Who:When: The day after the playoffs, January 19th Where: The Sorority Rating: PG Summary: BBQ goes well with protesting Warnings: None
It had been a busy morning for all involved.
And those involved were many indeed. The remaining girls in the sorority, even those not living in the house, had turn out in force, their zeal uncontested by the other workers. The frat boys gathered around the grill, laughing and joking. Evie watched as the fire flared suddenly, the boys jumping back with maniacal grins and whooping laughter. The culprit was a tall, broad shouldered brunet with a can of lighter fluid in hand. She noticed he was missing an eyebrow but he seemed thrilled about that fact. One of his fellows slapped him on the back in what she assumed was a congratulatory manner but just looked painful to her. She saw that they had already knocked back a few by the empty glass bottles on the patio. Making a note to have them properly recycled, she headed back inside.
The girls had been relegated, jokingly Evie hoped, to the kitchen. A few had broken out to do decorations for the party and preparations for the protest but most lingered. They were occupied with snacks, beverages and all the fixings. The boys had taken the grill but, predictably, had not bothered with the rest of the work. Not being particularly skilled at any of the going ons, Evie took it upon herself to clean. The house was rather large, but they were the only Sorority for Innovo University. It was a rambling place, all done up in bright white on the outside and inside with beautiful wood floors to match the moldings and baseboard. The years, and parties, had been hard on the floors but strategically placed area rugs covered up the worst of the damage. While they repainted everything in white every other year, they used countless bright colored accessories and decorations to make it less stark and clinical.
Her own room was the perfect example. She used to share it with Maggie, but with all the girls leaving they nearly all had their own bedrooms now. Just the week before, they had solemnly removed the extra beds and put them in storage. Allowing herself only a moment to linger on her bed, the lace throw tickling her cheek, she ruefully stared at the pictures tucked into the frame of the vanity mirror. Downstairs, there was a corkboard with their pictures on it and red marker over those that had left, but in her room it was like the girls had never left. Evie herself was up for the marriage law, having turned nineteen on the day of the last round of match ups. The thought was enough to reach for her overlarge snow kitten and hug it close to her. Usually, the kitten languished at the end of her bed or unceremoniously tossed on the floor but today he was decoratively placed at the head amongst the overabundance of pillows. She was a pillow person, picking up pillows of all shapes, sizes and colors. Eventually, they could not even all fit on her bed. So she had thrown together a whole bunch of the larger ones into a corner and proclaimed it her ‘study den’.
The infamous hat was always on the lower left bed post, where it could be easily seen from the hallway. It was something of a bad habit for her to compulsively look into her room while walking down the hall. Even though she knew it wasn’t going to go anywhere, it was something of a security blanket despite it being a hat. Her room had only one mirror, which could barely be seen underneath the pictures crowding around it. She was not a vain person, preferring to use the mirror in the bathroom once and then never having to look at herself again.
Her heart fluttered as she thought about Rhys, only it was not the normal sort of warmth that filled her when she thought about him. For one, it was wrong to be even thinking about him now that he was married. She might not be particularly Catholic, but her parents had impressed on her the sanctity of marriage. So in one way, she was thrilled that he was going to be here in the place that she lived but then again, so would his wife. She felt cold and clammy as she continued thinking about them. In all honesty, she did not know what to think of his wife. The other girl seemed mild mannered and nice, so that even though Evie wanted to hate her, she could not. Burrowing her face into the faux fur of the stuffed animal, she held on until a ringing sounded downstairs. People were arriving.
Even on the third floor she could hear the clatter as the girls stampeded to the door. Reluctantly, she stood up and ran her fingers through her hair to tidy it. Shaking her shoulders as she settled into a more positive mindset, she sprang into motion. On her way out, she forgot to close the door behind her. She held onto the banister for dear life as she ran headlong down the steep and winding stairway. They were narrow on the upper floors but widened and opened up at the ground floor, making the foyer seem larger than it really was. The wrought iron bar placed into the wall gave way to the full iron banister, full of intricate designs and delicate work. The girls had already hustled off the newcomers so she waited on the bottommost steps for the next batch.
It was an unseasonably warm day. The windows were open and the sheer drapes fluttered in the coastal breeze, filling the house with a tang on salt to compliment the savory smells of food coming from kitchen and backyard. While not a meat eater herself, she did not mind the smell of meat cooking. It reminded her of how much her dad used to like grilling in the summer. The door was open now, with only the screen to keep out the insects and occasional bird that would fly in through otherwise. In the room she could see across the foyer, the signs for the march leaned up against the walls. The glue on some was barely dry. She chucked to notice that despite their best efforts, a few of the letters had slipped down as the glue holding them had dried. The early arrivals seemed to be more of the girls so she was waiting for their more unusual guests.