When we got to Greyhound, it was 6:04. The manager said he had locked up the money at 6:00 and could not sell us the ticket. I felt like it was too embarrassing to go back now, so we waited for the bus driver to come. We figured we could make up a story about a family member's hospitalization. I was ready to cry if the bus driver were to refuse us. The bus was an hour late. When we asked the driver, though, he kindly let us on with little convincing.
We arrived at Harrisburg and purchased the ticket to Philadelphia. When Michaela texted me, I told her that Neel and I didn't make it in time to buy the bus ticket (which was true). I also told her that we were very disappointed and that we would stay over a frat that night to drown our sorrows in alcohol. I apologized for missing the dinner that night. I knew that everyone was unhappy that I suddenly ditched, but they would be even more upset if I was suddenly gone for the weekend.
After Harrisburg, we stopped at King of Prussia. By the time we got back to Philly, it was almost midnight. My mom came to pick me up and Neel stayed at the station to wait for his girlfriend. I went home, relaxed, ate for the first time that day, and forgot about the rest.
The next morning, I concocted the perfect plan. I called up one of my roommate, Shruti, and told her that I was in Philly. I also convinced her to help me tell everyone that I was at a three-day-party-frat-rush event. She would then tell everyone that I was on campus and that she saw me in the room everyday. I figured that everyone would think I was around all weekend and no one would notice my disappearance. I would promise dinner to people and "not be able to make it" due to being hungover or something. I told Neel and he thought it was brilliant.
For some reason, the story got really big. Everyone thought that Neel and I had ran off and ditched everyone else. Corey and the guys questioned why Neel hadn't invited anyone else. Steve and Michaela wanted to come to the frat. It was too devastating for Neel to refuse Steve with an excuse like the party was getting "too crowded." For some reason, we thought that we could instead tell everyone that the party got busted and that we were taken in by the cops. That way, we wouldn't have to refuse Steve and Mich. (It made sense to do so at the time.)
We didn't get a chance to tell that lie. Shruti texted me that people were convinced that I was ditching everyone for Neel. She said that people thought that we weren't coming back because we had had sex. I was not as entertained by that misunderstanding as Neel was. (Neither was his girlfriend by the text I got.)
Shruti put me on speaker with Mich, Steve, Kaomi, and possibly Chrissy present and I apologized. I told them that I was in Philly and that I had lied and they yelled like a mob. I couldn't distinguish the voices either. Kaomi was upset. Michaela could not stop yelling. They also blamed Shruti for helping my diabolic plan. Steve tried to redefine liar:
Liar: 1. one who lies 2. Kathy 3. Kathy 4. Kathy 5. Kathy 6. NeelI don't know why I defined liar four times. They were highly entertained, but furiously so. They wanted revenge and told me to help them fool Neel, who hadn't figured out that the secret was a goner. Michaela called Neel and told him that Steve had gone to a frat looking for us. He also got really drunk and loss his keys. His phone died and now no one could find him. Michaela demanded that Neel come back immediately to give her the keys for his room.
Neel didn't know what to do, so he called me. I was on speaker with Steve, Shruti, Mich, and them. I also put Neel on speaker. I pretended to act really surprised when he told me that Steve was missing. He questioned whether they had found out about our lie. I reassured him that no one knew. He freaked out and asked for my opinion. He was too scared to deal with Michaela who was too "intimidating." (She heard that part as well.) I told him to do whatever he wanted. Even though his roommate was "missing" and "drunk," Neel still thought it was a good idea to continue with our lie. He told Michaela that he and I were around campus at my cousins house where all the alcohol and drugs got busted. We were under some sort of house arrest and so he couldn't come to help find Steve. We tried very hard not to laugh at his awfully ridiculous lie. He was always on speaker, so anything he told anyone was heard by everyone. (I think they also recorded the entire event.)
Michaela yelled at Neel some more for her own sick pleasure. Eventually he cracked and confessed. Steve then spoke into the speaker. We all laughed at Neel. Of course he got upset and hung up quickly. My diabolic plan may have failed, but at least I got to torture someone in the process.
