The sounds of balls cracking on the pool table echoed throughout the hall as music played on low in the background. This wasn’t a hopping club after all. It was still on campus at the Student Center where Julie caught up to Marcus. They grabbed a seat on the couch by the window and shared a cup of soda from the cafe like friends do in that cute kind of way. Actually, it was Marcus’ soda. Julie was just stealing a sip of it from time to time.
Read from the start to get a better experience, Joker Joker Deuce Halloween Series Part I – A Monster Awakens…
“What’s up?” he finally asked because he could tell something was bothering her.
She let out a sigh of exasperation as she looked out the window and then back at Marcus.
“Let it out, girl,” he stomped his foot. “You’re killing me.”
“You know that Chad guy?” she finally confided.
“Yeah.”
“He’s a nut case,” she blurted out.
“Yeah, and?” he questioned with a blank stare.
She smirked and then began, “He’s just a twisted jerk. A petty little kid in a grown man’s body, going to college. He has less going for him than a glove someone threw out the car window and is now living the rest of its life on the side of the road.”
“That’s not a lot going for him,” he agreed. “What’s got you all bothered about him?”
“He does. That’s who,” she fired back. “I was talking to my parents, okay? A very private conversation, mind you. And he walks up and listens in on it.”
“That bastard,” he joked.
“No, seriously,” she asserted herself. “Then, he tried to turn it all around on me. Talking about how I was having the conversation in public, and how people don’t have any expectation of privacy. Then, he’s following me around campus, trying to explain all this while I’m trying to get away from his sorry ass. He just kept following me. He’s a mess.”
“For real,” he agreed. “Sounds like it.”
“I mean, he’s listening in on a very private conversation,” she continued. “Like, a really private conversation that was only my business, and he wants to act like his entitled little ass had every right to hear what I was saying? I mean, what is that?”
“That’s a juvenile,” Marcus answered in a way that made it seem like the conversation had taken its course. His attention span was only so long.
But Julie wasn’t finished, “I mean, my parents are having a hard time. They’re doing their best, but they just can’t afford me being here. And I offered to quit, but they’d rather run themselves into debt to pay for me. That’s my business. That’s nothing anyone else needs to know about.”
“Girl, the next time, lead with that,” Marcus said, concerned.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I didn’t mean to throw that on you.”
“No, listen,” he grabbed her hands and stared her straight in the eyes. “I’d rather talk about that than this Chad dude. He’s already dead to me.”
“Okay,” she agreed. “But one more thing about him?”
“What’s that?”
“I don’t want him at the party,” Julie was serious with a look in her eyes that offered no compromise.
“Oh, done deal,” Marcus didn’t hesitate. “He’s uninvited. Like, no one’s invited because we don’t do shit that way. But if he were invited, he would immediately be uninvited. He’s on the off list. The list that says he’s not on the list. That’s how not invited he is.”
~
Tori’s skin glistened under the dim light of the sauna as sweat rolled off her chin onto the club towel. Every muscle in her body screamed from the workout she had just put herself through. She ran her hand down her wet legs and dripped the sweat onto the sauna floor. Then, she reclined back again to close her eyes for a quick nap as she crossed her legs and claimed the whole section of the tiny hot room for herself.
When she opened her eyes, she felt one hundred percent better. So rose gently to her feet and bent over to touch her toes. Then, she reached to the sky to stretch the remaining tension away. That was all she needed to put her body back in motion and head out for the rest of her day.
After taking a shower and changing into fresh clothes, she walked through the gym, feeling the eyes of all the guys she simply chalked up as her fans. She even waved without acknowledging any of them. But just as she had imagined, guys around the gym waved back as they watched her walk out the front door.
Chad was in the parking lot, walking toward the gym when he spotted her coming out of it. He changed his step and turned around to head back to his car. Tori hadn’t noticed as she rummaged through her bags for her keys. When she found them, she clicked the button and heard the beep.
That’s when Chad was suddenly in her face, “Hey uh, Tori, right?”
She stepped back, more disturbed than startled, “Yes. Who are you?”
“This is Chad,” he pointed at himself. “I’m Chad, from the party? Remember? You were there with, um, Julie? I think that’s what her name was.”
“Oh,” Tori began. But didn’t bother to finish. She was never in the mood for the fake shenanigans between acquaintances as if they actually knew each other, but didn’t. She looked him up and down, “What are you doing here?”
“I’m working out,” he answered. “I was just in there and saw you.”
She looked down and then back up again, “You work out in blue jeans?”
“Oh, uh,” he had to do some quick thinking. “I was in there earlier. These are my, you know, go-home clothes.”
“Right,” Tori brushed him off. “Well, nice meeting you,” she said as she started putting her bags in the car.
“Hey uh,” Chad continued. “You know Julie, right?”
Tori looked at him like an odd spectacle she was witnessing, “Yeah?”
“We were talking and, listen,” Chad interrupted himself. “I don’t know what happened.”
“But I thought you just said,” Tori shook her head like she was already done with the conversation.
“What?”
Tori looked at him, not one bit amused, “What, what?”
“You said I just said,” Chad shook his head like he was leading her to finish the sentence.
“Dude, you just didn’t know her name five seconds ago,” Tori spoke as if exhausted. “Now, there’s some drama or something?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say drama,” he shook his head. Then, he thought for a moment, “Okay. It’s drama. Yes. That’s what it is.”
“Work it out,” she advised.
“That’s the thing. I need help,” he looked at her with a pathetic face.
“You want me to help?” she smirked. “Like, how?”
“Can you talk to her for me?”
“What am I, five?” she joked.
“Well, you’re good friends with her,” he reasoned. “Can you just put a good word in for me?”
She looked at him and shook her head, this time totally done with the conversation, “Just come to the party. Fix it yourself.”
“The what?” he asked, surprised.
She closed her door and started the ignition. Then, she rolled down the window, “If you want it bad enough, you’ll figure it out.”
With that, she drove away. As Chad watched, the look on his face spelled that he was thinking. Did she just invite me to a party? I think she just invited me to a party. I’m going to have to figure out where it is. And when it is. That shouldn’t be too hard.
Jeph normally didn’t get excited about delivery at the college, but he didn’t exactly hate it either. It was a great time for him to observe people and make fun of them in his head. But this trip was different. He was looking forward to making the delivery.
He walked around the campus with his head on a swivel. He even went in a few extra directions, even though he knew exactly where the Student Center was. Had he known that Julie was already in there, he would have made a straight beeline for it. Ironically, he didn’t see her right away.
He looked around for his party, and when they waved at him, he carried the food over. It was a bunch of friends counting out money to make it work. Why they didn’t have it added up before he came was beyond him. So, he stood there waiting for them to get it right, and that’s when he saw her. She was on the other side of the hall, heading toward the door.
He looked back at the geniuses still counting money and crushed their heads one by one. The guy who was flipping through ones was the worst. Jeph put the delivery bag over his head and held it tight until he suffocated. Then, a girl stood up and grabbed all the money so she could count it herself. He stomped on her foot and poked her eyes out.
You’ve got to be kidding me! Aren’t you college students? Don’t you know how to count? It’s like a prerequisite or something, isn’t it?
When she finally handed him the money, he didn’t even count it. He wasn’t even paying attention to her whole spiel about how sorry she was that the tip wasn’t bigger. He grabbed the money, shoved it in his pocket, and walked briskly to the door. When he got outside, he looked around but couldn’t see her anywhere. She had been gone. Stupid people!
~
Julie liked to tease, like the time she rolled over in bed and flashed him. Then, quickly covered herself with the sheet again. Jeph had gotten used to it by now. She was a flirt with a playful nature, and there wasn’t any reason to try to change her. That would ruin everything.
But he did know what to do. He rolled over right on top of her, her body under his. As she looked up at him, she touched his face. His hands ran the length of her naked body until they stopped at her waist while they were in a passionate kiss, both losing themselves in each other’s arms.
Just as he felt that dizzy feeling in his head again and his breathing had become heavy, he heard the horn behind him. Somebody wasn’t going to be on time to their meeting where they talk about their important life. When Jeph looked up, he saw that the light was green, but he didn’t have the ability to move. His head was spinning, and he just needed a moment to compose himself.
In anger, the lady behind him went around. She gave him a look as she passed, and that was followed by the finger. But Jeph just shook his head with blurry vision of the passing lady. He was going to need a few more moments before he would be able to do anything about it.
~
As Chad walked back to his dorm room, he saw several guys acting overly excited as they got ready for something special. One stood in the mirror in the bathroom and sprayed himself with too much cologne. Another joined him and asked whether or not he should wear his shirt. Then, he darted out of the bathroom and slid down the hall to his room. These guys obviously weren’t the typical cool students who knew about parties or how parties worked.
If Chad was reading everything right, here was his chance. So, he stood at the bathroom door, “Hey guys, you know that girl Tori that’s running this whole thing?”
“Um, Julie,” one guy corrected.
“It’s Julie?” Chad asked, surprised.
“Yeah,” the guy pointed out. “You know, Tori’s friend?”
“Right,” Chad knew he was onto something. “I forgot where it was.”
A guy walked by him on the way to the bathroom, “Dude, it’s on the app.”
Chad looked at him like it had just dawned on him, “The app! Right!”
“You going?” a voice out of nowhere asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Chad answered. “I was just talking to her and forgot that quick.”
“The app,” the voice said.
“Got it,” Chad confirmed. “Yep. I will def see you there.”
“Alright, man,” three voices said in unison.
Chad walked away and went straight to his room. When he closed the door behind him, he pulled out his phone and started scrolling. It didn’t take long. There it was, a post about the party. Why hadn’t he thought of that? It didn’t matter. He was all good now.
~
Tori busted through the door to see Julie sitting on the bed looking at her phone, “Are you ready?”
“Mm hmm,” Julie answered absently.
“And that’s what you’re wearing?” Tori asked, confused.
Julie looked up from her phone, “What’s wrong with it?”
Tori took another look at her and started, “You look like you live in a jail where the store has only three outfits and you chose that one.”
“Thank you,” Julie joked.
“Is that really how you’re going?” Tori asked again, only in a different way.
“I’m fine, Tori,” Julie chuckled. “There’s nothing wrong with what I’m wearing.”
“Do you need something?” Tori kept at it. “You can borrow something from me.”
“What is it with you?” Julie finally asked.
“You know, Marcus just doesn’t do this for everybody,” Tori pointed out. “It’s kind of an important thing for him.”
“And I’ll be there,” Julie responded.
“He doesn’t just want you there,” Tori said. “He wants you to at least try.”
“Try what?” Julie had to ask.
“To care,” Tori answered without hesitation.
“I do care,” Julie said. “Just because I’m not wearing the most expensive shirt I could find doesn’t mean I don’t care.”
Tori cocked her head with attitude, and then it was like she changed her entire demeanor, “Well, at least you’re going.”
“That’s the spirit,” Julie joked. When she went back to her phone, she shook her head in disgust, “Look at this, nothing but dick pics. This one. Look at this one. Oh, here’s another one.”
“You know what you should do?” Tori asked.
“What’s that?”
“Go through them until you find one you like,” Tori offered.
“Ew,” Julie responded.
“Just sayin’,” Tori joked.
“No, you know what I need to do?” Julie asked.
“What’s that?”
Julie pushed a button and then pushed another button as she showed Tori her phone. All her messages were deleted at once. Tori nodded as she made a funny face, “That’s one way to handle it.”
~
Jeph was putting his delivery bag away and looking over his records. He counted his money and nodded before shoving it into his pocket. That’s when he heard a familiar ding.
Hoping for the best, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and started pushing buttons. When he got to the app, he went straight to his inbox, and there he found his message had been deleted. It hadn’t even been read.
She didn’t even read it? She just deleted it.
His whole world crushed down around him. He could feel his heartbeat. His blood pumping through his veins. A hot rush on his neck. It felt like steam coming out of his ears.
He stood there, heart crushed. His eyesight got blurry for a moment. Then, he wiped them with the back of his hand and looked at his phone again. Nothing had changed. His message had still been deleted without being read.
Warning: Part VIII of Joker Joker Deuce Halloween Series is coming soon!
This series is inspired by Joker Joker Deuce, a psychological thriller set in a college town where students are being targeted by a serial killer. Available now on Amazon!
