“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.”
Chapter Two
Seven 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.