Chapter 15

                                    

                                          
I woke up to the sound of the door opening and closing. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and glanced at the clock beside me. 8:32 PM. How long had I napped for? I looked up to find Daisy kicking her flip flops off and holding a to-go bag.
                          
“Dais,” I spoke groggily, sitting up and stretching my arms out in front of me.
                          
“Hey, good morning.” She said with a small smile, handing me the bag she had in her hand. “I figured you’d want dinner. It’s a turkey sandwich: pepper jack cheese, tomato, vinegar but no oil. I know the drill.” I thanked her and unwrapped my sandwich.
                          
“You know, you could’ve woken me up, I would’ve went with you.” I told her, taking a bite.
                          
“I thought I’d let you sleep, I know this week sucked when it came to rest. Besides, I wasn’t lonely, I met Chris.” She shared. “He told me that Kappa Sigma is having a huge end-of-Spring-Break party tonight and he said that you and I just have to go!” She put emphasis on the word “huge”.
                          
“Don’t you think we’ve dealt with enough hangovers this week?” I asked. “Like Aaron said, you can only get drunk so many times before it gets old. And you know I’m not going to ‘make it more interesting’!”
                          
“Relax, Ray, you know Chris keeps his fraternity clean. Come on, our Junior year is almost over and you’ve only gone to three frat parties so far! Please, it would mean so much to me.” She pleaded. I eventually gave in and Daisy jumped for joy.
                          
When I finally got home safe, I was being dragged to another party. Well, at least I’d get to enjoy the view of Chris and his friends while I was there.
                          
I climbed out of bed and took a quick shower. When I stepped out of the bathroom, Daisy was curling her hair and was dressed in combat boots, a black crop top, and high waisted shorts with little daisies stitched into them. How fitting.
                          
“Are you dressing as yourself?” I joked, getting a sarcastic laugh out of Daisy. I tied my hair back into a ponytail and dressed myself in a white crop top, a grey cardigan, light distressed jeans, and grey Toms. I applied a little bit of mascara and put in a pair of diamond earrings.
                          
“It’s almost nine o’clock,” Daisy called to me from across the room. “They’re allowing people in at nine and Chris predicts that all the drinks will be gone by nine-thirty, so we should get going. It’s a long walk.” I nodded and stuffed my phone, my key, and some money into my pocket. I followed Daisy outside.
                          
The air was warm and inviting. It reminded me of that in Mexico. The sky danced with pink and orange, lighting up the night. I had to double check to make sure we were back at school. Each eventful night in Cancun was accompanied by an atmosphere just like the one that hung around Pittsburgh as we weaved our way through buildings to find the Greek strip.
                          
Daisy filled the walk with incessant chatting about Chris: how she missed him oh-so-much, although I knew she hadn’t been thinking about him when she was with Aaron, and how he had kissed her and she thought that it was time for them to start a steady relationship. The conversation was the same each time she reunited with him.
                          
Just as Daisy was finishing her story, we approached the Kappa Sigma house. Through the open front door and uncovered windows, it was obvious that the party was packed wall-to-wall with people. Stepping into the house, the music thumped in my chest and the smell of sweat and alcohol filled my nose.
                          
I quickly remembered why I was against attending frat parties.
                          
Chris appeared in the crowd of people filling the foyer. His chiseled, unshaven face was slightly flushed from the heat in the small room. A smirk pulled at his lips when his eyes set on Daisy.