Chapter 9

Standing at the door, I'm surprised to see Mindy. I notice her hands are occupied with books and papers as I take her presence in . Her brunette shoulder- length hair was still wavy so based off of my limited knowledge of hair, I'm guessing it's naturally that way. She has a slim figure with a look of innocence and good girl written all over her.

"Hey," I speak out, "What are you doing here?" I move to the side of the door, gesturing for her to come inside.

"I'm the event planner for Omega Chi," she pauses,"We are planning for the upcoming charity event right?" Her eyes gazing further into the fraternity house , hoping to find more people.

"Oh, uh, yeah we are , well we aren't , " I say slowly. From the look on her face, she seems extremely confused. "They decided to watch a movie instead, so now they're watching Mean Girls."

"A movie? The event is in three days!" s he shrieks, rubbing her forehead with her hand in stress.

She walks in a bit more, stumbling on all the shoes at the front entrance that the girls had left earlier. She drops the books and papers she's carrying. Crouching down, I help her pick up some of the papers as she grabs her books. I hear laughter coming from the living room, they're most likely laughing at Mindy's clumsiness, but she doesn't seem to notice.

"Thank you," she says, stand ing up with a smile, "I should go, the events in three days, it's going to take me all night."

"Wait," I stop her before she turns for the door, "I can help...I mean , I wasn't enjoying the movie anyway." Actually, I wasn't enjoying Brett and Jamie cuddling on the sofa, but it's basically the same thing."We can, uh, work in my room upstairs." I suggest. More obnoxious sounds of laughter from the living room, echo throughout the halls.

"Or we can go to the Starbucks on campus? At least it will be quiet there," she laughs.

"Alright, let's go." I say before grabbing my coat off the hook. I don't bother saying bye to anyone, as they're all caught up in the movie. They wouldn't care regardless.

***

As we enter the store, a slight grin appears on my face at the view of multiple girls ordering their lattes. How typical.

I follow Mindy's lead as she sits down at the table in the corner of the room, placing her dark green bag onto the wooden chair. I sit across from her, taking off my coat. I was going to be here for awhile so might as well get comfy.

"So what charity are we raising money for?" I ask, once she is adjusted.

"ALS association," she replies," I was thinking about doing something different than the ice bucket challenge."

"That's cool, so where are we hosting it?"

"Well, I was going to ask the campus administrators if we can host it near the park. The rest of the sorority doesn't really have much input they want to share so I thought m aybe we can set up little games like they have at carnivals?"

"Stuffed animals and stuff? That's a great idea. It would be fun, and people would pay to play the games." I say. Mindy truly is one smart girl, no wonder she's used for her notes so much.

"Okay, I'll call in now to ask if we can reserve it for Monday ," she says, whipping out her phone.

"Alright, you want something to eat?" I ask, looking up at the delicious biscuits covered by the plastic glass at the front.

"No, no, it's okay, thanks." She replies.

Mindy is a skinny girl, and skinny girls need to eat more, in my opinion. I only have a couple of dollars on me, but that's enough for a muffin or something.

I buy a blueberry muffin for her and Iced Coffee for myself. Being on my own in college, has made a big impact on me. I remember when I was little and my dad always ordered my food for me, I was a shy kid. Ordering things on my own is just strange. I shake off the bits of memor ies of my father trying to resurface .

I smile at Mindy placing my beverage and her muffin on the table. Her phone was no longer at her ears, so I'm only assuming she's booked the reservations. "What did they say?"

"They said yes, why wouldn't they? Greek fraternities hosting a charity event? They said they loved the idea." She smiles in excitement, I smile back, her positive energy radiating off of her. I push the muffin plate to her with my index finger, and wait until she acknowledges that it's for her.

"Wow, thanks." Her smile is brighter than before. She stares at me with suspicion in her eyes.

"What?" I laugh, feeling like I'm being suspected in a murder case.

"Nothing, I guess it's just kinda weird, you being here helping me with this."

"How's it weird?"

"Most of the guys in Kappa Alpha Order are... well, assholes." She nervously takes a bite out of her muffin, as she waits for my reaction.

"I'm not close to all those guys, which is weird... I should be, right? How are we going to become 'brothers' when we don't know each other's names."

"I thought you would lecture me or something," she admits.

I take a sip from my iced coffee before answering. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, introductions are only fair, technically this is our first conversation." She grins.

"Why did you want to plan the event? I'm sure you could've spent your Friday night more productively."

"That's my job as an event planner, I find it fun to do."

"How are you so smart?" I joke.

"I don't know how to answer this one..." She takes a tiny bite out of her muffin.

"One more. Why are you in a sorority, if you're only an event planner? What's the point?"

The cheeriness attitude drops out of Mindy's expression immediately. She slowly puts her muffin down, resting her hands gently on her lap. I'm not sure if I should ask her anything else. I wouldn't have asked if I thought it was a personal question. She turns her head, pretending to look at the menu board, but I know she's really trying to find a distraction, to keep the burning tears shining in her eyes, from spilling.

"It's getting late, we should get going... , " Mindy sniffs, as she stands up, packing her papers and books into her bag.

The tension between us is different, it 's no longer friendly strangers, planning for an event. We're just strangers now.

"I'll walk you home, it's dark out," I command, more than ask. I've watched too many documentaries on serial killers and rapists to let a girl like Mindy walk home by herself. I guess you can say I'm paranoid, or overprotective about these type of things, it just seems unsafe.

"I don't live on campus," Mindy curtly replies.

"Where do you live?"

"Not too far from here... I can walk home, I'll be fine. Thanks for helping out with the event planning and thanks for the muffin , " she says, already walking past me . I try to shake off her sudden change of mood and watch as she fades into the streets. Why can't she just let me walk her home?