Chapter Six

“Hey, Astrid! Wait up!”

                I turned toward the sound of my name, briefly wondering if there might be another girl on campus with the same name, but decided that seemed unlikely. Almost as unlikely as the tiny blue ceramic rabbit clinking gently against my keys in the smallest pocket of my backpack.

                “You don’t remember me, do you?” the guy said as he slowed to a stop in front of me. I squinted at him, pretending not to know.  “Brett? From dance class?” He blew out what sounded like an exasperated breath. “I took you to Health Services when you sprained your ankle?”

                Opening my eyes wide, I shrugged, and said, “I must have blocked it out, the traumatic experience and all.”

                “Seriously?”

                I couldn’t hold the laughter in any longer, and started giggling so hard that I started to hiccup. “Of course I remember you,” I said. “I’m just messing with you.”

                Brett looked confused for a split second before he chuckled and shook his head. “Can I walk you to class?” he asked.

                Now it was my turn to blink in confusion. “What? Oh, no, I’m not going to class. Actually, I was going to grab lunch. You want to come with me?”

                I didn’t miss the look of pleased surprise that crossed his face before he looked down at his feet, which did surprising things to my stomach. Brett had the large frame of the football player in him, but equally he had the grace of a dancer. The combination was oddly attractive, but there was something else about him. He almost seemed shy at the moment. I liked that.

                “Sure, where did you want to go?” he asked.

                “There’s a pizza place across from the theater building that I’ve had my eye on. Do you feel like a slice?” I hooked my thumbs into the straps of my backpack as I grinned up at him.

                The relief on his face was almost comic. “That sounds great,” he said.

                We started walking, and immediately fell into sync with one another. There was something comfortable about Brett that I had to admit that I noticed the first time he’d helped me across campus. “So…how are…things?” Brett asked.

                I giggled again. “Things? What kind of things?” I asked, teasing him.

                “Well,” Brett said, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck. “I mean, you stopped coming to class, so I figured something was probably wrong. I asked Helene, but she didn’t know. I was curious.”

                “You were curious? About me?” I couldn’t keep the disbelief out of my voice.

                Brett gave me a sideways smile, and said, “Well, yeah. You were the best dancer in there, and you weren’t at all interested in the fact that I’m on the most awesome football team this school has ever seen.”

                “I forgot how modest you were about that,” I said. “And just for the record, still not interested in the football team.”

                Gripping his chest with mock pain, he said, “You wound me. No, seriously, you should at least come check out a game.”

                “I…”I began. “Maybe I should.” I couldn’t believe the words had just come out of my mouth. Desperate to change the subject, I blurted out, “Have you ever heard of the Blue Bunnies?”

                Brett cut another sideways glance at me. “Well, yeah. Who hasn’t?”

                I groaned. “Me for one.”

                “Why do you ask?” Brett asked. “I mean, I’ve heard that they’re picking their current crop, but…” he trailed off. “Wait a minute, did you get one? Are you one of the chosen few?”

                The bark of laughter that came from my throat startled me. It felt good to laugh at the absurdity of the whole thing. I hadn’t told anyone that I’d gotten the little figurine, well other than Kia, and just admitting it felt good. “Do you want to see it?” I asked, suddenly, stopping in front of a bench.

                Without waiting for his answer, I dropped down to the bench, digging into my bag for the bunny. Brett sat down next to me, and glanced around nervously. “Dude, I don’t think that I’m privileged enough to see it.”

                I shot him a look that I hoped conveyed my disgust with the entire production. “Here it is,” I said, producing the small ceramic rabbit. Showing it to Brett, the little creature seemed far less sinister than when I’d looked at it with Kia.

                “I’ve never seen one,” Brett said, reaching out tentatively to take the rabbit from me. There was awe in his voice that didn’t make sense to me. Still, I felt a strange swell of pride as he turned the figurine over in his hands. “Some of the guys on the team have girlfriends who have received Blue Bunny invites, but I’ve never met anyone myself.”

                Arching an eyebrow, I tried to make a serious face. “Do you feel like your life is complete now?”

                Brett shook his head ruefully. “I feel silly,” he said, “but really, it’s a huge honor.”

                I looked down at the bunny doubtfully. “I guess,” I said. “It’s just that…that where I come from this kind of thing would be mocked mercilessly.”

                “Well, you’re here now, and this place is kind of it’s own world if you haven’t noticed,” Brett said.

                “Like out of the Twilight Zone,” I agreed with a giggle.

                “You do realize that you just admitted what a nerd you are,” Brett said.

                I shoved him gently with my shoulder. “Takes one to know one,” I said.

                “So are you going to join them?” he asked after a few moments of silence.

                “I feel like I don’t really have a choice,” I said. “It’s like the Blue Bunny mafia or something.” I started to giggle, unable to keep the absurdity inside anymore.

                “This isn’t a joke. The Blue Bunnies are everything on this campus.” The laughter died in my throat as I looked up into the blistering anger of a strange blond girl staring down at me.

Chapter Five

“I can’t believe you got a blue bunny,” Kia said, her voice precariously close to a wail. She sat on my bed, clutching the small, glass figurine to her chest.

                I pinched the bridge of my nose, and then smoothed the stress wrinkles out of my forehead. With a sigh, I said, “I still don’t understand what the big deal is. It’s just a little glass rabbit.”

                “It’s a bunny,” Kia corrected sharply. “A blue bunny.”

                “Okay, a little glass bunny that happens to be blue,” I said, not bothering to hide my sarcasm. “I just don’t get it. What are these blue bunnies for?”

                “Did you not read the school history book that we got at orientation?” Kia asked.

                I raised my eyebrows at her. “Uh, hello? I was in Paris during orientation,” I reminded her.

                “And what happens if I don’t want to do this? What happens if I don’t accept?” I asked, crossing my arms and leaning back against the wall. Something hard and heavy had settled in the pit of my stomach, and I just wanted to curl up in a ball.

                Kia gaped at me. “You’re joking right? Nobody turns down the Blue Bunnies.”

                I gasped out a stuttering laugh. “Surely someone has,” I said.

                Shaking her head solemnly, Kia replied, “No one has turned them down. I would not want to be the one to find out what happens when someone does.” She paused and arched her eyebrow at me. “Do you really want to take that chance?”

                “Well, maybe not, but can you at least tell me about them so I can assess the risk to my health and safety?” I asked drily.

                Kia patted the bed next to her where I reluctantly sank down. She handed me the little glass bunny, and I turned it over to peer at the bottom again where someone had written my name in permanent marker. A shiver raced along my spine as I thought about the fact that a random stranger had been watching me.

                “The Blue Bunnies started in the 1920s. The actual origin is a little murky, but what is agreed on is that by the stock market crash of 1929, the Blue Bunnies were well established here. During the thirties when everyone was broke, most of the members of the Bunnies were wealthy. That fact alone made them powerful, and as the years went by they could basically do anything they wanted,” Kia began.

                I ran my hand along the smooth top of the bunny’s head, and said, “So, they were a snooty, rich sorority? Something must have changed because I guarantee no sorority wants me.”

                “Hush,” Kia said. “Let me finish. They aren’t a sorority. They are an elite secret society.”

                “If they’re a secret society, how do you know about them?”

                “Ugh, stop being a smart ass,” Kia said. She seemed genuinely annoyed with me at the moment, which surprised me. I bit my lip, and looked down at my hands. After a heavy pause, she continued, “Not much has been written about the Blue Bunnies, for obvious reasons, but the bits and pieces of information that have leaked out, we know that the Bunnies have two arms.” She paused and raised her eyebrows at me. Half a dozen retorts popped into my head, but I kept my lips pressed tightly together. 

                Kia made an approving noise deep in her throat. “They do a ton of anonymous philanthropy. And yes, I know that’s an oxymoron, but there are certain…hallmarks of the Blue Bunny brand of charity. The other arm is more sinister. They’re like a vigilante mob, but they are never seen, never caught, and never take credit for anything that happens. I heard that last year there was a guy who was stalking some girls in his art history class. The Blue Bunnies put an end to that. He’ll never stalk anyone again.”

                I raised an eyebrow. “You mean, like he’s wearing cement shoes at the bottom of the Lagoon?”

                “Someone—obviously the Blue Bunnies—stalked him and posted embarrassing photos of him on all campus social media. I mean, that’s just one example. There are so many starting way back in the thirties that it is more than just urban legend. I heard that in the eighties, campus police would ask the Blue Bunnies for help controlling things on the campus. Something about how after the riots in the sixties and seventies they weren’t taking any chances. And the Blue Bunnies are damn effective,” Kia said as she nodded resolutely.

                “You make it sound like some nutso cult or something,” I said. “Sorority on steroids.”

                “Don’t laugh,” Kia said. “And don’t ever let them hear you call them a sorority. Or making fun of them. That behavior just won’t fly with them.”

                “Come on, Kia,” I said. “It’s not like they’ve bugged the room or anything.”

                Kia glanced around nervously, her eyes darting from one surface to the next. “I hadn’t thought about that,” she said. “They could have. We should probably stop talking about them. But I’ll tell you this much, once you are a Blue Bunny, you are one for life. No one ever leaves the group. Never.”

                “You can’t be serious about all this?” I said with a laugh, certain that Kia was messing with me, that all of this was part of some crazy prank. When I saw the dead serious look on her face, all laughter shriveled up in my throat. I swallowed, and stared at the little glass bunny. The absurdity was gone, and suddenly the little figurine seemed sinister. What was I going to do?

Chapter Four

Editor's note: Although some places in this story are based on real places, all people and uses of the places mentioned are fictional, and from my own imagination. Any similarities to real people/situations are purely coincidental.

“Did you officially change your major?” Kia asked me a few weeks later as she shoveled scrambled eggs into her mouth.

                “Well, no,” I said, pausing midway to my seat. “Is that something you think I should go do right now?”

                Kia groaned and shot me a look of disgust. I plunked my tray down on the table, and grinned at her. I was glad to see that she was finally getting my sarcasm. “I just think you’re dragging your feet because you hope that you’ll be able to go back to dance.”

                “So what if I do?” I snapped. “I’ve been dancing my whole life.”

                “Look, I get it,” Kia said. She chewed her eggs thoughtfully. “Maybe you should spend this year trying all kinds of new things.”

                I frowned at her. Even if she was right, what kind of friend told you those things to your face? Picking the crust off my toast, I began to build a little pyramid. “Maybe I should take up sculpture,” I said, choking on the laughter that I could just barely keep in.

                “What’s wrong with sculpture?”

                Kia and I both looked up at the sudden, deep voice beside us. A sudden flood of heat rolled over my body as I realized that this was the same guy I’d met in the bathroom back at the beginning of school. I hadn’t seen him around since, so I’d put him out of my mind. But he was still just as good looking as he had been then.

                Without waiting for an invitation, the guy plunked his tray down beside me, and dropped into a chair. He broke a piece of toast in half, and stuffed it into his mouth. “I’m Mark,” he said..

                “Kia, and Astrid,” Kia said, pointing with the end of her spoon.

                “Astrid and I have already met,” Mark said.

                “Oh?” Kia said, tapping her spoon on the table.  I knew what she was angling at, that I hadn’t told her some juicy gossip.

                “Yes, Mark likes to lurk in bathrooms in the middle of the night so he can scare new students,” I said, cutting my eyes sideways at him.

                Mark had the courtesy to choke on his dry toast, and he started to cough. Reaching for his milk, he knocked the whole thing back in one long gulp. When he had recovered, I couldn’t keep the smirk off my face. Kia shot me a look, and I shrugged.

                “I wasn’t lurking,” Mark protested. “I heard someone talking, I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

                “Who were you talking to?” Kia asked.

                “Oh my goodness,” I snapped. “I said one thing to myself. If he hadn’t been lurking, it wouldn’t have made a difference.”

                “Well, this is the weirdest meet cute I’ve ever heard of,” Kia said.

                “A what?” I asked.

                “A meet cute,” Kia repeated. “You know, when a couple tells the story of how they met. The best ones are the ones with a cute meeting.”

                I rolled my eyes. “Well, we aren’t a couple,” I said. “So there’s that.”

                “Well, you could be,” Kia said as she took a scoopful of cereal and shoveled it into her mouth.

                “Your friend presents an interesting point,” Mark said.

                With a groan, I stood up. “No, she does not,” I said. “Mark, it was…interesting seeing you again. And Kia, I’ll see you back at our room.”

                Grabbing my tray, I turned quickly, sending cereal sloshing over the side of the bowl. I could feel my eyes widen in horror as the milk and soggy wheat bits spilled onto Mark’s shoulder. He looked more amused than upset, but that didn’t stop me from turning on heel to rush out of the cafeteria.

                I realized as a cafeteria worker yelled at me that I still had my tray with me. Dropping it on the top of the nearest garbage can, I hurried to the elevators, unsure if I was pissed off or mortified. Part of me felt like I was right back in high school, which was bad enough, but there was so many other things pushing around in my head that I was starting to feel dizzy.

                “Astrid!”

                “Leave me alone, Kia,” I groaned as I leaned my forehead against the wall. Really, I just wished I could bash my head into said wall, but instead I just turned toward her.

                “It’s not as bad as you think it is,” she said, striding up beside me.

                “Yes, it is really that bad,” I said. “I just spilled soggy cereal on a hot guy. It’s bad.”

                “He is pretty yummy, isn’t he?” Kia agreed.

                I groaned again as the elevator doors slid open. We got on, thankfully before anyone else could get on as well. Not that I would admit it to Kia, but I had been a tad bit worried that Mark might come to find me, and exact some kind of breakfast related revenge.

                We rode to our floor in silence, blissful silence, and by the time we stepped off the elevator, I was almost feeling better. Then Kia gasped and grabbed my arm. As I extracted myself, I looked around the hallway, trying to figure out what had excited my roommate.

                “What?”

                “One of us got a blue bunny,” Kia whispered.

                “A what now?” I asked. Then I saw what she was staring at; a small blue bunny figurine sitting on the floor in front of our door. “And what does that mean exactly?”

                “How do you not know?” Kia squealed, dragging me down the hallway.

                I didn’t know what she was dragging me toward, but I had a bad feeling I wasn’t going to like it.