Chapter 8

Cassidy was in a lot of pain, which was why she loved the pills they’d given her to manage the constant achy feeling. There were two problems with them, however: they made her a bit goofy, and they made her feel like she wasn’t hurt at all. Cassidy had to be careful not to injure herself because she thought she could do more than she should.

In hindsight, coming home had been both the best and worst decision. Being close to State meant she could take advantage of their fantastic rehab and medical facilities. Admittedly, USC’s were better, but State’s were still outstanding, and having her dad take care of her was a huge help. While her friends back at USC would have been there for her, in the end, they were college students first.

Her dad had been great, but Cassidy had been out on her own for a year now. Her dad was old-school, with the attitude that it was his house and, if she wanted to live in it, she had to follow his rules. He’d given her a ten o’clock curfew on school nights! Not that she could drive yet or ever went out, but the mere thought made her want to escape.

She was also stuck in the house all day, which wasn’t her; she liked to be out doing stuff. The only thing that made her time there bearable was her dad’s cat, Claude. The critter had started out as her cat when she rescued it, but it soon bonded with her dad, which was funny. Her dad was a devout dog person, but the (formerly) little fur-ball had come to run the house.

At first, Claude didn’t like that Cassidy had intruded into his home. But it didn’t take long for him to figure out that if he was friendly, she would love him up and allow him to sit on her lap while she watched daytime TV.

When she was in the hospital, she’d joked with David that she loved daytime TV. The truth was, she’d never watched it. She discovered her dad had cable and found a new soap opera called The Young and The Wild. All the hunky, well-hung men in the cast made it by far the most entertaining show on TV. She knew they were well-hung because a couple got naked in almost every episode.

If her roommates knew of it, they would, at the very least, DVR the show. In today’s episode, a group of gorgeous young people were getting naked in a hot tub. That was why she was irritated when her phone rang, and she only answered it when she saw it was David.

“What’s up, Buttercup?”

“I’m warning you now that I’m coming back with you when you come home in a few weeks.”

“Your dad being a pain?” David asked.

“He gave me a curfew!”

“Maybe you should have one when you come back,” David contemplated.

“Just remember, I can take you with only one good arm.”

“That I’d like to see,” David teased.

“Believe it. Now, tell me what’s going on with you,” Cassidy ordered.

David shared what had happened since she left.

“ ... then I landed a role on The Young and The Wild. It’s supposed to be a daytime TV show. The cool part is that since I’m not being paid, I get to treat it as an internship, and I’ll get credit toward graduation.”

Cassidy wanted to laugh and cheer because David clearly didn’t know nudity was required.

“Have you watched the show?” Cassidy asked innocently.

“No, but it has to be like all the other soap operas. I’m betting I play someone’s love child who I didn’t realize existed because I had amnesia.”

“It’s on cable.”

“I know it probably won’t have good ratings, but I’ll get back into acting,” David reasoned.

“It’ll get ratings; I promise you that.”

“Why do you say that?” David asked.

“Do I have to say it? It’s because you’ll be on it,” Cassidy said, playing to his enormous ego.

“I’m not so sure about that.”

“Oh, yeah. Your key demographic will love it,” Cassidy promised. “I’m sure I’ll watch it because you’re on the show.”

“I appreciate that. Thanks for believing in me,” David said sincerely.

Cassidy almost felt bad about not telling David what he was getting into. Almost. She would have to get someone to film his reaction when he got on set and learned he’d have to go Full Monty on national television. Knowing him, he’d just take it in stride since he was doing it for his art.

She found herself giggling the rest of the day. David needed to call her more often.

Oliver finally reached his uncle’s estate in the Kuta district of Bali. Bali was a favorite tourist destination for Australians due to its proximity to Oz and relatively low prices. The estate was a quick motor-scooter ride away from the beach, which had several resorts, clubs, and so on.

His uncle had said he could stay for a couple of months until the heat had simmered down.

Balinese and Indonesian were the most widely spoken languages in Bali, but due to tourism, many locals also spoke Chinese and English. His uncle’s place was in the middle of an English-speaking area, making everyday life much easier for him.

He finally got brave and called Cassidy.

“Hey,” Oliver said when she picked up.

Cassidy didn’t respond.

“Uhm ... I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“If you mean okay in that I almost lost my arm; had to drop out of school; now have a shit ton of medical bills that just keep piling up; and had to move back in with my dad, then, yeah, I’m doing great.”

“I’m really sorry,” Oliver said.

“Sorry enough to take care of my bills?” Cassidy asked.

“I don’t really have any money,” Oliver admitted.

“And you think I do?” Cassidy asked.

This hadn’t been how he expected this conversation to go. He hadn’t thought it would be great, but she sounded like she wanted to kill him.

“I don’t really know what to say,” Oliver admitted.

He could hear Cassidy take a deep breath; he was sure it was the start of a monologue about all his shortcomings. Then she let it out with a sigh.

“When I ask, David will come looking for you. Don’t tell me where you are because that’ll spoil his fun hunting you down. And when he catches up with you ... well, you should just pray he doesn’t,” Cassidy said and hung up.

Oliver’s brother had told him to get rid of his phone because it could be tracked. He planned to go out today and do just that.

Emily was now officially a pledge and was learning about the history of Alpha Mu. It was founded in 1907 at Syracuse University and was initially organized to attract the best and brightest with its cardinal principles of sincerity, morality, and scholarship. Its original intent was to limit membership to those who maintained the educational standards of Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest honor society, which inducted the most outstanding arts and sciences students.

In 1928, the leadership decided the Phi Beta Kappa standard was too difficult to maintain, so it was dropped. However, the sorority continued to require a high GPA from its pledges. To that end, the pledges were required to come to the house to study three times a week, where the older members offered mentorship. The house also maintained an extensive library of past tests that were supposed to be excellent study guides.

That evening, there was to be a dinner where each pledge would be given a big sister and a big brother, the brother being selected from one of the various fraternities. The job of the big sister and brother was to help guide the pledge successfully to full membership. Taylor told the pledges it was also a way to get to know the men in the fraternity their big brother came from. It was a whole new network of friends.

They were warned it wasn’t a dating service and that they should treat their big brothers like siblings. Her mom told her that her big sister had been her best friend in college and that she didn’t know how she’d have graduated without her help. It was also the reason she was a borderline raging alcoholic during college.

Honestly, Emily didn’t want to know what her mom got up to in college. Her mom did tell Emily that her big sister helped get all that partying out of her system before she met her father.

If the stories were true, her father had been no saint himself. He paid for all his extras while in school by playing poker, which he’d taught her, just in case.

Emily also learned about the importance of pledge ranking. Being at the top of your class meant getting the first pick of rooms and other perks. The ranking was based on several factors, with grades playing a big part. The pledges wouldn’t see how they ranked until midterms.

It did mean that the girls who agreed to be big sisters got to pick their little sister based on the big sister’s overall ranking in the house. It was expected that each sister would eventually volunteer to be a mentor to a pledge while in school. Most of the upperclassmen had already been big sisters; the two top-ranked sisters who hadn’t yet been were Crystal and Taylor.

Every pledge wanted Crystal to be their big sister because she was president of the sorority and had recently been named president of the Panhellenic Council. That was a remarkable achievement for someone who was only a junior. The big sister also picked out who the pledge’s big brother would be. If anyone knew the best frat boys, it would be Crystal.

Crystal was about to go to dinner, where she would have to select her little sister. She was torn between two of them: Wren, who looked to be the top pledge and would need the most guidance; and Emily, whom she personally liked the best. The only thing that stopped her from simply picking Emily was that Taylor chose second. The thought of Taylor and Wren together gave her pause. Taylor didn’t need someone to encourage her.

Crystal went downstairs and found Lars chatting up two of her sisters.

“Take it down a notch, big boy. Tonight is about your new little sister,” Crystal said as she chased off the girls.

“I can’t believe you asked me to be a big brother. Am I allowed to know who it’ll be? I’m really hoping it’s Wren.”

“If it is, I expect you to keep it in your pants. In fact, no matter who’s your little sister, you’re to keep it in your pants with her.”

Lars acted wounded.

“Cut the act. I know you can be a decent guy when you try,” Crystal said as a grin touched the corners of her mouth.

“You could help me stay on the straight and narrow.”

Crystal had hooked up with Lars right before she started dating Matt. He’d been a nice distraction, but they were just friends. Neither of them had gotten a romantic vibe, but he wasn’t shy about checking in to see if she wanted some stress relief.

“I might need you soon. I think I made a mistake,” Crystal admitted.

“What did you do?”

“I told David I loved him after he gave me some good orgasms. He hasn’t even sent me a message since.”

Lars had a good laugh at her expense.

“I’m sure David can handle a declaration of love. I imagine women tell him that all the time,” Lars said, then got a mischievous look. “Do me a favor and give me some insight into David’s game. I need to know what makes you declare your love for him.”

“I don’t think you could pull it off,” Crystal said as if she were helping him out.

“Why not?”

“Your dick doesn’t reach all the good spots,” she replied, sticking her tongue out at him.

“You’re a funny girl,” Lars said, taking it in stride.

That was one of the qualities that made him so successful with women: Lars was unflappable.

Emily was ecstatic when Crystal picked her as her little sister. Every girl in her pledge class was green with envy when Crystal said that Lars, a Phi Sig, was Emily’s big brother. While all the big brothers were cute, Lars stood out, and Emily suspected it was because he was perceived as such a bad boy.

After the dinner broke up and everyone went off to get to know each other better, she found herself in Crystal’s bedroom. Lars had joined them.

“First off, if you could talk Crystal into a threesome, you’d be the best little sister ever,” Lars claimed.

“That’s okay. Crystal said that if there were any threesomes, they’d be with David Dawson,” Emily said confidently.

Crystal burst out laughing when she saw Lars’s face.

“That’s why I picked her. I predict that if you quit trying to get into her pants, you’ll find the two of you can be great friends,” Crystal said.

“Maybe she can help me rid you of this Dawson character. I’m starting to think he’s cutting into my territory,” Lars complained.

“Wren told me her big brother plans to take her to lunch three times a week so they can get to know each other. He even offered to pay,” Emily said.

“I bet. Crystal said we’re now like siblings. Since I’m broke, I thought you might do your brother a solid and take him to lunch.”

“Maybe our sister would buy,” Emily said.

“I do like her,” Lars decided.

Rachel had gotten David eleven tickets and four rooms for the Texas game. Alex had booked a two-bedroom suite for Chloe, David, and Crystal to thank him for flying his girlfriend to the games. Along with David were Jim, Chuy, and Big Cat, who’d been told they weren’t traveling with the team. The two freshmen had met with Coach Merritt, and he’d decided to redshirt them. Rachel and Chloe were each given a ticket. The rest had gone to Crystal, who told David that Taylor, Emily, Wren, and a frat boy named Lars were joining them.