#Nerd (Hashtag #1) (24 page)

Rimmel

I don’t like scary movies. I didn’t think it was fun to be scared. Because of this, Halloween was never my favorite holiday. I would much rather stay home and hand out candy while something
not
scary played on the TV in the background.

Here at Alpha U, Halloween was just another reason to party. Every year the frat houses took turns putting together a haunted house, and students would swarm the place for a night of being scared and drinking beer.

I never went last year. I stayed in and studied, which was precisely what I planned to do this year.

Until Romeo showed up at my room.

He smiled that charming smile, kissed me dizzy, and the next thing I knew I was riding shotgun in the Hellcat on the way to the haunted house.

Braeden and Missy were still “having fun” and were currently in the backseat making out. Clearly she didn’t have a problem with haunted houses… or PDA.

Romeo reached across the seat and tangled his fingers with mine. His grin was highlighted in the glow of the dash. “It’s gonna be fun. You’ll see.”

I gave him a look that said I knew better, but his smile only got bigger. “You can hold on to me all you want.”

I rolled my eyes. “If you wanted me to jump you, you could have just asked,” I muttered. “You don’t need to make me wanna pee my pants to get me in your arms.”

He laughed, yet he still didn’t turn around.

I resigned myself to my immediate future. I really hoped I didn’t embarrass myself.

The haunted house was hosted by Beta House this year, and we had to pass by the Omega house to get there. I shivered a little thinking about the week before when I saw Zach at the game. I hadn’t seen him since, and I never told Romeo about the odd way he made me feel. Romeo already hated the guy enough without me adding more gas to the fire.

The whole week had been drama free. Sure, I still got scathing looks from some jealous girls, but I ignored them. I never cared what people thought before and I wasn’t about to start now.

We spent some time studying and even more time making out.

Ivy, Missy, and I had pizza and soda one night while Ivy tried to make sense of my wardrobe and put together some outfits she liked. She gave up after ten minutes and told me we had to go shopping. Up until now, shopping wasn’t high on my list of priorities. ‘Course, given where Romeo was dragging me off to, I sort of wished I’d made plans to go with her and that we were there tonight.

“I really don’t like Halloween,” I said, my stomach twisting a little as he parked the Hellcat. Creepy music and high screams pierced the air.

“It’ll be fun,” Missy said from beside the car. “The scariest thing you’ll see in there is someone getting it on in the corner because they think no one can see.”

Braeden and Romeo laughed. “Dude,” Braeden said. “Do you remember last year when that guy from Phi K was having sex with one of the girls supposedly working the house?”

Everyone snickered but me. “What happened?” I asked.

“Her fake arm fell off and he starting screaming and ran off with his dick flapping in the wind.”

I giggled. Missy grinned. “Bet he won’t be coming back this year.”

Romeo wrapped his arm around me and pulled me into his body. I snuggled closer just because I could. The closer the four of us drew to the house, the more nervous I became.

Braeden and Missy went ahead of us and stepped up to the line, but Romeo drew me back and turned so he was standing in front of me. “We can wait out here. We don’t have to go in.”

“Isn’t that why you wanted to come? To go inside?” I asked.

He smiled. “Yeah, but I really just wanted to be with you. And here you are,” he said, leaning down to kiss me.

Inside the house, someone screamed and laughter rang out. I drew back and took a breath. “Let’s go in.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

I chewed my lower lip and then nodded. College was supposed to be a time to have fun and do crazy things. Plus, I knew Romeo really wanted to go in. “Yeah. But only if you hold my hand.”

“I won’t let go.” He promised.

Of course, the second Romeo stepped up in line, he got waved to the front. Part of me was really irritated because I wasn’t sure I was ready, but the other part was glad because at least I wouldn’t have time to stand there and doubt myself.

The first room we stepped into was completely dark with only a strobe light set up off to the side. It went off randomly, lighting up the space with bright, quick strobes of intense light. The way it went off made it nearly impossible to see. The room was filled with cobwebs and silky thread-like material draped around the room, hanging in every nook and cranny. And as we went, the fine, almost hair-like material caught on our hair and clothes and brushed against our skin.

Music full of moans and loud shudders filled my ears, and full-on goose bumps broke out across my arms and legs. My hand tightened around Romeo’s and I squealed as I walked right into a thick web.

Romeo laughed and drew me back against his chest. His arms came around me from behind and I felt his warm breath against my ear. “I got you.”

We continued into the next room, which was full of zombies that came dangerously close and smelled eerily of rotting flesh. Romeo laughed. I kept my eyes closed.

There was quite a bit of screaming in the rooms ahead of us, and I began to wonder if maybe this was my worst idea ever. As if he knew, Romeo’s arms tightened around me and his shoulders hunched down, making me feel protected and secure.

I sighed a little and leaned into him as we passed into the next room. Someone jumped down from overhead, landing with a startling thud. I screeched and stumbled back. The man was dressed in a grim reaper’s outfit, and when he lifted his head, his face was covered in a gruesome light-up mask.

He rushed us and I screamed again, turning in Romeo’s arms and practically climbing up his chest. He took my weight with ease even as I scrambled. The reaper thingy rushed past us with a high-pitched squeal and rammed into Romeo’s shoulder as he went.

Though he teetered on his feet just a bit, he managed to take the hit, my weight, and carry me all at once. I ducked my face into his neck and shuddered.

“That was pretty damn good,” he rumbled in my ear.

My fingers curled into the hair at the base of his neck and he pressed a kiss to my head and started walking, carrying me through the next room.

I have no idea what was in it. I didn’t dare look.

“One more room,” he whispered in my ear as he continued to walk. I pulled my head back and blinked against the neon-green light and rolling fog, which I assumed was the result of some hidden machine.

Weird high-pitched music pierced my ears.

I leaned up and spoke in his ear. “Put me down.”

He glanced at me. “I like carrying you.”

I was tempted to settle back against him, but instead I shook my head. “No, if Braeden see’s this, he’ll never let me live it down.”

Romeo’s white teeth reflected the green of the room. He put me down and we began walking again. I stuck close to his side. The room was some kind of alien autopsy setting. There was blood splattered around everywhere, leaving dark spots in the green. The fog was thick and it made the back of my throat burn. Off to the sides of the room, long hands reached up out of the mist. They were three-fingered and had extremely large knuckles.

Against the wall was a large steel table with a body laid out and mad scientists and doctors standing around with all kinds of vile and tortuous instruments.

My stomach twisted a little because it all looked so sick and so real.

I pressed against Romeo and focused on the neon-orange EXIT just a few steps away. I stumbled and tripped, catching myself before I fell. Romeo reached out to steady me.

“Stupid pants,” I muttered. I really did need to go shopping with Ivy. Falling over my clothes was annoying.

I stepped forward, back to Romeo’s side, but I felt resistance again. I made a frustrated sound and looked down at my pant leg, thinking the wide hem had gotten stuck on something.

It wasn’t stuck on something.

It was stuck on
someone.

A large deformed-looking hand was wrapped around my ankle. I jerked my leg up, as if to shake it off, but it only grabbed harder. I kicked out and yelled, but it wasn’t enough to dislodge its hold.

Panic flooded through my system like ice water, and I reached out for Romeo, who was turning around to help.

Something seemed to materialize out of the heavy fog. Something covered from head to toe in some scary as hell alien costume. It had large black eyes, a bald head, and a scary grinning mouth.

It lunged as I screamed to warn him. He jerked in surprise as it basically leapt on his back. The hand on my ankle yanked, and I fell to the ground. I cried out in pain as my hip hit the floor and took the brunt of my fall.

I scratched at the floor, trying to crawl away. Whatever was in the fog had me by both ankles now.

“Romeo!” I screamed.

“Rimmel,” he called back.

I glanced up as I was being dragged away and the fog swallowed me whole.

“No!” I screeched and started kicking and fighting with everything I had. I heard whoever had me grunt in pain, and I struggled even harder. One of the hands dragging me disappeared, and I heard someone yell, “Get her!”

I opened my mouth to scream bloody murder, but something was stuffed between my lips, a rag of some kind.

Hands grabbed me by the wrists and bound them to the floor as more hands did the same with my feet. Panic was full-fledged now as I was being held down to the ground, lost amid a sea of fog in a dark, loud room.

I used my tongue to try and force the rag out of my mouth, fighting and working my jaw and turning my head to dislodge it.

A dark figure appeared over me, straddled my waist, and leaned down so we were face to face. My eyes widened and my heart about burst when I saw it was the person in the reaper’s costume, the one with the scary as shit mask.

He laughed, a high-pitched, evil cackle, and my knees started to shake. He was practically lying across me as I struggled and was held down.

The freaky mask sneered down at me even as he kept his body low, like he was afraid if he moved too much, the fog wouldn’t conceal us.

“Ask your boyfriend why he’s really with you. Ask him about
initiation
.”

I stopped struggling and looked up, not understanding what the hell was happening.

“A guy like him doesn’t date a nerd like you unless he has a reason. Maybe you should ask him what that reason is.”

I wanted to yell at him, but the stupid rag in my mouth made it impossible.

“Rimmel!” Romeo roared somewhere close by.

My eyes rolled toward the sound of his voice, and the creepy thing on top of me grabbed my hand and squeezed my jaw until I cried out soundlessly.

“Ask him about the initiation. About the rush. He’s only using you,” the masked person growled.

And then the weight on my chest was gone. The hands that held my ankles and wrists were no longer there.

I shot to my feet and ripped the rag out of my mouth. I gasped and fell to the side, knocking into some decoration next to me. It made a loud sound, but I barely noticed.

I was shaking so badly I could barely stand. My throat was burning and my eyes were watering. My jaw hurt where he squeezed me and my one wrist felt raw.

“Jesus!” Romeo cried and scooped me up against him. I collapsed into his arms and gave him every ounce of my weight. “What the hell happened?” he demanded.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and shuddered.

I was aware of him walking quickly, but I didn’t realize we’d left the house until I felt the cold night air against my skin.

I lifted my head and breathed it in gratefully.

Braeden and Missy rushed up to Romeo’s side. “What’s going on?” Braeden asked, his voice concerned.

“I’m not sure,” Romeo said quickly. “We got separated. Some guy jumped me.”