Author's note: An extra special thanks goes to LadyFalcon who edited this story for me. Her keen eye, attention to detail, and helpful suggestions made this story better than originally written. Thanks so much!
I.
It was a bright, clear late October evening as Gary Buchanan trudged across the vast OSU campus. "I should have picked a smaller school," he grumbled to himself, but he had always had his heart set on going to Ohio State, the same school his parents and grandfather had attended. Since freshmen were not allowed to have a vehicle on campus, his bike was at home, and he did not care to ride the shuttle anymore after using it so much for his classes that week, walking was his only alternative. Besides, it was unusually warm for that time of year in central Ohio, so he might as well enjoy it while he could.
He had pledged and was accepted into the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity a week or so prior. It had been the same frat to which his father and grandfather belonged, so there was not too much doubt as to his acceptance. The hazing was not as bad as he had feared. In fact it was non-existent, probably because of all the lawsuits filed in the past, plus it was against school rules to haze the pledges in the first place. Throughout the first semester, usually on a Friday and/or a Saturday night, the frat would have a party and invite a sorority to it and it afforded him a great opportunity to make friends, especially the female variety. Sometimes, a sorority would do the inviting as was the case tonight. These mixers had been a lot of fun over the past few weeks and he met a lot of people and even made a few new friends.
Of course, the Delta Delta Delta sorority, or Tri-Delts, was on the other side of campus, as were most of the sororities, and he would more than likely smell like a sweating horse when he got there, but he could not complain too much. He had showered and loaded up on the anti-perspirant before he left his cramped dorm room, so he figured he would not smell too bad once he arrived. He turned down 15th Street and saw the row of houses that would soon become familiar to him. Loud music reverberated along the street as students lounged on the porches or mingled on the sidewalk or in the yards.
Gary found the house without any trouble and ambled up the walkway to the porch. Music could be heard from within, the Stones or some other 60's British group, although Gary did not care one way or the other. He was more into jazz or classical, an odd quirk for a teenager, but he usually marched to the beat of a different drummer anyway. Always had. Bright and somewhat sociable in high school, Gary was known as one of the brains in his senior class and a decent baseball player. He was as comfortable with his nose in a textbook as he was fielding a ground ball at shortstop. He had the choice of an academic or athletic scholarship to OSU, so he chose academic because he knew he was not good enough to play pro ball after graduation. He was not even sure he was going to try out for the baseball team because of the academic workload he planned to tackle.
He never dressed to the fad of the day, preferring boot cut jeans, no name t-shirts, and a ball cap. He was sans the ball cap this evening and had even added a red polo shirt to his ensemble. It was a special event after all. He rang the doorbell to the two story wood abode and waited to be let in. He had his ID with him as they had a list as to who was invited. Some parties were open to pretty much anyone who walked in, but that was not the case this evening. The door opened and an overly perky petite blonde came into view.
"Hi there," she said enthusiastically, "I'm Debbie. Can I see your ID and invitation?"
Gary groaned within. A bubbly blonde, he could almost stomach, but he had forgotten the invitation. Everyone in his frat had been given one and he did not know if that would make a difference. He certainly was not going to walk all the way back across campus to get it and then walk back.
"I forgot the invitation, but I have my ID."
Debbie frowned a bit. "I'm not supposed to let you in without it. What's your name?"
"Gary Buchanan." He showed her his ID through the screen of the storm door. She peered at it closely, wrinkling her cute button nose a bit as she squinted.
"I'll be back in a minute," she said as she closed the main door part way. Through the open door, he could hear the loud music, definitely the Stones, muffled conversation and laughter. Debbie returned in less than a minute and unlocked the storm door. "Come on in, Gary," she said sweetly as she pushed the door open for him.
Gary brushed past her and waited a few feet into the hallway as Debbie shut the door behind them. "Sorry about that," she said apologetically, "but we've had a lot of crashers lately and we wanted to keep this small.
"That's okay," Gary replied. There was a table nearby with plain labels and a few markers.
"If you'll just put your name on one of these, it'll make it easier to get to know you." Gary was used to doing this as he had done the same for other such parties. He took a label and a pen and began to write his name. "Where are you from?" she asked curiously.
"Detroit."
"Really? A few of my sisters are from Detroit. Maybe you know each other."
"I might," he answered as he peeled the back and pressed the label to his shirt. He thought the possibility to be remote since Detroit was a pretty big city. "Who are they?"
"I don't remember off hand. I could look them up in our directory if you like."
"No, that's okay. I guess we'll know each other if we meet."
Debbie shrugged indifference. Sometimes, she liked talking to the guys who came over for parties, but tonight, she just wanted to go to her room and be by herself. She already had a boyfriend, but he went home for the weekend. Although she knew these mixers were mainly to hook up with guys, she did not want to give anyone the impression she was available or looking. Because she had to be extra nice as part of hosting the party, some guys took that as being an invitation to perhaps ask her out. The tall guy in front of her, though, looked a little nerdy with his short hair, lean build, and glasses and she wondered how he managed to get into a frat to begin with. He seemed nice enough, but definitely not someone with whom she wanted to converse much longer.
Gary could begin to feel the coolness coming off her and knew her time to be the good host and entertain him was rapidly running out. He had been through it before. He was not interested in her, although he found her mildly attractive, but he had been nice back to her and she probably thought he was interested. Gary knew he was not the best looking guy in the world, so he knew his limits as to what type of girl might be worth getting to know. Usually, they were the mousy librarian type who studied as a way of entertainment. In high school, he had been casual friends with some very nice looking girls and it was fine when they talked one on one, but he could tell they became uneasy talking to him when their friends came by, as if he was not in their same class. He was beginning to get that same feeling now.
"Sure, of course you would," she said absently. "There's snacks and pop in the kitchen down the hall. No beer, though. We got busted last year and we're on probation for the year."
"Busted for what?" he asked. He was not that curious, but he decided to see how fast she wanted to make her exit.
Debbie sighed lightly, but kept a straight face. "Some undercover cop caught us giving beer to anyone who came in and one of those happened to be under eighteen. We almost lost our charter, so we have to be really careful now." She looked up at him and saw he was making no effort to move. "Well, feel free to mingle. I'm sure you'll have a great time. If you need anything, let me know."
"I will. Thanks." Almost before he could finish his sentence, Debbie had turned and bounced up the steps to the second level.
Slightly amused, Gary followed the sounds of conversation from the room to the right and found himself in a large living room with many people walking around. He recognized a few of his frat brothers and went in to try and enjoy himself.
As the evening wore on, Gary could say he was having a good time. The girls he talked to were pretty nice and did not grimace or look disgusted when he approached them. He recognized a few of them from classes and at least they could talk about an English paper due or a Biology lab they shared. After a while, he became thirsty and decided to get a soda from the kitchen. Gary excused himself and found the kitchen without any trouble. The sodas were in four large coolers on the floor and there were plastic cups and ice on one of the tables. Chips, crackers, and other snacks covered the table and paper plates were there too. Others were milling around grabbing a Coke or filling a plate with chips and dip and either going back to the living room or to the back yard to socialize.
With his back to the doorway, he did not notice a tall, brown-eyed blonde studying him intensely not fifteen feet away. Gary straightened with a Sprite in his hand and closed the lid to the cooler. He saw the girl, smiled politely, and turned to leave the kitchen.
He had taken but a step or two when she said, "Gary? Gary Buchanan?"
