“Yep.”
I stand back up and take a few steps past him, moving double time back to Sterling House for reasons that have nothing to do with underwear embarrassment and everything to do with the boy who seems to see right through me.
“Hey,” he says.
I stop and look at him over my shoulder, still trying to process that I have already flashed my entire intimates drawer to half the freshman class, their families, and probably more than a few professors.
“What?” I say.
He seems to hesitate a second, like he was going to say something else, then he smiles. “Welcome to Halden.”
I stand there longer than I should, watching him go, then I continue the walk toward Sterling with the duffel bundled against my chest and the box balanced on top of it, not looking back at him or around at the people still staring at me.
The whole way across the quad my heart is going at a rate that is unreasonable for the amount of physical activity I am doing, and I utterly fuckingrefuseto go into any level of thought about why that might be right about now.
Tall.
Chiseled.
Dark curls.
Blue eyes.
Stop, I think.Halden Girl, remember?
When I get to 214, I push the door open with my hip, and Ivy is back on the phone. She’s sitting cross-legged on her bed with clothes everywhere, and when she notices how flushed I am, she hangs up without even saying goodbye to whoever she was talking to.
“What happened?” she says.
“Nothing.”
“Sloane.”
“Bag broke.”
“Sloane.”
I sit down on my bed, set the duffel at my feet, and put my hands over my face for exactly three seconds. Then I put them down, and I readjust in the most composed way I can manage right now, which isn’t very composed at all, really.
“My duffel opened in the courtyard,” I say, trying to sound like I’m commenting on the weather.
“So? Just buy a new bag?”
“My underwear came out. All of it.”
Ivy’s mouth opens.
“Don’t,” I say.
Her eyes shine.
“I am begging you.”
She’s laughing now, with her whole face, not cruel. “That’s a hell of an entrance.”
“It’s not even the worst part.”
Her eyes bulge now. “Okay.Okay. I’m being a supportive friend.”
