The Homecoming Benefactor

4 | the chalking

The Chalking was the official start of homecoming week. Each team got a square of pavement around the quad, and they had 24 hours to turn it into the best chalk drawing they could produce. The college hired a DJ and a catering company to service the event in the middle of the quad. People brought couches, air mattresses, and even tents to camp out on the quad and keep their spot.

There was also a lot of alcohol.

It was a bit warmer today, and I wanted to look cute in the off chance that I saw Bryce at the quad party. I straightened my hair and put on the biggest pair of fake eyelashes I had. It felt like spiders were clinging to my eyelids, but I had to make sacrifices to keep Bryce interested. I wore Daisy Dukes and a Miller Lite crop top that my older sister, Lucy, had passed down to me after graduating from college. Did I like beer? No, but guys did. My final touch was my pair of brown cowgirl boots, which I had gotten my freshman year of high school, yet still somehow fit like a glove.

Since Lambda Xi had ghosted us, we basically just used whatever men we could find to help us set up. I tried to text Bryce to see if he would come, but he wasn't answering. Maybe his frat wouldn't let him show up?

I decided to head to the quad around seven that night. As I opened the door, I noticed an envelope and a bag of charcoal on my door mat. I took them inside and opened the letter.

Francie,

I gave you charcoal to outline the chalk design tonight, it actually works really well. I'm going to try my best to be there and help you with it.

Today's letter is going to be short and sweet: everything is not what it seems. Question everything. Take what people say with a grain of salt. Don't let anyone trick you.

Love,
Your Secret Admirer

This letter was far more puzzling than the previous two. I didn't know whether to focus on how ominous the letter was or the fact that this person said "love" first; the other letters said "from." If this really was Bryce, this had to mean he felt the same way. And, if it wasn't Bryce... who could it be?

I needed help getting this bag of charcoal out of the dorm, so I called Bryce. It went straight to voicemail. My next attempt was Araceli, hoping that Timmy would bring his truck, but she told me that they were getting dinner together before coming to the Chalking. Devi was in Atlanta and not coming back until Tuesday. The only person left to call was Nick.

It wasn't that I didn't want to see Nick, but I wasn't ready to hear what he had to say about my date with Bryce. I never figured out a way to tell him before he found out from other people. For some reason, Nick had it out for Bryce, but something in my mind was blocking me for asking why. I guess this was the opportunity for that.

About ten minutes after I had called, there was a knock on my door. When I opened it, Nick was standing with his arms crossed, a stern look on his face. "You weren't gonna say anything about Thursday?"

"I knew you wouldn't like it," I replied, letting him in my room. "Why don't you like him, anyway?"

"We went to high school together, Nick sighed, walking into my bedroom. "He acts like he came from somewhere fancy, but his parents live a few blocks over from mine. There was one time when I was a junior, he was a senior, and he leaked a freshman's nudes to the whole county. Like, even her parents. He was a douche before that, but this girl was 14. She's good friends with my sister, Reese. We kept her at our house for a while because people were coming to her house and egging it."

I could tell that this had really been eating at him. I asked, "is there any chance he's changed?"

He paused, running one of his hands through his shaggy brown hair. I couldn't tell if he was shocked that I asked or just stopped up by rehashing that story. Normally, when people had pain in their eyes, they looked away, but Nick stared at me the whole time. Something felt different in the pit of my stomach, and it conflicted with how I had felt about Bryce before.