“No, you don’t,” he pouted.
“We do,” Cameo assured him, finally able to talk.
We were trying to convince him that he was more important to us than our morning coffee, which was the highest compliment we could give him, when the first raft came into view. We all surged to the water’s edge to cheer on the first new fraternity brother. Catcalls erupted from the crowd as everyone scored his shrinkage. He was given a Sigma Pi T-shirt and some sweats. He was grinning ear to ear as he pulled on the clothes. His new fraternity brothers clapped him on the back and handed him drinks. He’d be plastered within an hour.
The next raft arrived shortly after that, followed by two more. The previous scene was repeated as the new fraternity brothers were welcomed to the fold. With pledge week about to come to an end, the Sigmas began their house chant as they waited for the fifth and final brother to arrive. The rest of us joined in. The chanting hit a crescendo as four more rafts came into view.
From the shore we could see the competitors were playing dirty, using their oars to splash water at one another and to push against the other rafts. We encou
raged their tactics by calling out advice of our own.
In the end, it was one of the three pledges that rode with Melissa and me earlier who came out the victor. I cheered loudly for him when he looked my way. I had to admit, I felt a tinge of disappointment that it wasn’t Mr. Brown-Eyed Flirt.
“New boyfriend?” Derek teased, catching our exchange.
“Please. He looks like he’s twelve. Cameo may like playing with the young guns, but not me.”
“Bite me, bitch. Chad’s only a year younger than me.”
“For half a year. The other half, he’s two years younger,” Derek added helpfully.
I snorted.
“He’s mature for his age.” I was surprised at the touch of insecurity that crept into her voice. She had it bad for him. Derek raised his eyebrows at me, obviously catching the same vibe.
He slung an arm around her shoulders, tucking her under the crook of his arm. “We get it, hummingbird, you like him.” Cameo started to protest, but Derek shot her down. “It’s okay to occasionally look at a guy as something other than a toy.”
“Toys are better,” she grumbled. “Or they used to be.” She sounded bewildered.
“You have it bad, hummingbird,” Derek said, placing a kiss on the top of her head as he winked at me.
She continued to argue as we stood around waiting for the last of the pledge hopefuls to arrive. Two more arrived after the last victor was crowned. They were forced to do the walk of shame to retrieve clothes from a stack the fraternity had piled by the road. They covered their junk the best they could as they made their way past so they could get dressed. More pictures were snapped as jokes and comments ran rampant.
Somewhere between the music being turned up and drinks being consumed, the vibe of the party subtly changed. Derek and I both sensed it at the same time. Our eyes moved to where a few guys had staggered through the shallow water to retrieve an empty deflated raft that had drifted ashore. Melissa and Steve huddled together with several of the fraternity brothers. Every few seconds they would cast worried looks upriver.
I watched as Steve discreetly found the other pledges that had been out on the water. From a distance, I could see him firing questions at them. Their concern level was rising. Several guys broke off from the group and walked along the shore, following the path the rafters had taken.
Steve turned off the music so he could tell the group what I had already figured out. A hard knot formed in the pit of my stomach. One of the guys wasn’t back yet. Glancing around, I knew without a shadow of a doubt it was the persistent freshman who was missing. Gossip and speculation quickly began to ripple through the crowd. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw several people edging away from the fire toward the dirt lot where everyone had parked their cars. For a split second, I wanted to join them. I wanted no part of this. The carefree party atmosphere now had a feeling of unease. No one wanted to be associated with a possible accident.
Melissa came and found me as I stood at the crossroads of indecision. “Hey, Tressa, did you happen to take a picture of the guys who rode with us to the drop-off point?”
The knot in my stomach tightened to the point of becoming painful. “Sure. Why?”
“Because John can’t remember one of the pledge’s names. Steve is hoping the picture will jog someone’s memory.”
“It’s David,” I mumbled.
“What?”
“His name is David. He told me when we got to the drop-off point.” I didn’t want to believe something had happened to him. What was I saying? All of our panic was going to be for naught. David had probably run across problems and swum to shore. At the moment, he was probably a mile up the shore, freezing his ass off and wishing he had his clothes.
I willed that to be true, more than I had ever wanted anything. I had never been more wrong in my life.
7.
The authorities were called shortly after, and by the time they arrived, the party had completely dispersed. Cameo and Derek were both gone. They’d tried to persuade me to go with them, but I stubbornly refused. I had a strong urge to leave, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was some kind of accessory in all this. Maybe it was because I drove with Melissa and took pictures, but deep down I knew it was because David and I had shared a moment. No matter how brief.
The authorities arrived in stages. First, it was one squad car. The cop was a total asshole. We were reprimanded and threatened with jail time for being at a state park after hours. Once he felt he had scared us, he proceeded to tell us that David probably smartened up and was back in his dorm room where we all should be.