The Triangle Club

All the boys in the Triangle Club wore a tiny black triangle pin on their uniform ties. The girls they tapped for the club got a matching one and were directed to wear it on their blazer lapels. Although technically a violation of the Blanton Academy dress code, it was discreet enough to go unnoticed except by those who were looking for it.

The day after Kelly was tapped, she was on the lookout for the other lucky girls as she trekked across the grounds towards the Humanities Building. She wasn’t surprised when the first one she crossed paths with was Lesley, the junior captain of the cheerleaders and easily the most popular girl in their class. Nevertheless Kelly’s heart leapt to see she was in such company. Of course, she didn’t expect Lesley to care or even to know who she was.

She was partially right. Lesley came to an abrupt stop in her path. “Hi! Kathy, isn’t it?”

“Kelly. Hi.”

“Oh, I’m sorry! And welcome to the club!”

“Well, thanks.” Kelly committed the faux-pas of looking down at her pin and wiggling it with her fingers; Triangle Club members were always told never to draw attention to it in public. “Just got it yesterday…”

“From which of Stan’s minions?” Lesley asked.

“No, it was Stan himself.”

“It was?! You are a lucky lady, Kelly! Even I didn’t get it from him, I got it from Jarrod.

“You know, I barely know Stan,” Kelly went on. “I do know his roommate pretty well…”

“Andy?” Lesley burst into girlish giggles. “That charity case? I can’t believe Stan is still rooming with him when they could have singles.” Juniors at Blanton were eligible for a single room on New Campus or a roomier double on the more prestigious Old Campus. Stan and Andy, perhaps the most mismatched pair in school history, had opted for the latter.

“Come on, that’s mean,” Kelly said. “I’m on scholarship too, you know.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. It’s just that Andy…you know his story, don’t you?”

“Some of it.” Everyone in their class knew Andy had spent time in juvie hall just before he came to Blanton, but no one knew what he’d done to be sent there. “But whatever he did, he’s a nice guy now. Nothing like Stan! I probably shouldn’t say it since he tapped me, but...” Kelly dropped her voice to a whisper. “I really don’t like Stan. He’s a chauvinist pig and so are all his buddies!”

“Yeah, but they’re our only ticket into the Triangle Club. Don’t expect me to believe you’re not proud to have that pin, Kelly.”

“Of course I am.” Kelly had been privately feeling utterly beautiful from the moment she’d set foot outside her room. “But you know…I don’t really know what the club does. You hear so many rumors about off-grounds parties and the guys waiting on you hand and foot and maybe there’s even champagne, but…”

“I don’t know either,” Lesley confessed. “We’re going to find out at the end of the year, though. Until then…” She grinned at her new friend and whispered in her ear. “Don’t you dare tell anyone we don’t know! The important thing is, all the dweebs and nerds think we’re goddesses now!”

Stan was a third-generation Blanton legacy, distantly related to at least two of the dormitory namesakes. Andy was on full scholarship, having made straight A’s in junior high back in his crumbling hometown because he was living in a halfway house for bad boys. Rather than trying to keep his ugly past a secret for four years, he’d been open about it freshman year. Stan and his crew had promptly dubbed him “The Jailbird”. That name had lasted only as long as it took to notice Andy didn’t seem to mind it, hence he’d become known as “The Diplomat”.

Hardly anyone else at Blanton seemed to know why the legacy and the Diplomat had chosen to stay roommates, or even how they could possibly have gotten along in the first place. Stan’s girl Friday, Annie, was among the few who did know why. At that afternoon’s meeting of the Triangle Club guys in Stan and Andy’s room – where as always, Annie was the only girl and only non-member in attendance – she brought it up. “Stan, has Andy told you JJ’s coming for the weekend?”

“Nah,” Stan said, looking pleased. “Not a day too soon, either, with midsems.” He looked at the other guys – Jarrod, Jimmy, Paul and Barry – and asked, “You guys running short too?”

“Already out of my stash,” Barry said. “History’s kicking my ass with all the reading.”

“Think I’m down to my last three or four,” Paul added.

“You guys are pathetic,” Jarrod drawled. “I’ve still got most of the bottle I got from him last time.”

“And you’re still barely passing algebra,” Jimmy quipped.

“Fuck you!” Jarrod shot back.

“Guys!” Stan stood up and sliced an arm through the air for silence. “You can fight about that later! We’ve got business to discuss before The Diplomat gets home. You don’t want him finding out about the Triangle Club, do you?”

“You really think he hasn’t figured it out?” Jimmy asked. “He’s a dweeb, but he’s damn smart and he’s friends with a lot of the girls.”

“If the girls don’t know, how would they be able to tell him?” Stan said. “Anyhow. Sounds like we want three bottles of uppers from JJ this time? Barry, Paul and me?” When the others nodded, he went on. “Great. Now, onto the fun part. Kelly has officially got her pin, courtesy of me.”

“You lucky bastard,” Paul said, and the others chuckled their agreement.

“Hey, any of you could’ve made the time like I did,” Stan said.

“If we wanted to cut math,” Barry grumbled. “I’d be lost if I missed a class.”

“So is Stan, he just doesn’t give a shit,” Jerrod said.

“Yeah, whatever!” Stan stomped his foot to silence them. “What’s done is done. Anyway, if you don’t want to cut any classes, guys, let’s remind Annie here when your free time is.”

“I already know them all by heart,” Annie piped up. Barry and Stan, second bell, Paul third, Jerrod and Jimmy fifth?” When they all nodded their agreement, she opened her notebook. “I’ll remind you all, I’m third bell, and…” She gave Paul a stern look.

“You’re off limits, I know the rules,” Paul said.

“You’d better.” Annie looked at the third bell list. “But there are plenty of others who haven’t been tapped. Paul, I know you’re after Rachel Horowitz?”

The mere mention of the voluptuous, flirtatious junior had all the guys hooting and cheering. Paul was all set to all but beg Annie to set Rachel up when the door opened. Everyone went utterly silent as Andy came in.

“The Diplomat,” Jimmy sneered, unable to keep his frustration to himself.

“Didn’t know you ever left the library before dinnertime,” added Jerrod.

“Nice to see you guys too.” Andy smiled through his dislike for them as usual. “Hey, Annie.”

“Hey yourself,” Annie said. “Got any time to go over the chem homework tonight?”

“Sure.” Andy withdrew a stack of books from his backpack, and put a few others in it. “I’m having dinner off campus with a friend from back home, but I’ll be back here with him probably around six, if you want to come by then?”

“That reminds me, Andy,” Stan said. “Three bottles?”

“He always brings at least five,” Andy nodded. “No problem.” He zipped up his backpack and swung it on again. “Well, the library beckons as usual.”

“It beckons?” Jerrod never could quite hide his contempt for Andy, the consequence be damned.

“It beckons,” Andy repeated with his head held high. “See you tonight, Annie.”

As soon as the door was shut behind him, Jerrod said what the other guys were all thinking. “Stan, why do you want to room with a drip like that when you could have a single?”

“How could you stand it in the first place?” Barry added.

Stan shook his head and said nothing. Annie had no such reservations. “JJ’s your source, you morons. And Andy’s his best friend from juvie hall. If you lose Andy’s respect, you lose JJ.”

“And you would not want to be on that guy’s bad side,” Stan added. Turning to Annie, he said, “Now then. Rachel?”

“Second bell tomorrow,” Annie said, marking a triangle next to Rachel’s name. “But you’d better be there, Paul. I doubt if I can fool her twice.”

Andy knew perfectly well what Stan’s friends thought of him, and of course he knew why Stan had been playing nice with him for two and a half years. He didn’t care in the least about either one. What he did care about was the promise he’d made to JJ on that day three years ago, when he’d arrived at mail call at the halfway house to find an acceptance letter from Blanton.

“Man, I knew you were going places once you got out of here!” JJ had said, back in their room overlooking the alley while Andy had sat disbelieving on his bunk. “This is serious rags to riches. So fucking proud of you, man!”

“I don’t know if I’m going.”

“What?!” JJ had looked like he wanted to smack Andy.

“I’m a loser, I don’t belong in a place like Blanton.”

“Look, man, I know you fucked up to get sent in here – it’s none of my business why you beat your sister up, I know – but you’re a good kid. You’re a smart kid. You’re not like all the losers at school, the ones who were always picking on you, and I saw how you put up with that and still got straight A’s – ”

“Except in math,” Andy had interrupted.

“Except in math. Look, man, you’re not like us. You’re not like me.” JJ had three months left on his sentence for shoplifting Milky Ways. “You’re bigger than this crummy town, and you’ve got a ticket out. Fuck, man, you owe it to us to get out and make something of yourself.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. Look, I’ve kept the big guys off your back all this time, haven’t I? You ain’t been jumped in the shower, have you?”

“Never.” Andy had to admit that much.

“You owe me one. And this is it. Use your ticket out of this place and make something of yourself!”

Three years later, still with mostly A’s except in math and a real shot at graduating in the top ten, Andy figured he’d kept up his end of the deal. Having JJ come out on the bus a few times a year was a nice side benefit, as he was practically a magnet for the girls who found Andy’s bad boy background so fascinating.

It was just by happenstance that Andy hadn’t overheard Rachel’s name come up just before and after his visit to the room. So neither he nor they were the wiser that the object of Paul’s lust was also a member of the committee Andy was joining at the library. As they were leaving the library after the meeting was adjourned, Rachel asked, “Say, Andy, have you had a stab at the chem homework yet?”

“No, but you know Annie from class? She and I are getting together to work on it after dinner, if you want to join us.”

“Annie? Oh, right, I have gym with her too.” Rachel didn’t look happy to hear the name. “No offense, but I don’t like her much. Those guys she hangs out with – including your roommate, I’m sorry to say…”

“Yeah, I know all about Stan and his pals,” Andy said. “But I really didn’t want to live on New Campus for another year.”

“I hear you,” Rachel said. “Anyway, yeah, if I could join you guys tonight. What’s for dinner, anyway? It’s not meatloaf night, is it?”

“I think it is, but I’m going to town. A friend of mine from back home is coming in for the weekend.”

“Lucky!”

“Want to join us?” Andy was just as attracted to Rachel as his nemeses were.

“Would your friend mind?”

“Oh, I think JJ would love to meet you.” Andy couldn’t help grinning. JJ never missed a chance to admire the girls in their plaid skirts and smart blazers. “I’m on my way to the Greyhound stop now, if you want to come?”

“If you say so. Say, this friend…is it the same friend from -”

“Yes,” Andy interrupted. He was open about his past, but only so much so. “He got out about the same time I did.”

Rachel took the hint and asked no more questions. She was not disappointed when a stocky young man with hair as dark and curly as her own stepped down from the bus. “Andy, my man!” Once again Rachel felt sorry for guys as she watched the pair only shake hands. Imagine not being able to give your best friend a hug! But she was mostly focused on JJ’s big, dark eyes and broad chest.

“JJ, meet Rachel,” Andy said.

She had to settle for a handshake as well – for the moment.

Shortly thereafter at a favorite greasy spoon, Rachel laughed uproariously at JJ and Andy’s memories of junior high, a hellhole so awful it was hilarious in hindsight. “Andy, I don’t know how you ever made it from there to here!” she exclaimed at one point.

“All thanks to him,” Andy said. “The day I got accepted, JJ made me promise I wouldn’t waste the opportunity.”

“And he kept that promise.” JJ sounded unusually gentle as he said it. Andy had no doubt as to why, or that the feeling was mutual.

“God, I wish I had a friend like the two of you back then,” Rachel sighed. Checking her watch, she said, “Looks like we’d better go meet Annie, huh?”

“Let’s go,” Andy agreed.

JJ had brought his books, and was happy to busy himself with reading The Grapes of Wrath for English class. Andy and Rachel had just enough time to spread out their chemistry notes on Andy’s bed when Annie knocked at the door. “Come in!” Andy called.

Annie spotted JJ first, and said, “Hi, JJ, welcome back! Andy, I –” Her voice broke off as she saw who else was there. “Rachel, hello.”

This was dangerous.

The next morning in gym class, Annie found out just how dangerous. “That JJ guys is gorgeous, isn’t he?” Rachel said to her as they were heading for the locker room.

“I hear he’s trouble,” Annie said.

“No, he’s a sweetheart. He did his time and he’s reformed, just like Andy. Actually, he asked me out for tonight, and I said yes.”

“Congratulations.” Annie managed a smile, and cast a look at the shower stall at the far end, where she was supposed to direct Rachel. That was out of the question now. Worse, Rachel appeared to be on her way to claim that stall even without Annie’s prompting. There was only one thing to do. Annie grabbed Rachel’s arm as gently as she could. “You know, I don’t think the hot water is working in that one. Let’s try the ones down at this end.”

“Thanks!” Rachel was none the wiser. To Annie’s delight, she saw Elly – an out lesbian who looked the part – heading for the far stall.

“That bitch lied to us!” Paul seethed that afternoon in Stan and Andy’s room. “Surprised I didn’t go blind – who wants to see Elly in the shower?”

“I don’t get it either,” Stan said. “Annie’s never pulled this before.”

“Think we ought to give her – ” A knock at the door interrupted Barry, but Stan nodded his agreement with what he’d been about to say.

He got up and let Annie in – and glared at her.

“I can explain,” Annie said.

“I don’t want your explanation!” Paul snapped. “You know how much trouble we’d get in if they ever caught us in the boiler room? Especially if they found that hole in the wall? I take that risk and you give me Elly?”

“You think she even wants a triangle pin?” Jerrod quipped.

“If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll offer her one.” Annie knew she was on thin ice, and hadn’t even sat down.

“No need, Annie, you can just take this one.” Stan drew a pin out of his pocket and handed it to her.

“What am I supposed to do with it if not give it to Elly?”

“Wear it on your lapel, bitch,” Jerrod said. “You’re in the club, after all.” He smirked at her.

Annie felt her face flushing. “You mean…” Tears of rage welled in her eyes. “You assholes. I was supposed to be off limits.”

“We wouldn’t have told you if you’d played by the rules,” Stan said. “Now sit down.”

“Screw you all!” Annie bolted from the room, ignoring the guys’ laughter.

No one was laughing that night when JJ and Rachel arrived back in Andy’s room from the movies. “So let me get this straight,” JJ said. “Stan and the guys had the girls thinking the Triangle Club was some secret club that only the coolest girls got invited to, but it was really…”

“Girls they’d spied on in the showers, and had naked pictures of on their phones.” Andy shook his head in disgust. “The black triangle symbolized their pubic hair. I knew Stan was a creep, but…”

“You sure those assholes didn’t post the photos online?” JJ asked.

“Word is they said they didn’t,” Rachel said. “They said.”

“And Annie knew for how long before she blew the whistle?” Andy wondered.

“Until she knew they had a pic of her,” JJ said. “Bitch.”

“At least she spoke up,” Rachel said.

“Why are you defending her?” Andy wondered.

“She steered me away from that shower!”