The Madonna, The Virgin, and The Whore

Chapter Eight

ERIN

I could have killed her.

It took about an hour for me to notice that Lexi hadn't come back. That's when Will suggested that we split up and look for her. We went in different directions, searching the stacks, and roaming up and down every aisle in the two-story library. It took another hour for us to realize that she'd actually ditched us.

I'm not gonna lie. My initial reaction was to just leave her. She was the one who decided to take off. She was the one who didn't have a key to my room. And she was the one who wasn't answering the numerous texts that I'd sent her. But then I thought about how upset Mary would be if Lexi didn't make it on that plane, and how it'd break her heart if she wasn't there to say goodbye to our dad. I wasn't one to let Mary down.

"You know she went looking for a party. That's all she kept talking about," I grumbled as Will and I headed outside. Looking around, I half hoped to spot her somewhere in the quad, but I knew Lexi, she had too much energy to just sit around and wait around for us; she'd definitely go looking for something a little more stimulating.

"What about that flyer she had? Wasn't that for the Omega Psi's? She's probably there." Will began heading in the direction of the notoriously wild frat house and I pulled on his shirt to stop him.

"Will, you don't have to spend your night trekking from frat house to frat house with me looking for her. That's not fair."

He looked down at me and half his mouth rose in a sad smile. "I know, but its Lexi." He let out an uncomfortable laugh and started walking again. "I don't want her to get in any sort of trouble."

He was right. Lexi was a magnet for trouble, yet that never seemed to stop her. "Remember when she was in 11th grade and she called me from that gas station crying when we were home for Christmas break? She said some guy she had been hooking up with left her there." I let out a short laugh and shook my head. "That girl is nothing but drama."

Will frowned and ducked his head. "Yeah."

When we arrived at the Omega Psi house the place was a disaster. Kegs had been thrown out onto the lawn and I walked by at least two people puking their guts out in the bushes. The music was cranked up to an almost obscene volume, and the entryway was jammed with bodies trying to get in and out.

"Tell me we don't have to go in there," I whined, looking up at the seedy house and scowling with disgust. This was exactly the type of place I normally avoided. Nothing productive was going on in there. People were just killing brain cells and acting like a bunch of idiots as they tried to get laid. The whole thing was kind of gross, like a Petri dish of desperation.

"If we want to find Lexi we do." Will took hold of my elbow and steered me through the crowd.

The music swallowed me up as we slowly shuffled further inside and the bass line invaded my head and made my brain pound. The house was jam packed with people trying to make their way into the other three rooms. Guys had their shirts off, girls were scantily clad, and I stuck out like a sore thumb in my outfit. I cursed Lexi in my head yet again.

The foyer was congested and we weren't getting anywhere. It was smoky, and hot, and the room smelled a little bit like urine. I reached back and twisted up my hair, not caring what I looked like at that point, and just wanting to get this over with.

I tugged Will closer to me and shouted in his ear. "We got to split up!" He started to pull back and shake his head but I tugged him towards me again. "It's too big of a party and I want to get this over with."

He looked down, studying me, and thinking it over for a moment. "Fine, but you check down here. I'll look upstairs. Let's meet out front in fifteen minutes. Text me if you run into a problem." He squeezed my arm and I nodded up at him, watching as he turned around and forced his way through the crowd towards the stairs. I turned back in the direction of the first room, pushing my way through the people around me and breaking through the swarm of bodies.

I finally got a little more space to breathe in the next room. Set up as makeshift club; groups of people were dancing, desperately grinding themselves up against strangers in hope of a little affection. I prayed that Lexi wasn't one of them. Letting out a heavy sigh, I began to weave my way through the sweaty bodies, knocking off more than one hand that tried to grab onto me, searching the dance floor for Lexi.

When I reached the other side of the room, I gave up and pushed my way into the kitchen. The music wasn't as loud in there and clusters of people were hanging out around the two kegs set up in the middle of the room. I tried to find Lexi, but instead spotted Jeff Richards with a group of his friends. I quickly turned and started for the other room, hoping to make myself invisible.

Jeff and I had dated for four months last fall. He was one of the top tennis players on campus, and I was assigned to write a feature on him for the paper. I thought he was charming and certainly good looking, and I liked that he had a goal. He put a lot of focus into his game and I admired that. When he asked me out I hesitated at first, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. Eventually I caved and let him buy me dinner.

Things were good in the beginning, but then they started to shift. Whenever we'd make out, he'd start pushing for things to go farther. He also got irrationally jealous of my relationship with Will, and when I broke up with him he called me an "emotionally-stunted virgin" in front half the quad. Needless to say, I didn't have any desire to see him again.

As I stepped into the next room, the familiar aroma of pot wafted over me and I was convinced I'd find Lexi in here. The room was dark and decorated with some black light posters on the wall, and mellow music drifted through an old stereo system in the back. A group of people were lounging around on some large pillows scattered about the floor, passing an enormous bong around. I started to back up, ready to retrace my steps, when I bumped right into Jeff standing behind me.

"Well if it isn't Erin Callaghan." He leered down at me, wearing a drunken smile. "I don't remember you ever wanting to come to a party when we were dating."

I started to make my way around him, but he stepped out to the side and cut me off. "How've you been Erin?" His eyes scrolled down my body and then back up to my face and he not-so-subtly licked his lips. "You're looking good."

"You too Jeff." I nodded, stepping back and hoping to God that there was another way out of this room. I turned around but he slinked up next to me.

"Maybe you and I should revisit things..." He raised his hand and brushed it up against my arm but I slapped it away.

"Revisit things? Are you crazy? You publicly humiliated me. I don't think we need to revisit anything!" I stepped away from him but he wasn't done.

"Come on Erin!" He ran his hand down my arm and curled his fingers around my wrist. "You know you didn't try. You were focused on everything but giving us a chance. I've never dated anyone so closed off before." He tugged my stiff body closer to his and stuffed his nose into my hair. "I wanna break down your walls."

"Ugh!" I groaned, shaking myself free. "Are you kidding me?"

Some people from the pillows behind us started to snicker. This was becoming a scene. Jeff's face changed and he scowled down at me.

"You really are a cold c*nt. You know that, right?"

My whole body tightened and the tiny hairs on my skin rose in embarrassment. I felt the anger coursing inside me and knew he deserved every ounce of it. "A cold c*nt? Because I don't want to sleep with you? I guess it never crossed your mind that I'm just not attracted to you, or that you swallowed half my face every time I've kissed you!" Someone let out a loud snort from behind me and a few others kids laughed.

I shook my head and stepped around him. "Someone like you could never break down my walls."

Walking back into the kitchen, I pulled out my phone and texted Will. Lexi wasn't anywhere and I was ready to get the hell out of this place.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I hate censoring myself, but certain words set off Wattpad censors and can hurl your book into the "mature" genre faster than you can blink an eye. So I apologize for the censorship and can assure you it doesn't exist in the real version of the story ;)