Page 60 of Under Her

I know, right? About freaking time.

So, now that I’m not crushing on Wilder, I don’t have to pretend to not have said crush on him; therefore, I don’t need to act like I think he’s the biggest jerk to ever walk the face of the planet so that he doesn’t know I have—sorry, had feelings for him. And, also, I’m over the whole him implying that I was fat.

I’ve decided, from now on, I’ll be nice to him.

Not that I’ve been particularly awful to him. I’ve just not been friendly to him in the past.

But this year is going to be different. A brand-new year, and I resolve to be nice to Wilder Cross. Maybe even be friends with him.

Another change that Joely and I agreed on for this year is that we’ll both have more of a social life. Joely’s not here on a scholarship, like me. Her parents are a little better off than mine, and they pay her tuition and boarding fees, but she still has to work to earn money to live on.

So, it’s fair to say that we both neglected our social lives last year.

This year is going to be different.

I’m actually considering maybe dipping my toe in the dating pool.

I’m nineteen years old and at college. Having fun and dating boys is a rite of passage.

Hence why I find myself at this party of some guy I don’t know, but he is in Hannah’s creative writing class.

The house is packed with people. Some, I recognize from classes, but a lot of them, I don’t know.

Hannah disappeared the moment we got here to go talk to some people she knew. So, it’s just Joely and me, standing around, people-watching.

“We suck at this,” she says into my ear over the loud music.

“Suck at what?” I say back to her.

“Socializing. We’ve been here for thirty minutes, and we haven’t talked to anyone but each other. We haven’t even had a drink yet.”

I chuckle. “You’re right. We do suck at it. How about I go locate us a drink, and you go talk to that cute guy who’s been staring at you for the last five minutes?”

“Who? Where?” Her head whips around to me.

“Straight ahead. Blue shirt. Blond hair. Super cute.”

She glances over at him. He’s still staring at her. He smiles at her and then starts to walk toward us.

“What do I do?” she says to me, panicked.

“Talk to him,” I say, giving her a little shove forward. “I’ll be back soon with drinks for us.”

Just as the cute guy reaches her, I disappear and go off in search of alcohol.

I head to where I think the kitchen might be. I’m just about to push the door open but pause when I hear my name mentioned.

“Hey, did you see that Morgan Stickford’s here?”

I know the voice, but I’m struggling to place it.

“I thought she’d didn’t do parties.”

“She doesn’t usually,” another male voice says.

“I’m thinking I might give her a try tonight,” the first voice says.

Oh, wow. Some guy is saying that he wants to hit on me. Even if he’s not my type, it’s still really nice to hear that I’ve caught a guy’s interest.