Chlorine

Sigma’s party wasn’t as she expected. The mouth-to-mouth invitation gave the ideas to everyone. Anita told Alice that there would be a party at Sigma, a special fresher’s party for the freshman. Amelia asked Alice to go with her and the rest of her close friends at Beta, and of course Laura was tagging along. Alice met Amelia, Laura, Naomi, Sarah, Latisha and Mimi at the chapter house. They were all totally freaked out when they saw Alice with her not-so-ordinary clothing. Alice flushed at Sarah comment as she said about Alice could pull it off alright. Alice rarely wore dresses or skirts to campus, but tonight she wore a sleeveless black dress that reached her mid-thigh, and a pair of scallop flats. She did her hair by braiding it loosely and neatly put the braid on her right shoulder. She didn’t wear dresses on daily basis because she wanted to look different on occasions, she wanted to stand out, and tonight she was secretly hoping that Gustav would see her, notice her that she also stood a chance.

When they reached the Sigma’s house, Alice suddenly felt sick. She’s not supposed to be there. People were everywhere; even they’re flooding the lawn where they were cheering on someone’s having their keg stand, beer pongs and anything Alice felt not comfortable with. It was a blatant lie if Gustav thought this is only a small party. She was hesitated that she would get lost, with this crowd she doubted that she would find Gustav.

Slowing her pace with her group, Alice decided to stop, it made Amelia turned her head, frowning at her.

“What’s wrong, Alice?” she asked as the other girls quickly ran inside to the party except for Laura who also looked confused when Alice stopped at her track.

“I think I’m gonna get back. I’m not comfortable with this many people. What if they threw me to the pool? What if I got drunk? What if I got lost here? What if I was drug-raped? What if—” She admitted, an honest confession. Amelia approached her and wrapped her arm around her shoulder, dragging her forward.

“Shhh.. nobody’s gonna drug-rape you, Alice. I’ll steer those creep away. Just have fun, and let’s go find Gustav.” Amelia insisted while she’s dragging Alice.

“What about Gustav?” Alice paused, looking surprised why suddenly Amelia brought up Gustav.

“Yeah, let’s have some fun and get Gustav, yay!” Laura giggled making Alice rolled her eyes because Laura already had her pre-game. Alice knitted her eyebrows together at Amelia and suddenly questioned her. No way in hell if Amelia knew Alice’s feeling toward Gustav, didn’t she?

Amelia chuckled, “like it’s not the most obvious thing that you like him.” Alice gasped and blushed. Did she look that obvious? What if Gustav picked this up? Amelia chortled at Alice’s response, “I don’t blame you, Alice, Gustav is hot and I’m sure he’ll drool to see you dressing up for him. Now, let’s go find him.” Amelia winked, making Alice bit down her lip and couldn’t contain her colored cheeks.

Across the playing room where Gustav and Ryder were playing with the pool billiard, Gustav noticed Amelia was walking inside with Alice on her arm and a slightly drunk Laura on the other side. The three were joining their Beta group as someone passed Alice a red cup.

Gustav could see that Alice looked different tonight. Her dress made her legs looked longer, he just realized that she shared the same long creamy legs with her sister. Alice wore more noticeable make up because of her deep red lipstick, her braid made her look matured and his eyes were directed straight to her slightly more exposed chest. Gulping, he suddenly didn’t know why he would trace every curve on her body, her unusual appearance made a weird churn on his stomach because he never imagined Alice would wear anything besides loose tshirts, cardigans, and jeans.

“Dude!” Ryder’s voice brought him back out from his trance. “It’s your turn.”

Getting back to the game, he lazily made a shot and got two balls pocketed, earning collective groan from Ryder and other player.

“Hey man, I gotta see someone,” Gustav grinned and passed his stick to one of his Sigma’s brother.

“Not cool, man.” Was the response he got from Ryder when he left. “Gus, you gotta be kidding, I’m playing one-handed here and I’m close to beating your ass! Get back here.” He complained but Gustav only laughed at his best friend. Pool could wait, he just needed to see Alice first and maybe complemented her look tonight.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” Alice’s ears alerted when she heard a mundane voice coming from her sister. As Alice spun around, she spotted Anita with her beautiful self accidentally poured out her drink on Gustav’s basketball jersey. Anita was apologizing as she patted dry his jersey meanwhile there was an unmistakable blush on Gustav’s cheeks and he was being nervous around her.

Alice breathed out heavily and then Amelia’s eyes shifted to Alice, sending her all-knowing look. Anita was alone and Logan was nowhere to be found, Alice could do the math, if Gustav spent his time longer with Anita, Anita would be interested with him, knowing Gustav’s nature. Alice felt like Gustav’s wingman without even trying, he could easily find his way into charming Anita.

Feeling enough, Alice told her group of friends she wanted to look around, she didn’t like to see Gustav with Anita, it brought small ache in her heart. By the way Amelia looked at Alice, Alice noticed that Amelia knew what’s going on. Instead of letting Alice leave by herself, Amelia insisted to stay with her because she knew she couldn’t leave Alice with Laura who was obviously already hammered. She promised to look out for her anyway, she’s still a freshman and had no idea what a frat party would turn out.

Alice stopped at the kitchen, she was relieved when she saw a punch bowl next to the chips. She wanted to swap the cup but Amelia halted her. Alice frowned in confusion asking what Amelia was doing, she was thirsty and she wanted non-alcoholic beverage.

“Trust me, it was drugged. You won’t find non-alcoholic drinks here unless you brought your own soda.” Amelia stated. “Just enjoy your beer, and do not get too drunk.” She added while sipping her own cup. Alice nodded, what Amelia said made sense. Alice needed to be careful with the frat parties.

“You’re alright? I mean, I know how Anita could be sometimes.” Suddenly Amelia opened the conversation about Anita. Alice was once again confused at Amelia. She knew by heart that Amelia hated Anita and now she wanted to discuss about her sister.

“What do you mean?”

Amelia sighed, “I know you love your sister but Anita and I have a history. It’s not nice knowing the real her with some guys, I’m sorry I really hate her guts and I know how she is.”

“What are you hinting, Ams?” this time Alice was really curious what actually happened between Anita and Amelia so they hated each other. “Wait, does this mean you’re implying that my sister is a slut?!” Alice couldn’t believe herself, she didn’t like when people bad-mouthed Anita from back. Alice knew sometimes her sister could be annoying and gave bad vibes to people around her, but Anita was still her sister, it was a sisterly natural defense.

Amelia held up her hands, “No… but yes… no!” at this Alice’s jaw dropped. Even though she was Alice’s sorority sister, she wouldn’t think twice to verbally assault her any chance Amelia insult her sibling. Alice glared, looking hurt at Amelia, “Alice, listen… did Anita even tell you why she’s not a Beta?”

“She wanted to be a Beta, but you hated her, you hazed her badly and you’re… Anita told me nasty things about you. You hurt her physically, you treated her like a shit.” Alice clenched her fist angrily and send a deathly glare to Amelia.

“Do you seriously think I would treat her like a shit? She’s a legacy, and I was honored to bid her as a Beta. Did I treat you badly when you were a pledge? Do you think I would be capable of hurting someone?”

“Umm no, but Anita has told me—“

“I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but I wanted her so bad to be a Beta but she… she liked Teddy, she seduced him, she wanted him! I don’t know what gave her the idea of stealing her friend’s boyfriend was a good thing. I saw and heard her wanting Teddy in front of me, Teddy was drunk and Anita took the advantage, making out and touching him in inappropriate places. How do you think I would react if my own sorority sister did such thing to my boyfriend, huh? I know sorority isn’t blood-related but we’re sisters for life! And you know what the worse is? After Teddy, she even tried with Mimi’s and Latisha’s boyfriend!” Amelia blurted out and ended it breathlessly. Alice was silent, she didn’t know how to respond. She didn’t know whether to believe Amelia’s story or not, but at some point, Amelia revealed the true nature of Anita. Anita stealing someone’s love interest was a common thing for Alice because it happened to Alice.

“You are different from Anita, Alice. I know it because you’re easy to read.” Amelia said as she squeezed Alice’s shoulder and gave her a straight look. “I see you’re loyal, even your sister acts that way, you always defend her. I am sorry that I insult Anita in front of you, but you just need to know the truth about her.”

Alice looked down, “I know about it. But I don’t know why she got kicked out by the Beta.” Amelia let go Alice’s shoulders and watched Alice with disbelief look.

“You know about Anita’s weird ‘hobby’?”

Alice nodded, “because she did the same thing to me when we were still in high school.” She revealed, Amelia’s jaw dropped on the floor.

---

Gustav was on cloud nine when he got the chance to converse with Anita. Anita held the conversation smoothly and she was fun to talk to. Gustav’s heart was hammering inside his chest when he heard Anita’s fruity laugh. She looked fantastic, a one piece dress that hugged her great curves under a sleeveless jeans vest and pump high heels that complemented her already perfect long legs. Gustav was wishing she could wrap his waist with those wonderful legs of hers.

Shit! Just by imagining it, he felt hot.

Gustav liked every single thing about Anita. Her laugh, the way she batted her eyelashes, her perfume, her baby blue eyes and her secret smile that made Gustav want to press his lips on hers. Anita was easy to talk to, Gustav loved to hear Anita talked, he could do this for hours without getting bored. Her body was close to him, she practically leaned on him as he could feel her feathery touch on his exposed bicep, it made him shuddered. As he shifted his eyes to hers, he could see her pupil were dilated, it made him question if she was interested in him.

He wanted to touch her back so bad and not looking completely like a creep but he controlled himself when he saw Logan Peter was coming to their way. Slightly shifting away from Anita, he saw Logan snaked his arms around Anita’s and put a kiss on her neck, it surprised Anita.

“Logan!” Anita exclaimed, clearly not expecting Logan to appear. Logan gazed on Gustav and automatically spun Anita to face him, giving her a wet kiss and obviously there was a tongue. Gustav could pick up the silent message from Logan’s gesture that looked territorial on his girlfriend.

Gustav felt his gut twisted uncomfortably when he saw Logan was drawing a border line with that kiss, he must have seen Anita’s not-so-friendly touch on Gustav. He remembered what Alice said that these two weren’t as serious as it looked, it was casual, Anita even flirted to Gustav that gave away she’s not in a serious relationship with Logan. Right?

“I’ve been looking for you, babe.” Logan muttered when they pulled away from the kiss.

Anita chuckled nervously, “I accidentally poured my drink on his poor jersey, and we talked…” she said smoothly giving Logan a kiss on his cheek. “This is Gustav Ricci, and do you know he’s hosting the party?”

“I know you,” Logan put a grim smile to him, “Swimming club, right? I’m in baseball team. I’m Logan.” Logan offered a hand as Gustav shook it and smiled to him. Logan’s hand was firm and a bit rough, it was full of message as if telling Gustav to stay away. “Great party, by the way.”

“Yeah, thanks.” he awkwardly chuckled. He knew Logan didn’t want him, so after clearing his throat he decided to leave them, suddenly remembered that he wanted to greet Alice in the first place before bumping to Anita. “Oh Anita, I saw your sister, Alice.” He looked at the spot where he previously saw Alice, but she was out of the sight, probably already mingled somewhere.

“Really? Alice’s here? I thought she’s not going.” Anita said looking around to find Alice.

“Yes. I’m gonna go find her since I kinda promised to look after her.” Gustav sipped the last drip of his beer and planned to get a refill.

“That’s great! She really need someone to look after her, she’s not really fitted into parties. I’m afraid she’ll be lonely somewhere because she’s socially awkward. You know sometimes she would hiccup crazily if she couldn’t handle conversations.” Anita giggled recalling the moment Alice went super awkward in big crowd. “Please find her before she’s humiliating herself. Last party at Omicron’s had given her enough.”

“Ok. I’ll see you around. Nice to meet you Anita and Logan.” Gustav crooked a smile. He frowned at Anita’s backside when she left with Logan. What Anita told him didn’t sound like Alice he knew. Sure, sometimes Gustav could see Alice being awkward around him, but she wasn’t that bad. Alice could manage herself, she’s a carefree and friendly girl and was really fun to talk to. Anita made Alice sounded like she was broken and was incapable to make friends, for some odd reasons, he didn’t like when Anita talked about her sister that way.

Whatever, he needed to find Alice before some creep bugged her.

---

Alice and Amelia were watching beer pong between Teddy and Ryder. Amelia cheered when Teddy was almost beating Ryder by shooting almost all off Ryder's cups. Ryder was already hammered from what Alice saw, his move was slow and relaxed and he giggled a lot when he drank the sixth cup. Ryder's state automatically gave Teddy's advantage because Ryder couldn't shoot the pong to any of Teddy's cup because he couldn't balance himself from the alcohol binge.

When Ryder’s last cup was made by Teddy once again, Teddy cheered and kissed Amelia on the mouth, Ryder reached for his loss cup but was halted by Teddy.

“To honor your lost, Ryder Cooke, I shall drink this one.” He chugged down the cup while the people around him cheered. Alice sighed, she still thought this drinking game was stupid, just like when she’s at high school parties. Alice saw Ryder was walking toward her, she swore he looked awfully green and it made Alice hesitant. Ryder staggeringly walked toward Alice and couldn’t help himself to throw his gut out to the bushes next to Alice while Alice made a face and disgusted sound.

“Damn it, Ryder, can you not puke next to me?!” Alice gasped and could feel she got some splatter on her skin.

“You’re really loud, it gives me headache.” He replied and groaned, rubbing his head. “God, I need some water.” He complained.

“Alice, I think you should bring Ryder to the kitchen, fetch him some water. Poor guy.” Amelia commented and smiled at Alice, but Alice pouted disapprovingly, she had enough babysitting Ryder in his normal state, she didn’t need drunk Ryder. Knowing Alice, Amelia pressed nicely that followed by Alice’s defeated groan.

Peeved, Alice dragged Ryder by collar and brought him back inside where people were dancing around like nobody cares. Alice hoped she could find Gustav and handed his best friend to him instead of taking care Ryder by herself but Gustav was nowhere to find. It was bullshit if Gustav said that he would be by her side at such party. Alice brought Ryder to the kitchen and began to wander, finding some bottles of mineral water meanwhile Ryder looked unhappy as he stared somewhere.

Alice was rummaging the drawers when she heard Ryder, “all she wants is only my dick, that’s all.” It made Alice turned her face to Ryder, he looked disappointed with himself and Alice seriously had no idea what he’s talking about. Instead of listening to him, she ignored him and kept on searching for the water.

“You need to see the bitch who likes to play around with people’s heart!” Ryder pulled Alice and grabbed her head, pointing her to some girl’s direction.

“What the fuck, Ryder!” Alice complained pushing Ryder away and suddenly Ryder began to cry.

“I fucked her because I actually like her!”

Alice’s eyes shifted to where Ryder directed and saw Michelle Harrington wearing Zeta Omega Psi. Alice remembered Michelle from rush week, she was one of nice girls at Zeta. Michelle was charming, beautiful, funny and smart, no wonder if a guy like Ryder would fall for her but one thing that Alice knew was Michelle already had a fiancée. Gustav said she was off limits, but Alice didn’t expect that the girl Ryder pinned on was that off limit.

“You knew she’s off limits the first time you’re seeing her, Ryder. You can’t change that.” Alice started as Ryder kept weeping like a baby. Alice approached Ryder and tentatively patted his shoulder. Ryder took the gesture and suddenly so-un-Ryder-like engulfed Alice, sobbing his heart out.

Damn, this guy must be in love with Michelle. Alice thought.

Awkwardly, Alice hugged him back and patted his back reluctantly. When they pulled away, Ryder grimaced, his drunken eyes twinkled and abruptly Alice felt weird because Ryder was staring at her like she was a piece of meat.

“She’s beautiful.” Ryder told her as he reached for Alice face with his right hand, “You’re also beautiful and nice.” His confession suddenly made her heart hammered inside her chest. “Beautiful girls would be always the death of me.” He leaned in.

Gustav was lucky when he’s out, he found Amelia and Teddy. He asked them if they knew where Alice was since he knew Alice was coming with Amelia. Amelia told him that Alice brought Ryder to kitchen to grab him some water. Quickly returning back to inside, Gustav couldn’t wait to see Alice. He wanted to compliment her look tonight and also he wanted her to enjoy his party, he didn’t want Alice to feel uncomfortable at his house party like what happened at Omicron’s party.

Walking in to the kitchen, Gustav stopped at his track when he saw Ryder was pinning a girl on the kitchen counter. His available hand was on Alice’s cheek and he was kissing her, meanwhile Gustav saw Alice closed her eyes as if she enjoyed the kiss. Gustav’s stomach once again twisted in a wrong way, a bitter taste formed in his mouth he didn’t know what’s happening but seeing Ryder kissing Alice rubbed him the wrong way. He didn’t feel really good, instead of coming in between them, Gustav left, clenching his teeth and fist. He didn’t know what he’s so upset about.

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