Summer
I’d told myself that if the first person I called to cover my shift could do it, then it was meant to be that I attended the sorority bid party.
If she couldn’t do it, then I wasn’t meant to go.
I’d called my most unreliable co-worker.
By some miracle, she happily volunteered to cover my shift.
So, sorority party it was.
Which was why I was now sitting on a couch in the middle of a fancy common room, slowly eating a slice of pizza as three girls dressed in nearly identical sundresses hovered around me like vultures.
Courtney, Lacey, and another girl whose name started with a C.
Carrie? Or maybe Cara. One of the two.
“So,” Carrie/Cara said. “What did you do over winter break?” She sat forward eagerly, awaiting my response.
“Worked more shifts at the coffee shop,” I said. “And caught up on some books by my favorite authors, since it’s hard to get reading in for fun when we’re in school.”
She stared at me blankly.
“Cool,” she said after a few seconds, although by the way she sat back into the couch, it was clear she thought it was anything but cool.
“What are you doing for spring break?” Lacey asked.
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Probably the same thing?”
“You mean you don’t go skiing out west, or to Europe, or anything?”
“I’ve never left Florida,” I said simply.
Lacey gave Courtney a look, as if she were trying to telepathically ask her for help—or to ask her what I was doing there.
I should have known better than to think I’d fit in at a sorority party.
It was becoming clearer by the minute that Courtney had only invited me because she felt like I was a charity case who deserved a reward for helping her boyfriend graduate college. She’d basically said as much when she’d asked me to come. I didn’t know why I’d chosen to ignore it.
Future job connections, I reminded myself, although the girls seemed more focused on where they liked to vacation than on their career aspirations.
I placed my slice of pizza down on my plate, about to tell them that I had to go home and study. After all, I did have that test tomorrow, even though I had more than enough time tonight to get ready for it. I’d never needed a lot of sleep, which came in handy in college.
Courtney slammed her drink down onto the coffee table, and the two other girls straightened. “How about we give you the house tour?” she asked brightly. “We’ll explain our philanthropy as we walk.”
“Sure,” I said, grateful for her change of subject, especially since that was one of the things I’d been interested in learning about.
It couldn’t hurt to hear her out.
She stood up and straightened imaginary creases out of her dress, like a future Stepford Wife. “Lacey. Carrie,” she said to the two other girls. “Come with us.”
Carrie. I was right on her name the first time.
Courtney led the way through the common room, past sorority girls who were “interviewing” the two other girls who’d been invited to the party.
As we passed, I heard one girl talking about a trip to Greece she’d taken with her family over winter break, and how cool it had been to see the Parthenon in person.
Seeing Grecian ruins did sound super interesting. I’d always thought it was incredible that we had such intact remains from a brilliantly advanced (for their time) society that had existed thousands of years ago.
I wanted to jump into the conversation, but someone pulled at my hand—Courtney—and directed me out of the common room. The hall lined with doors was far less fancy—it looked like a regular dorm.
“Let’s not bother with the other rooms,” she said. “Mine’s the best.” She strutted down the hall and stopped at the last door on the left. “It used to be a double,” she explained. “But the fire department decided it was too small for two people, so now it’s all mine.”
She opened the door and motioned for me to come inside.
I widened my eyes when I walked in. Because I’d been in some of the dorm rooms on campus, but they were nothing like this.
Courtney didn’t have the standard twin bed given to the on-campus students.
She had a full-sized bed, with light green bedding that looked like it was made of silk.
The desk had been replaced with what must have been a seventy-inch television.
She also had two closets—presumably because the room had originally been for two people—and an expensive-looking full length mirror.
Goosebumps prickled along my arms, and I was suddenly aware of how much I was being watched.
“Close the door,” Courtney commanded Lacey.
Lacey didn’t just close the door—she dead-bolted it.
An unsettled feeling rose inside me.
I turned back around to look at Courtney, and her eyes were filled with anger so hot I swore I could feel it.
This was not the same friendly girl who’d pranced into the lounge earlier today and invited me to this party.
“I think I should go.” I backed toward the door, but Lacey and Carrie were standing in front of it, blocking my only exit.
“You’re not leaving until you admit the truth,” Courtney sneered, the former perkiness in her tone replaced by animalistic hate.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She took a threatening step toward me, and I backed up again on instinct. “Trent’s been acting distant lately,” she said. “So I thought: who at this school could pull his attention away from me? Then you came to mind—the aloof girl who tutors him in English.”
“I didn’t think you knew I existed before today.” I held my gaze with hers, not wanting her to think she intimidated me.
At the same time, I was mentally prepping to defend myself in case she tried to claw my eyes out.
“Don’t play dumb. Everyone knows you exist,” she said hatefully. “Guys practically drool over you when you walk by, like you’re some sort of goddess. And you don’t even have to try.” She looked me up and down, clearly judging my ripped black jeans and faded Hogwarts t-shirt.
“I’m not playing at anything,” I said. “There’s nothing going on between me and Trent.”
“He talks about you, you know,” she continued, as if she hadn’t heard me. “He’s amazed by how smart and helpful you are. And he’s never cared about stuff like that. It’s like you’ve cast some kind of spell on him.”
I couldn’t help it—I chuckled. “If I could cast love spells on people, Trent’s the last person I’d choose.”
Her eyes narrowed further. “Denying it isn’t going to get you anywhere,” she said. “Slut.”
Anger heated inside me until my blood felt like it was boiling, and that low hum I’d felt last night during the Northern Lights vibrated through me.
The next thing I knew, Courtney reached into a display bowl on the end table next to her bed, picked up a handful of tiny decorative gems, and threw them at me.
I spun around and held my hands up to protect myself, readying myself for the impact.
Nothing hit me.
Instead, the gems did a one-eighty and turned themselves back at Courtney, flying at her with the same force she’d thrown them at me.
Her mouth dropped open, and she stumbled backward, tripping on her own feet and falling back into the wall. Her head smacked against the concrete, and she slumped down to her side, not moving.
The gems were splayed out on the floor around her.
I stood there in shock, and panic rushed through me. Because what I’d just seen was impossible. And Courtney still wasn’t moving.
Lacey and Carrie ran to her side, and I took a few steps backward, unable to look away.
Did she hit her head hard enough to kill her?
No, she couldn’t have.
But she still wasn’t getting up.
Did I do that to her?
No. I didn’t touch her. She’d tripped. It wasn’t my fault.
But the way those gems had turned around and flown at her…
It wasn’t possible. There had to be a logical explanation.
And she couldn’t be dead. Her face was scratched up from the gems, but there wasn’t a pool of blood beneath her head. She was just unconscious. She had to be.
Lacey was already on her phone calling for help.
Carrie looked over her shoulder and sneered at me, looking even more vicious than Courtney had moments before. “Get out of here,” she said. “Freak.”
I held my hands up like a bank robber caught by the police. “I didn’t do anything,” I said.
I didn’t know who I was trying to convince—her, or me.
“Get. Out.” She literally bared her teeth, like she was getting ready to attack.
Courtney still wasn’t moving.
I studied my hands, not sure what I’d done to her, or if I’d even done it at all.
But Carrie still looked like she was about to pounce. And as much as I disliked her, I didn’t want to accidentally hurt her, too.
So I spun around, hurried toward the door, and ran out of there without looking back.