Page 28 of Frat House Fling
With a sigh, I dove in. Tomorrow was Sunday—it had probably been foolish of me to think I’d get a day to myself. That meant I’d be up late tonight studying. I sighed as I went over to the sink and started rinsing dishes. Oh well. Who needed sleep? More time studying meant less time trying not to roll off of twin sheets sliding around on a king-size mattress.
When I got back to my room, I wasn’t quite as exhausted as I thought I’d be. So it was time to hit the books. My class wasn’t going very well. Professor Whitmore was great, but there was so much reading. When I could, I preferred to do the readingstwice. Once to get the gist of the material and the second time to take notes. But I rarely had the time for that kind of thing.
I worked at my desk until well after one o’clock. By that time, I was beat. I shut off my laptop and closed my book. Then my phone buzzed.
No one I knew would be texting me at this time of the night—unless Bennett or Grant decided they wanted a glass of water or a bedtime story.
I thumbed my phone on and stared at the message that popped up.
Why are you up so late?
I frowned, examining the number the message had been sent from. It wasn’t a local area code. I’d never even heard of it before. Was it spam?
But the sender knew I was up. That meant it was someone who’d seen the light under my door or the light in my window from outside.
Who is this?Maybe one of the guys had a second phone number that I didn’t recognize.
A fellow night owl.
That didn’t narrow it down. We were on a university campus. Lots of people were up late.Is this Theo?I texted.
You can call me Night Owl.That wasn’t confirmation or denial.What should I call you?
How about my name?I should’ve ended the conversation and climbed into bed, but for some reason, I didn’t. Maybe curiosity? Maybe stupidity. Who knew. If it turned out I was chatting with a Nigerian Prince, I’d be kicking myself. Not that I had much money to steal.
Nah. That’s who you are in the daytime. After midnight, we become different people.
I don’t know who you are by day or by night.
That’s okay. So who are you? Pick a nocturnal animal.
For a moment I couldn’t think of any. Then a few came to mind. Raccoons. Possums. Bats. Owls—no wait, he’d taken that.
A bat?
I like it. I’ll call you Batty for short.
I couldn’t help but laugh.That’s longer.
Up is down, black is white… nothing’s the same after midnight.
If you say so.Maybe it was my fatigue, but his lack of logic was somehow making sense to me.So how do you use your secret after-midnight identity? For good or evil?
Depends on my mood. Both can be fun.
Who was this guy?Are you in Rho Kappa Alpha?He had to be, didn’t he?
Not sure they let owls join.This guy was good at avoiding answering.
Suddenly, his good and evil idea took hold of me. I’d been good all day, why not be a little bad now?I hope you’re not in the frat.
Why do you say that, my little bat friend?
Because the men here are awful. They’re all stuck up, arrogant jerks. And ugly, too.That last part definitely wasn’t true. As for the rest of it, it depended on the guy.
Really? Seems like they’re pretty popular on campus.
They’re all losers who think they’re big shots.