Five minutes before the first break, Crystal pulled David from his current dance partners. She quickly introduced him to the Trojan Dance Force. They explained that they wanted to do a routine before joining in with everyone, dancing. They gave Milena a phone, which she plugged into the DJ equipment so she could play their song.
Crystal knew the day was going to be a success when most everyone who had bought into the first time slot signed up again. The crowd had grown to over a hundred people by the time David introduced the girls and their routine. When they were done, he stopped the music for a moment.
“I want to quickly thank the Trojan Dance Force. I was told before the break that they would be here for the next thirty minutes, and they’re looking for some brave men to step up and dance with them. Milena has told me that you can expect some serious booty-shaking,” he said and paused. “And guys—that includes you!”
That was Milena’s cue as David turned his back to the crowd and began to shake what Mother Nature had given him. Trojan Dance Force couldn’t be outdone, so it didn’t take long before the heat turned up with the moves that were on display.
That was when David’s friend Tracy arrived with a camera girl.
“This is great. Get some establishment shots of people dancing,” Tracy ordered her videographer.
By the time the dance ended at four o’clock, the campus police had estimated that there were close to twenty-five hundred people dancing on the quad. Crystal signaled for David to wrap it up.
“Before we go, I want to recognize a few people. First, thank you all for raising so much money for the Panhellenic Council’s scholarship fund. I want to give a shout-out to Trojan Dance Force and the USC Song Girls for their awesome contributions to the afternoon. I think we all learned some dance moves from them today. And I want to give a special shout-out to the USC baseball team for taking time out from preparing for their game with Washington tonight to provide their support.
“Give it up for the Alpha Mu sorority for organizing the dance along with all the other sororities that had booths today. I want to give a special thanks to Milena Ghazaryan for volunteering to be my sidekick. Finally, let’s give a hand to Crystal Knaggy for taking charge and getting this all organized.
“I hope to see you all at tonight’s baseball game. Go Trojans!” David yelled.
Crystal had asked several of the dancers how they had heard about the event. The majority had found out through David’s social media. The next time she wanted to get a crowd to something, she would have to get him to help.
“Thanks, David, for being our DJ,” Crystal said before he left.
“It was for a good cause. I couldn’t have done it without Milena, though. She picked out music that was fun to dance to,” David said.
“I just heard that Phi Sigs are having a party tonight to celebrate all the sororities’ success today. Why don’t you come?” Crystal asked.
“Please do. It’ll be fun,” Milena added.
“I have a baseball game and then plan to work on my batting after. I do have two tickets if you’d like to come to the game,” David offered.
“I can’t, but I would bet Milena would love to,” Crystal said, playing matchmaker.
David gave Crystal a raised eyebrow and then turned to Milena.
“Every Friday night, I cook dinner at my friends’ house. Usually, a couple of my teammates join us. I’m sure one more wouldn’t be a problem. We could also see if someone wants to join you at the game,” David offered.
“I’d like that,” Milena said.
“I usually pick the guys up at the dorm. Do you want me to swing by and pick you up too?” David asked.
“I live in the sorority house.”
“It’s a date,” Crystal said with a satisfied smile.
David just gave Crystal a slow, singular nod. Then he headed back to his dorm.
As soon as he was out of sight, Milena began to bounce around.
“I have a date with David Dawson!” she squealed.
Crystal could see Milena was not going to be any use to her breaking down the booth.
“Get out of here and go get ready.”
She didn’t have to tell her roommate twice. Milena bolted for the sorority.
“Hey, Babe,” Crystal heard and turned around to find Matt with a couple of his fellow football players. “Sorry, I got busy, but I figured you might need help cleaning up.”
Maybe he wasn’t utterly useless today.
Developmental Editors: XofDallas and Bud Ugly
Line / Copy Editors: Bud Ugly, TheMikeBomb, Zom, and Old Rotorhead
Last One Through: Bud Ugly
Chapter 36
David
David picked up Milena, and they took a trip to the grocery store. He let her pick out steaks while he hit the deli and produce aisles to figure out what would go with them. David spotted fresh asparagus, so he grabbed a couple of bunches, along with two lemons. At the deli, he bought pasta salad and baked beans.
They then picked up Allard and Seamus, both of whom knew Milena from the Baseball House parties with Alpha Mu, so no introductions were needed. When they arrived at the townhouse, they could hear Precious complaining. Someone had gotten smart and put her in her crate before leaving for the day. Her pitiful cries had Milena feeling sorry for her.
“You’re just the cutest,” Milena cooed.
“That’s Precious. She’s a straight-up badass,” Allard shared.
“But she wants out of her crate,” Milena said.
“Of course she does. She can’t make you bleed if she’s in there,” Allard speculated.
“Are you a bad kitty? No? You just want some loving. I think we’re going to be friends,” Milena predicted.
“Don’t be stark ravers. That cat is mental,” Seamus said, adding his doubt about letting Precious out.
“It’ll be okay,” Milena said as she reached for the latch.
“What are you doing!?” David barked.
Everyone was on the roof, sitting around the table as David cooked. They all had stunned looks on their faces as David tried to hold in his chuckles.
“That was different. Precious just blasted out of her crate and pissed right on you. I’ve never heard of a cat pissing in someone’s face before,” Milena said to Seamus.
David couldn’t hold it in any longer and erupted with a belly laugh. Seamus glared at him. David would’ve bet a large sum of money that Seamus would have preferred that Precious had clawed him.
“Uh,” Milena continued. “Sorry, you really took the brunt of it. I would’ve guessed you had better reflexes since you play baseball.”
“Do you think that was a defense mechanism that she pissed right in your face? Does that go back to caveman times?” Allard asked.
Seamus turned his glare on Allard, who was trying valiantly to hold in his laughter.
“I’m really sorry. I should’ve listened to David,” Milena said to apologize for the tenth time.
David didn’t think Seamus bought it because she would break out in giggles every so often. David now knew what his mom was talking about when she said a house smelled like cat piss.
Cassidy and Pam joined them on the roof.
“Who let Precious out?” Cassidy asked.
“I’ll tell you later,” David said. He introduced the girls to Milena. Then he had a question. “Where’s Tracy?”
“She’s busy working on her interviews from today. Channel 11 plans to pick up her coverage of the fundraiser as filler,” Pam answered.
“That’s great news. I hope Tracy has footage of some of my better dance moves.”
David ignored their snarky responses about how well they thought he could dance. He decided to change the topic.