Moving in Reverse (6 page)

I’d typed the first sentence, about
the concert. And I had a pretty good guess at who’d typed the
rest.

I scanned the room angrily, but Tanner
had disappeared.

“
This guy—” I said,
shaking my head. “Never mind. It’s nothing. I’m glad you’re here,
though. Can you stay for the rest of the show?”

“
A little of it,” Madison
shrugged, looking up at the stage where Liv was waving to the crowd
one last time. “So you and Blake are ok?”

“
Fine,” I said, smiling
again. “God, it feels like I haven’t seen you in a month. Let’s get
a drink.”

Liv joined us when the show was over,
before the crowd started to clear out. I introduced her to Madison,
who congratulated her.

“
It’s been a great week,”
Liv said, finishing the last of her beer. “Cheers.”

We clinked glasses, tipsy and
giddy.

This is what college
should be like
, I thought to
myself.
Pass on the cupcakes and party
dresses
.

Liv grinned. “We’ve had a celeb-packed
audience,” she giggled. “Blake Parker one night, Tanner Cole the
next.”

I looked at her curiously, then
glanced at Madison. “Tanner Cole?” I asked.

Liv cocked an eyebrow at me. “I
thought he was here with you,” she said. “He was standing right
behind you for the first half of the set?”

I nearly spit out my beer. “That guy?”
I asked incredulously. “He was awful. Who is he?”

Both Liv and Madison stared at
me.

“
Seriously, Case?” Madison
broke in, looking at me like I was from another planet.

“
What?”

“
Tanner Cole,” Liv
repeated, as if saying the name again would help. She shook her
head, like I was being impossible. “He’s the guitarist for
Teacher’s Pet?”

“
Oh,” I said, finally
putting it together in my head. I knew the band. Blake had
mentioned them — fewer hits than Moving Neutral, but still pretty
well known.

“
Um, also one of People’s
Fifty Most Beautiful People last year?” Madison said, shaking her
head at me like she’d been doing since fifth grade, like she
couldn’t believe the depths of my pop culture ignorance.
“
That’s
the guy
who stole your cell phone?”

“
Whatever,” I said, trying
to change the subject. “I’m sure he looks better in magazines. I
mean, he’s no Blake Parker.”

Madison rolled her eyes,
finishing the last of her beer. “Jeez, Case. I know you’re taken,
but you could have at least given him
my
number.”

“
If I ever see him again,
I will,” I said.

“
Save yourself,” Liv
chimed in, talking to Madison. “He’s trouble. I’m pretty sure he
dated Lauren Conrad and Taylor Swift this summer. At the same
time.”

Madison grinned. “Good. I like guys a
little wild.” She winked at me. “They’re no fun otherwise. Now who
needs a refill?”

“
Bottoms up,” Liv said,
tossing a glance at the bar. “Next round’s on me.”

Chapter Seven

After one more drink, I
tumbled into the back of a cab, looking down at my phone to see a
misspelled text from Darby about the Kappa party.

I’d totally forgotten about the party
during the concert, and part of me wished I could have brought
Madison with me. Walking into my first frat party alone sounded
pretty awesome.

And by awesome, I meant totally
miserable.

The cab dropped me on the corner, but
even from there, I could tell where the party was. A few couples
were sitting on the front lawn outside the building, and thumping
music I didn’t recognize was coming from inside.

I swiped my Columbia ID card to get
into the building, and followed the music down the hallway, where
about fifty students were overflowing from different rooms. I
squeezed past a group of guys in polo shirts, keeping my eyes
peeled for the swipe of pink lace on Darby’s black
dress.

“
Casey—” A girl called to
me, and I recognized Mandy from the first day of Rush — the girl
who’d let it slip that everyone knew exactly who I was. She was
weaving her way towards me, with a half-empty beer in her hand.
“I’m so glad you came — we missed you last night!”

She was obviously a little tipsy, but
I was grateful for her excitement. Especially since I didn’t seem
to know anyone else at the party.

“
Hey,” I said, still
scanning the crowd. “Have you seen Darby anywhere? I was supposed
to meet her.”

“
Oh,” she giggled.
“Yeah... I saw her earlier. She was, um... she was a little drunk,
I think.”

“
Is she still
here?”

“
I dunno—” Mandy looked
around, as if you could see anything through the groups of people
around us. “I think maybe...”

“
Hey—” A guy came up to
us, snaking one arm around each of our shoulders. “Mandy, who’s
your friend?”

I watched Mandy’s smile flicker for a
second, and then she giggled again. “This is Casey,” she said.
“She’s going to be one of our new pledges, hopefully. Maybe you can
convince her.”

“
Hey Casey,” the guy
turned to me, leaning his head down closer to mine. “You’ve got to
be a Kappa. Please, every one of their girls is a ten. It’s
basically the only place you’d fit in.”

“
Thanks,” I said, trying
to keep my face natural. In all of high school, I’d never really
been hit on by a guy — when my few flings had happened, they were
usually with guys I’d known since grade school, guys I knew so well
that if they tried to be smooth, we’d both end up cracking up. And
Blake and I had basically gone from total strangers to living
together on the tour bus, so we’d bypassed a lot of those first
awkward moments at hyperspeed.

“
Casey’s looking for her
roommate,” Mandy said, lifting the guy’s arm off her shoulder.
“Jeff, maybe you could help her find her?”

Jeff grinned at me, finishing the last
of his beer in one gulp. “Sure,” he winked. “What does she look
like?”

“
Um,” I said, kind of
grateful for the help. If Darby was alone and drunk somewhere at a
frat party, I kind of wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to
become a Lifetime Original Movie about date rape anytime soon.
“She’s blonde, pretty, a little taller than me. Southern accent.
She’s wearing a black dress.”

He grinned. “I think you just
described three quarters of the girls here.”

I shrugged, looking up at him
helplessly.

“
Maybe we should do a
lap,” he said. “You could use a beer, too.”

“
I guess,” I said,
thinking about the two I’d already had at the club. “I’m sure she’s
around here somewhere.”

Twenty minutes later, it was pretty
clear that Darby was no longer at the party, and neither, it
seemed, was Mandy, Jen, or anyone else I knew. I texted Darby twice
to see if she was still around, but hadn’t gotten a
response.

“
I should probably go
check our room,” I told Jeff and the two pledges who’d joined
us.

“
I’ll walk you,” Jeff
said, touching my arm lightly.

“
Oh, I’m good,” I took a
step back, diffusing what seemed like another advance.

“
What dorm are you?” He
asked me, setting his beer down on the side of someone’s desk,
which was now overflowing with discarded red plastic
cups.

“
McCall,” I said, pulling
my sweater over my shoulders. Packing fifty college students into
three rooms had made the party about as hot as the club had been,
but I knew I’d be freezing once I got outside.

“
I’m going the same way,”
he said, helping me with the other sleeve. “We can walk
together.”

“
Okay,” I said
uncertainly, glancing down at my phone again for any new text
messages.

We said goodbye, walking out of the
party into the chilly October wind.

“
Are you cold?”

“
I’m fine,” I said, trying
not to feel weird about this random guy who’d basically talked me
into letting him walk me home.

“
Do you want my jacket?”
He was already taking it off and putting it around my
shoulders.

“
Thanks,” I said, pulling
it around me. Now that we were outside the crowded party, it was
pretty cold outside.

“
So you’re a — senior?” I
tried to think of something to say.

“
Guilty,” he grinned. “But
I’m staying in New York next year, so I’ll be close. I’d come back
for some of our Rush parties next fall if that wouldn’t make me a
big loser.”

I laughed, despite myself. “Maybe
Homecoming. I think you can preserve some dignity if you wait till
then.”

“
Yeah, but I refuse to
watch Ivy League football teams on principle. My grandfather was a
quarterback for LSU. He’d roll over in his grave.”

“
Fortunately for you, no
one bothers to go into the games, right? Just the
tailgates?”

I stopped at a crosswalk to wait for
the light to change, bouncing up and down to keep warm. Jeff put
his arm around me, rubbing my shoulders.

I froze, still on my tiptoes, and felt
my stomach contract.

“
I, um—” I fumbled
awkwardly. “I have a boyfriend.”

Jeff looked down at me, a small smile
forming on his face.

“
I mean,” I tried to
backtrack. “I don’t want to presume, but um, in case you were...” I
let the sentence trail off, not quite sure how to finish it now
that it was out of my mouth.

Fortunately for me, Jeff laughed. “No
worries, Casey Snow,” he said. “I think everyone on campus knows
that you have a boyfriend.”

I smiled sheepishly.

“
But hey,” Jeff gave me a
sideways grin. “If he doesn’t treat you right, you give me a call,
okay?”

I rolled my eyes, smiling. Maybe frat
guys weren’t quite the stereotype I’d expected.

“
This is me,” I said,
gesturing to the right, where the path to my dorm separated from
the sidewalk. “Thanks for getting me home.”

“
Night,” Jeff kept
walking, and then a second later, turned back around. “You really
should join Kappa, you know. You’d fit right in.”

“
Thanks,” I said, not sure
why anyone would think that, but figuring it was probably some sort
of a compliment. Turning, I jogged the rest of the way to the door
of the dorm.

Chapter Eight

The lights were off in the room when I
got inside, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I turned them
on. Darby groaned from underneath her blanket and looked up at me,
squinting.

“
Liiiiights,” she moaned,
burying her face in her pillow.

“
Sorry,” I mumbled,
crossing the room to sit on her bed.

“
I looked for you at the
party,” I whispered, wanting her to know I’d gotten there, at
least.

“
Oh my god, Casey,” she
groaned. “Please, just go to bed. If you turn on that light again,
I’m seriously going to puke.”

I sighed. We’d talk in the morning, I
guess.

“
Ok,” I whispered. “Sweet
dreams.”

Without turning on the light, I felt
my way across the room to my bed. I pulled out my cell phone to
check the time — it was just past midnight.

I kicked off my shoes and lay down in
the bed, staring up at the ceiling in the darkness. We were on the
sixth floor, and I could just barely hear the traffic in the street
below us.

I wasn’t even slightly
tired.

Before I could stop myself, I sat up
in bed and reached for my bag, a warm feeling spreading through my
body as I pulled my boots back on and stood up. Now that I knew
Darby was fine, I figured my roommate duties were satisfied for the
night.

Ethan, Blake’s roommate, answered the
door when I knocked on it about twenty minutes later. Blake usually
stayed up pretty late, since most of his friends and family were
still on the West Coast, but apparently Ethan had put him
completely to shame. If he didn’t have class in the morning, Blake
told me that sometimes Ethan wouldn’t go to bed until the sun was
coming up.

“
Hey Casey,” he said
quietly, and opened the door for me to come in. Ethan was a little
weird, but as roommates go, it probably wasn’t any more of a
mismatch than me and Darby.

Sure enough, when I walked inside I
could see his computer screen blinking with graphics and dialog
boxes.

“
Case,” Blake’s voice
sounded like he’d just fallen asleep.

Ethan went back to his computer and
put on headphones — a college-roommate attempt at giving us some
privacy, I guessed.

I walked over to where Blake was
sitting up in bed, feeling my heart flutter the way it always did
when he was nearby.