“We’re almost done today’s meeting, so let’s go ahead and take a review pass,” Tiffany said.
Arriving with Luka couldn’t have helped.
Here she was, promiscuous, man-eater Aubrey, seen yet again on the arm of a prominent man on campus, undoubtedly seducing her way up the power ranks and using her endless experience to fuel her smut empire.
Sometimes I wished I wrote science fiction.
“And of course you, Aubrey,” Tiffany said.
“What about me?” I replied, breaking out of my daze.
“We still have a few more aspects of the event to take care of, and we can talk about what your strengths are if you’d like, to see how we can get you in charge of something.”
“Actually,” one of the people at the end of the table raised a finger. “Amber and I were just talking about that.”
Oh no. This was the last thing that I needed. Were they going to make a spectacle out of me here? Or be like Vanessa and snark about my smut openly?
“Jennifer and I realized that Aubrey’s the only new student on this committee,” the other girl, Amber, added.
“I remember exactly what it felt like to be new,” Jennifer said. “It’s a lot to take this place in, and there were a lot of times when I felt lost.”
“We’ve all felt like that from time to time, especially in new situations, right?” Amber asked.
The committee members all nodded and smiled, some of them looking nostalgic, others… not so much.
“We were thinking,,” Jennifer continued. “On top of being new, you’re also the scholarship girl. I can’t imagine how difficult it has to be for you right now, especially feeling like you’re an outsider to this group.”
She got it. They both got it. They hadn’t been gossiping about me. Or at least, they hadn’t been gossiping about the rumors.
“We can all handle the things that require contacts and favors and all the stuff that goes into wrangling an event like this,” Tiffany said. “But I think Amber and Jennifer bring up a fantastic point. And last thing I want to do is scare you off. You’re practically a folk hero at this school after that trial.”
I surveyed the faces. As much as I expected to see at least one pair of unkind eyes, there were none. I was fine. I was safe.
“How did you want to handle it, ladies?” Tiffany asked.
“We thought that it would be a good idea to put Aubrey in charge of entertainment,” Amber said.
“We can provide some names,” Jennifer said, “but I think it’d be perfect if we could just give you a budget to work with and some space to run with it.”
“Not to mention the speeches.” Amber added. “You’re an amazing writer. It would be perfect if you were the one to write them. We need to have at least a few, some from the administrators, and the Dean, of course.”
My face twisted in distaste before I could stop myself. Amber broke out into laughter.
“I thought it might be a nice twist of the knife if you were the one who wrote his welcome speech,” she said.
“I’m all for it,” Tiffany said. “All in favor?”
The vote was unanimous.
Tiffany looked at me. “Do you accept the responsibility?”
For the first time in a long time, I felt completely at ease around my peers. “I do. Nothing would make me happier. You can count on me.”
“Then that settles it,” Tiffany said. “I’ll e-mail you all the details we just discussed. Meeting adjourned.”
I stood up to leave. Luka got up at the same time. I was so full of smiles that I flashed one to him as well, without feeling self conscious for once. I was in a room full of people who weren’t going to judge me.
I started to get my things together, as Tiffany called out.
“Oh, by the way! I want to let you all know I’m changing the rules this year. Committee members should absolutely feel free to attend the ball and not worry about things the night-of. I have some people I can get in touch with to make sure that the event runs smoothly, but we’ll talk more about that later.”
My heart sank. Damn. That was my one good, solid excuse to avoid the ball.
Before I had much time to lament about it, Luka approached me. I remembered this would at least be a way to get more time in with him.
“Aubrey,” he began. “Would you do me the honor of accompanying me to dinner?”
