Gia wasn’t being modest, mentioning how ridiculous she thought she looked to her friend. She knew she was no troll, even though she was nothing like most of the girls on CPU’s campus. She was athletic, with a curvy shape, decent face, and an olive complexion both Mimi and Claire had claimed to envy, particularly at the beginning of the semester when she maintained her tan longer than her two friends. She’d caught the attention of several classmates, guys and girls alike, but she dressed down most of the time only bothering with makeup and her hair when her roommates insisted she come along with them to social events she’d otherwise avoid.
But Gia wasn’t the skin-showing sort. She didn’t like being on display and suspected that was exactly why her friends had bullied her into the outfit. They wanted her to stretch her wings. They wanted her to live outside her comfort zone for once.
“Are you very high?” Claire asked Gia, looking her over as though she needed to confirm how very wrong Gia’s assertion was. Claire nodded to Mimi when she continued down onto the courtyard. “You look hot. See?” She nodded to a guy Gia knew from her Accounting 101 class, wondering why he was staring at her like that.
Claire led Gia down the steps, side eye attention on the Accounting guy. “He’s cute and keeps looking at you.”
“Because I look…”
“Because you’re hot, mama.” Claire fluffed her hair, giving Gia another once over. “Own that shit.”
Gia tried to play along. She tried her best to own whatever shit Claire suggested was hers, but as the night wore on, and the liquor flowed, all Gia felt was an increasing need to be out of the ridiculous outfit and in her too-big CPU tee reading over the latest issues of ESPN she could probably quote verbatim by now.
“That’s not water, is it?” She heard, turning to see Kona Hale next to her.
“Hey,” she offered, looking into her glass. “No. I think it’s beer.”
“You haven’t drunk any?”
“Nah, not this glass,” she admitted, putting the nearly full cup on the step at her feet. Accounting guy had grabbed it for her, but abandoned Gia when a group of cuter, less modestly dressed girls converged on the courtyard.
“Somebody gave it to me. I wasn’t thirsty.” She looked next to Kona, frowning when she didn’t spot his girl. Kona and Keira were always with each other and Gia found it weird that she wasn’t there now. “Where’s Keira?”
“Her dorm. I think she’s getting sick.” He downed what remained of his drink and tossed it in the trash to his left. “I’m about to go over there and bug her.”
“You played well tonight,” she told him, arms folded as she stood next to Kona, scanning the crowd. It was late, and the release of mid-term stress was in full effect. Drunk sorority girls, Mimi and Claire among them danced on top of picnic tables, flashing a little skin as they downed shots. Several groups of guys looked on with pleasure, chatting and occasionally cat-calling for one lewd thing or another Gia tried to ignore.
“Better than last week, that’s for sure,” Kona said, his voice cracking before he cleared his throat.
Gia winced, hoping Kona didn’t think that’s where she’d been trying to direct their conversation. The week before something had set Kona off. Something that had gotten him benched. She didn’t want to mention it again and then couldn’t mention anything at all when she spotted Luka sitting in the center of a crowd of players, a keg next to them as they sat around the small fire pit near the back gate. The light from the fire lit up his face and something belly deep in Gia twisted and coiled and must have made itself present on her features from the way Kona laughed at her.
“Damn. My twin always does that to you.”
“What?” she said, widening her eyes as she watched Kona. “I…I mean…”
“Easy…” He waved a hand when Gia opened her mouth again, ready to start explaining away her ridiculous gawking. “Don’t worry, nobody sees it but me,” he confessed. Kona watched Gia as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, praying the blush over her face wasn’t visible in the low light around them.
“I don’t know…”
“It’s fine,” he continued, nodding to a few girls as they walked by. “Luka’s a little clueless about females…well, most females.” When Gia looked at Kona again, frowning this time, he clarified.