I didn’t remember admitting that I’d never been rock climbing before, but from their reactions I must have confessed it during the video. Everyone was being so encouraging—well, almost everyone.
I frowned.
Admit it. You have no clue what to do with that thing. Rock Steady made a huge mistake in wasting time and money on you. That harness would have served anyone else better. Perhaps someone who actually knows how to rock climb and use a harness like that. This company has lost all respect from me choosing to partner with you when there are so many great influencers in the actual rock climbing community. Make sure you anchor well, sweetheart. Wouldn’t want to see you take a massive whipper off the crux!
There was the truth of it all staring at me right in the face. I was a fraud, an imposter. People looked to me for recommendations when ninety percent of the time I had no idea what the hell I was talking about.
Whoever this guy was, he saw right through me. He knew. And if he knew, then others did too. It was just a matter of time before I got cancelled and all of this just disappeared.
Success had come overnight. It was like I’d blinked and gone viral with money pouring in. All my accounts were monetized, plus I’d accepted additional payments for product reviews. Not to mention the perks of so much free stuff, most of which I sold online when I was done with it.
You have a business, Zoey,I reminded myself.This is business.
It might not have been what I thought my life would look like, but it was at least something I enjoyed and was good at. I loved being a small business owner so much that I had changed majors to better understand the business components of it. I was now double majoring in Business and Social Media Marketing. It just made sense and felt like a practical use of my time here at the ARC.
That was me, practical but fun. The fun side of life had almost destroyed everything my freshman year when I’d rushed Theta. I’d been so caught up in the sorority lifestyle and all the parties that I’d nearly flunked out of college. That had been a true wakeup call.
One of my sisters had taken me under her wing when I’d gone on suspension with the sorority and academics. Without Kaitlyn, I’d never have survived here. She wasn’t like the other girls. She had her head on straight and was never about thepartying or having the most popular guy on campus. Though I had to admit that was all some of the girls cared about.
The first two years at the ARC seem to be all about the partying and fun times. Then junior and senior year, it feels like a switch is flipped toward finding a mate. Combine it all and Theta didn’t exactly have the best reputation on campus. Let’s be real—we were the horny party girls.
But that wasn’t me, and since the sisters had voted me to be president of Theta this year, my entire life made me feel like an even bigger fraud.
I loved the girls and I wouldn’t change much about my time at Archibald Reynolds, but none of them truly knew me because I didn’t let anyone close enough to see my flaws.
Yet people still did, like that guy who left the comment on my video,I thought.
A knock at my bedroom door made me jump.
“Zoey, it’s time to get ready. Delta Omega Gamma is coming over tonight, and Denny promised the entire fraternity would be here,” Chloe squealed from the other side of my door.
Theta and the doghouse used to be tight, but the last few years they seem to have drifted away from us. I understood that. They’d been connected with Theta through Kaitlyn, and when she graduated, the tie between our houses loosened.
Gone were the formal days with just Theta and Delta Omega Gamma.
Some of the brothers didn’t even bother to show up to our parties anymore.
Personally, I could care less, but it mattered to my sisters. As president I was working on restoring relationships with the other Greek houses. My predecessor could have cared less aboutany of that. I wanted to see Theta succeed, though, and I wanted to restore our reputation to a more positive one.
I liked Denny, the president of Delta Omega Gamma. He was fun and easy to talk to, but where the brothers had once had as bad of a reputation as Theta, they too had changed. They were more about finding true mates than sleeping around. Previous brothers had begun instilling that desire in them and within a few years it showed—much to the dismay of my sisters.
They seemed to have higher standards for themselves. The last few presidents had found their true mates and mated young while still in college, but they hadn’t hidden themselves away in mated apartments on campus, they’d stayed integrated within the doghouse.
Denny was a prime example of that, too. He’d met his mate over the summer, and the two of them lived at the house. From what I’d heard, she was more like a house mother to the guys now, but I hadn’t personally met her yet. I was curious though and couldn’t wait to meet her tonight.
I hadn’t been comfortable accepting my new role. In some ways I’d been manipulated into it. But mostly, I didn’t feel qualified for it. I’d never let the others know that though. They’d voted and clearly had more confidence in me than I had in myself. But the damage was done now. No way was I going to let them down. I was too much of a people pleaser for that.
Denny agreeing to make it a mandatory event for them had earned me kudos quickly. I hadn’t expected him to agree so easily. Maybe our alliance hadn’t been as wrecked as it felt. Then again, I’d been a big proponent last year of changing our focus away from hot guys. I liked to think that showed, though the reality was that Denny may just have a bunch of horny dogs this year looking to get lucky.
I growled at the thought.
Since my rise as a social media influencer, everyone on campus seemed to want to get with me. I had developed quite the reputation because of it, and none of it was true. I often wondered if that was the only reason I’d been voted as president. Guys followed me everywhere and when I turned them down, my sisters enjoyed reaping the benefits. Why else would they have chosen me?
I was no one from nowhere, and that was the sad truth. Maybe they didn’t see it yet, or maybe they just didn’t care, but I knew, and it only contributed to my imposter syndrome.
Fortunately, I had a team of volunteers overseeing everything for tonight. From the smells of food wafting into my room, I’d say they took their job seriously. Tonight was to be a civil, fun, formal event. Dinner and dancing. I’d warned the sisters to be on their best behavior and had to trust they would.
Taking out the gold dress I’d bought for the evening, I carefully stepped into it and checked my makeup in the mirror. We’d agreed on navy and gold for the evening. It wasn’t until the last second that Chloe informed me they were all wearing navy and leaving the gold to me.
