Cassidy wanted to laugh and cheer because David didn’t know that nudity was required.
“Have you watched the show?” Cassidy asked innocently.
“No, but it has to be like all the other soap operas. I’m betting I play someone’s love child who I didn’t realize existed because I had amnesia.”
“It’s on cable.”
“I know it probably won’t have good ratings, but I’ll get back into acting,” David reasoned.
“It’ll get ratings; I promise you that.”
“Why do you say that?” David asked.
“Do I have to say it? It’s because you’ll be on it,” Cassidy said, playing to his enormous ego.
“I’m not so sure about that.”
“Oh, yeah. Your key demographic will love it,” Cassidy promised. “I’m sure I’ll watch it because you’re on the show.”
“I appreciate that. Thanks for believing in me,” David said sincerely.
Cassidy almost felt bad about not telling David what he was getting into. She would have to get someone to film his reaction when he got on set and learned that he’d have to go Full Monty on national television. Knowing him, he would just take it in stride since he was doing it for his art.
She found herself giggling the rest of the day. David needed to call her more often.
◊◊◊
Oliver finally reached his uncle’s estate in the Kuta district of Bali. It was known as a cheap tourist destination for Australians due to its close proximity. He was a quick motor-scooter ride away from the beach, which had several resorts, clubs, etc.
His uncle had said he could stay for a couple of months until the heat had simmered down.
Balinese and Indonesian were the most widely spoken languages in Bali, but many of the locals also spoke both Chinese and English because of tourism. His uncle’s place was in the middle of an English-speaking area, making everyday life much easier for him.
He finally got brave and called Cassidy.
“Hey,” Oliver said when she picked up.
Cassidy didn’t respond.
“Uhm … I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“If you mean okay in that I almost lost my arm, had to drop out of school, now have a shit ton of medical bills that just keep piling up, and had to move back in with my dad, then I’m doing great.”
“I’m really sorry,” Oliver said.
“Sorry enough to take care of my bills?” Cassidy asked.
“I don’t really have any money,” Oliver admitted.
“And you think I do?” Cassidy asked.
This hadn’t been how he expected this conversation to go. He hadn’t thought it would be great, but she sounded like she wanted to kill him.
“I don’t really know what to say,” Oliver admitted.
He could hear Cassidy take a deep breath; he was sure it was the start of a monologue about all his shortcomings.
Then she let it out with a sigh.
“When I ask, David will come looking for you. Don’t tell me where you are because that will spoil his fun hunting you down. And when he catches up with you … well, you should just pray that he doesn’t,” Cassidy said and hung up.
Oliver’s brother had told him to get rid of his phone because it could be tracked. He planned to go out today and do just that.
◊◊◊
Emily was now officially a pledge and was learning about the history of Alpha Mu. It was founded in 1907 at Syracuse University. It was initially organized to attract the best and brightest with its cardinal principles of sincerity, morality, and scholarship. Its original intent was to limit membership to those who maintained the educational standards of Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest honor society that inducted the most outstanding arts and sciences students.
In 1928, it was decided that the Phi Beta Kappa standard was hard to maintain and was soon dropped. But
the sorority did require a high GPA from its pledges. To that end, the pledges were required to come to the house to study three times a week, where the older members offered mentorship. They also maintained an extensive library of past tests that were supposed to be excellent study guides.
Tonight, there was a dinner where each pledge was given a big sister and a big brother, the brother being selected from one of the various fraternities. The job of the big sister and brother was to help guide the pledge successfully to full membership. Taylor had told them it was also a way to get to know the men in the fraternity their big brother came from. It was a whole new network of friends.
They were warned that it wasn’t a dating service and that they should treat their big brothers like siblings. Her mom told her that her big sister had been her best friend in college and that she didn’t know how she’d have graduated without her help. It was also the reason she was a borderline raging alcoholic during college.
Honestly, Emily didn’t want to know what her mom got up to in college. Her mom did tell her that it helped get all that out of her system before she met her father.
If the stories were true, her father was no saint himself.
He paid for all his extras while in school by playing poker, which he’d taught her, just in case.
Something else she learned was the importance of pledge ranking. Being at the top of your class meant getting the first pick of rooms and other perks. It was based on several factors, grades being a big part of it. They wouldn’t start to see how they ranked until midterms.
It did mean that the girls who agreed to be big sisters got to pick their little sister based on their overall ranking in the house. It was expected that each sister would eventually volunteer to be a mentor to a pledge while in school. Most of the upperclassmen had already been big sisters, and the two top-ranked sisters who hadn’t yet been were Crystal and Taylor.
Every girl wanted Crystal to be their big sister because she was president of the sorority and had recently been named president of the Panhellenic Council. That was a remarkable achievement for someone who was only a junior. Your big sister also picked out who your big brother would be. If anyone knew the best frat boys, it would be her.
◊◊◊
Crystal was about to go to dinner, where she would have to select her little sister. She was torn between two of them. Wren, who looked to be the top pledge and would need the most guidance, or Emily, whom she personally liked the best. The only thing that stopped her from simply picking Emily was that Taylor chose second. The thought of Taylor and Wren together gave her pause. Taylor didn’t need someone to encourage her.
Crystal went downstairs and found Lars chatting up two of her sisters.
“Take it down a notch, big boy. Tonight is about your new little sister,” Crystal said as she chased off the girls.
“I can’t believe you asked me to be a big brother. Am I allowed to know who it’ll be? I’m really hoping it’s Wren.”
“If it is, I’ll expect you to keep it in your pants.”
Lars acted wounded.
“Cut the act. I know you can be a decent guy when you try,” Crystal said as a grin touched the corners of her mouth.
“You could help me stay on the straight and narrow.”
Crystal had hooked up with Lars right before she started dating Matt. He’d been a nice distraction, but they were just friends. Neither of them had gotten a romantic vibe, but he wasn’t shy about checking in to see if she wanted some stress relief.