“You stole that.” I point at the sheet of paper.
“I was kinda hoping you’d forget about it.”
I hop off my bed and grab the paper from her hand. “We can make it!” I shout. The event doesn’t start for thirty minutes. “Maybe helping the bears will help my guilt.”
“Not sure that’s how that works, but I guess we can give it a go.” Her face scrunches.
“We don’t have to.” I hand the paper back to her. I don’t want her to do something she doesn’t want to. I already forced the party on her. I forced myself on the twins. Maybe I’m pushier than I know.
“No, we’ll go. I need to get out more. I can’t hide away forever,” she mutters, but she still doesn’t sound okay about it. I know she only offered to be nice. Now she’s backtracking and I’m not going to let her. If she thinks she needs to get out more, then I can help with that.
“How about we go, and if it’s awkward or sucks we bail?” I offer. “We can even have a code word to let each other know.”
“I’m going to have to find my swimsuit.” She glances towards where her clothes are. “It probably has dust on it.”
I laugh and go in search of mine. I slip on the too-bright pink bikini and pull on shorts to cover it. I grab the shirt I’d had made with Levi and Zeke. I may not be hanging out with them, but I can have this. I pull it on over my bikini top and slip on some flip-flops. I pull my hair up into a messy bun and I’m all set to go.
When I turn back around, Erika is sliding on a shirt over her one-piece black bathing suit. She digs in her clothes again to find a pair of shorts and pulls them on. Her shirt hangs past them, almost making it look like she doesn’t have anything on under the shirt, but I don’t tell her that. It reminds me of the dress shirts that are in style now and she looks super hot.
“Let’s do this.” She slips on her own flip-flops and we head out. It isn’t until we’re almost there that I realize I didn’t bring my purse or phone.
“Crap.” I stop walking and look at Erika. “I forgot my purse and my phone.”
“It’s cool. I have mine. We’ll only need it if we want to grab some food after.” I nod in agreement. It’s probably for the best so I don’t keep checking Levi’s and Zeke’s location like a stalker. Maybe we all just need some time to cool off. This will do us all some good. I’m going to make the best of today and enjoy my girls’ day with Erika. I push the twins to the back of my mind and set my mind to saving some bears.
It doesn't take us long to realize that maybe we didn’t have the right idea when it came to saving the bears. This looks more like a party than a car wash. Oh, cars are being washed, but music is blaring while girls in barely-there bikinis wash them. A line of guys watch from a row of folding chairs set to the side. Some of the comments that they are yelling out make me cringe. One of the gawkers is the same guy who gave us the flyer. Erika and I look at each other, unsure what to do. Before we can try and bolt, the guy from the day before spots us. He springs up from his chair and heads our way.
“Ladies!” he yells, walking towards us with a cocky smile, showing off his straight white teeth. I glance over and spot Hope, the girl who invited us to the party. Unlike the other girls clad in bikinis, she is dry. Instead of washing cars, she’s playing on her phone, taking videos and texting them to people.
“This isn't about saving bears, is it?” I mutter.
Surfer Dude laughs. “I thought you were joking about that.” He points to his shirt. It has a bear on it with Greek lettering above it. All of the information finally clicks in my mind and my face heats with embarrassment. How could I not have put together? This is a frat house raising money for repairs. I mentally chastise myself for being so naïve.
But, if it’s for the frat boys, why are the girls doing all the work while the guys sit on their asses and jeer at the hard-working women? Gross.
“Got your swimsuit on under there?” He asks.
I pull my eyes away from the girls washing the cars. Before I can react, he grabs my shirt, and in one smooth, practiced movement, pulls it over my head. I jump but end up tripping on a hose which pitches me forward. Surfer boy catches me and pulls me flush against his sweaty body.
I gasp in shock. I’ve never been this close to another male before other than my twins. He saved me from falling on my face, but I think I would have rather hit the ground than touch him. I wriggle and try to push away from him, but he doesn't release me.
“Let go,” I tell him. I push harder on his chest. I can smell beer on his breath. He only laughs at my struggle.
“Don’t be like that. Everyone knows how you like it. We witnessed the way you like things at the party last night. We saw the Snapchat video of you being manhandled and enjoying it. I can get one of my friends to join us.”
I still at his words. It’s a punch to my stomach and all the air leaves my lungs when I realize what he’s getting at.
“Or does it not have to be two guys? Just two will do?” He licks his lips. I can feel his hard-on digging into me. I want to throw up, but for some reason I’m frozen in place. “Your friend can join us.”
“She said let go!” Erika shouts. A second later, her purse comes up and it hits him in the side of the head.
“Fuck!” he bellows as he lets me go. I stumble backward. There’s no one to catch him and he falls right on his ass. The other guys, who are watching from their lawn chairs, break out into laughter.
I glance over to Hope, who has a smug look on her face. For a moment I think it’s because he got what was coming to him until she opens her mouth. “What did you think people would think when you have two boyfriends? Don’t get mad. You’re the one letting everyone know you’re a slut, even flashing that shit on your shirt.” She rolls her eyes at me. “You know what happens to slutty girls like you?”
“I don’t think we needyouto enlighten us on sluts, even though we all know you wrote the instruction book personally, Hope.” Erika chimes in. “Don’t you have cars to wash?” Erika leans down, picking up my shirt and handing it to me. Finally, I move. I don’t know what is wrong with me. I’d swear Erika and I just switched bodies.
Surfer Dude stumbles to his feet. He’s more drunk than I thought and looks angry that his friends are all still laughing. Hope looks more than pissed. Her whole face is red. She narrows her eyes. She isn't done with us. One of the guys that was laughing runs over to Surfer Dude and grabs his arm, telling him to let it go.