Chapter 4: Sisters Unite

When Carnerie and Kristina got home, they discussed her progress and agreed that she could do without too many parties with new people where she could get overwhelmed. Carrie stifled a yawn.

“Time to hit the sack.”

As they trudged up the stairs, the phone rang. Carrie reached the top first and dashed into her room. “Hello?”

She winked at Kris who had followed her. “You weren’t even there.” Her tone was disappointed. “Of course.” She glanced at Kris and laughed. “I think so.” As she answered the caller’s questions, her face remained clear. At one point her eyes clouded momentarily. “No,” she said. Then, “Sure.”

She put the cordless phone on the pillow and told Kris that the caller wanted to speak with her.

“Me?” she raised an eyebrow and picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Hi Kristi, how was your evening?”

It was the guy from before.

For some strange reason her heart skipped a beat. “It was a lot of fun,” she responded cautiously, puzzled by the way the mere sound of his voice affected her.

“Sorry I couldn’t make the welcoming party. I was rather, uh, distracted.” He gave a soft laugh.

Probably with a girl, Kristi thought, feeling an unprecedented twinge of jealousy and annoyance. She turned to ask Carrie who it was on the phone, but her friend had stepped out. Surprised by her unusual thoughts, she put on a casual tone. “That’s all right.” Pause. “I’m sorry but who am I speaking to?”

The caller gave his same sexy laugh and said, “Gary. I’m Gary Vaughn.”

At the sound of his laugh, her heart beat faster. “Oh. Hi.”

“Oh,” Vaughn said.

“What?”

“Ohio, get it?”

“Oh,” she chuckled, amused.

“P-Q-R-S.”

“Hey, Carrie says that too.”

“It’s a pretty small world,” dismissing the coincidence lightly.

“Yeah.” She paused again. “Tell me, how do you know my girl, Carnerie?”

“We are old acquaintances,” he said slowly as if testing the words as he said them. She could almost hear the smile in his voice and felt slightly disappointed that the gorgeous-sounding guy was or used to be Carrie’s. That meant he was off limits.

“How do know me?” was her next question.

“I know everything about you.”

Whoa. What did he mean by that? Kristi could have sworn that his tone had changed acutely and her mouth had practically gone dry.

They went silent for a moment.

Needless to say, she was baffled by her body’s responses while talking to Gary.

“I have invited you and the girls to an all-nighter, two nights from now,” he said lightening his tone again, breaking the tense silence.

She automatically assumed he meant the society girls. “Really? That’s nice. I’m happy to accept, but I will have Carnerie check back with you for confirmation on numbers. I look forward to meeting you.” Since he claimed to know her very well, she hoped he might have some answers.

“Likewise, Kristina.”

Her heart didn’t just jump, it did a whole jig at the sound of her name off his lips- even through the phone. The hairs on her arms tingled ever so slightly.

“Bye,” she said as coolly as she could muster. What was wrong with her?

“Later,” he replied.

Gary put down the phone and smiled to himself. Leaning back in the recliner, he drifted off into a dream.

A few moments later he woke up and whistled for his dog. After the direction that dream had taken, he needed this early morning run like a cold shower.

****

“How do I look?”

“Wow, Kristi!”

“Stun-ning!” Miga complimented. The other girls agreed.

“Oh come one,” she flushed. “You all look so good.”

She wasn’t lying. Looking at them, all sitting in her room at Gamma Phi Delta, her fellow members had all subtly matched their outfits. Each trio had a sorority color to wear and they then played around with the shades and cuts. Lou, Miga and Evy wore different shades of dark green, they also wore similar hair clips and v-necked t-shirts. Vicki, Carrie and Lisle wore deep red differently in their skinny jeans, tops and shrugs. Demise, Tara and Ronni wore the grey in their shirts and hats. Ronda, Sandra and Emly showed off indigo in skirts, tank tops and scarves. Kristi chose to wear white, an indigo top and a white hat. The last minute shopping had paid off.

“You all look smashing,” a motherly woman said from the doorway with an approving grin.

“Thanks Mrs. Jaysen,” the sisters chorused.

“I love the way you matched your stuff together. Not too obvious but it still screams Gamma Phi Delta.” Still smiling, she turned to Kristina and said, “I can’t say it enough, welcome back dear.”

“Thank you… even for keeping my room dusted.”

“It was no trouble at all.” The day she had been keeping it cleaned for had finally arrived and that was all that mattered.

Carrie had assured Kris that this barbecue was going to be just close friends because it was a fraternity gathering. She knew everyone who was going to be there, so she didn’t have to worry about meeting new people. If she had happened to forget anyone, Carrie had added cautiously they already knew her story, so there would be no need to explain herself.

That last part had brought a wave of relief over Kris. She felt bad every time she had to explain why she gave people blank looks when they smiled at her. It wasn’t as though her medical conditions were broadcast all over school so some people had no idea that she had lost her memory and was slowly getting it back. They all knew her as the smart and pretty girl from Gamma Phi who had been away from school and had finally returned.

In a quiet moment of reflection on the way to the house where the party was being hosted, Kristina figured it was a good thing that she wasn’t getting too much attention because of the accident. All the hype had already faded during the time she’d been in a coma. It definitely would have overwhelmed her to be on the receiving end of countless get well cards and flowers, which she was told had flooded in for weeks from all over the place.

Because she didn’t have to worry about new people and strange faces, Kris was looking forward to the time with her friends. She had a lot of catching up to do.