Read Underneath It All for Free Online Page B

Raven, but that might be bad advice from a medical standpoint. Alcohol retards kidney and liver function if you’re drinking enough to get fucked up, which is the original idea…so I’m not trying to find out if it’s bad for me now that I’m sick,” I refuted.
    “Agata, just shut the fuck up, get up, and dress like you’re going to meet your ex-boyfriend.” Tats pulled me up from the bed, pulled my t-shirt over my head, and replaced it with a leopard print loose-fitting blouse combined with a leather mini skirt.
    We arrived at the frat house where thuds and thumps could be heard vibrating all around the place. Speakers blasted around us the moment we stepped foot through the front door. The heavy smell of alcohol swarmed and mixed with the scent of other substances I was sure weren’t legal.
    Hunter, Apple’s boyfriend, met us at the door and picked her up to kiss her.
    “You all want anything to drink?” he asked. We nodded our heads and he went and got us drinks. We were just moving our hips to the beat of the song, to get in the mood.
    As the night went on, the house continued to acquire more people. We started to mingle around and definitely had some fun.
    I bumped into Monica Grant when I went to the kitchen. They call her Big Sister, and she’s a very nice active member of a sorority.
    “Agata! Wow, the student-faculty secretary, so glad you showed up!”
    “I heard that alcohol may help temporarily relieve cold and flu so here I am!” I shouted into her ear.
    “Grab as many as you can!” she shouted back. “Uh-oh, look at that,” she said over my shoulder and pouted her lips.
    My eyes scanned the dim house, noticing the thick smoke that filled the air, and then saw a familiar face sitting on the couch…Reeve. He was not alone, he was with Eve; she was one of the Big Sisters too.
    I went to the counter and grabbed another cup.
    “The rumors are true then, your dean and Eve are dating. You know, they were spotted by one of our neophytes in a restaurant downtown having dinner.” Monica continued talking, but I was only half listening to her while my eyes bored holes through Reeve and Eve.
    I hated their names. They sounded so alike, so in sync. They looked good together too.
    “It’s no surprise to us at all. Reeve is an alumnus and part of his dating scheme is that he only dates sorority girls.”
    “Oh, I see. Only sorority girls.” I nodded my head and downed another cup of beer.
    “Well, have fun tonight, yeah? And don’t get into too much trouble.”
    “I can’t promise you anything,” I said with a wink. I called Monica just before she could get out of the kitchen. “Could you email me your New Member Form? I want in.”
     
    ***
     
    I got the New Member Form a couple of days later. I immediately signed it and turned it in. I didn’t tell my friends about my plan. It would definitely sound ridiculous to them since it already sounded absurd to me.
    There were eight Pledges. The first task was to sit in a darkened room blindfolded for about four hours with large speakers playing “Down With the Sickness” nonstop.
    I went back to the dorm lightheaded with wobbly legs, tired, drained, and plain dizzy.
    “Gats.”
    “Gats.”
    “Gats!” Tatiana shouted right into my ear. “Are you deaf? I was calling out your name repeatedly!”
    “Huh?”
    “Gah! Your cold made you a stupid deaf! Where have you been, for Pete’s sake? We’ve been looking for you around the campus.” Apple asked.
    “I told you I’ve got some errands to do. Please guys, I’m tired, so stop nagging me, okay?”
    They just looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. I went to bed that night hearing “Down With the Sickness” in my sleep until it echoed in my dreams.
    The next task given to us was to shout to the entire campus the name of our crush ten times. They exactly didn’t have any idea how hard it was for me, but I did it anyway.
    So I stood across the football field while the Actives were