“You don’t want to go?” I asked, genuinely concerned about his lack of enthusiasm.
“It’s not up to me, now is it?” he replied. “I’m the bodyguard, I go where you go. End of discussion.”
“Brian? What’s wrong?” I reached out to touch his arm, but he pulled away.
“There is nothing wrong, Ava!” he shouted. “Go get ready and I’ll drive you to the party!”
I turned and walked to my bedroom, slamming the door behind me. I had no idea what had just happened, but if he was going to act like a jerk, then it wasn’t my problem. His moodiness wasn’t going to ruin a night of fun with my best friends. I quickly decided on a short skirt and a midriff-baring top in two soft shades of blue and, having been to the Fiji house before, I chose a pair of flat silver Gladiator sandals that would stay on my feet no matter how much dancing I did. I dressed quickly, and then grabbed a crossbody bag off of the dresser and put my ID, lipstick, and room key in it, along with some cash in case I needed it. I checked myself in the mirror one more time, and then headed out to the front room.
“You ready?” I asked as I stood by the door. Brian was lounging on the couch watching the rest of our forgotten movie.
“Yeah, whatever,” he said without looking up.
“Then let’s get a move on, sailor!” I chirped half-heartedly. Not having him on board with this plan was taking some of the fun out of it.
“Oh, wow,” he breathed as he stood up and caught a glimpse of me.
“What? Is something wrong?” I asked as I ran a hand through my hair, hoping to tame any flyaway ends.
“No, nothing’s wrong at all,” he muttered as he grabbed his keys and stalked to the door. “Let’s go get this over with.”
“You don’t have to be such a grump!” I teased.
“Ava, go get in the car,” he said seriously. “We have a party to get to.”
*****
When we arrived at the Fiji house, the party was in full swing. All the lights in the place were on, and the music was blaring so loudly that the windows were pulsing to the beat, and for a moment, I was afraid they would break. On the porch, a group of Fiji brothers were playing beer pong with a group of Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters, and it looked like the Kappas were actually winning; either that, or the Fiji boys were so far gone that they had lost sight of the purpose of the game. I walked up the steps with Brian in tow, and the game players all yelled their welcome before turning back to the table and enthusiastically urging the next Kappa to put the ball in the cup.
Inside the house, we had to navigate through a maze of people dancing to the pounding bass that seemed to be coming from the far corner of the living room. People were dancing everywhere; on the stairs, in the hallway, in the kitchen, and on the kitchen counter was a girl in go-go boots and a bikini dancing for an audience of one while the rest twisted and writhed to the beat. I grabbed Brian’s hand and pulled him toward the backyard where Jessie and Lara had said they’d be.
The Fijis had, at some point in their illustrious history, build an in-ground pool in the backyard of the fraternity house, and tonight, the pool was lit up by hundreds (maybe even thousands) of strings of chili pepper lights, which made the yard glow an ominous shade of red. I scanned the large yard as several drunk frat brothers pushed each other into the pool yelling, “Cannonball!” before they did. From the looks of their soaking clothes, they’d been doing this for a while. I shook my head and then jumped up and down as I spotted the girls in the far corner of the yard.
“Jessie! Lara!” I yelled as I made a dash for them. “I’m here!”
“Ava!” Jessie shouted. “Did you bring the hottie?”
“Jessie!” I scolded. “He has a name. Shame on you!”
“Awww, I’m sorry,” she said as she hung her head shamefully. “Hi Brian, I’m sorry I called you the hottie. No offense.”
“None taken,” he replied with a bit of a smile creeping across his lips. No one could stay mad at Jessie for very long,
not even a tough bodyguard.
“What’s going on, girls?” I asked.
“Well, James here is showing us how he can beer bong, but I’m not buying the whole setup,” Lara said as she grabbed James’ apparatus and turned it over to examine it. “I’ve never seen anything like this, and he’s managed to pour more beer on himself than into his mouth thus far.”
I looked at James and wondered if it was the beer bong that was the problem or the fact that he was about 12 sheets to the wind already. I said as much to Lara and she laughed it off, telling me that I was overanalyzing and that I should lighten up. I shrugged and asked where I could get a drink. Jessie walked me over to the table and ordered a couple of punches for us both. I turned to ask Brian if he wanted anything, but he’d moved over to the corner of the yard where he could observe with his back against the fence. I waved to get his attention, but he didn’t see me, so after I got my glass, I walked over to him.
“Do you want something to drink?” I asked.
“No, I’m fine,” he replied as he scanned the crowd.
“Are you sure?” I asked again.
“Yes! I’m fine, dammit!” he shouted impatiently. “Now will you drop it?”