Page 51 of Pucking Good Girl

“I didn’t get any texts from the Zeta account.” I bite out.

“You’re such a liar, Talia. I texted everyone, yourself included. Regardless, we were about to vote to expel you from Zeta Theta Beta. As the subject of the vote, you don’t get a ballot.”

If she thinks she can intimidate me with her mean girl act, she doesn’t know me. “Slow your roll, Gen. On what grounds are you trying to get me kicked out? You can’t just cancel the people you don’t like; you need a valid reason and a two-third majority to revoke a membership.”

Gen giggles. “Ooh, someone studied our bylaws. I’m impressed.”

Laugher echoes in the room at Gen’s catty comment, but some of it sounds more uncomfortable than amused.

“I’ve been an active member of this sorority and I’m a legacy,” I insist. “You can’t kick me out without a valid reason.”

“Oh, but I have the most valid reason I could possibly have.” Gen’s tone is hard, every trace of her smile now gone from her face. “You stole my boyfriend. It goes against girl code. So you need to go.”

I can’t believe this. “I didn’t steal anything, Gen. You and Macklin have been over for months.”

“We would have gotten back together if you hadn’t inserted yourself between us.” She lashes out.

“Gen, come on. Be real with us and with yourself. Macklin has been trying to tell you that he was done with you since the beginning of the summer. He’s been repeating himself until he got blue in the face. Everyone on campus and in town has got the message except you.”

Her eyes narrow, her tone now low and menacing. “Are you calling me stupid?”

Gen is anything but stupid, and I have no problem admitting it. “I know you’re an intelligent woman. But you’re refusing to accept the truth. Macklin has moved on, and so should you.”

There’s a beat of silence as Genevieve considers my words. “Whether we were going to get back together or not—and we were—doesn’t matter. You got with my ex-boyfriend without my blessing. That’s the worst breach of girl code in existence. I want you out.”

Before I can say anything in response to Gen’s accusation, Sam intervenes in my defense. “You’re so full of shit, Gen. Girl code is something you either live by or you don’t. You can’t pick and choose to follow it just when it suits you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Macklin’s ex seethes.

“First off, girl code applies to friends. And last I checked, you’ve never made a mystery of the fact that you don’t like Talia. Or me, for that matter. If I had a nickel for every time you called us charity cases behind our backs because our families don’t have the kind of money you grew up with, I’d be ten times richer than you.”

Gen’s laugh is laced with cruelty. “I’ve never called you a charity case behind your back. I’ve always done it to your face.”

Sam shrugs. “Fine. So you’re not a hypocrite. But that doesn’t make you less of an asshole. And it doesn’t change the fact that girl code applies to friends, and you made it clear that you dislike Talia from the second we met during rush week.”

“We might not be best friends,” Gen’s voice breaks as she looks at the other Zetas around the room. “But we’re sisters. So your behavior is even more disgusting.”

Her tone is clearly fake. But I can see some of the sisters whispering to each other, and by the way they’re looking at me, I think they’re on Gen’s side.

“Do you want to insist on enforcing girl code?” I bite out. “Fine. I’m not even arguing about it applying to us for being sisters. But you can’t invoke girl code if you were cheating on your boyfriend. That made Macklin fair game because you clearly didn’t consider that relationship important enough not to step out on him. So I did nothing wrong.”

“How dare you?” Gen snaps. “I never cheated on Mack. He’s the love of my life.”

It’s my turn to laugh. “Really? Could have fooled me. Is that why you tried to sleep with Tucker on multiple occasions last year?”

Genevieve crosses her arms over her chest. “That was at training camp, when Mack and I were already broken up.”

“No, it wasn’t.” I argue. “Tucker told me you’ve been throwing yourself at him all year last year. When you were still with Macklin.”

“Those are all lies. It was Tucker who wanted me and was trying to make it sound the other way around, not to lose his friendship with Mack.”

I can’t believe this woman. “Gen, Tucker is just the tip of the iceberg. You fucked Corey, Candace’s boyfriend last year during winter break, when Candace was visiting her family in Connecticut. And you were still with Macklin then. They broke up because of you. Where was girl code then?”

“You’re lying,” Gen insists. “You have no proof of what you’re saying. It’s your word against mine.”

“Yeah?” I challenge her. “Candace confided in some of us last year, so I have witnesses.”

She laughs. “Who, Sam? That little bitch would say anything to help you. And she hates me since she lost the presidential election to me.”