Freshmeet (The Final Girls of Frattic #1)

Prologue

FUCK THE GIRLS OF FRATTIC

EMMA

Fuck the girls of Frattic.

Joining a sorority was supposed to give me the kind of friendship I’d never had as a kid. Instead, I was surrounded by selfish bitches who had no problem with a sister stealing a guy from right between your thighs.

“Weren’t you supposed to be out with Carter tonight?” Olivia’s innocent question carried through the unseasonably warm February night.

My fingers curled into my palm. The pinch of pain as my manicured nails broke skin was a welcome distraction.

I should be the one getting asked out on Valentine’s Day.

Sarah chuckled and shook her head, her bouncy blond ponytail swinging across her shoulders. “No. He asked, but I told him I wasn’t interested.”

“Probably a good call,” Olivia said, laying out a blanket on the pitched part of the roof.

Kat scoffed. “You did take him to formal last semester.”

I scowled but quickly smoothed my features. As far as the girls knew, Carter Williams and I shacked a couple of times, and that’s it.

But they should’ve known.

“As friends!” Sarah said, exasperated. “Is that not allowed?”

Kat, Olivia, and Britta all said no at the same time, then burst into laughter.

“You guys suck,” Sarah mumbled, plopping down on the blanket. Of course, Olivia joined her and coddled the little princess. The two of them had been tight since high school, and college had only strengthened that bond.

“Hand me the candles,” I said to Kat, pointedly ignoring the scowl on her face. Of the Frattic girls, she was the biggest bitch. It was kind of a mindfuck that they preferred living with her over me, but then again, she was Mona’s little charity case, so . . .

“Where did you get this spell book again?” Kat’s green eyes narrowed at the beat-up book in my hand.

I was sure she recognized it. Her former little had tried her damnedest to get Kat to leave Beta Alpha Epsilon for the local hipster sorority Beta Alpha Beta.

One of the bargaining chips she used was the little black book in my hands.

On instinct, I held it to my chest, knowing full well the bitch had no problem getting physical. I had put too much effort into stealing the thing from the BAB house to let it go. “Mind your business. Just help me set up the circle.”

Rolling her eyes, Kat set the candles in a circle on the flat part of the roof.

Olivia and Sarah shared a look, and I knew the two of them were going to be talking shit once I left.

Fuck them.

Sarah was the reason for this little trip into the occult. If it hadn’t been for her, Carter would have already asked me to be his girlfriend. I figured, why not use her and get a little magical help?

Mona climbed out of the window, her face flush and hair sweaty from playing in the intramural volleyball championship. “We won!” she shouted, high-fiving Kat on her way to the bin holding all the stuff I collected for the ritual. “What did I miss? Summoned any demons yet?”

“Not yet,” Britta muttered as she crawled across the rough roof, drawing a pentagram with a hot pink chalk marker.

The stench of weed wafted my way, and I sighed. “Morgan, anyway you can hold off on smoking until after we’re done?”

“Oh, shit. Sorry,” she said with genuine remorse in her voice. She may have been a space cadet fifth-year senior, but she was the nicest of the Frattic girls.

I should really get new friends.

Internally, I chanted, “I need eight bodies to complete the spell. Eight wishes. Eight intentions.”

“You really shouldn’t smoke. You’ll hurt your lung capacity,” Rae said from the windowsill. She still wasn’t sure if she wanted to participate and had been very vocal that she thought I had lost my mind. Something about dormant Catholic guilt and an Ouija board experience gone awry.

Britta better be able to get Rae’s ass out here.

“I know, I know, but I ran out of gummies.”

Rae tapped her empty water bottle against the window frame and looked out on the alley as if it would save her from what I had planned.

Ever since I’d mentioned our little bonding activity, she’d been treating me differently and asking if “everything’s okay.

” The sister of professional athletes, she had no idea what it was like to be rejected and ignored.

Must be nice.

I placed a silver bowl in the middle of the pentagram and counted the number of pink candles. Despite all the bitching and moaning, the girls had pulled it off, and everything was perfect.

Thank God for small miracles.

I checked my phone and smiled. “It’s time.” Gathering the pre-cut pieces of paper and pens from the tote, I handed one to each of my sorority sisters. I leaned into the window and passed Rae the last. “Are you coming out or . . .”

Rae groaned but swung her long legs out of the window. “So, what are we doing?”

I checked the book for the millionth time and nodded. “Write down your deepest heart’s desire. Really think about it.”

Kat huffed, but Mona elbowed her in the side. “Just do it,” she said, then gave me a small smile, like she was doing me a favor.

Which she was, but goddamn, why was Mona so smug? She was the only other girl in the running for president of Beta Alpha Epsilon, and boy, did she make sure I didn’t forget it.

While they quietly wrote, I took the slip of paper out of my pocket and ran my thumb over the carefully written words.

I want my love to be obsessed with me.

Glancing at Sarah, there was that familiar pang of jealousy. It had hurt when she’d gone to formal with Carter, but it was even worse when I found out she didn’t even want him.

But did that stop him from chasing her?

No.

It didn’t matter that Carter and I had been shacking for months or that we were both next in line to be president of our respective organizations. It didn’t even matter that Sarah was a chubby, boring loser because she was a rich girl and he was a rich boy.

“Okay, now what?” Kat asked, waving her intention around.

“Set your papers in the bowl.”

They all shuffled into the circle of candles and dropped them in the bowl. Turning to me, they waited for further instructions.

Time for the real razzle-dazzle.

“Now, a couple of drops of your blood.”

“Wait a minute,” Rae said, nearly stepping out of the ring of candles.

“Stop! You have to stay in the circle.” When I was sure she‘d stay put, I took a needle and lighter out of my BAE hoodie pocket.

Heating the end, I waited until it cooled and then pricked the tip of my pointer finger.

“See, no big deal,” I said as I squeezed my finger, forcing a few drops of blood into the bowl.

“Hell no,” Kat snapped, crossing her arms.

Mona looked at her roommates and rolled her eyes. “I’ll go first.”

“Mona!” Rae shouted, reaching for her with her freakish arm span.

Mona shook her off and took the needle and lighter from me. “Relax,” she sighed. Without any fuss, she pricked her finger and added her blood. She held the needle and lighter out to Kat and said, “Come on, Ms. Tattoos.”

Kat’s eyes narrowed, but she would never back down from Mona’s goading. “Whatever,” she mumbled, violently stabbing her finger—a move that was both aggressive and unnecessary.

“I know we’re in a sorority, but this is so dramatic,” Britta said, taking her turn. Her delicate features pinched when she poked herself, but she didn’t make a sound.

Olivia, Morgan, and Sarah followed suit without a word, which was so unlike them. They always had something to bitch about.

Then we all turned to the resident scaredy cat virgin, Rae.

“Well,” I said, holding the needle and lighter out to her.

“Do I really have to do this?” she whined, making eye contact with Mona, silently begging her to end this.

“Yes,” I said, opening her fist and placing the needle in her palm. Flicking the lighter, I waited until the peer pressure became too much and she caved.

Pouting, she heated the end, pricked herself, and squeezed a few drops onto our intentions. “Happy?” she asked, shaking out her hand.

“Ecstatic,” I deadpanned. “Now, each of you stand in front of a candle.” When everyone was in place, I placed the spell pouch I got off the internet in the bowl and lit it.

Setting the bowl in the middle of the pentagram, I stepped in front of my own candle and dramatically chanted, “Suum cuique tribuere.”

The fire in the bowl flared at my words, the candles behind us burning so hot that we all moved in toward the middle of the pentagram.

The wind whipped around us as the fire turned pink and shimmery.

It was intoxicating, drawing me in, begging me to come closer.

Words I didn’t understand whispered in my ear, and excitement washed over me.

Goosebumps spread all over my body, and I could barely stand still.

Holy shit, it’s working.

Mona’s eyes widened, and her mouth fell open like she was going to speak.

I threw up a hand and shouted, “Wait.”

Not a second later, a final gust of wind extinguished the fire in the bowl, and the candles went out. The cool night air settled back around us, silent and calm, and it was as if nothing ever happened.

“What the fuck?” Kat murmured, pushing her long pink hair from her pale face.

Britta’s big brown eyes bored into me, searching for an explanation. In fact, all the girls looked at me with wonder and a touch of fear.

They had no idea what they had just given me.

A tingle spread from my chest through my limbs, and I couldn’t help but smile.

It’s done. Let’s get to the mixer.

The red plastic cup cracked in my hand as I watched Carter and Sarah celebrate another sunk shot. They’d run the beer pong table all night, and I was ready to explode.

“He’s got it bad,” Duncan said into his beer. The Gamma junior had been popping up all night, giving me oh-so-helpful words of encouragement.

“Shut up.” I threw my empty cup down and stomped away.

So much for a 4.7 rating on Etsy, that pouch was bullshit.

When I’d shown up, Carter hadn’t even said hello. No, he was too busy chatting up Sarah.

Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.