Underneath It All (5 page)

I felt a pure unadulterated sensuality that was driving me to distraction. I needed distance.

“What do you have in mind?” I eyed him suspiciously.

He walked me up against the wall and ran his fingers along my jaw line and down to my neck and whispered, “Ask me what I want. Don’t go timid on me. You have no idea the effect you have on me.”

He ran his hands down to the small of my back and around my waist, and rubbed his fingertips on my hips.

He cupped my chin with the side of his finger to make me look up at him and meet his eyes. His eyes searched mine.

I didn’t know if it was the glow of the fever or his body was just hot against mine.

“What do you want?” I asked, looking deeply into his gorgeous eyes.

“You,” Reeve coaxed, nuzzling the tip of my nose with his.

I whispered and closed my eyes. “Take what you want.”

Chapter VII

Hot And Cold

I was mentally preparing myself for what he would do next.

Reeve stroked his nose against mine and I could feel his warm breath on my face. My pulse was racing in my veins.

He placed a kiss on the tip of my nose and I felt my breathing get shaky. The voice at the back of my head wanted to exert a slight pressure to bring my face to his, but I was paralyzed.

He felt so warm, and his hands on my waist were both strong and comforting. There was definitely a part of him, somewhere in there, that I found admirable. He was aggressive, obnoxious, and though he hid it, he was caring.

His caresses brought me comfort and raised my desire. His warm soft hands cupped my face. He slowly leaned in. A flurry of butterflies rushed through my stomach as I felt his hot breath wash over me. For a moment, I totally lost myself in him. I closed my eyes and braced myself. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

I opened my eyes and saw him slowly pull back. His jaw clenched and he inhaled sharply. “Saved by the knock,” he muttered under his breath. “Sit down.”

Reeve seemed frustrated.

I didn’t know whether to feel relieved or annoyed. I scrambled to my feet, fixed myself, and sat down in front of his desk.

Reeve opened the door; President Gates stood in front of him. “Yes, Mr. President?”

“We need to talk.”

Our university president stepped in and I assumed he immediately noticed his silence. “Is this a bad time?” He looked down at me and gave me a sincere smile then looked at Reeve.

It sure is
.

“Not at all,” Reeve answered as his brows were creased.

“I better go, Dean. I’ll leave the papers here for you to—” I got up from my seat and was about to leave the room but Reeve cut me off instead.

“You’re not going anywhere, Agata; we’re not done yet.” Reeve’s voice was stern.

“O-okay.” I slowly sat back down.

“I think you can discuss with Ms. Ferrero what you need to discuss some other time,” President Gates said, smiling at me.

“It’s not your discretion, Mr. President; she’s under my supervision. I decide whether she stays or not.” Reeve sat on his swivel chair and shot him a sharp glare. “Now let’s discuss what you came here for.”

A thick fog of tension filled the room. I swallowed the hard lump growing in my throat, I felt my cheeks burn up a few more degrees.

Mr. President didn’t even bother to sit down. He walked around Reeve’s office looking at each painting hanging on the wall.

“I’ve been receiving complaints from students, parents, and some faculty members on the way you run your department,” President Gates started as he walked and touched everything.

“Those who believe University faculty have not acted according to outlined policies are encouraged to make efforts to resolve conflicts formally, such as writing a letter to seek resolution of their concerns, and I haven’t received any such letters,” Reeve said, his gaze following his father’s moves.

“How can they resolve such issues formally if the cases were deemed indisputable in the first place?”

“Then the grievance and complaint procedures may be initiated.”

“Or you can simply open your mind and heart to your staff and be a little considerate to your students and their parents under your jurisdiction!” The president’s voice grew louder, startling me, my upper body jolting at the sound and causing me to lose my grip on the papers I was holding. I immediately picked up the papers and sat frozen in my seat.

At that moment, Reeve stood up from his chair with the same intense look as his father.

“Are you questioning my judgment?”

“I’m not questioning your judgment, Reeve,” his father snarled softly. “Though, perhaps I should be. If that’s all the care you can muster, don’t be surprised if your staff and the entire student body turn against you.”

“Don’t try to lecture me about caring, of all things! Fifteen god-damn years, Mr. President! What were you doing all that time? Caring?” Reeve hissed. “Do not dare to question my effectiveness,” he added. If looks could kill, President Gates would probably be dead by now.

Mr. President didn’t respond to that one; he just left.

Reeve was left standing still. He remained that way for a couple of minutes, lost in his thoughts.

I cleared my throat as a way to bring back his senses. “Uhm, I think I should go.”

He turned to look at me and sat back on his chair. “Go ahead.”

For a moment, I looked at him, but he didn’t seem to notice my desperate gaze. Just the lifeless stare of vacant eyes.

His treatment felt cold and distant, unlike the heat I felt a while ago that seemed to burn everything on the inside.

“Uhm, you want to talk about it?” I was surprised I voiced that out.

He looked at me under his fringe, “Just go.”

That’s just it?
He was hot then he was cold. He was sweet then was a complete ass.

Shaking my head, I had to remind myself this guy was a jerk, a very delicious looking jerk, but a jerk all the same.

I walked out of his office making a mental note not to let any of my friends know of this eventful morning. I knew I would be having thoughts of Reeve on my mind for the rest of the day and I knew I would be lying to myself if I said they would all be bad.

***

My friends were insistent on making me go to a house party a fraternity was throwing that night, but I needed rest, not excitement.

“I know you’re faking, Gats. Let’s get a move on! We want to be appropriately late, not obnoxiously late,” Tats said as she pulled the blankets off my head.

“Tats, I’m not feeling well. I just wanna sleep. I don’t feel like going to a party tonight.”

“That’s the point of going out tonight! You need to get that sick vibe out of your system!” Apple said.

“Let’s drink while you’re sick and tomorrow you’ll be fine. Booze is made of alcohol. Alcohol is a disinfectant. Booze travels through the blood. Diseases are in your blood which is making you sick. Therefore, booze will disinfect your blood and get you better. Party down, man!” Raven preached.

“I’m not a doctor yet, Raven, but that might be bad advice from a medical standpoint. Alcohol retards kidney and liver function if you’re drinking enough to get fucked up, which is the original idea…so I’m not trying to find out if it’s bad for me now that I’m sick,” I refuted.

“Agata, just shut the fuck up, get up, and dress like you’re going to meet your ex-boyfriend.” Tats pulled me up from the bed, pulled my t-shirt over my head, and replaced it with a leopard print loose-fitting blouse combined with a leather mini skirt.

We arrived at the frat house where thuds and thumps could be heard vibrating all around the place. Speakers blasted around us the moment we stepped foot through the front door. The heavy smell of alcohol swarmed and mixed with the scent of other substances I was sure weren’t legal.

Hunter, Apple’s boyfriend, met us at the door and picked her up to kiss her.

“You all want anything to drink?” he asked. We nodded our heads and he went and got us drinks. We were just moving our hips to the beat of the song, to get in the mood.

As the night went on, the house continued to acquire more people. We started to mingle around and definitely had some fun.

I bumped into Monica Grant when I went to the kitchen. They call her Big Sister, and she’s a very nice active member of a sorority.

“Agata! Wow, the student-faculty secretary, so glad you showed up!”

“I heard that alcohol may help temporarily relieve cold and flu so here I am!” I shouted into her ear.

“Grab as many as you can!” she shouted back. “Uh-oh, look at that,” she said over my shoulder and pouted her lips.

My eyes scanned the dim house, noticing the thick smoke that filled the air, and then saw a familiar face sitting on the couch…Reeve. He was not alone, he was with Eve; she was one of the Big Sisters too.

I went to the counter and grabbed another cup.

“The rumors are true then, your dean and Eve are dating. You know, they were spotted by one of our neophytes in a restaurant downtown having dinner.” Monica continued talking, but I was only half listening to her while my eyes bored holes through Reeve and Eve.

I hated their names. They sounded so alike, so in sync. They looked good together too.

“It’s no surprise to us at all. Reeve is an alumnus and part of his dating scheme is that he only dates sorority girls.”

“Oh, I see. Only sorority girls.” I nodded my head and downed another cup of beer.

“Well, have fun tonight, yeah? And don’t get into too much trouble.”

“I can’t promise you anything,” I said with a wink. I called Monica just before she could get out of the kitchen. “Could you email me your New Member Form? I want in.”

***

I got the New Member Form a couple of days later. I immediately signed it and turned it in. I didn’t tell my friends about my plan. It would definitely sound ridiculous to them since it already sounded absurd to me.

There were eight Pledges. The first task was to sit in a darkened room blindfolded for about four hours with large speakers playing “Down With the Sickness” nonstop.

I went back to the dorm lightheaded with wobbly legs, tired, drained, and plain dizzy.

“Gats.”

“Gats.”

“Gats!” Tatiana shouted right into my ear. “Are you deaf? I was calling out your name repeatedly!”

“Huh?”

“Gah! Your cold made you a stupid deaf! Where have you been, for Pete’s sake? We’ve been looking for you around the campus.” Apple asked.

“I told you I’ve got some errands to do. Please guys, I’m tired, so stop nagging me, okay?”

They just looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. I went to bed that night hearing “Down With the Sickness” in my sleep until it echoed in my dreams.

The next task given to us was to shout to the entire campus the name of our crush ten times. They exactly didn’t have any idea how hard it was for me, but I did it anyway.

So I stood across the football field while the Actives were looking at me from afar. I took a deep breath. “I love you, Dean!” I took another deep breath. “I love you, Dean!” And another shameful deep breath. “I love you, De—”

“Agata!” a familiar voice cut me off from behind. “What the hell are you
doing?
”

“Dean.” I bit my lip and then mumbled, “Sorry but I have to do this.” I turned my back on him and again shouted across the football field, “I love you, Dean,” until I reached ten.

Reeve grabbed my arm and turned me around to face him. “What the hell is this?”

“I just wanted to say I love you…to Dean…Dean Richie.”

“Dean Richie? The quarterback.”

“Y-yes,” I slurred.

He looked at me with a flash of anger on his face. “I want to see you in my office.”

The Actives went on their way and did everything necessary in order to distract Reeve and occupy his entire day.

The final task was during a really bad thunderstorm.

We were told to stay out in the rain for thirty minutes near the school grounds, where thunder had already struck a couple of times.

My stomach was already upset. I had a slight, but completely irrational, fear of thunderstorms.

“Agata, what are you doing out there?” Tatiana shouted from the waiting shed.

Lightning flashed and lit up the sky, bright and striking. I closed my eyes shut against the brightness and waited for the after image to fade into nothingness, swallowing my nausea again.

“Gats, what the hell are you thinking? Are you trying to kill yourself?” Apple shouted in panic.

Thunder crashed and four of the Pledges ran for cover.

Ten minutes into the storm, my stomach became so upset that I was swallowing bile every other lightning flash.

Two other Pledges left.

“Agata, get the fuck out of there!” Raven yelled.

I tried to retain a normal breathing pattern, shivered it out, and got through the storm.

It was easier said than done since I was starting to faint and slumped on the ground.

“Agata, you okay?” I thought I heard Reeve’s voice. Either his voice was fading or I was the one fading. I shivered tremendously when another thunder cracked.

“I am—” I winced when lightning flashed, “—fine.”

“You don’t sound fine. I’m gonna get you out of here.”

Darkness began to cloud the corners of my vision, my consciousness slipping as the magnitude of the situation began to dawn on me.