------JAMES------
I was all dressed up and ready for the party. I looked in the mirror before I left and couldn't recognize myself, between the mask and the costume, so I figured that was good enough. I didn't want Jess to think I didn't trust her or anything, I just wanted to see what these parties were like for myself. Okay, maybe I was a little worried. Her sudden highly charged sexual energy the other day did put me on edge a little bit.
But she had said everything was cool and there was nothing to worry about. I trusted her. I'd never heard her tell a lie in her life. Still, I couldn't ignore the pit in my stomach that told me something was wrong.
The frat wasn't far, and I waited about and hour and a half after the party officially started to show up. I didn't want to be one of the first people there and become easier to pick out of a crowd. Luckily, or unluckily, that wouldn't be a problem. The place was PACKED, people were spilling out of the door and crowded on the porch. I walked to the steps, and started climbing them when a girl stopped me.
"Hey! Excuse me! Your stars, Sir." A pretty, older, girl wearing a pink and gold sash said, as she held out a strip of stickers towards me. I found it strange for someone clearly older than me to call me Sir, but I took the stickers from her.
"Do you know the rules, Sir?" She asked, standing with her arms clasped in front of her, looking prim and proper.
"Uh, yes. Thank you." I said, assuming that was the correct answer in a situation like this. I didn't need to know the 'rules' I was just here to check things out for a second before making my escape.
"Perfect! My name is Kim, Sir. If you need anything at all please let me or any of the other girls wearing the sash know. We're here to take care of your every need." Kim smiled, and I said thank you before continuing my climb up the steps.
That was strange. Part of me did wonder what the 'rules' were but I didn't want to attract any more attention to myself. I needed to make this quick.
I walked up to the door and pushed past the groups that were crowding the entrance, keeping an eye out for Jess. Inside was just as crowded as outside, groups of people all over, some standing in circles, some standing in lines by different doors. I caught a few people walking out of a hallway, drinks in hand, so I figured that's where I would start. I'm sure this whole party thing would have Jess nervous, I couldn't blame her if she wanted a drink of something.
Pushing my way to the kitchen I picked up a few snippets of conversations.
"Dude come on give me some stars, I wanna try them all! You're not gonna use all of those!"
Someone else: "Which one was she?"
"Sarah! I don't remember the last name but goddamn! Worth at LEAST 2 stars."
I finally pushed my way into the kitchen when I heard someone say, "How many stars you got left?"
"Just the one, I went in and out of a couple rooms, not my type."
"You try Jessica? She's hot as fuck!"
I spun around, trying to locate the person who said it. What did they mean "Try" Jessica? I looked, but couldn't place who had spoken. It was a common name anyway, it could mean anything. I took a look around the kitchen and didn't see Jess anywhere, so I looped back to the main room.
That's when the names caught my eye. On each door, there were papers with names on them, all of which had some amount of the star stickers placed on the paper. The one I saw by the kitchen said - "Kelly M.", there was one girl wearing a sash and one guy standing outside of that door. A couple stars decorated her paper. I pushed through the rest of the party, looking for Jess and noting the names on the doors.
"Sarah J." There were a bunch of stars on her door.
"Nicole C." Only a couple stars.
And, finally, "Jessica B." - My recognition of the name distracted me from the stars glittering around her name.
There were about 5 guys standing in a line in front of her door, the one at the front was chatting with a girl wearing a pink and gold sash who looked a whole lot like the girl outside. I mustered up my courage and approached her door.
"Hey man! get in line! I'm next!" The guy at the front of the line yelled as I approached, I looked back at him confused. In line? For what?
The girl with the sash spoke up, "We do have to respect the line order Sir, but Nicole C. has no wait right now if you'd like." She gestured to the door I had seen earlier, "Otherwise you'll have to wait in line, Sir, I'm so sorry for the inconvenience."
I didn't want to say anything that made it clear who I was or that I was specifically looking for Jessica or anything like that. So I just nodded and found my way to the back of the line. My heart was pounding in my chest. What were we in line for? Why was her name on a door? And what were these stars about?
Some part of me knew. The weight on my chest and the feeling of what felt like raccoons fighting in my stomach were a constant reminder of the thoughts I was trying to push away. I felt like I was going to have a panic attack, standing in line wearing my costume. The blaring music replaced by a sharp ringing in my ears and my vision tightened at the edges.
I couldn't think of a good, Christian, reason they would have these girls names on the door. If Jessica was actually behind the door. I needed to see. I needed to know.
Her door opened and someone left the room in a hurry. Someone I recognized.
My friend Phil. Who told me about the party, invited me to it. He was sweating and catching his breath as he lowered his mask back over his face and turned around to put a star sticker on her door.
"Wish I had more left to give her!" He said, clapping the guy at the front of the line on the shoulder and pushing into the crowd. I fought my instinct to call out to him. He can't know I was here either.
