Moose and Goose

Chapter Seven

Nine o'clock strikes, and while almost all of the sorority sisters are scrambling to finish preparing to leave, Judith and Mary are standing in front of the bathroom vanity downstairs. Judith is watching her curl her hair.

Judith is donning a denim romper with a zipper down the middle, and Mary is wearing a shamrock green blouse and a jean skirt cut short.

"Before I unplug it, do you need to use it," she asks Judy, and she shakes her head. "You sure? I have nothing against your 'do, but some people might not like it."

"Well, I'm not here to please anyone." With that, Mary tugs the cord until the metal prongs slide out of the outlet, and she sits the hot curling wand on the marble counter.

"So, how do I look?" She fluffs the bottom of her hair with her blue eyes glued to her reflection. "I was going for the Farrah Fawcett look."

"It's so spot on that they should recast you as Jill Munroe," she tells her with her hands on her shoulders, staring at her reflection. When Mary begins to smile, she does the same.

"You're, like, the best friend I've ever had." She turns to face Judith, wrapping her arms around her for a short hug. "Let's go cut a rug with some seniors. I wanna show you around their building too."

They exit the sorority and stroll down the grassy pathway leading them to the back of the campus. Mary and Judith follow the soft music, the rhythmic thumping of Headlights by the Whispers, to a crowd of people dancing and talking outside of the mighty building that is Alpha Psi Delta.

"There won't be any alcohol or drugs, right," Judith yells over the music, and Mary chuckles.

"If there was, I wouldn't be invited, silly. I'm nineteen," Mary responds to her just as loudly, but despite her confidence, Judith feels her gut twisting nervously and a voice in her head telling her to turn around.

Ignoring both warnings, she continues up the steps with Mary at her side, and upon entering the fraternity, Judith's ambushed by the smell of marijuana.

"Yeah, I'm going back to your room," she announces to her, but before she can turn around, Mary takes her hand.

"We just got here, Judy, relax," she tells her, then guides her through the crowd of people blocking the entrance. She and Mary notice a flight of stairs and two arches; one to their left where the kitchen is and one to their right where the large living room of more people is.

A petite, brunette girl giggles on her way upstairs, and a blond student is following her with a faint grin on his face.

"Well, if it isn't the blonde Mary Tyler Moore," someone yells from the living room. They turn to the sound and notice a tall man in blue jeans and a shiny shirt, his hairy chest exposed, walking toward them. "You actually came."

"Well, I made a promise, and in case you don't know yet, I don't break my promises." She releases Judith's hand to embrace him, and Judith steps to the side, wrapping her arms around her chest.

"So who's your friend," he asks when they pull away from each other. He and Mary stare at Judith.

"Oh, she's the girl that I told you about. Her name is Judith, but I call her Judy. Judy, this is Derek Oliver, the stud that I told you about," she introduces them.

"It's nice to put a face behind the name," she says to him with a short forced smile. He extends his left hand to her.

"I agree." When they shake hands, he turns to Mary, and Judith folds her arms. "Let me get you a drink and show you around back. The pool is open."

"Groovy!" She looks at her friend, and Derek follows her gaze. "Will you be okay alone?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," she stammers and takes slow steps toward the arch of the living room. "I'll be – dancing – where the music is. Have fun."