Chapter 17

When I arrived at Western Civ class the next morning, I found Kendall and Hayley already there, engaged in quiet conversation that stopped as I sat down. Hayley leaned across Kendall's lap to put her hand on my knee.

"I'm so sorry to hear about you and Gerri, Randy."

"Uh, thanks."

"I feel bad though. I introduced her to you, and it didn't work out. Can you forgive me?"

"Of course, I'm still glad you got us together. I'm hoping that Gerri and I can still be friends."

"That's good to hear."

Typically a sorority sister is expected to turn a cold shoulder to anyone breaking up with another member. I wondered if Hayley was ignoring that rule just so she could watch my interaction with Kendall.

Of course Hayley had known from the beginning that Gerri was with another woman, and had set me up to be Gerri's unwitting beard. Did she realize I knew what she'd done?

To all appearances Kendall and Hayley had become genuine friends, and I knew that Kendall wouldn't hear of anything different. So I smiled back bravely to Hayley's crocodile smile, hoping that Kendall wasn't confiding too much in the Chi O sorority hellion.

Friday night I went stag to a couple frat parties, and discovered the word about my breakup with Gerri had spread throughout the Greek community. Even though Gerri had been the one to break off our relationship, the girls were instinctually loyal to their sister. So I didn't get many hugs, but I got a lot of sympathetic slaps on the back from the guys.

Most of the condolences were accompanied by the offer of a cup of beer, of course. I took to carrying a full one at all times to fend them off and avoid getting bombed.

I was at another frat house when I was thinking it might be time to call it a night. I went back towards the kitchen for one last beer, and rounding a corner I nearly ran over none other than Hayley Devlin. Gerri's big sister Cynthia was with her, along with a few other girls from her posse.

"Well hi there, lover boy," she exclaimed, her eyes wide and alight.

When her girlfriends heard Hayley's greeting they grinned and turned away to find entertainment elsewhere. But then Hayley snapped her fingers as if seeing me reminded her of something.

"Hey Cyn!" Hayley called after Gerri's big sister. "Find Rod for me, alright?" She gave me an oddly appraising glance before adding, "I hear he's made some new friends."

Cynthia nodded and giggled loudly, before turning to disappear into the throng.

Hayley seemed to wait until they were out of earshot before asking, "Where's Kendall?"

"I don't know. Why, is she here?"

"This is a Greek party," she reminded me. "She can't just show up and get in. I meant, didn't you bring her?"

Yeah, she's Kendall's good friend, I thought.

"No, why do you ask?"

She made a show of leaning in close so others couldn't hear.

"'Cause she's been checking out your cute ass every chance she gets."

I tried to grin as if she'd shared some witty parlor room banter. "Oh, I don't think so."

"It's okay, Randy, your secret's safe with me. I understand why you've been looking around."

"I've been with Gerri, Hayley. Trust me, I wasn't running around on her before we broke up."

"So you really enjoyed being with Gerri then?"

"Yeah, she's a sweet kid."

Her eyes subtly flickered over me from top to bottom and back up again. She looked around for a place to set down her beer before stepping up and throwing her arms around my waist, each of her hands grabbing a handful of my butt.

"Ohhh, it's just as tight as it looks!"

"That's good to know," I replied, fighting off the urge to push her away.

"Its okay, Randy, I know you have the hots for Kendall, big-time."

"No way. I like Kendall a lot, but I'm not ready to dive in head first with another girl right now."

Her eyes took on a speculative slant. "So you're unattached then."

"Uh ... I guess so?"

"You poor guy. But then maybe if someone played their cards right, they might be able to catch you on the rebound tonight."

She let go of my butt and took my arm to lead us towards the front of the house. I couldn't tell if she was taking me to meet another girl, or was heading to a bedroom upstairs to take care of me herself. I dug in my heels to stop us near the bottom of the stairs.