The Felix Chronicles: Freshmen (12 page)

“Come on,” Harper said. “I think the rooms are upstairs.” She turned and headed down a hallway that led to the front of the house. They all fell in behind her. The place was still overrun with people, but it had thinned out some; Felix could actually see the walls, and he didn’t have too much trouble finding the staircase. He also saw someone he knew—a kid on the football team. Felix went up to him and asked if they could have a look upstairs. The kid yawned and went back to his beer.

When they reached the landing, Felix’s first thought was how pissed the parents were going to be when they got home. Then he remembered where he was. This wasn’t high school. A main hallway ran the length of the house, and it was even more congested than the floor below: wall-to-wall bodies. Everyone had a red plastic cup in hand and some kids had two, probably a strategy employed when the kegs began to run low. A couple to their right was making out, and someone near them was laughing and shouting, “Get a room.” As they stood there taking it all in, no one seemed to pay any attention to them.

“Christ!” Lucas said, looking back and forth as if he was about to cross a busy intersection. “If she’s in a room, we’re never going to find her. Which way you wanna go?”

“Maybe that w—” Harper started to say.

A fat Beta in an orange polo came stumbling out of the nearest room shouting: “You’re an asshole, Jeff! I hope that scabby slut makes your dick fall off!” Then he stomped through the hall, but before he could get very far Lucas caught up to him and grabbed his arm to get his attention.

“Hey,” Lucas said to him as the Beta freed his arm with a clumsy tug. “We’re looking for a girl. Dark hair. Tall. Green shirt—I think. You seen her?”

He laughed and started walking off. Then he stopped and turned back to Lucas.
“I did see her.
See that pretty door?” He pointed off to his left to an area just a short way down the hall. Felix followed his finger and glimpsed strips of red and blue through the shifting crowd. “In there. Why don’t you have a look?” He started up with the laughter again as he stumbled away.

Felix found a crease in the crowd and weaved his way to the door. Lucas joined him a few seconds later. It wasn’t exactly pretty, but it was painted: a red letter B in the center along with a blue and white shield and two crossed swords beneath it. They looked at each other for a moment, then Lucas shrugged and reached out for the brass knob. He turned it and gave it a push. The door began to swing open. The room was dark, and Felix wondered why Allison would be in a room that—

And that’s when everything came crashing down around them.

Felix wasn’t sure how it had happened, but he was on the floor, face down and smothered under bodies. At least three people were on top of him—he saw a sneaker, a loafer and a large hairy toe sticking out from a flip flop. He felt hands gripping his ankles, then his legs were wrenched up off the floor, and he was being dragged away from the door; he looked up just as it slammed shut. He heard screams. The carpet, rough and smelling of beer, burned his chin as the door drew further and further away. He pushed up with his arms, and then more bodies jumped on the pile and he collapsed flat on his stomach. The screaming grew louder. And mixed in with the screams was laughter.

“Get off of me, you assholes!” Lucas was shouting. “Get off!” It sounded like he was on the floor too, and close, though Felix couldn’t see where he was. He had a momentary flashback to earlier in the day of looking up at a blue sky through the grill of a facemask and wondered what he had done today to deserve this.

“What the hell’s going on?” someone shouted. “What’s going on down there? Pracker! Get up! Get everyone off! Pracker! Hey!”

Felix knew the voice. But from where? He couldn’t place it.

The people crushing the air out of Felix began untangling themselves limb by limb and the load lightened. Then he felt something sharp digging into his side—a finger?—and he let out a painful shout. He got to his knees and shrugged the rest of them off. He planted one foot, but before he could get the other one out from under him, someone pushed him hard in the chest and he banged up against the wall. Felix glanced over and saw it was the little punk with the faux hawk. The kid screamed something angry and incoherent at Felix, then he balled up his hands into fists and brought his arm back into a punching position. Felix jumped to his feet and raised his arms to protect his face.

Lucas intervened: He grabbed the kid by the shoulders and threw him down the hall (he actually caught air), sending him sprawling to the floor.

“Hey!” That same voice again. “Enough! Cut it out! Perry, get your ass over here!”

Faux hawk punk—
Perry
—scrambled to his feet and was about to charge at them when a tall blond kid snagged him by the collar and slung him back into the crowd. Felix saw the blond kid’s face—then his jaw dropped.
It was Grayson Bentley.
And when Felix realized who the girl was standing beside him, he started choking on carper fibers.
Allison.

Felix was too stunned to react. Not only had a dozen frat boys attacked him and Lucas for no reason, but Allison (‘best friend’ Allison; ‘the only person in the world he trusted’ Allison) was practically holding hands with the President of the Student Union. The hall, already a human jungle, was getting even more knotted as kids emerged from their rooms—some only partially dressed—to see what was going on. Someone hit the overhead lights and suddenly the hall seemed as bright as a tanning bed.

Felix stood there with his mouth hanging open, staring stupidly from Allison to Grayson and back again. His eyes met Allison’s for a moment and she looked down at the floor, a faint flush creeping over her cheeks.

“What were you doing in there?” Grayson asked them.

Felix didn’t know how to respond.
In where?

Grayson must have seen the confusion on Felix’s face because he broke into a big smile.

“What the hell’s so funny?” Lucas shouted at Grayson. He was holding onto a button (it looked like a bear had chewed on his shirt) that he glanced down at for a second before tossing it on the floor.

“You’re right,” Grayson said soberly, walking toward them through the parting crowd, his smile gone. “Breaking into our chapter room isn’t a laughing matter. What did you think you were doing?”

Chapter room?
Felix didn’t even know what that was.

“Well?”
Grayson demanded when they didn’t answer.

“We didn’t know it was your chapter room!” Lucas shouted. “Some idiot told us she was in there. We were just looking for
her
.” He pointed at Allison, who was still gazing down at her feet.

“Oh.” Grayson turned to her, his eyes widening slightly. “Friends of yours?”

“Yeah.” Allison quick-stepped over to Felix and took him by the arm. Then she spun around to face Grayson and the mob that had congregated behind him. “I’m sorry, but I’ve… gotta go.”

“Wait a minute,” Grayson said in a surprised voice. “This isn’t a big deal. The chapter room’s supposed to be locked during parties. That was our fault. And for that, I’m very sorry.” He turned his attention to Felix and Lucas. “Because of our carelessness, we’ve put you in a very awkward position.”

“Awkward?”
Lucas yelled. “You just tried to kill us, you ass—” He winced and grabbed at his side, the last word cut short.

Allison had elbowed him in the ribs.

“Please,” Grayson said, staring straight at Allison now. “This was
clearly
a misunderstanding. No one got hurt. And the night’s still young. Stay. I insist. I have a ninety-seven Brunello you’ll absolutely love. When we were in my room didn’t you tell me you wanted to learn more about wine? Well… here’s your chance.”

“Maybe some other time.” Allison nudged Felix and Lucas toward the staircase.

Grayson gave Allison a sympathetic smile as if to say
I understand your predicament.
But when she turned away he caught Felix’s eye, and his expression changed. He didn’t look so sympathetic any more. He looked
angry
. Like Felix had just taken something from him. Something valuable.

Felix wasn’t concerned about hurting Grayson’s feelings—he just wanted to get the hell out of the Beta house. Felix and Lucas started toward the stairs, pressing through the crowd. A plastic cup hit the wall above Felix’s head and beer rained down on them. More cups followed. Through a chorus of jeers and profanities, they covered their heads and plowed their way through the bodies. Someone pushed Felix, knocking him into Lucas, and they stumbled forward, now only a few feet from the end of the landing. And then a large body moved in front of them, blocking their escape route. Felix recognized him from football practice. His name was Pracker—Mark Pracker. Jimmy Clay’s buddy—the one who strolled along the track with Jimmy after he got in ‘trouble’ for the helmet-to-helmet cheapshot.

“You look very familiar,” Mark slurred drunkenly, jabbing his finger into Lucas’s chest. “Do I know you from somewhere? Like TV or something?”

“Yeah,” Lucas answered cheerfully. “I’m Justin Timberlake. Aren’t you the kid who threw his panties at me at that concert in Vegas?”

It took some time for Mark’s alcohol-sodden brain to process the fact that Lucas had insulted him. As Mark stuttered,
“Panties…?”
Caitlin managed to wedge her way between them and pushed Lucas through another gap in the crowd.

Allison dug her fingernails into Felix’s arm and half-dragged him down the stairs. Harper followed right on his heels. They pushed their way through the lobby and out the front double doors and between the embassy-like columns. Without saying a word, they broke into a mad sprint as they crossed the lawn—now littered with red plastic cups—not slowing until they came to a path that wound its way through a grove on the western edge of The Yard.

They finally stopped to catch their breath. In the distance, they could hear shouting and a pounding bass—
th-thump th-thump th-thump
—that seemed to shake the leaves in the branches above. Felix wiped the beer from his face and checked their backs. No one had followed them.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Allison suddenly shouted at Felix. Her cheeks were red, her eyes full of intensity.

“What?”
Felix hadn’t expected that. If anything, he thought she would thank him for rescuing her. “What the hell were
you
thinking? We weren’t gonna leave without you. What were you doing with that asshole?”

“He’s not an asshole!” Allison’s face was nearly purple. Her eyes were on fire. “And what did I tell you?
Huh?
I told you not to piss him off! His dad’s the Governor of California. And already… Jesus!
What the fuck’s wrong with you?”

“I don’t give a shit who his dad is!” Felix shouted back at her.

“Well you should!” Allison said. “Would it kill you to make things easy on yourself?
Just once?”

Lucas cleared his throat. “He’s definitely an asshole. You heard him. He was talking like he was the President of the United States, not the president of the Student Union.” He turned to Allison, his expression serious. “Is his dad
really
the Governor of California?” When she gave him a grudging nod, he looked at Felix and cracked up with laughter. “Dude, that’s not good.”

Caitlin gaped at Lucas with a look that said
you must be insane
.

Allison narrowed her eyes at Lucas, hands on hips. “How would you know if he’s an asshole? You don’t even know him.” She paused, the anger rolling off of her in seething waves. “I don’t even know
you
!”

Lucas didn’t appear fazed.
“So?
I’ve got a ton of experience with assholes. And that dude’s definitely an asshole.”

Allison fixed her flashing eyes on Felix, all the anger gone from her voice. “Why do you even… what does it matter? I’m not having this conversation.” Then she turned and headed in the direction of the dorm. Caitlin chased after her, and then, after a
th-thump
or two, Harper followed. Lucas stayed back with Felix. When the girls were out of sight, Lucas said to him: “Did you notice how he was looking at us?”

Felix nodded. It was impossible to miss.

“That was probably a very dumb thing we just did.” He laughed and threw his arm around Felix’s shoulder. “It won’t be the last. Welcome to college, buddy.”

An hour before Felix was supposed to meet Lucas and the girls for dinner—he’d showered after his last class and applied an extra layer of deodorant in anticipation of seeing Harper—Allison called and asked him for a favor.

Someone calling herself
Martha
was advertising a pair of cross country skis for thirty-nine dollars on Craigslist. They were brand new, Allison’s size, and they were Rossignols—her favorite brand. Martha even lived within walking distance, just a half mile from the football stadium. Allison didn’t have a car. Felix did. But his Wrangler had just passed the 230,000 mile mark and it had at least one tire in the grave—it was at the shop (again) getting its transmission repaired. Martha had agreed to hold the skis for her if she picked them up today. It was just too perfect for Allison to pass up; she
had
to have them.

But there was a big black fly in Allison’s bowl of chowder.

To the west of campus was “no-man’s-land,” the most dangerous and crime-ridden neighborhood in all of Portland. Felix hadn’t even known about it until he saw an article in a back issue of the student paper—
The Weekly Sturgeon
—he’d read in the common room one day while he was waiting for Larry to come down for football practice. The focus of the article was a student group’s attempts to prevent Starbucks from opening a store on 10
th
Street. The group’s concern was that if one corporation gained a foothold a tidal wave of
gentrification
(which they made out to be a very bad thing) would swallow up the entire neighborhood. There was a quote from a Starbucks spokesperson about awaiting word from the zoning board on something called a ‘variance’. Felix didn’t particularly care—nor have an opinion on the matter—and the zoning issues seemed complicated. But the rest of the story—the background on no-man’s-land—was enlightening.