Dirty Rush by Taylor Bell Read Free Book Online Page A

letters on them, but as far as I could tell, the cardio room basically had a uniform. Kind of skinny, sort of pretty, definitely greasy. These girls looked like they spent all of their time at the gym. One of them was going so hard on the elliptical that I was worried she was going to break it or herself. She was flailing her arms and head, and I could see that she was listening to Katy Perry on her headphones because she was very clearly mouthing the words to “Firework.” I’d known girls like this in high school. Gym-obsessed, but never actually in great shape. Kinda sad. Anyway. I need to get to the gym at some point, I thought.
    It was Friday, which meant most kids didn’t have class and student-run clubs/organizations were given permission to plant themselves and their pamphlet-laden fold-out tables all across the brick walkways that divided the Quad into separate lawns. I guess it was theirjob to heckle people as they walked by on their way to class or lunch or wherever they were going. Some girl from an a cappella singing group tried to get my attention by waving frantically and rushing toward me, but thankfully my phone rang just as I locked eyes with her. I saw that it was my parents calling, and I’d never been so happy to have them call me in my life.
    â€œYessssssss?” I answered, shining a huge, fake “sorry” smile at the girl, who frowned and spun back around.
    â€œWell, hello,” my dad said, “I’m glad I caught you. Let me go grab your mother.”
    I could hear him putting the phone down and then the muffled sounds of him yelling upstairs to my mom.
    â€œSUSAN?”
    There was a pause.
    â€œSUE!”
    â€œYesss?” I heard her say in the background.
    â€œCome down. Your daughter is on the phone!”
    â€œWHICH ONE?”
    â€œThe nice one.”
    Next I heard the sound of my dad trying to put the phone on speaker. He fumbled with the buttons. Beep. Beep. Beeeeeep. Beep. They are literally both so dumb sometimes.
    â€œDad?! Please.”
    â€œHi, Tay. Can you hear us? We’re both on now.”
    â€œHi, Mom.”
    â€œI’m so glad we caught you. I know how busy you are.”
    â€œIt’s fine, Mom. How are you guys?”
    â€œWe’re fine, honey,” said my dad. “Just pluggin’ away. Yourmom is taking a cooking class about autumn soups and stews. So we’ve been eating a lot of soups and stews.”
    â€œAnd chowders. Your father and I made a fabulous Peruvian corn chowder,” my mom added.
    â€œThat sounds exciting and yummy.”
    â€œHow are you, pumpkin? How are classes? How’s your roommate? She’s so small.”
    â€œPretty good on all fronts, team.”
    â€œGreat. You’re eating enough? How’s Jonah?” My mom asked.
    â€œJonah’s great. Thanks for asking. It’s been nice to have him here with me.”
    â€œHow’s it going for him?” my dad inquired. “Has he had any luck being himself in the real world?”
    â€œDad, Jonah’s pretty open about being gay, but he’s not, like, shouting it from the rooftops.”
    â€œWell, I know it can be hard out there for members of the LGBT community,” my father said, as if he was proud to even know that term. I guess this was his way of showing that he cared about Jonah. It made me smile.
    â€œJonah’s really good, guys.”
    â€œThat’s wonderful. Any new friends?”
    I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to mention my special evening with the girls of Beta Zeta. But because of my mom’s history there, I figured she’d be happy I’d at least met them. Maybe she’d just be shocked, considering all the horrible things I used to say about Kelly’s sunny sororified disposition when she’d come home from school for holidays.
    â€œYeah . . . I mean, sure. I’ve met some fun new people. Irandomly hung out with a bunch of the