“Thank you for your consideration.” I smiled. “I accept those days. Email me a time after you look over your schedule. We can begin next week.”
There was nothing left to discuss, but I didn’t want her to leave without some of that fire returning. She stood to go and had her hand on the door before I spoke.
“Princess.” At the nickname, her back straightened, and she turned to face me. “This means you’ll have to suffer my company each week. Do you think you can do that?”
A small tease. Nothing inappropriate, but with just enough of a taunt to get her going again. She didn’t disappoint. She raised her dainty middle finger and followed it with an involuntary grin, she knew what she was doing.
“Somehow, I think I’ll survive.”
six
Eryn
“Tell me again why we’re doing this?”
The skimpy, albeit cute pajamas were a far cry from the last outfit I wore to Greek Row. The little boxer shorts Rani shoved me into were shorter than that skirt, but infinitely more comfortable, and the long-sleeved thermal was the softest thing I’d ever worn. I slipped on Kai’s hoodie and the Uggs my roomie threw at me, and the outfit was complete. Cute, but I was about to freeze my ass off. Rani didn’t say anything about me still having the hoodie, so I counted that as a win.
“This sleepover is the most important event for the pledges of Kappa Delta,” Rani explained again. “And if we’re late, I won’t sit with you in Bio for the rest of the semester.”
Ouch. I clutched my chest and staggered back at the threat, but I knew she was kidding. Maybe. I hoped she was because sitting alone kinda sucked. Pledging a sorority wasn’t my idea, it was definitely her thing, but there were a lot of benefits. Connections with alumni that could help me get into the veterinaryprogram being one of them. I just had to make it through these stupid trials to be accepted. And a sleepover didn’t sound too bad. I’d never been to one and was secretly excited.
“It’s going to be fun,” Rani promised and ushered me out the door so we could make the shuttle.
The winter air cut right through the cotton shorts, but the trip to Greek Row wasn’t long, and soon, we were once again warm and toasty inside. The massive living room of the sorority house had been converted to a dorm room of sorts with about twenty cots. Each bed had a little teddy bear sitting on it, dressed in a small shirt with a green seashell on it.
I was still apprehensive as Rani and I tucked ourselves in the back near the big bay window. That apprehension grew as more girls arrived. Was it the large group? It had to be. I originally thought that being tucked away in this house, surrounded by humans, would make me feel safer after feeling that blast of power a couple of days ago. I knew I would eventually feel some magick. Supers were everywhere—well, maybe not Antarctica—and it's not like I could completely avoid them forever.
But I hoped to at least last longer than the first week of school. With each new girl that wandered in, I found myself hiding deeper in the corner. Any one of them could be a super; that blonde with the pigtails; or that tall supermodel with the smooth, mocha complexion. I took a slow breath in through my nose, held it, and then let it out. Now wasn’t the time to fall into a panic.
Nothing had changed. Even if every single one of these girls was a super, they had no reason to think I was one of them. Blend in. Fly under the radar. My plan was still the same. I couldn’t allow my being spooked to ruin everything.
“Don’t bother unpacking, ladies. Not all of you will be staying this evening.” The president of the sorority—Paisleigh...Kingsleigh...Brinnleigh?– stood at the double doors tothe living room and stared down at us with perfect hair, a full face of makeup, and an obvious superiority complex.
Paisleigh, I remembered now, wore a matching set of Victoria’s Secret sweatpants and top. She looked so put together, despite following the pajama dress code set for the night. I looked down at myself and then at the other pledges in the room. We got a different memo. The rest of us were dressed more for comfort than to impress; complete with messy ponytails and blackhead strips for an unfortunate few.
“We’re going to complete a little bonding activity before bed,” Paisleigh continued, with a suspicious grin. “We promised you dinner after all.”
I looked beside me at Rani, but she shrugged, having no idea what was happening either.
“This is called the Dinner Dash, and it's mandatory for further consideration as a pledge.” At the whispers, the others were obviously familiar with the event in question. One girl even moaned into her hands and tried to inconspicuously wipe the zit cream off her face. Paisleigh looked on in glee. “I see the reputation of this game proceeds us. We’re not allowed to haze anymore, or we lose our charter, so I came up with this instead.”
“She got it from a movie!” one of the bubbly sorority sisters giggled. “But our version is actually sanctioned.”
Okay, what the hell was the Dinner Dash? If it involved running, I had a pretty good shot at winning, thanks to my fugitive lifestyle, but something told me this wasn’t the hundred-yard dash in the backyard of the Kappa Delta house.
“This challenge allows us to test our pledges on their confidence, resourcefulness, and level of attraction. Any girl who completes the dash successfully can consider themselves a probationary sister.”
That caused some excited giggles among the pledges, but all I felt was a growing sense of dread. Even Rani was silent andcontemplative. Paisleigh raised her hand for silence, and I didn’t trust that calculating glint in her eyes.
“These are the rules; you go as you are, no touch-ups, no changing, not a single brush stroke through your hair. You can’t clean your teeth or change your outfit. Any cheating is punishable by an automatic expulsion from this year’s pledge class.” The girls picking at the products on their faces froze, and true worry settled over them. “Seabird’s is a diner on the edge of campus. Each pledge has thirty minutes from the moment I say ‘go’ to get out there, find a date, and bring him with you to the restaurant.”
“Dressed like this?” one pledge whined.
The sisters laughed at her dismay, and Paisleigh nodded. “Exactly as you are. Any pledge who arrives after the thirty minutes is up or without a date will be cut. If your date doesn’t stay the whole meal, you’re cut. You have permission to do whatever is necessary to secure a date as long as it’s legal and doesn’t bring shame upon the institution.” She paused, letting the rules sink in, as well as the resulting panic. Pulling out a stopwatch, she gave us one final smirk and opened the front door. “Happy hunting, ladies.”
It was a mad dash out the door, and the only reason I was in the middle of it was because Rani had a death grip on my arm. We looked ridiculous bolting into the frigid evening dressed as we were, but there was no one else around to take notice. My weird radar tingled. I jerked Rani to a halt, begrudgingly thankful for our little run because it kept the cold at bay. For now.
“Where are all the guys?” I asked, scanning the empty street, finding no one but squealing co-eds in various stages of dress.
