Joy wrapped her jacket around her a little tighter as she walked to class. It was cold, and February had barely begun. Joy was missing the mild Seattle winters. She was also missing Seattle for very different reasons. There was no Ryan in Seattle. There was no Jamie in Seattle, either.
She had done everything in her power to avoid both of them since the party. Jamie was no problem, as she’d just switched all her shifts at the limo company and avoided going near his dorm or Zeta house. It was harder to avoid Ryan, who lived just above them and was constantly around. She couldn’t go to the lounge, the cafeteria, the laundry, anywhere, without seeing him.
Luckily, I’m now an expert in pivot and walk the other way, she thought sarcastically.
She turned a corner and headed towards the Psych building and ran right into what felt like a brick wall.
“Oh, God, I’m sorry, I wasn’t watching,” she said. She froze as she looked up and saw Ryan standing in front of her.
God, he’s like a homing pigeon, she thought.
“Hey Joy,” he said tentatively.
She glared at him, then stepped to the side to get past him.
“Hey, Joy, wait a sec!”
He reached out and grabbed her arm lightly.
“Let me go right now,” she said, her voice even and low. He looked surprised at the anger in her voice, then dropped her arm. Joy spun around and walked as fast as she could to the Psych building.
* * *
A few hours after class, Joy was running around her dorm room picking up clothes from the floor and stuffing them in the closet. She had exactly fifteen minutes to get her room clean and make it over to the Delta Gamma Rho house for the Bachelor Auction meeting.
For the past week she’d thrown herself into sorority activities. It worked better than the large amount of alcohol and late night phone calls to Linnea and Roxy had worked the first week.
They were sympathetic, but what Joy really wanted was to talk to Cal, only he was in jail again.
Joy grabbed her jacket off her desk chair and dashed out the door, passing Libby in the hall.
“Where are you in a rush to?” her sister yelled to her as she ran for the elevator.
“DGR auction meeting, I should be back by nine. Oh, and don’t faint when you walk in the room!” she yelled back as the elevator doors started to shut. She could hear Libby’s shriek of shock and probably delight at seeing the spotless room. Joy just hoped she wouldn’t open the wardrobe doors.
* * *
“So far we have a list of nineteen guys from Kappa and Zeta who are willing to be auctioned off,” Jennifer Karnovic said.
“So how does the auction work?” Joy asked. “Do they strip?”
Birdie McDowell laughed. “Oh, I wish! There’s quite a few guys on that list I wouldn’t mind seeing naked.”
“Everyone who wants to come pays at the door to get in the auction. On their way in they get a numbered paddle. A bachelor is brought out, paraded around and someone announces a pre-written info piece on the guy, then the bidding starts. Whoever wants to bid holds their paddle up,” Yvonne Berchick said.
“We start at five bucks, and go up in five dollar increments. We actually get quite a lot of money for these guys,” Carmen Medeiros laughed.
“Yeah, last year the Kappas and Zetas had bets going amongst themselves on who would go the highest and lowest,” Jen said laughing.
“Who won?” Joy asked, amused by the silliness of it all.
Jen glanced at Birdie before saying anything.
“You guys can say their names, it’s okay. I’m not going to fall apart,” Joy said smiling, trying to pretend everything was fine.
“Really?” Birdie asked.
“Really,” Joy said. “We’re not on speaking terms, but that doesn’t mean I can’t handle hearing their names. So who were the winners?”
“Jamie would have gotten taken the highest, two hundred and fifty bucks, but Ryan actually got picked up for three hundred,” Yvonne laughed.
“Not to sound rude, but by who?” Joy said in amazement.
“You’ll love this . . . Melanie Wyndham,” Carmen said.
“Apparently she had this huge crush on him last year, and she used to hound him all the time in Salem, he was so sick of her. Their date didn’t go well either, he left half way through and she demanded her money back.”
“Are you serious?” Joy laughed. “I may be mad at him, but that’s more punishment than anyone deserves.”
“We had to give her money back, too. That girl is trouble.”
“Are we allowed to bid?” Joy asked.
“It depends on what job you end up doing. If you’re announcing then no, but if you have other jobs, like pre-planning and stuff you can,” Yvonne said.
“Well, based on my luck the past few months, I think I’d better not even try bidding on anyone. And anyway, I know most of the guys on the list,” Joy said.
“Bet on one anyway,” Bridget said. “The best revenge is getting back in the dating game.”
Joy smiled. It wasn’t a bad idea. She never let an argument with Cal stop her from having fun before.
“Yeah, not too many freshman entered, so no new blood for us this year,” Carmen said.
“Well, if you aren’t wanting to buy anyone, maybe you’d like to be one of the MCs? I think Gina is the other,” Bridget said.
“Yeah sure. What do I have to do?”
“Just pump up the crowd a bit, then when a bachelor is announced, you just read off these prepared cards. They have info like favorite food, romantic place he’d take a date and stuff like that.”
“Sounds right up my alley,” Joy said.
“We’ll need you for pre-auction decorating, too.”
“Sure.”
“I think that’s just about it. The auction is Saturday night, tell everyone you meet. We’ve got posters if you guys want to take them and put them up in your dorms and in classes,” Jennifer said as everyone gathered up their things. “Make sure you tell everyone it’ll be the perfect chance to have a date for Valentine’s!”
* * *
“It’s going to be totally fun. It’ll probably raise a lot of money, too,” Joy said, telling Angel and Libby all about the afternoon meeting.
“Well, I’m lucky, I don’t have to buy anybody,” Libby said.
“Speak for yourself . . . you know who the bachelors are going to be, right?” Angel said.
“Yeah, but I can’t tell.”
“Oh, come on! You have to tell me so I’ll know how much money to bring. I’ve been saving up . . . but if there’s no one good then I won’t bother,” Angel said.
“Come on Angel, it’s for charity,” Libby laughed.
“Hey, I want a man out of this!” Angel laughed.
“Well, let’s just say I didn’t find anyone on the list I’d go for. Then again, I wouldn’t want to try. All the guys are Kappas and Zetas, so we’re always hanging out with them at mixers and stuff,” Joy said.
“Who knows, I could make a love connection at this auction. Maybe you can, too,” Angel said.
“I doubt it,” Joy said good-naturedly. “Only if there was an act of God.”
* * *
The next day Joy picked up a large bunch of posters at DGR and decided to cover the campus and post them everywhere. Borrowing a stapler from Libby, Joy set out to the far side of campus and started with the parking lot and bus loop.
As she tried to staple a poster on a telephone pole, a strong gust blew away some of the posters she’d set down on the ground while she worked.
“Damn!” she said, chasing after the runaways.
“I got these ones!” a voice said. Joy looked over and saw a tall, attractive guy picking up her posters and shaking them off, then smoothing them out.
“You look like you could use some help. Postering campus on a windy day is definitely a job for two people,” he said smiling. He had light brown hair and was clean shaven. Joy noticed he wore no gel in his hair, like the majority of guys on campus and was dressed in khakis and a cable knit sweater.
“Oh, I don’t want to bother you. I’m sure I can manage,” she said smiling back.
“It’s no trouble. I’m trying to get into helping with fraternity stuff. They want to sign me up to be a bachelor,” he said.
“You’re a fraternity member? I’ve never seen you around.”
“I just transferred here from another school,” he said. “I was a Kappa Delta Sigma there, and they’ve just voted to accept my transfer. I’m trying to look for ways to help, I don’t know very many people. My name’s Eric.”
“I’m Joy Morrison, Delta Gamma Rho. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too. Now, it’ll make me look good if I’m helping you with an official event, so will you take pity on me?” he smiled.
Joy grinned back at him and handed him half of her posters.
“I pity you. Now get to work!” she laughed.
* * *
An hour later Joy convinced Eric to sign up as a bachelor for the auction. She took him to DGR house and had Yvonne sign him up.
“Just fill out this form and return it. It has info on you we’ll read out as you go down the runway,” Jennifer told him.
“It sounds like I don’t know what I’m getting myself into,” he said with a laugh, as he signed a waiver and Jennifer added his name. “I’ll get your form back to you tomorrow.”
“Thanks. This really helps us out. Now we have an even twenty bachelors,” Joy said.
“It was nice meeting you. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon,” he said as he smiled, and turned to leave.
“I wouldn’t mind bidding on that,” Jen said.
“Yeah,” Joy replied, watching Eric leave.
* * *
“So you’re in love with this guy now?” Libby said, an amused expression on her face.
“No, I just met him. But he seems really nice. It’s too bad I can’t bid on him at the auction,” Joy said.
“Why not?” Angel asked.
“I’m going to be onstage announcing the bachelors, and Gina’s going to be the auctioneer. So I can’t bid,” she sighed.
“Well, I’m happy you saw someone you wanted to bid on,” Libby told Joy.
“I’m surprised myself, don’t get me wrong. The last thing I expected was seeing a Kappa I thought was cute. After all my trouble with fraternity guys I was thinking I’d stay out of the dating scene for awhile,” Joy said.
“It’s not like you have to run out and date him right away,” Angel said. “We’ll be seeing him at mixers and stuff.”
“The bachelor auction might be perfect for you, Joy,” Libby said seriously. “It’s for a good cause, so he doesn’t really have to know you like him and when you go on your date you can see what he’s like. If it goes bad, then nothing’s lost, it was all for charity.”
“That’s what I keep thinking. The perfect way not to screw up a date. Pay for it first,” Joy laughed.
“I heard a lot of them were just bad jokes last year, but some went well. Some people just had their own girlfriends buy them,” Angel laughed.
“Well, why don’t you get someone to do the announcing and you can bid?” Libby said.
“I can’t back out now, the auction is only a few days away. It’s too late,” Joy said. “Unless . . . ”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Libby said, putting her fork down on the cafeteria table.
“Joy, you are insane,” Angel laughed.
“What? This isn’t a twin switch. You just have to bid on him for me. Then I’ll go on the date,” Joy said.
“Drew will kill me,” Libby said.
“So explain it’s a favor for me. It’ll be easy. I have money saved up,” Joy said.
“Oh, alright. As long as I don’t end up having to date this guy or anything,” Libby said warily. “I’m having enough trouble dating one guy.”
“What do you mean?” Joy asked, frowning. Libby shook her head and told her they’d talk later. By the time they were back in their dorm, both Joy and Angel were bursting with curiosity.
“What’s going on?” Joy asked.
“It’s just . . . ” Libby began. “God, this never gets any easier. Drew and I haven’t slept together yet. I know he wants to, and I’m trying to decide if I’m ready.”
“It’s not like it’s your first time, Libby,” Joy said.
“I know that, but it’s my first time with him,” Libby sighed. “I really like him. I think I might even be falling in love with him. But I still think about Johnny. Somehow, it still feels like cheating.”
“But it’s not,” Angel said. “Johnny wouldn’t want you to avoid things because of him.”
“I know cheating,” Joy said wryly. “That’s not it. Do you want to sleep with him?”
“Sometimes I do,” Libby said. “Other times . . . I don’t ever want to sleep with anyone else again.”
“Just make sure you’re really sure before you say yes,” Joy said. “I’ve decided to do the same.”
“What?” Libby asked, a smile playing on her lips.
“Jumping into things with Jamie just got me hurt. I figure if I meet someone now, I’ll take things a lot slower,” Joy said. “I want to make sure I really like the guy first, and he likes me.”
Angel was smiling at her. “Did you get abducted by aliens?”
Joy shoved her. “No. I just know I got a little too caught up in Jamie and sleeping with him helped me do that. So if I meet someone, I’ll wait until we’re dating for awhile before we sleep together. Isn’t that how normal people do it?”
Libby laughed. “Yeah, it is. I just don’t want to make Drew angry about this. I never told him about what happened in Seattle.”
Joy looked over at Libby. “Do you want to tell him?”
Libby shook her head. “I don’t want him to think of me differently. I mean, I know he’d be understanding, but it changed how Johnny thought of me, I know it did. Not in a bad way, but still. I just want to make sure I’m doing the right thing.”
“You will,” Angel said. “And if he doesn’t respect that, we’ll kick his ass.”
“Well, I’m not going to get any kind of a chance for a relationship if no one pays for my date,” Joy said.
“I said I’d do it,” Libby sighed. “I will. As long as you go on the date!”
“Don’t worry, I’m definitely going to go. God, how desperate am I, paying for a date now?”
* * *
The next night Joy picked up all the bachelor info sheets and was going over them in her room, practicing her stage voice and smiling in front of the mirror.
She looked over the list again. Ryan and Jamie were two of the bachelors, but so were Tim Dennis, Autumn’s brother Ramsey and Trent Keaton from Kappa. And Eric Irwin.
“Eric,” she said his name out loud. He seemed so nice, spent half his afternoon helping her put up Bachelor Auction posters, then even signed up to be one himself. Definitely a nice guy.
She looked over his info and noted he was a volunteer at Boston’s Children’s Hospital, had a three-point-eight grade point average and was a pre-med student. He enjoyed skiing, traveling and wanted to work in the Red Cross as an overseas relief worker when he graduated college.
“Hey! Is that the list?” Angel asked as she wheeled into Joy’s room from the hall.
“Yes, and you aren’t going to see it,” Joy said, snapping up the papers and holding them to her chest.
“Come on! I need to figure out if there’s anyone for me to buy,” Angel whined.
“Just make sure Libby buys the right guy,” Joy laughed. “The last thing I need is her accidentally buying Ryan or Jamie.”
* * *
Two days later Joy was busy decorating the ballroom in the Stu U where the auction would be held. The fraternity members had built an entire set. Joy was busy using Velcro tabs to secure a skirt around the stage. Sarah Jane Grayson was up on a ladder trying to hang streamers from the walls, while some of the Zeta Alpha Psi crew were installing a disco ball and stage lights and rigging them to a control panel.
“I had no idea they were so talented,” Joy said to Gina, nodding up at the Zetas near the ceiling.
“Some of these guys have been arranging parties and stuff for so long they’re experts now,” she laughed. “I think I’m going to do one final mic check, and then we can go through a rehearsal of what we do and say.”
“Sounds good, I should be done any minute now,” Joy answered, unrolling some streamers, and twisting them along the floor.
As she climbed on the stage, she saw it was really looking good in the ballroom. Red and silver balloons were being blown up, glittery flakes of Mylar were decorating the floor, the chairs were set up, and the room looked festive and ready for some fun. Gina walked Joy through her paces, showing her where to stand, while the Zeta crew adjusted the lighting and Joy tested the microphone.
“You’re a natural onstage, Joy,” Piper Sheridan, the DGR president said as she watched Joy make up some lines about a fake bachelor to prepare herself.
Piper held her clipboard and checked off all the things that were done.
“I think that does it,” she announced. “Joy, you and Gina should be backstage and hour before show time, there’s about four of the DGRs that’ll be acting as bachelor wranglers and hopefully you both have something nice to wear.”
“How nice? Jingle Ball nice or mixer nice?”
“Jingle Ball. All the bachelors are in rental tuxes that were donated for the night,” Piper said.
Soon Joy was on her way back to Salem Hall and rummaging through the closet trying to find her Jingle Ball dress. She finally pulled out Libby’s dark blue dress that she’d worn to the Governor’s Ball.
“Hey Libby, can I wear this tonight?” Joy asked. “We’re supposed to dress up.”
Libby looked over, and Joy held up the long blue dress.
“Sure, as long as you put it back neatly in the closet and don’t mess it up,” she said.
“Thanks. I can’t find the long black velvet dresses from the Jingle Ball, and I didn’t want to wear the one I wore to the Governor’s Ball.”
“The black dresses are in Angel’s closet,” Libby said. “I had to move some clothes out of here since you decided to hide all your junk in here.”
Joy grinned.
A short time later she was showered, had eaten a few slices of pizza and was dressed in Libby’s blue dress, her hair loose around her shoulders.
“Want the shawl?” Libby asked.
“I don’t need it,” Joy said. “Now here’s all the money I’ve saved. It’s two hundred dollars and don’t go over that or I’ll kill you. Try not to get near it if you can.”
“No problem . . . what’s his name again?”
“Eric! Don’t forget that. Don’t buy Jamie. Or Ryan.”
“Gotcha,” Libby said laughing. “We’ll see you over there.”
* * *
Joy hurried around backstage, which was a flurry of tuxedos and people. All the bachelors looked great in their tuxes, and she grudgingly admitted to herself Ryan and Jamie did, too. They barely acknowledged each other, and Joy was a bit nervous everyone would begin talking about them when she was onstage introducing Jamie and Ryan.
Joy stood backstage running over what she was going to say when she went out to start the auction. She peeked out from the curtain and could see the room was quickly filling up, mostly with women.
“Ten minutes! Ten minutes!” Nadine Costa announced to everyone.
“Are you ready?” a voice asked.
Joy turned around to see Eric Irwin standing behind her, looking gorgeous in a tuxedo.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she said. “What about you?”
“Nervous. It’s too bad you aren’t out there to submit a pity bid for me. I have a feeling the other guys are going to go pretty high,” he confessed.
“Well, I don’t think you’re going to need pity bids,” Joy told him. “I think the fact you’re new on the Greek scene means you’ll get noticed.”
He smiled back at her, then was interrupted by Liz Bettencourt ushering him over towards the group of bachelors that were lining up.
“Okay, you’re on!” Nadine Costa said, pushing her towards the stage. Joy took a deep breath and put a smile on her face, then went through the curtains and out on the stage.
“Hi everyone, I’m Joy Morrison and welcome to the annual Delta Gamma Rho Bachelor Auction!” she said, to the roaring applause and screams from the audience.
“Tonight you’re going to see some of Greek world’s most eligible bachelors and have a chance to bid on them for a romantic night on the town. With me tonight is our auctioneer, Gina Lazarra.”
Joy went on to explain how the bidding would work, then announced the bachelors, and they paraded out as a group around the stage to the delight of the female contingent in the audience.
“Tonight’s first bachelor is a Zeta, and a starter for the Brookline U Wolves football team,” Joy announced as Tim Dennis posed and made his way out onto the stage. “He’s a first string receiver who loves working out and hitting the clubs down at Kenmore. He’s majoring in Kinesiology and is currently Salem Hall’s intramural one-on-one basketball champ. Please welcome Timothy Dennis!”
The audience screamed as Tim took his place near Gina.
“We’ll open the bidding at five dollars. Do I see five?” she asked, the auction officially in full swing.
* * *
Joy stood onstage smiling as yet another bachelor was auction off at a good price, and went down into the audience to sit with his buyer. Jamie had gone earlier and as intermission approached Joy prepared for announcing Ryan who was first up.
“Now for our next bachelor. He’s a Kappa Delta Sigma, and one of Salem Hall’s most recognizable faces. He enjoys short-sheeting the Salem Hall dorm beds, pool hustling unsuspecting students at the Stu U, and in his spare time plays Mike Seaver on Growing Pains,” Joy said, reading Ryan’s card. “Yes, he wrote his own bio, please welcome Ryan Eckert.”
Ryan took his place out on the floor and mugged for the student newspaper photographer in the front row. His face changed slightly, and she noticed he spotted Melanie Wyndham behind the photographer. Gina opened the bidding and Melanie made the first bid. A few more girls got into the fun, and in the end Joy was surprised to hear Gina announce, “Sold, to Angel Sheridan for one hundred and fifty dollars!”
Oh Angel, Joy said to herself, as she watched Ryan go down the stairs, pick Angel up out of her chair, twirl her around to the crowd, then set her down on his lap as he took a seat.
Joy continued to announce the bachelors, until Eric was left.
“Our next bachelor is Kappa Delta Sigma’s newest member. He’s a pre-med student who wants to work overseas for the Red Cross. He enjoys skiing, traveling and his volunteer work with Children’s Hospital. Please welcome Eric Irwin.”
Eric stepped out from behind the curtain to applause and screams. Gina opened the bidding at five dollars, and it was quickly up to fifty. Libby hadn’t raised her paddle once. Joy caught her eye and made a little head motion, and Libby raised the paddle.
“Sixty!” she announced. Eric squinted into the crowd, and Joy saw the surprise on his face as he looked back over at her. Joy smiled.
I guess I should have told him about Libby, she thought. The bidding slowed as it climbed and soon only Libby and one other girl was bidding. Joy nodded at Libby to go higher, until the bid was one hundred and thirty dollars.
“Do we have one hundred and thirty five?” Gina said. The crowd was quiet.
“One hundred and fifty,” came a voice.
Joy looked over to see who was bidding. Melanie Wyndham.
Joy thought about what to do next. She still had fifty more dollars saved from the limo job, but she was going to be very tight on funds if she went ahead and bought Eric. She nodded towards Libby.
“One hundred and sixty!” her twin said.
“One hundred and seventy!” Melanie yelled, before Gina even had a chance to announce Libby’s latest bid and bumping up the increment to ten dollars.
“One hundred and eighty!” Libby countered.
“Two hundred dollars!” Melanie said triumphantly.
Joy could see Libby open up her purse.
“Two hundred and ten,” she said.
“Two hundred and fifty,” Melanie said. The crowd was quiet. Libby looked at Joy from the audience and Joy shook her head very slightly, no.
“Going once . . . ” Gina said. “Going twice . . . ”
I am going to kill her, Joy thought.
“Sold to Melanie Wyndham for two hundred and fifty dollars! Payable up front and non-refundable,” Gina announced.
* * *
As the auction ended, Joy went backstage to gather her things.
“Hey . . . I tried,” Libby said as she came back.
“I know, thanks. Can you believe Melanie?”
“I know. She just started bidding once she saw it was me,” Libby said. Suddenly her eyes changed and she almost imperceptible urged Joy to turn around. Just as she did, she saw Eric approaching her.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi,” Joy replied.
“I should thank you for getting the price up so high,” he said turning to Libby. “I had no idea you were twins. It threw me for a minute when I was up there.”
“Oh, you’re welcome, but I was bidding for a friend,” Libby said. “Joy, I’m staying here with Drew, we’re going to be part of the clean up crew. Angel’s having her date with Ryan tonight.”
“Thanks Libs,” she answered.
“So, this friend she was bidding for . . . do I know her?” he smiled.
Joy smiled a little. “You might.”
They stood there for a second, smiling at each other, but were interrupted by an annoyingly familiar voice.
“There you are! I just wanted to firm up the plans for our date,” Melanie said, stretching out the word date, as if to torture Joy.
“Uh yeah, anytime you prefer is fine with me,” he said, sticking his hands in his pockets.
“How about Wednesday night for Valentine’s Day?” she suggested.
“Sure, we can go to dinner,” Eric suggested. “I guess I should get your name and where I can pick you up.”
“It’s Melanie Wyndham, and I’m in Wellesley Hall, but we can meet at Kappa if that’s okay,” she said, batting her eyelashes.
“Sure, sounds great,” he said. The three of them stood there until Gina came to snatch Eric away for some photos.
“So . . . ” Melanie started. “Too bad you won’t be going to dinner with Eric. He seems really nice.”
“Yeah,” Joy said, not wanting to say much to Melanie.
“So nice that Libby was very into bidding on him. I wonder what Drew must think? Unless she was bidding for someone who couldn’t.”
“Cut the crap Melanie, I don’t need it.”
“Oh, someone’s a little bitchy today,” Melanie sing-songed. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of lover boy for you. I’ll make sure to bring you up and we’ll have a nice conversation about you.”
“What, like the nice conversations you started at rush? That backfired on you, Melanie. This will, too,” Joy said, stepping a little closer to her.
“Don’t count on it, Joy,” Melanie said with fake sweetness. Melanie walked over towards Eric and touched his elbow, then held onto his arm with hers. Joy could hear her voice floating over from the other side of the backstage area about needing a walk home since it was dark, and she was so alone.
You’ll be alone all right, Joy vowed.
* * *
“We’ve got come up with something!” Joy whined. “I’m not letting her get him.”
“What can you do? It’s a charity date, do you really think he’s going to like her more than you?” Libby asked as they sat in bed that night.
“Stranger things have happened. Plus, she’ll probably act all sweet while telling Eric I’m a former prostitute heroin addict or something,” Joy sighed.
“So you just want to stop their date so she doesn’t spread rumors about you?” Libby laughed.
“I know! I’ll show up at the restaurant,” Joy said.
“That’ll get Melanie pissed off at you for sure,” Libby said.
“Exactly. She shows her true colors when I happen to be out for dinner with my sister and her boyfriend . . . ” Joy trailed off.
“Joy.”
“Please! I’ll pay for dinner!” Joy begged. “Please . . . ”
“I’ll see what Drew says tomorrow. When are they going out?”
“Wednesday night,” Joy said in a tiny voice.
“Valentine’s Day?” Libby asked. “Joy!”
“I know, I’m sorry!” Joy said. “But she picked the night, I didn’t. They’re going for dinner. We can show up and get the waiter to sit us near them. It’ll be fun.”
“I don’t think fun is what Drew’s going to call it,” Libby sighed. “It’s supposed to be a romantic night out for the two of us. Maybe more.”
“More?” Joy asked, raising an eyebrow. “So you decided?”
Libby blushed. “Yeah, I decided. But now it looks like that’s on hold thanks to you. Maybe he won’t want to go along with this.”
“You can convince him,” Joy said. “Please?”
“I’ll figure something out,” Libby said, covering her head with a pillow.
* * *
On Wednesday night, Joy, Libby and Drew sat out in his car parked across from Kappa house.
“Tell me again why we’re spying on my fraternity brother?” Drew asked Libby. “And why I’m giving up a romantic Valentine’s dinner with you to do this?”
“Because my sister is a nutcase. And we’re getting a free dinner,” Libby said.
“Shhh,” Joy said. “There’s Melanie.”
“She can’t hear us nitwit,” Libby said.
“We should go now, we can wait in the restaurant lot for them,” Joy said.
“Why does everything I do with you make me feel like I’m in a James Bond movie?” Drew asked.
“You should be grateful,” Joy told him as they pulled onto the main road and headed for Boston. “Most guys would love to hang out with Bond girls.”
* * *
Joy dropped back and stood behind some bushes, waiting as Melanie and Eric entered the restaurant. Waiting a few minutes, she waved at her sister and Drew to join her and they entered the front doors.
“Could we get a table for three?” Joy asked. “Preferably near the couple you just seated.”
The hostess looked over her shoulder towards the booth Eric and Melanie were seated in and ushered them to the booth behind them. Eric was seated with his back towards them, but Melanie got full view of Joy and Libby approaching the table. Joy took the seat with her back to Eric, while Libby and Drew sat facing Melanie. They ordered drinks and looked over the menu as Melanie tried to recapture the composure she just lost.
Joy expected Melanie to launch into her “Joy is a hooker” routine, but was slightly surprised when Melanie began telling Eric a tale involving Joy being a stalker.
“She’s telling him I stalk guys!” Joy said as she leaned over the table and whispered to Libby and Drew. Drew grinned a little.
“Well, she’s kind of got you there,” he smirked. Joy glared at him.
Great, now if I show myself, he’s going to think I’m stalking him, she thought.
“Joy and I are pretty close,” Melanie said. Joy’s eyes got big. “I was the first person she confessed to after she was caught down in the Combat Zone. She’s so poor, she’d do anything to stay in school. You have to admire the tenacity.”
“And, now I’m a hooker,” Joy said.
“I think you have to go to the bathroom,” Libby told her twin.
Joy got up and walked towards the bathrooms, not wanting to glance back to see what she was sure was a triumphant look on Melanie’s face. She entered the women’s bathroom and waited a few minutes for Libby.
After waiting for more than she needed to, Joy realized Libby wasn’t coming to meet her. Joy looked out and saw Libby was now sitting facing Drew.
“What is she up to?” Joy mused. Slowly exiting the bathroom, she turned right and walked down the other side of the restaurant and worked her way towards Melanie and Eric, taking up residence at an empty table hidden by a bushy plant. A few minutes later, Joy saw the food arrive at her table and saw the waiter take her plate away.
I wish she’d let me in on her plans, Joy thought, her hand over her growling stomach. After their meal was done, Libby said something to Drew and the two of them stepped out from the table and towards Melanie’s table.
“Oh, hello Melanie!” Libby said, her voice dripping with fakeness.
“Libby,” Melanie said, highly suspicious of what was going on.
“And Eric right? We met at the auction, I’m Joy’s sister,” she said extending her hand. “You know my boyfriend Drew.”
“Nice to meet you,” Eric said, shaking Libby’s hand.
“Where’s Joy?” Melanie asked.
“Oh, she’s busy with her volunteer work,” Libby said. “She devotes a lot of her time to helping the less fortunate.”
“Yes, I was telling Eric all about that,” Melanie said.
“I’m sure you were,” Libby said. Joy saw Libby almost imperceptibly elbow Drew.
“I remember the first time I met Joy,” Drew said, laughing a little. “I had heard all these horrible rumors about her, someone had spread them all over campus, she worked as a prostitute, she’d stalked someone. Really weird stuff. So I was a little wary of her. Until that day I was downtown with some friends, and we were checking out the Combat Zone. You know how guys are.”
Joy stifled her laughter. Drew probably hadn’t been into Boston’s red light district in his entire life.
“Turns out she was giving out blankets and food to the homeless. She got invited to the Governor’s Ball because of all her charity work,” he finished.
“That was such a great night. She got to invite me and a friend,” Libby said.
Eric was smiling at Libby, while Melanie’s look was pure venom.
“That’s not true Libby, and you know it!” Melanie said standing up.
“Excuse me?” Libby said innocently.
“You’re just trying to make me look bad in front of Eric,” she said, raising her voice at every word. “You and your prissy little boyfriend probably arranged this whole thing! I saw Joy here earlier, she put you up to it!”
“Melanie, I think you’ve had a little too much to drink,” Drew said.
“I have not, you slime. I should have figured you were a stooge, you do hang out with Ryan after all.”
“It’s not my fault your date last year would have rather been run over than finish the date with you,” Drew smiled.
Joy stifled a gasp as Melanie picked up the water on the table and threw it in Drew’s face.
“There! And if you think I’m paying for this date you have another thing coming. I’m going to get you one of these days, Liberty Morrison. You can tell your evil twin that for me, too,” she said, grabbing her sweater and tossing her blonde hair around as she walked out of the restaurant.
“Wow. What was that all about?” Libby asked.
* * *
“Are you proud of me?” Libby asked as they entered their room.
“Very. It was pure genius. I just feel bad for Drew,” Joy laughed.
“Yeah, you owe him a new shirt,” Libby said. “I don’t think he expected that.”
“I stopped at DGR and told Gina that Melanie would probably want a refund for her date, so she’s prepared.”
“I think it was a good idea to have people pay up front this year,” Libby laughed.
“Definitely.”
“Look, if you don’t need me anymore . . . ” Libby said, her hand on her backpack. “I was going to go over to see Drew.”
Joy smiled at her sister. “Okay, go. Have fun and be safe.”
“Isn’t that usually my speech to you?” Libby joked.
As Libby opened the door she stopped short just before she ran into Eric, who had his arm raised like he was about to knock.
“Joy?”
“Behind me,” Libby said. “I’ll see you later.”
“Bye, Libby,” Joy said. “Hi, Eric.”
“Can I talk to you for a second?” he asked.
“Sure,” she said smiling. She joined him in the hallway and shut the door. Glancing down at the other end, she saw Ryan standing there talking to another sophomore. “There’s a small balcony at the end of the hall.”
Once they were both outside in the cold, Joy began to get a little nervous.
“I just wanted to say thanks.”
“For what?” she asked.
“Sending reinforcements tonight,” he grinned.
“What do you mean?” she said innocently.
“The guys were bugging me about Melanie after the auction, I heard all about her date with Ryan last year. I guess your sister was worried about her, too.”
“Libby went out to dinner with her boyfriend,” Joy said. “You know, for Valentine’s Day.”
Eric smiled again. “Yeah. Anyway, you know I didn’t believe anything she told me. Your sister and her boyfriend did me a favor getting me out of the date.”
“It sounds like you should be thanking her,” Joy said.
“I would. But I saw you sitting across the restaurant. You know, behind the plant.”
Joy blushed slightly. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. But I think I would have had a better time sitting across from you,” he said softly. Joy looked up into his eyes for the first time since they’d come outside. Eric lowered his head and kissed her softly.
“Maybe we can go out tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I’d like that,” she said.
“I’ll pick you up around six o’clock then. We’ll do something casual.”
“Yeah,” Joy said smiling. She watched him walk down the hallway and towards the elevators, noticing Ryan was watching her with an odd expression. He turned and went up the stairway to the fourth floor.
“Angel!” she yelled down the hallway after she came inside. “You’ll never guess what happened!”
Joy sprinted down the hallway, eager to tell someone about Eric.