The Wanderers

Chapter 6

I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to party. I rolled over to check on Josie, but she was already gone and the door was wide open. We are definitely going to have to work on some ground rules.

Rule no. 1 – Don't leave the door open.

I got up and made my bed and put fresh sheets on Josie's knowing she wouldn't do it herself. Then I headed out into the hall to try and find her. I passed an open door at the end of the hall and heard someone call my name. "Ella!"

I stopped and turned around. "Oh, hey Jack Have you seen Josie?"

He pulled open the door to his room and there was Josie, sitting on his bed. "It's about time you woke up," she whined, taking a sip from a red plastic cup. "Want some?" she offered, holding the cup out to me.

"No. I just came to see where you were."

"I ran into Jack in the lobby and invited him to come with us to the party tonight," Josie said with a sly grin.

"I'm not much for parties, but Josie insisted I go," Jack said shyly.

I'm sure she did.

"Well I'm going to take a quick shower," I told Josie.

"Okay hurry up. I wanna get there before all the Jell-O shots are gone," Josie replied.

I walked back to my room and collected my things for the shower. I still had to share a bathroom but at least here there was more than one shower. Hanging my robe on the outside shower stall, I stepped in and closed the curtain behind me. I let the shower run for a few minutes, allowing the steam to fill up my little area. A hot shower was what I needed right now. And it felt so good.

By the time I returned to my room Josie was back and throwing clothes all over the floor. "Uh! I have nothing to wear!" she groaned.

"I highly doubt that," I said, dodging a flying blouse.

"Can you help me?" she pleaded.

"Let me get dressed first then I'll help you find something to wear." I pulled a pair of jeans out of the dresser and a cute black top my mom had bought me last year for my birthday. Then I helped Josie pick an outfit. She decided on a black mini skirt, her knee-high leather boots, and a red top.

Turning back and forth she checked herself out in the full-length mirror. "Perfect. I'm ready."

"I still have to dry my hair," I said, pointing to the dripping wet mop on top of my head.

"Ugh! That will take forever," she moaned. "I'm going to go keep Jack company while you finish getting ready." She winked at me and headed down the hall.

"Don't forget to close...the door," I said too late. I sighed and walked over to close it myself. I plugged in my hair dryer and began the process of drying my long, thick, wavy hair. When I was done, I smoothed it over with a flat iron and applied some make-up. Then I met Josie and Jack in his room. "Okay, I'm ready."

"Finally," Josie whined, jumping off the bed and linking her arm in mine. Jack closed the door behind us and followed a few steps back.

"Where is this place, again?" I asked.

"Not far, just across the quad," Jack said. He seemed to know his way around so we let him take the lead. It wasn't that hard to spot once we got closer. Students were coming from every direction and all seemed to be heading to the same place.

The fraternity house was huge, like a mansion. My stomach did a tiny flip flop and I paused in the middle of the walkway. "What's wrong?" Josie asked.