Forged in Stone (20 page)

“
P
lease
, Daisy. It’s going to be fun.” That one line out of Reyna’s mouth was the beginning of the end for me.

“I don’t know. I was hoping to just have a quiet Halloween this year. Driving all the way to New Orleans seems a bit extreme.” I set aside my sociology textbook. There was no way I was getting reading done until Reyna said her piece.

“There’s nothing like New Orleans on Halloween. This is going to be epic.” She took a seat next to me on my bed and grasped both of my hands in hers. She was getting ready to plead.

“But why the sudden decision to go? Is it about a guy?” Reyna was usually motivated by a member of the opposite sex.

“No, not exactly. I just want to do something fun for a change.”

Not exactly? That meant yes. “Ok, who is he?”

“Just this guy I knew back in high school. We’ve started talking again, and he invited me and any friends to come crash at his place for Halloween.” She suddenly turned serious. “I’m so sick of the scene here. I need a break, but I don’t want to go alone. Please, pretty please.”

I sighed, realizing that saying no would just lead to a pouty roommate for the next few days. “You promise you’re not just going to ditch me?”

“Of course not! It will be awesome. He’s got so many hot friends. It’s crazy.”

I tuned Reyna out as she went on and on about Tulane boys. Admittedly, my dating life at East Madison wasn’t great, but I knew a random hook up with a guy I didn’t know wasn’t going to help matters either. “There’s just one problem. Isn’t New Orleans a full day’s drive from here?” I wasn’t an expert on driving distances, but Atlanta and New Orleans aren’t exactly next door.

“It’s doable. About seven hours. I’ll do all the driving. All you need to do is keep me company.”

“You really want to do this?” Despite her obsession with guys, Reyna was actually a really good roommate. We’d both joined the same sorority, Delta Mu, the year before and hit it off immediately.

“Yes.” She turned her doe eyes on me.

I wasn’t exactly jumping at the idea of the trip, but Reyna’s one of those people who always manages to find a good time, and sometimes I just liked to go along for the ride. “Okay.”

“Yes!!!” She jumped up and ran around the room. “I can’t wait to tell Chad!”

“Great.” I leaned back against my pillows. “I guess I really need to find a costume then.”

“Just sex up that black cat costume you wore last night.” Reyna rifled through her closet.

“Sex it up?” I’d donned cat ears for our Halloween kid’s philanthropy event, but I had no plans to wear them again, and sex them up? Did she forget who she was talking to?

“Yeah. Tight shirt and short black skirt. It’s easy enough.” She tossed one of her skirts at me. “Try this.”

“You’re way shorter than me. This skirt is going to be up to my ass.”

Reyna grinned. “That’s called sexing it up. Wait until you see my firefighter costume. It’s hot.”

“Hotter than me wearing this?” I held up the black fabric.

“It’s a short skirt, but also just a jacket over a red bra. It’s a little over the top, but Chad said that’s what Halloween is like there. I’m embracing my inner skank.”

“Ugh.” I put a pillow over my head. “Please don’t make me go.”

“You don’t have to wear that skirt. Wear one of your own, but please try to look decently sexy. We don’t want to stand out like sore thumbs.”

“Then ask someone else to go.”

“Nope. It’s only going to be fun if you go.”

“In other words, I’m the only one you can dupe into going.”

“Come on. Who else would be willing to miss the Iota party? I know you don’t care about that.”

I didn’t care because none of those guys gave me the time of day. The fact that every woman in my family had been Delta Mu was probably the only reason I’d gotten a bid from my sorority in the first place. I didn’t regret my decision to join, but living with a bunch of tens when you’re a seven, on a good day with the right makeup and hair products, can get old. “Fine, I’ll come up with a sexy enough costume.”

“Perfect. We’ll need to get on the road early Friday.”

“But I have three classes.”

“And perfect attendance. I’m sure you can miss one of each. This is going to be epic!” She hugged me around the neck.

I decided not to point out that she’d called the trip epic twice. “I’m sure it will be.”

“I’m going to text Chad and let him know.”

“Great.” I picked up my textbook and tried to get back into my reading. Not that social phenomena particularly interested me.

“He says awesome. We’re going out on Bourbon Street for Halloween and everything.”

“Cool.” I plugged a set of headphones into my phone and turned on some music. Reyna would never stop talking if I didn’t, and this method usually worked better than telling her to shut up.

I made it through all of three paragraphs before she pulled one of my ear buds out. “You’re the best. Just wanted to tell you that.”

“Yeah, Yeah.” I smiled.

“I need caffeine. Want to go over to the Java Circle to read? I heard they’ve got that white hot chocolate stuff you love.”

“Sure.” Reyna knew the way to my heart. Hot chocolate. I had a mild addiction.

“Great. We can strategize costumes on the way over.”

I laughed. “I’ll go with the cat idea if I don’t find anything else.”

“There’s no reason not to. It’s classic.”

“All right, I’ll stick with it. It’s not like I have a lot of time.”

“Nope. We leave in two days.”

“Exciting.”

She pushed my arm playfully. “Please try to get hyped up, for my sake.”

“Of course. If nothing else I’ll get hyped about the food. I’ve heard it’s amazing.”

“See.” She linked her arm in mine as we headed toward the stairs. “There’s always a bright side.”

S
even hours is a long drive
. Add on an extra two hours thanks to traffic, and it’s pretty much endless. I wasn’t the one driving, but sitting in the passenger seat with Reyna driving wasn’t much better. She didn’t ‘believe’ in GPS. Instead she tossed a tattered old map on my lap. “I know where we’re going, but we have that just in case.”

Although at first I missed the familiar computer generated voice reading directions, it didn’t take long to get used to using a paper map again. It brought me back to my childhood. My dad’s one of the types that is all about life skills. Evidently reading maps was still a life skill in his book, because he made my brother and I master the art before the end of elementary school. I planned to call him later and thank him.

A few hours into the drive I decided to ask some more questions about Chad. Reyna had been surprisingly reticent on the subject. For a girl who usually gave details, way too many details, her silence made me a little suspicious. “Are you ready to tell me about him?”

“He’s just a guy I knew.”

“Knew how?” I turned down the radio.

“He’s the one who got away,” she said in barely a whisper.

“What?” I said in anything but a whisper. Hooking up with an ex-boyfriend was always a bad idea. I knew from experience. “We’re going to New Orleans so you can hook up with an ex?”

“Calm down.” She looked right at the road. It wasn’t for safety reasons. She was avoiding my gaze.

“So how do I fit in? What am I going to do while you guys
reconnect
?” I resisted the urge to use air quotes.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen. I just couldn’t do it alone. I needed my best friend with me.”

Best friend? Did she really see me that way? “Since we’re hours from Atlanta I’m coming, but I wish you’d been honest with me from the beginning.”

I was such a pushover. I could practically hear my brother lecturing me. He said I couldn’t spend my whole life as a doormat. He was right, but that didn’t mean I knew how to change it.

“His roommate’s single and excited to meet you.”

I groaned. “I am not hooking up with the roommate.”

“I never said you had to. I was just letting you know. He’s really cute.”

“Wonderful.” Reyna might as well have been getting a degree in matchmaker for all the effort she made trying to set other people up on dates. It wasn’t something she was particularly good at. To be honest, I couldn’t think of a single success story.

She changed lanes and gunned it to pass a truck. I held onto the ‘oh my god bar’ for dear life. She reduced speed once she was settled back in the right lane. “I really owe you for this. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

“Just don’t completely ditch me. That’s all I’m asking.”

“I won’t.”

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to make promises you can’t keep?”

She laughed. “Trust me on this one. I don’t even know if anything is going to happen. He invited me as a friend, remember?”

“You really believe that?” I didn’t. A guy wouldn’t invite an ex to stay with him unless he planned on rekindling the old flame—or getting her in bed—or most likely, both.

“I do. We flirt and stuff, but it hasn’t passed that.”

“If you say so.” I wasn’t in the mood to argue, but I steeled myself for a long few days. Hopefully I’d be able to navigate New Orleans on my own.

I
checked
the address twice after Reyna parked along the curb. When she said we’d be staying in an off-campus apartment I assumed it was going to be a complex or something. Instead we were parked in front of an old house that looked like it should have been condemned. Ok, that might be a slight exaggeration, but it didn’t exactly have curb appeal.

“You coming?” Reyna asked leaning in through her open door. Miraculously she didn’t look like she’d been sitting in a car for seven hours. Now me on the other hand, that was an altogether different story. I’d barely slept the night before, and even if I wore makeup it wouldn’t have covered up the bags under my eyes.

“Yeah, I’m coming.” I reluctantly unbuckled and got out. I wasn’t looking forward to what I knew would be an awkward introduction.

Reyna pulled out my duffel in what she probably viewed as a peace offering. I put it over my shoulder and followed her over to the questionable looking set of stairs. I tentatively touched the bottom step before taking a deep breath and following her up to the porch.

She knocked on the door, and I was surprised it didn’t fall off the hinges.

A guy with brown hair opened the door and pulled Reyna into his arms. “Hey, Baby!”

My stomach dropped. Baby? They were on pet name terms?

“Hey, Chad!” Reyna kissed him on the lips playfully. “We made it.”

He rubbed her back in a very familiar way. “I’m glad you decided to make the trip. I promise to make it worth your while.”

I just stood there in the doorway holding my bag. I wished I had the nerve to clear my throat, but I didn’t want Chad to hate me already.

I settled on a light sigh that came out sounding like more of a grunt.

“Oh, sorry.” Reyna stumbled back from him. “Chad, this is Daisy, my amazing sorority sister and roommate.”

“Hey, Daisy. Thanks for going along for the ride with my girl, Reyna.”

Yeah, I was on my own for the weekend. “Of course. Anything for Reyna.” Door Mat. Door Mat. I repeated to myself.

Chad and Reyna exchanged a look, and I knew it had something to do with me. I assumed it couldn’t be good so I showed myself into the cramped apartment.

I eyed one worn out leather couch. I assumed I’d be sleeping there. I walked over to drop off my stuff and noticed a few suspicious stains. Gross. Completely and utterly gross. I was so glad I’d brought a sleeping bag with me. At least I wouldn’t have to sleep right on the thing.

“Hey.”

I turned and nearly collided with a guy with spiky black hair. “Hi.”

“I’m Shaun.”

I looked around Shaun to see Reyna flirting with Chad. Might as well make friends with the roommate. At least Reyna had been right about one thing, he was cute. “Hi Shaun, I’m Daisy.”

“Really? Like from
The Great Gatsby
?”

“Uh, yeah.” Wow, a guy my age who knew something about literature.

“Cool. Listen, just to put it out there, you can sleep in my bed if you want. I wouldn’t want to subject you to the couch.”

I shook my head. “Oh, that’s okay.” First he appreciates literature and now he’s a gentleman? Double points.

“Come on, I saw you eyeing it’s, uh, worn in condition.” He smiled, immediately putting me at ease.

“I was just glad I brought a sleeping bag.” I felt like a weight had been taken off me. Things might not be quite as awkward as I anticipated.

Shaun laughed. “Really, I’d only offer my bed if I wanted to. Save the sleeping bag. Besides, I wouldn’t want to leave you out here with our other roommate around.”

“Other roommate?”

“Yeah. Duncan. He’s a weird one.”

“Oh.” Reyna hadn’t mentioned a third roommate in the apartment. Interesting omission. In order to avoid any unnecessary drama I decided not to ask more about Duncan. If he was really that weird hopefully I wouldn’t even meet him.

“Here, I’ll help you with your stuff.” Shaun grabbed my duffel before I could stop him.

“Really—”

“I’m telling you it’s not a problem,” He interrupted.

Reyna caught my eye and winked. I shook my head in return. If she thought she was playing matchmaker she had another thing coming. Nice or not, I wasn’t interested in hooking up with some random guy. If that’s all I wanted I might as well have just continued trying my luck with the dating pool at East Madison.

“Reyna? You coming?” Chad called from the doorway of his room. Wow, he was moving fast. I hoped Reyna knew what she was doing. Hopefully they were on the same page.

“Looks like you have someone to keep you company.” Reyna grinned. “I’m going to take a quick nap with Chad.”

“Oh, a nap?” I rolled my eyes. “Enjoy that.”

With a sigh I walked into Shaun’s room. The room was sparsely furnished with just a bed and a desk in the corner. His walls were bare which surprised me. I guess most guys I knew at school had posters and stuff up. His looked like he’d just moved in. A window AC unit sat precariously on the sill appearing like it could fall at any moment.

“I just changed my sheets today.” He gestured to his bed.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I always do laundry on Fridays.”

“And you change your sheets?”

He laughed. “You don’t wash yours?”

“I do, but most of my guy friends don’t with any regularity.”

“Oh, that’s kind of gross.”

I laughed. “Are you as much of a neat freak as me?”

“I prefer to think of myself as orderly.”

“Orderly. That works too.”

I took a seat on the edge of his bed. My guess was that Reyna’s ‘nap’ was going to last awhile.