lazy and they didn’t help with squat.”
“Are you a Tri-Gamma?” I ask him, wondering if there’s any other important facts about Aaron I’ve missed using my poor detective work.
“Me?” he scoffs. “I’m not the fraternity type. I just know a lot of them, like our boy here.”
I turn toward Freak as I notice Kia quietly making her way over toward us.
“You’re a Tri-Gamma?”
“Yeah,” Freak admits sheepishly.
“When did you pledge?” I ask, legitimately confused. “I thought you were consumed with nothing but football for the last three years.”
“Jackson doesn’t have to do things the way the rest of do,” Aaron chimes in. “The Tri-Gammas were falling all over themselves to get him to pledge. He’s damn near an honorary member.”
“Oh, that’s quite unusual,” I say, thinking about how my Uncle George would talk about pledging his beloved Alpha fraternity in his college days. He had to prove his worth over and over to get accepted and wears the struggle of his process like a badge of honor.
“Not all Greeks have the same process,” Freak says through gritted teeth.
“However, the process, our dads couldn’t be prouder, eh?” Aaron adds.
“You’re a Tri-Gamma legacy?” I ask Freak.
“Yeah,” he says curtly, so I drop the subject.
“Hi,” Aaron politely greets Kia as she approaches. “You look familiar. I’m Aaron.”
“Hi,” she responds, smiling back at both Aaron and Freak. “No, I don’t think we’ve ever met. I’m Kia, Willow’s roommate. This is a great party you threw.”
“Yeah,” he agrees with a self-satisfied smile. “It turned out to be a good one.”
The space we’re in seems to grow smaller as more bodies hit the dance floor and my eyes meet Aaron’s warm ones when my bare arm accidentally brushes against his.
I’ve been waiting for a moment like this since I first spotted him on campus. I remember it like it was yesterday. He was standing by the water fountain talking to a group of kids like any other Friday, but there was an effortless vibe about him that I could feel from a mile away, and it piqued my interest. Yet as I stare into his kind eyes tonight, for some reason, I don’t feel the flash of sparks I always imagined I would.
