The Other Side of Me – Chapter 14
by Limbo’s Mistress

Thankfully, the conversation during the ride to the party steered clear of any talk of my newly realized sexual orientation. The disturbing revelation was something that would need a more in-depth examination when, not if, I was permanently back in my own body. Until such time, my main priority was keeping up the Charlene pretense. So that’s what Shelly and I focused on.

As she drove, she gave me a more detailed run down of the people I could expect to encounter at the party. As well as her assessment of Charlene’s general attitude toward said individuals. Who she liked, who she didn’t like, and who she didn’t seem to care about.

She also provided me with a list of guys I could expect to try to make a move on me at some point in the evening.

“Seriously? Don’t they know she has a boyfriend who is basically a mad scientist?”

She shrugged. “Charlie doesn’t usually talk to people at school about Jackson. She mentions that she’s seeing someone without ever really giving them any details. I always thought it was because she was either embarrassed that they were dating or she was trying to keep some meathead from deciding to beat up said boyfriend. Now though, considering what I’ve learned since she went bye-bye, I think she just wanted to play coy.”

“She played coy enough with Danny Morris,” I said as a shudder passed through me.

“Yeah, she did,” Shelly agreed. “Just forget about Danny, Chuck. At least for the tonight. Tonight is about showing Rachel, and the Kappas who aren’t completely sold on us, that we’re prime pledge material.”

“Yay,” I replied with nearly zero enthusiasm. “Just what I always wanted.”

Shelly shot me a look. “You’re going to have to be a better actor than that, Chuck. Or we might as well just turn around and go home. Remember, many of these girls know you by reputation alone. However, Rachel and Charlene have gotten tight over the past month. If you start acting more Boy-Charlie than Girl-Charlie, she’s going to know something’s up. So, dig deep and find your inner-theatre kid.”

I sighed and then put on a smile that felt extremely fake to me. However, Shelly gave me a thumb’s up of approval.

“I’ll do my best impression of her once we’re there,” I promised.

The streets all around the Sigma House neighborhood were packed with cars, but Shelly managed to find a spot a couple of blocks from the center of the action. She killed the engine and looked at me.

“You got this, Chuck. We’ll schmooze, mingle, and do whatever Rachel asks. It’ll be over before you know it.”

“Let’s hope.”

I climbed out of the car, smoothed down my skirt, and looked over the top of the roof at her as she exited on her side. When she saw me staring at her, she arched a brow and nodded her head in the direction of the music.

“You sure you’re okay with this?” she asked. “I mean, considering what you, uh, slipped into the last time you were here.”

I glanced over my shoulder at the party’s location. From this distance, I could only make out the roof of the structure, but I had the feeling that once we were closer, I’d be able to instantly pinpoint which window on the second floor was Danny’s.

“I’m good,” I said, closing the car door. “Hopefully, he’ll have more tact than to try hitting on me in front of a bunch of witnesses. Otherwise, his little fling with Charlene is going to come out.”

“Let’s hope that’s enough to deter him.”

“Besides,” I added. “If I turned tail and ran, that would be more than enough opportunity for Trina to tear me down even more before Rachel and the rest. No matter how much the memory of what Danny and Charlene were doing in that house disgusts me, I’m not letting the plastic bitch have the satisfaction.”

She blinked a few times, then flashed me a wide grin. “I don’t think Charlene could have said it better. Let’s go.”

We walked up the street and then along the cement sidewalk running right in front of Frat Row. The Sigma’s were the only ones that seemed to be partying, though it’s just as likely theirs was simply the loudest.

When we reached the front door, we found a pair of guys standing at the entrance, wearing too-small t-shirts that read “Security” across the chest. However, since I recognized one of them from Trig class, I assumed they were most likely Sigma pledges rather than actual, trained security.

“Good evening, ladies,” the one on the right said. He had a smile on his face, but the look in his eyes was completely predatory. Thankfully, he seemed to be more interested in Shelly than in me, practically undressing her with his gaze.

Ugh. Watching the way his eyes roamed over my best friend’s body caused me to feel extremely guilty about every time I ever looked at a woman in likewise a manner.

“So,” I said with more than the necessary snark in my voice. “So, is there some password or a riddle we have to answer to get in? Or do you expect us to open the door ourselves?”

The second bruiser laughed, punched his friend in the arm, then grabbed the handle of the front door and pulled it open. With a sweep of his other arm, he bid us enter.

“Have fun, ladies” he said, his eyes drinking me in the way his buddy’s had Shelly. “I’m sure we’ll see you two again real soon.”

“God, I hope not,” Shelly grumbled as she grabbed my arm and pulled me across the threshold.

Once inside, I noticed the front foyer had been cleared of all furnishings. The living room, visible through the large doorway next to the staircase, was also completely devoid of furniture.

But not of people.

On the other side of the living room, a heavily tattooed girl in a pink baseball cap and sunglass, stood on a small stage behind a pair of turntables, holding a set of headphones against one ear. The pounding bass of the speakers on either side of her rolled out across the throngs of partiers crowded in front of her who jumped and bounced and gyrated to the techno beat.

Motion out of the corner of my eye caused me to turn my head. Coming down the very same steps I’d fled the other evening, was none other Rachel, Trina, and a half-dozen other girls I recognized from Shelly’s crash course in All Things Kappa.

The leader of the group smiled broadly as she approached, while the girl beside her looked as if she’d just swallowed a lemon whole.

“Charlene,” Rachel said in a voice dripping with saccharine sweetness that seemed undeterred by the hardcore beats coming from less than a thirty feet away. “So glad you could join us. Even if a bit late.”

I immediately gestured at myself, hoping my trans-dimensional instincts were on point.

“Not that late, Rachel. Besides, you know as well as I do that when you simply must have the perfect outfit for the perfect occasion,” I said with an equally diabetes-inducing tone. Then I flicked my gaze over at Trina for just long enough for it to register with the rest of the girls before settling back onto the leader of the Kappas. “You really can’t just throw on any old thing, right?”

Rachel laughed. As did all of the other girls. Except one. The daggers Trina glared at me would have taken down The Hulk. However, she managed to wrestle a smile on her face before anyone noticed.

“My sentiments exactly. Pay attention, girls, Charlene is on fire tonight.”

I glanced around the party, then turned back to the Alpha of K.O.

“So, is there a plan for the evening? Or are we just hanging out and mingling?” I asked.

Rachel arched a brow at me.

“We will mingle with the plebeians soon enough. However, first we have a game to play. Consider it another demonstration of your desire to become a full Kappa.” She turned to look at all the pledges as she pointed at a closed door on the other side of the hallway. “Follow me.”

We walked past the festive partiers, trailing behind Rachel like good little pledges. The one time I thought to look at Trina, she was still glaring hard at me. I returned her stare with a wink and a smile.

Rachel stopped right at the door and pushed it open, ushering us all inside. The room was a study, or maybe a library. There was a fireplace in one corner, a couple of leather sofas, and bookshelves lining three of the walls. A single window, looking out over the backyard of the house, revealed a dozen or so partiers engaging in small groups. Everyone held a cup in their hands.

“Okay, ladies,” Rachel said, closing the door and drawing my attention back from the window. “Make yourselves comfortable.” She gestured at the furniture. “Allow me to explain tonight’s challenge. Every pledge’s name was placed into a fishbowl and drawn earlier by a wonderful Sigma volunteer. One by one, those volunteers will come here and request the company of the girl whose name they drew.”

I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat and glanced over at Shelly. She looked equally distraught as I felt.

Rachel continued. “Each of you will accompany your Sigma to a more private location to talk. The purpose of this talk is for each of you to learn three secrets about the other. Embarrassing secrets, might I add. Stuff you wouldn’t tell a priest.”

“Why?” One girl, a redhead I believe named Jennifer, asked.

Rachel shot her a scathing look. “One, because it will show that your desire to be a Kappa is greater than your shame. And two, because it will amuse me. However, I am not without some sympathy. Whoever has the juiciest secret will win.”

“Win what?” I asked, not surprised in the least when Rachel didn’t glare at me. Instead, she smiled and held up a golden pin in the shape of a rose. Before I could ask what the big deal was about some jewelry, Trina spoke up.

“The Kappa Rose,” she said with a note of awe. “Wait, so only the girl with the best revealed secrets gets to become an Active?”

Rachel sighed. As much as the Ice Bitch ruffled my feathers, the fact that she seemed to be running out of patience with my enemy … with Charlene’s enemy … warmed my heart.

“No,” she said in a voice that all but screamed ‘duh!’. “The winner of tonight’s game gets to skip ahead of the rest of you to the grand prize. She will end this night as a full member of the Kappa Omega sorority. Her trials and tribulations as a lowly pledge over. However, fret not, those of you who complete the task successfully will still be on your way. Now, let’s get started.”

She walked over to the closed door, gave us all one last glance, and knocked on the door three times. A second later, a tall, lanky young man with curly blonde hair opened the door and stepped inside. There was a folded index card in his right hand.

“The name?” Rachel asked him.

“Jennifer Talbot,” he replied, handing Rachel the card.

The redhead from before stood up, a nervous expression etched onto her face. She walked over to the boy and the pair of them left the room.
One by one, Rachel would knock and a boy would step in, call out the name of a girl, and the two of them would depart. Shelly’s partner turning out to be a guy I recognized from one of my classes. Meaning one of Charles’ classes. Dominic Gerald.

When the muscular guy with cocoa-colored skin and a wide smile called her name, Shelly glanced at me. I gave her a reassuring nod, hoping that this Dom was a lot like the one in my universe. If so, she would be in good hands.

Eventually, there were only two girls left in the room with Rachel: me and Trina.

“Okay,” the Head Kappa said as she looked between us. “You’re both what I consider prime pledge material, and one of you will likely become the Alpha when I graduate. And while I appreciate competition among my underlings, I believe this spat between the two of you has gone on quite long enough. Your constant sniping and bickering isn’t healthy for the organization as a whole.”

Trina and I glanced at each other. The look on her face practically screamed her desire to have that coveted position. Me? I only wanted it because Charlene wanted it.

“Therefore, I have decided that the stakes for the pair of you are higher than those of your pledge sisters.”

“Higher?” Trina asked, with a noticeable tone of worry in her voice.

Rachel nodded.

I rolled my eyes, as I glanced over at my nemesis, obviously grasping what Rachel was saying faster than she did.

“Only one of us is going to be a full member by the time this night is over. The other is out on her ass. For the good of the sorority.”

I looked back at Rachel and she gave me a nod to indicate that I was spot on with my deduction.

“Charlene is correct. One of you will become my Right Hand Gal. The other … well, I hear Beta Epsilon is still taking pledges.” She smiled in a manner that would give a Bond villain chills.

I was about to proclaim that I didn’t intend to be the one going home empty handed when someone knocked on the door.

“Ah, that must be the lucky boy who drew Charlene’s name.” Rachel smiled at me as she pulled it open.

My heart sank when I saw the smarmy smirk on his face as he stepped into the room. Of course it would have to be him. Because the universe just couldn’t stop fucking with me.

“Hey, Charlie,” Danny Morris said as he ran his hand through his hair and his eyes roamed over my body like he was eyeing the menu at an all you can eat buffet. “Shall we go someplace private and spill our secrets?”

I hesitated standing for a moment. Just long enough for Rachel to raise an eyebrow at me.

“Of course.” I replied quickly, throwing a smile on my face as I rose and walked over to the grinning creep. For a moment, I was sure I was going to abandon the whole plan just for the opportunity to kick the smug bastard right in the balls.

Thankfully, Danny didn’t try to touch me as we left the room. When the door closed behind us, however, he did cut his eyes over toward the stairs.

“We’ll have more privacy in my room. Less noise.”

“No thanks,” I said in my iciest voice. “It will be a cold day in hell before I ever step foot into anyplace with you that has a bed.”

He shook his head and nodded at the stairs again.

“Fine. How about we just go up to the second floor away from the music? We won’t go within fifty feet of my room. Or any beds.”

I shot him a withering, skeptical glare.

“Outside,” I spat, turning toward the back door. “Where there are other people.”

Before he could respond, I marched down the hallway, through the crowded kitchen, and out into the still semi-occupied yard I’d observed from the library window. A couple of people greeted me by name, but I couldn’t manage more than a nod and a half-hearted wave.

Danny emerged as second behind me. His hand landed lightly on my shoulder, and he guided me to the other side of the fenced in property to a small brick retaining wall. He released me as soon as we stopped, turning around so that he was between me and the rest of the partiers.

“Look, Charlie …”

I rolled my eyes and turned my face away from him. Finding the construction of the wooden barrier nearby to be a preferable focal point to him.

“For fuck’s sake, Charlie,” Danny said in an exasperated tone. “You’ve made it perfectly clear that you don’t want to continue our little sexual rendezvous. But you could at least talk to me.”

My eyes narrowed. “Talk to you? I wasn’t the one who videoed us having sex and then threatened to release it to your best friend. You don’t get the high road here, Daniel.” I shook my head. “And neither does Charlene.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he asked, staring at me. “We decided to start messing around behind Josie’s back together. Hell, the whole damned thing was your idea. Or have you conveniently forgotten that as well?”

I raised my hand, a single finger extended accusingly at him. However, before I could say anything, the phone in my pocket buzzed.

“Seriously? You’re going to take that now?”

“Fuck you, Danny.” I snapped as I pulled out the device and looked at the screen. The name “Jackson” instantly caused me to feel a pang of guilt. It wasn’t just Josie getting dicked over by Charlene, it was also my best friend.

Danny’s jaw clenched as I swiped my thumb over the screen and put the phone to my ear.

“Charlie?” an exasperated Jackson asked? I could hear a loud, constant beeping sound in the background. “Where are you?”

“Uh, at the Sigma party. You know, with the Kappas.”

“Shit. You need to get out of there right now.”

I stood up so fast that Danny flinched. Guess he thought that ball kick he deserved was finally on its way.

“Why?”

“It’s happening. Right now.”

“What’s happening right now?” Then realization dawned on me before he could answer. “The dimensional crossing thing?”

“Yes. The dimensional shift.” The beeping volume increased, becoming a warning siren. “Oh shit. Oh shit.”

“Oh shit,” I echoed and turned away from Danny to run across the grass toward the house as fast as I dared in the heeled boots. The surprised jock called out to me as he gave chase.

“Charlie. Wait up. What’s going on?”

“Jackson, I’m at this party with a ton of people. Are they going to see something they shouldn’t.”

“You mean, like a flash of light or something? No. At least, I didn’t see anything happen the last time.”

I nearly slipped and fell when I tried to joggle around a couple who were busy giving each other tonsil examinations.

“Then what’s the big …”

“Do you want to be at a party with Danny when Charlene comes back?”

“Good point,” I said, pulling open the door and rushing inside. A few of the Kappas were in the kitchen, obviously waiting for the time to regather and hear the saucy secrets. I ignored them all and continued on toward the front door at a fast walking pace.

As much as I dreaded ditching Shelly at the party, I thought it best if I were as far away from Rachel Bostwick and Danny Morris as I could be before it was too late.

“I’m coming to you,” I said as I bumped into a couple of dancers, my eyes locking on the nearby exit. “Maybe you can keep her out of trouble. Or at least talk some sense into her.”

“No!” he shouted, though the increasing wail of the siren nearly drowned him out. “It’s too dangerous for you to drive right now. Charlie popping back while you’re behind the wheel is not a safe situation.”

“I rode with Shelly, Jackson,” I yelled back. “I was thinking about an Uber or something.”

I could hear Danny calling my name as he pushed through the crowd toward me. My hand had just landed on the handle of the front door when two things happened at the same time.

First, the siren blaring at me through the phone when silent. Simultaneously, a wave of intense nausea and vertigo slammed into my brain and belly.

“Time’s up,” Jackson said in a disturbingly calm voice.

My vision turned to blackness as the hamburger and coffee threatened to come back up my throat. I gagged as a heavy hand landed on my shoulder and light returned to the world around me.

I spun around, ready to slap the ever-loving shit out of Danny Morris for daring to put his paws on me. Instead, I found myself looking up into the face of my father. A face that was brimming with barely-contained rage.

My addled brain was barely able to recognize the fact that I was in my living room before the hand on my shoulder squeezed and my father’s eyes narrowed at me.

“If you think you can just walk out that door all willy-nilly, after what you just did to your sister, then you’re in for some serious fucking disappointment, boy.”