Chapter 2

Tim crouched behind a row of ornamental shrubs just outside the Tri-Sigma sorority house. His palms were sweaty, his fingers trembling as they clutched a crumpled piece of notebook paper. The crude floor plan drawn on it was shaky at best, a product of secondhand information he'd gleaned from a handful of Omega Omega Kappa brothers who had said they had been inside, one saying he was at a mixer party and the other saying his ex-girlfriend lived there though he really hadn’t paid much attention to the places layout. When they’d asked what Tim needed it for, he only gave a big stupid grin and told the pair it was for a secret mission. They hadn’t cared to press further, only briefly talking about it and Tim when the short blonde was out of ear shot.

“Think he is going to go perv on the girls?” one of them asked, while the other replied wide eyed and with a shake of his head.

“He better not, campus security, boyfriends and dealing with the girls themselves catching him would put Tim in a world of hurt.”

With the plan in hand Tim went into action just an hour after sun down. Looking down at his own drawing and then to the house, glancing at the mostly dark house he couldn't see any activity. ‘We got this, tonight I’m going to be sneaky and invisible but after tonight… I will be invisible no longer. Officially joining the frat, gaining friends… brothers and maybe even a girlfriend. College is going to be different, I’m going to be different.’ The young blonde man said to himself practically imagining a more purposeful, a more visible future for himself.. He imagined Jake and the others clapping him on the back, cracking beers, and calling him one of their own. The thought made his chest swell with a mix of pride and terror at what he was about to do, what he was going to accomplish.

Tim adjusted the sleeves of the oversized sweater that practically swallowed his frame. The miss spelled word prominent on front that felt like some sort of inside joke no one had clued him in on… yet. It wasn’t high quality, something cheap that made his neck itch, but it was the first sign that they were actually welcoming him and he wore it like a badge of honor, even if it hung off of him like a kid trying to wear his fathers clothes.

Checking the house again, circling around it Tim confirmed most of the lights were out. He’d rushed to perform his mission tonight when he heard that nearly all the Tri-Sigma girls were at a welcome mixer for new freshmen, leaving only a few stragglers behind. It was his best shot and it was now or never. Ducking low he crept along the side of the house, his breath catching in his throat with every crunch of grass underfoot, even as the mission impossible soundtrack played out in his head. ‘Dun dun dada Dun dun dada Dun dun’

The shrubbery next to the house scratched against his jeans, and the chill in the air nipped at him just enough to be noticable. He found the window he’d been told about, the one that stuck sometimes and was usually left unlocked. Pressing his face near the glass he looked inside, but didn’t see anyone about and held his breath as he pressed his hands to the sides. It gave a soft groan as he pushed it upward, the sound much louder than he wanted in the quiet night. ‘Next time I should have brought some WD40…’ he thought to himself like he was going to be a more prepared burglar the next time he was sent on some covert mission.

Sneakers scuffed against the windowsill as he climbed in, Tim landing softly on the carpeted floor of a laundry room. The scent of fabric softener clung to the air, blending oddly with his own nervous sweat. A few laundry baskets sat stacked in a corner. The room smelled a lot better than the one at the Omega Omega Kappa house, not to mention this was orderly with neatly labeled shelves holding detergent, dryer sheets, and folded towels, compared to the chaos at his own.. His future house. Everything about the space felt fresh, with the splashes of color making it anything but smelly and impersonal. The laundry room was much closer to what he was used to at him instead of the stark contrast to what the frat had.

Moving cautiously, Tim put his ear to the door as he slowly turned the doorknob, when he didn’t hear anyone he tiptoed through the house, listening intently for any sign of movement. His sneakers barely made a sound on the floor as he navigated a short hallway. A thin sliver of yellow light spilled from beneath one of the doors he passed, avoided it, pressing himself against the opposite wall and moved slower as he continued to tiptoeing past. Every breath he took felt like it echoed. He couldn’t shake the feeling that someone might hear his heartbeat pounding in his chest. All the while that same beat played in his head. ‘Dun dun dada Dun dun dada Dun dun.’

At the foot of the stairs, he paused. Licking his lips he looked around the dark living room, pressing his hands to his chest, feeling the rapid heart beats. Wiping his sweaty palms he focused on the shadowy staircase. Every step up seemed to creak slightly under his weight, as if they were trying to alert anyone home that he hadn’t seen, causing Tim to freeze in place with each sound, half expecting a scream or a face to appear from, though none came. The second floor stretched out in a narrow corridor, lined with closed and semi closed doors.

The first door on the right was slightly ajar. He stepped toward the room and nudged it open with one finger. The hinges let out a squeak that made him wince and glance about, making him once more about WD40 and making him decide to leave the door open instead of closing it behind him as he crept inside.

The room was softly lit by moonlight filtering through sheer curtains. A pair of twin size beds sat against the far wall, both neatly made, with a narrow nightstand between them. Small desks were pressed together that were cluttered with notebooks, hair ties, lip gloss, and chargers, facing the walls. The whole place had the scent of lavender mixed with the faint perfume of whoever had sprayed the shared space last that left the lingering floral aroma. Posters of pop artists and vintage movie prints dotted the walls, and half-used candles sat in ceramic holders on both desks. A pair of slippers rested neatly under one of the beds, while the other had a hoodie balled at the foot, like someone had dropped it before collapsing from exhaustion.

The dressers in the room were what Tim was really after, both looked as if they were cheap Ikea furniture. Both being equal in his mind he picked one at random, sliding open the top drawer slowly in an attempt to avoid another incident like the bedroom door.

The drawer was full of women’s underwear, all of the panties neatly folded, some stacked in color coordinated piles. There were cotton briefs with cartoon prints and delicate lace trimmed panties in shades of pink, blue, and lavender. What Tim saw before him felt taboo, he was looking at someone… a girl’s intimates. He saw a red satin thong, another made entirely of sheer black lace. There were many more, though the limited light only allowed him to see so much of the prize he was after. The drawer itself also contained bras, padded white ones tucked and stacked in with a few different colors. Sports bras, racerbacks, strapless styles, and even a silky lavender bra with a tiny gold charm sewn into the center. A faint floral scent lingered in the fabric, rising with the movement of air as he stirred the contents.

Swallowing hard as he looked into the drawer like it was a treasure trove he didn’t know what he expected, but the sight of it all stunned him. This was a harmless prank between his fraternity and the Tri-Sigmas, he was told it was a task all the members had to do to become a member. Tim didn’t know if it was always the Tri-Sigmas, but even though it was just something harmless it felt so personal now that he was looking at whoever's underwear that was in the drawer, it was no longer something abstract. Reaching forward, hand shaking, toward a pair of pale pink panties with a little red bow embroidered at the waistband. Touching it he felt the lightly thin material, rubbing it between his thumb and index finger he pulled it from the drawer and smiled. It was his golden ticket.

It was then that he heard the floor creak, causing him to freeze in place once more, not even daring to breathe as his heart leaped in his chest. In that silence he heard a whisper

“Did you hear that?”

The whispered voice he could hear was soon followed by another something, softer and uncertain. “Maybe Ashley came back early?”

The anxiety Tim felt changed into something worse, like a wild animal that needed to flee, the panic surged through him, but he still didn’t move. Praying that would be overlooked so that he could… he could… with everything going on his brain had a hard time shifting into gear. ‘The window? No, we are on the second floor. Hide under the bed? Then what… we can’t be stupid, think, think… Come on Tim, think!’

“WHAT THE HELL!?” The voice came from directly behind Tim, to the door to the room that he hadn’t dared turn to look at. No longer was it whispering, it was a shout that he could feel the aggression in. Wincing, he turned his head slowly to see a pair of girls in the doorway. A tall blonde with a short bob haircut and

A tall girl with sharp features and dirty blonde hair in an uneven bob stood in the doorway. Her eyes narrowed, dark with fury. Behind her was a shorter girl, maybe five-foot-three, with long brown hair and a confused, horrified expression on her face.

“Is that my underwear?” the shorter girl asked, her voice brittle while the volume of her worse rose..

Tim’s hands shot up in surrender as he turned to face them. “It isn’t what it looks like! I mean it is… but I didn’t mean…” The young man didn’t get far into his meandering explanation when the blonde girl not only spoke over him, but stomped forward to yell him down.

“You didn’t mean to break into our house and go through Sarah’s underwear drawer? You fucking pervert!” the taller girl snapped.

“It was a dare! A stupid fraternity dare! I wasn’t going to take anything, I swear!” he pleaded looking from the taller blonde who looked to be about three inches taller than his own five foot seven and then to the other girl, who he just learned was named Sarah. She had long dark brown hair down to mid back,bangs covering her forehead and was a little shorter than himself.

“Oh, so you thought that gave you permission to sneak in and fondle her underwear?” Tim watched the angry blonde girl as she flexed one hand into a fist and while she wasn’t charging him or raising it in his direction it still made him rather worried, that instinct to flee only growing.

“No! I didn’t…”

“That’s breaking and entering. Attempted theft. And considering what you were stealing? I’d say attempted sexual ****, too.”

Tim paled. “No, no, I wasn’t…I didn’t touch anyone!”

“You touched enough.” Her tone was ice.

The blonde girl continued with her voice raised as the shorter girl shuddered, holding her eyes shut tightly for most of the short time since they found him till she exploded, not in anger but in disgust. “Please tell me you weren’t touching yourself… Oh god, Emily I bet he was touching himself while sniffing my underwear.”

Sarah took a small step backwards, face pale as she sunk in on herself, her arms moving in a way she could embrace her own torso even as her words became fainter. “He went through my things,” she whispered. “That drawer’s mine.”

“I’m calling campus police,” Emily said, stepping in front of her friend as if the intruder was a threat that she needed to protect her shorter friend from.

“Please, don’t!” Tim dropped to his knees. “Please, I wasn’t doing that I was just taking them.” he admitted, showing how badly he was lying before when he tried and failed to defuse the situation. “I know it was dumb! I just wanted to prove myself. I wasn’t going to do… do that!.” The idea of Tim being arrested wouldn’t be something his parents would have expected, but the boy had always been a follower, letting others take the lead and now his mind ran in overdrive showing him images of himself in an orange jumpsuit and being carted off to jail in handcuffs all because he had done exactly what Jake had told him not to do…getting caught.

It wasn’t just the impending legal implications, the way the cute brown haired girl cowered from him made Tim feel like head been hit in the gut.

“You should be expelled,” Emily replied coldly. “You’re a creep who broke into a girl’s room.”

“I’ll do anything,” Tim begged, eyes wide. “Just give me a chance to make it right.”

Emily glanced at Sarah, who looked overwhelmed, hands clenched in front of her. Sarah’s eyes darted from Tim to the open drawer, then back to Emily, visibly shaking.

“Anything?” Emily asked, her voice quieter but no less dangerous.

Tim nodded frantically. “Yes! Whatever you want! Anything!”

“Then sit.” She pointed to the floor between the beds. “On the floor.” Emily practically spat the words. “Don’t you dare move.”

Tim did exactly as he was told, realising the underwear was still in his hand he tossed it away like it was a snake that was about to bite him, the article of clothing landing on the bed to his side. With a glare Emily physically turned to her friend so that her back was to the intruder, turning her head to glare at him one more time before she spoke in a hushed voice.

‘Do something… say something… no don’t say anything, no, shit.’ Tim argued with himself before finally speaking. “I’m sorry, I can't say I didn’t mean to, but I can say I should have known better.” Despite his words no reply came in his direction he could only overhear part of the conversation the two were having.

Sarah’s voice wavered. “Emily, maybe we don’t have to report him. I mean, I feel gross, but...”

Emily didn’t budge. “He broke in, Sarah. He was in your drawer. That’s not a misunderstanding.”

“I know. I know it’s serious. I just...” She looked back at Tim, fidgeting with the sleeve of her hoodie. “Maybe there’s something else we can do.”

Emily turned back to Tim. “We’re not calling the cops right now, but we still might if you don’t do what we say. Know this pervert, you’re not getting away with this.”

Tim swallowed. “Okay.”

Shifting so that she was facing him, Emily put one hand on Sarah’s shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “You’re ours now. You listen to us. You follow our instructions. One wrong move and we’ll have everything we need to bury you.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, I understand!”

Sarah added, softer, “You better mean that.”

Emily moved deeper into her own room so that she was standing over the blonde kid, only now really taking him in. “What is your name?”

“Tim, I mean most people call me Tim, but my name is Timothy Thompson. You can call me Tim or Timothy or whatever you want really.”

Emily pressed her lips into a line, crossing her arms. “Ahuh. Lets start out with you thanking Sarah here. I would have you behind bars and in prison,but she think you are cute and pathetic so we are going to do something else. Thank her for not ruining your pathetic little life.”

Nodding rapidly, Tim looked up to the girl above him, trying to look to the side of her long legs to speak to the other girl as well. “Thank you! You…I mean thank you! It was stupid, I shouldn’t have done this, I just wanted… that doesn’t matter. Thank you!”

“Louder.” Emily barked.

“Thank you!”

“That's, umm enough.” Sarah squirmed in place not feeling comfortable with the boy seemingly able to both beg, plead and thank her all at the same time. “We’ll figure out what to do with you.”

Letting a long breath as the young woman, Emily stepped back from him, Tim felt relieved as they not only stepped out of the room, but closed the door, leaving him in the dark with only the moonlight allowing him to see. ‘Oh thank the heavens! Oh wow, wow that could have been…’ his own thoughts paused as more things came to him. Whatever the girl's hand planned for him would be better than being arrested, kicked out of school and maybe put on some list of predators, but this also meant he had failed. The mission seemed to have actually been impossible, at least it had been for him. Now he had to figure out how to deal with whatever the two pretty girls wanted him to and go crawling back to the fraternity and beg for another chance, another task. Staying exactly where he was, the adrenaline in his system starting to falter he felt shaky, tired and his knees had started to ache from kneeling and his hours of being on all fours scrubbing grout. In the silence he could hear voices just on the other side of the door, though he couldn’t make out anything said by the two that were going to decide his fate.