Page 14 of In the Danger Zone
We were back in the living room a second later. It was even more crowded, but there was no sense of danger, no reason to be on high alert.
So, I relaxed a little. I calmed down and talked to a few other girls that Leena was close to, wondering if I was going to leave the Gamma Theta house with some new friends.
Only a half an hour or so had passed by when there was a loud knocking at the door, the noise making me jump.
“They’re here,” Brie said excitedly, rushing to the door.
“Who’s here?” I asked Leena.
She furrowed her brows. “I dunno. Maybe some more guests? We all got to invite some people.”
When the door opened, they all filed in one by one. Guys. Tall, strong, brooding looking guys. My eyes widened a little. It was supposed to be agirl onlyevent. The Gamma Theta girls had been easy enough to talk to so far. They asked me about my major and where I was from and what I wanted to do when I finished school. It was easy. It was normal. They were gentle and kind and friendly – minus Brie – and had made me feel welcomed.
But guys? I didn’t have a lot of experience talking to them unless they were trying to throw cruel words my way.
I took a step back and Leena seemed to notice straight away.
“Are you okay?” she asked, voice hushed.
“I thought this was a girl only thing,” I said, ducking my head down, my voice just as quiet as hers. I could hear more and more footsteps and more and more deep voices. How many guys were coming to this thing?
“Me too. I didn’t know this was a mi—”
“Welcome everyone to the annual Gamma Theta and Gamma Alpha Iota mixer!” Brie announced at the front of the room.
When I looked back up, the first thing I noticed was the guy from the other night.Evan. It was hard not to stare. His blue eyes weren’t leaving my face no matter how many times I blinked. He gave me a smile thatlookedfriendly enough, along with a wave. I didn’t return either one, even when I saw a flash of disappointment on his face.
My eyes moved over to my right, and there stood Brie. She was sporting the biggest smile I had ever seen. And then I saw who she was standing next to, who’s shoulder her hand was on. Asher’s. He glared right at me.
My heart stopped. My first instinct was to run, but I couldn’t move an inch.
“As you know, every year Gamma Theta hosts a mixer with Gamma Alpha Iota,” Brie continued on with a proud smile, her hand still on Asher. “And every year, one member of Gamma Theta is chosen to organize it. This year, it was me. So, I want everyone to have a wonderful time tonight. There’s food in the kitchen and drinks in the fridge. A lot of drinks, actually. Thanks Mia. So, let’s get started!”
Music hit my ears suddenly. I didn’t even know where it was coming from. All I knew was that it was obnoxiously loud and that it felt like it was going to give me a headache. I sighed, staring at the still steely looking Asher. He was ready to kill.
“Are you okay?” Leena asked, her voice loud as she tried to speak over the music.
She had no idea. No one did. “I’m f-fine,” I lied. “I just don’t... I just thought this was gonna b-be different. N-No one told m-me it was gonna b-be a frat thing. I thought it was gonna b-be just a few of us girls…”
“You scared they won’t like you or something?” Brie laughed softly, suddenly standing before me. She moved quick. At least she didn’t bring Asher with her. “I don’t think you’re their type, anyway. So don’t get your hopes up.”
I narrowed my eyes quickly at Brie. “I’m n-not interested in b-being with a stupid frat b-boy.”
“Leena, if your friend gets scared this easily, then you should have warned me,” Brie said. “Or at the very least invited someone who’s less… jumpy.”
“I’m n-notscared,” I spoke up.
“You sure look like you are.” Brie eyed me up and down, not hiding her wince.
“Brie, stop it.” Leena scoffed. “You never even told me this was gonna be a mixer. You just said it was a little – and I quote – get together.”
“Itisa get together.”
“Well, it’s not little.”
“You should have known this was an annual thing. You’re alegacy. Didn’t you look at the calendar you got at the start of the semester?”
“Of course I didn’t!”
