Sage pulls me in closer. She's shorter than I am by a few inches, but she manages to tuck me into her embrace in a way that’s so warm and comforting that I’m afraid I might never let go. She smells like coconut sunscreen and lavender shampoo, and those scents should not work so well together, but on her, they do.
My heart drops when she starts to pull back, but instead of letting go, she casually grabs my hands in hers, holding eye contact as she continues to smile at me. “I’m so excited to finally meet you in person, Aspen. I just know we’regoing to be the best of friends. I’m so happy we’re finally here, together!”
“Me too,” I manage to agree, far too distracted that we’re still holding hands to offer anything of value to this conversation.
She leans in a little closer and lowers her volume slightly, but not enough to make me think she doesn’t want Arthur to hear. “I hope it isn’t weird that I’m starting with this, but you’re probably one of the prettiest girls I’ve ever seen, so I apologize in advance if you catch me staring,” she says with a giggle.
“Are you into girls?” Arthur asks, sounding way too excited. Sage probably thinks he’s creepy, but I know he’s asking for my sake.
Before I even get a chance to hope that I could be so lucky, she’s shaking her head. “Oh gosh, no! Sorry, honey, I wasn’t hitting on you,” she says with another laugh as she finally lets go of my hands and moves to sit on the edge of her bed. “I was just thinking about how easy rush is going to be for you.”
“Rush?” I repeat back as a question, because I’m officially lost.
“Sorority recruitment. You are joining a sorority, right? I’m a third-generation Alpha Beta Omega legacy, so I’ll probably get a bid from them, but I’d bet even without letters of recommendation from alumni, you’ll get bid offers from all the top houses. Oh please, tell me you are! We canrequest to be in the same rush group and visit all the houses together. It’ll be so much fun.”
I hadn’t intended to join a sorority.
I’m looking forward to being on my own for the first time. I’m sure I’ll meet people in my classes, and I already have Arthur.So do I even need more friends?As much as I still love dressing up and doing my hair and makeup to always feel like the most put-together version of myself, I hadn’t envisioned joining a group of girls who always look like clones on social media.
But Sage is looking at me with those big emerald eyes like she wants nothing more in the world than to go through whatever recruitment is with me at her side. And I’m beginning to think it might physically pain me to disappoint her.I’m so fucked.
“Sure. Sounds like fun,” I agree.
Arthur lets out a strangled sound like he chokes on a laugh before coughing to cover it, and I turn to subtly glare at him to stay quiet, but of course, he doesn’t listen. “Aspen is total sorority material,” he agrees sarcastically.
Sage must not pick up on his tone, though, because her warm smile never falters. “I’ll send you the sign up link! Oh, and you can borrow anything you’d like from me, or we can go shopping if you don’t have things that work for the dress codes for each day.”
Even though the process she’s describing sounds kind of awful, I can’t help but be excited. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and if she’s there with me, how bad can it really be?
2
SAGE
EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD—AUGUST
Freshman Year
“I’m glad you wore that dress today, Sage, it looks so amazing on you,” Aspen compliments after our last day of rush. We just turned in our final rankings for which houses we’d most like to join, and tomorrow we’ll receive our bid inviting us to pledge whichever house we ranked the highest that also wants us.
Aspen has the most beautiful clothes, and I ended up borrowing a dress from her today. There was nothing wrong with my options, but when she breezily offered that I was welcome to borrow anything in her closet, little butterflies fluttered to life in my stomach. I’ve never had a friend who was so casually generous before, offering me use of her things simply because it might make me happy. I’ve gotten a little thrill each time I’ve remembered that it’s her dressI’m wearing today, that I might actually have a real best friend for the first time in my life.
The girls in my small Christian high school were all very competitive and concerned with being the most popular or the very best at whatever their favorite sport or subject was. I had friends, people that I hung out with outside of school, but I didn’t feel like I really fit in or clicked with any of them in a way that would motivate me to maintain those friendships now that we’ve all moved away. I’ve never seen the point in putting other people down in some attempt to make myself feel better the way they always seemed eager to. I’m so relieved Aspen isn’t like that.
“I’m sure no one was even looking at me when you were standing right next to me,” I say with a laugh. Not that I’m ugly or anything, but Aspen has that extra something special about her that draws people in. Maybe it’s her confidence, or maybe it’s how charismatic she is, but whatever that extra sparkle may be, people are always happy to be around her. Aspen is effortlessly gorgeous, but it’s so much more than that. She's very funny, and I might have only known her for a few days now, but it’s apparent that she’s also smart and driven. She’s easily the coolest person I’ve ever met, and for some reason, she seems just as excited about being my friend as I am to be hers.
All week we’ve stayed up late, lying in the dark of our dorm, while Aspen and I have taken turns asking questions and getting to know each other. It’s quickly become myfavorite part of the day. It seems like she really cares about my answers, holding my gaze across the moonlit room, asking follow-up questions, and remembering small details later on. We’ve talked about so many things. Our goals for our careers, how neither of us ever felt like we fit in with our families, that the idea of having our own kids one day sounds kind of terrifying. The depth of her questions and the honesty in her own answers—telling me about her struggles with her parents, and how her friend Arthur made growing up so much better—makes it clear our late-night talks haven’t just been a quick “get to know your roommate” kind of thing. It’s like she wants to know everything she possibly can about me.
I feel the same way about her.
I’m not the only one who seems drawn in by Aspen, either. Just like I predicted, all the top sorority houses have invited her back each round. To my surprise, she’s only seemed to care about ABΩ, and I’m overjoyed that she’s just as excited about my favorite house as I am. As a legacy, ABΩ was the obvious choice for me, but Aspen liking them as well makes me even more excited about pledging.
After we get ready for the night and are all tucked in, I glance over at where Aspen mirrors my position on the opposite bed, the soft glow of the moon highlighting her dark features. “So, who did you end up ranking as your top house?” I ask, attempting to sound casual as I finally find the courage to voice the question I’ve wanted to ask all day.
“ABΩ, duh,” she says in a teasing voice as my heartsoars. We’ll need to wait until tomorrow to officially get invited to join, but if Aspen put them as her top house, and with my legacy status, I’d be shocked if we didn’t both get bids.
“We’re going to have so much fun!”
“Hell yeah, we are,” she agrees. “So are you awake enough for more questions?”
