“STOP TUGGING AT IT. IT’S supposed to show your cleavage.”
“Cleavage is one thing, exposing my nipples is another. Jesus, where did you find this thing?” I ask, pulling at the top of the dress Christine managed to force me into. She convinced me the color made my emerald green eyes pop—not that anyone will notice my eyes with my boobs spilling out.
“Becky, the girl down the hall, let me borrow it. Don’t spill anything on it. I promised it back in good shape—hey, look, there’s Brittany!” Christine snatches my arm while waving like a buffoon, then drags me the rest of the way up the stairs to the Beta Phi Alpha sorority. The house is lit up like a Christmas tree. Girls dressed to the nines flood the lawn and stairs, surrounded by what seems like every male who attends this school. I tug at the dress again, feeling super insecure with my outfit. Thankfully, I have a hoodie stashed inside my purse I plan on throwing over this nonsense dress—if you can call it that.
We enter the house and move down the long hallway that meets the kitchen before coming face to face with what seems to be my best friend’s new idol. “Hey, we made it! This is so awesome. I can’t believe you all live here.”
And I can’t believe what a kiss-ass my friend just turned into.
“Oh, it’s just a house. It’s nothing compared to the rest of the perks.” Brittany smiles and turns her eyes on me. Her lips drop a smidge, but she manages to put them back in place as she greets me. “Jim, right?” she says, making a poor attempt at remembering my name.
“It’s Jensen, actually,” I remind her with the same sourness in my tone.
“Oh, yeah, that’s right. I knew it was some sort of boy’s name.” Before I can kill her with my gaze, she turns her attention back on Christine, dismissing me. “So glad you could make it. It’s beauties like you we’re looking for in our house. I’d love to give you a tour, if you’re up for it. Unless you have to stay here and keep—”
“I’d love a tour!” Christine beams, letting go of my arm.
So, I guess that’s that. She doesn’t need me anymore.
“Hey, you okay for a bit? Mind if I—”
“Dude, totally go. I’ll just be here, playing the perfect sister, drinking their fancy pink champagne until you return.” I give Brittany a look, and she regards me with distaste before taking Christine by the hand and escorting her away, leaving me by myself.
I take in the surroundings, and even though I was totally joking about the champagne, low and behold, I spot a counter full of it.
“Jesus, this is what nightmares are made of,” I mumble under my breath as I walk deeper into the kitchen, searching for a real alcoholic drink. I spot the bourbon and smile, then offer myself a two finger pour into a pink Solo cup, because of course it would match the champagne, and slam it. Knowing I’m gonna need a strong buzz to get through this night, I refill my cup, then turn, almost colliding right into another girl.
“Shit, sorry, I wasn’t—”
“Paying attention? Clearly.” The girl, who I recognize from the other night, swings her perfectly dyed blonde mane over her shoulders, checking her dress for spills.
“You’re Suzi, right?” I lie, knowing that’s not her name.
“Sylvia. And you’re the girl with the strange name.” Brushing me off, she turns her head and offers a wide, fake smile to another girl walking by. “I’m actually surprised to still see you at these things. Didn’t picture you as the pledging type.”
Well, at least we agree on something. “I’m not. I’m here for my friend. Not that I get what she sees in all this.” Sylvia watches me with narrowed eyes. I can sense she’s trying to figure me out. Find a way to talk down to me. Hurt me in a way that will make her feel superior. I want to quit the bullshit and tell her I’m no fool to people like her—mean girls who feed off other’s insecurities. Her confidence doesn’t faze me. It actually makes me chuckle on the inside. Because people like her? They aren’t confident. They’re the most insecure. That’s why they use the power they inherit in places like this against people like me.
“Well, at least it won’t hurt as bad when we turn you down. Obviously, you didn’t think you would be accepted, right? You’re not one of us. Nor is there hope for you to become a sister.”
It takes everything in me not to toss my drink in her face, but that would show my cards. She’s not under my skin, but near the open wound. I don’t need to be part of a cult to feel okay about myself, but it never feels okay to be rejected. “Oh, don’t worry. I can’t fathom having to waste my time kissing someone’s glittered ass just to feel wanted.”
Sylvia’s facial expression fights off my remark. “Honey, I get it. We just aren’t your type of girls. I’m sure there’s a club somewhere on campus you can join. A girls girls club, if you know what I mean.”
That one I felt.
“And exactly what is that supposed to mean?” I bait her, daring her to say it. I am not opposed to hitting a girl.
“Just that this might not be your type of thing. Us girls, we like…well, we like men.”
I take a quick step forward, closing in on the space between us. I know my actions may affect Christine’s ability to pledge here, but she doesn’t need people like Sylvia in her life anyway. Lifting my hand, I slam back my drink and dump the cup, making it accessible to take a swing at her, when a group of girls come barreling through the back door.
“Oh em gee! I cannot believe you found it! Let the games begin!” I look over Sylvia’s shoulder to the group of girls entering the kitchen. Some I remember from the other night. Sylvia takes the opportunity to step out of my reach and turns to her pack of wolves.
“Oh, look who decided to make an appearance.”
All the girls spin to her, their smiles dropping as fear settles onto their faces. “Hey, we were on our way over, but we got a call from Steph’s sister about the club. Turns out, it’s the right place! We drove by it, and sure enough, there’s an abandoned-looking door in a back alleyway. No signs or anything!”
Curious what they’re talking about, I turn to Sylvia, who looks like the evil cat who just caught the helpless canary. “Are you sure it’s the place?”
The girl, Steph, steps forward. “Totally sure. We waited for a bit and watched people come in and out. The way they were dressed, there’s no doubt. We found it.”
“Found what?” I ask without thinking. They all shift to look at me, questioning my existence, until Sylvia turns my way and steps forward.
“Trust me, this is nothing you’d be interested in. You’re lacking in too many categories for this kind of fun. Plus, I doubt you have it in you to enter a place like this.”
I want to take her hair and rip it out of her scalp. Possibly shove my fist so far down her throat, she gags on my elbow. But I allow my mouth to run away from me. “For your information, you have no idea what I’m capable of. I’m pretty sure I’ve done and seen a lifetime more than your cute little doll club could imagine. What, you find some sort of secret sex club or something?”
Sylvia laughs. “As if you know anything about a sex club.” Her entourage follows, giggling alongside her at my expense.
“Well, considering I’ve been to my fair share of them…”
A few of them gasp. And mentally, I do too. Because what the hell did I just say? I have no idea where that came from. One minute, I’m standing there not needing to prove myself to these mean girls, and then out of nowhere, I word-vomit lies. Fair share of sex clubs? Really, Jensen?
All four girls, including Sylvia, stare at me, stunned.
“Wait, so you’ve been to a sex club?” Steph steps forward, but Sylvia blocks her from getting too close.
“I call your bluff,” she interrupts, crossing her dainty arms over her too tight push-up bra.
Steph continues, more curious than a damn cat. “What’s it like? Is it like the romance books?”
I shrug my shoulders as if it’s no big deal. “It’s nothing to call home about.”
A sex club is nothing to call home about? Stop while you’re ahead! Ugh.
“You lie. You’ve never been in one.”
“Why would I lie?” Because, apparently, I want to lower myself to your level. “What, haven’t you been to one?” There’s an audible gasp from the others as I challenge their queen/at my challenge toward their queen. Sylvia stumbles on her words before she speaks. “I’ve been to clubs, don’t try to undermine me. But this is no ordinary club. It’s taken us all summer to locate it. Secret society kinda club. You must be chosen. And if you are, contracts are signed, if you know what I mean.”
“Whips and chains, subs, doms, yadda yadda, so what?” I watch their jaws drop right before they berate me with questions.
“Holy shit, you have been to one!”
“Have you ever signed one? A contract?”
“Are you someone’s sub? Do they hurt you?”
“Have you—”
“Enough!” Sylvia raises her hand, silencing her flock. Her spiteful eyes lock with mine, the hatred for me building with a fierce quickness. “Okay,” she begins, “if you say so, prove it.”
Crap.
“Prove what, exactly?” I ask in return.
“That you’ve been to one. If you say you’re so capable, go. Get in. Get your hands on a contract and bring it to us. Prove you’re not a fake like your tacky knock-off dress and your act of actually wanting a guy over a girl. I dare you.” Her eyes blare with contempt. Mine bleed with hatred.
“I don’t need to prove anything to—”
“Actually, yes, you do,” she cuts me off. “You see, I don’t believe you. I think you’re lying through your teeth, and I want you to prove me wrong. Or, in this sense, prove me right.”
That I am, but I’m in too deep now to admit it. There’s also no way I’m entering a sex dungeon. I feel the eyes of her squad staring me down, waiting on my next move. Why did I open my fat mouth? Why couldn’t I just let it go and walk away from her? All that I stand for, and she got under my skin within seconds.
“And you’re assuming I care what you think of me. Think what you will. I’m outta here.” I turn to leave, hoping beyond hope I run into Christine on the way out so I can snag her and get the hell out of there, but the sound of Sylvia’s icy voice stops me.
“Prove it, or I’ll make sure Christine’s name gets blacklisted from all pledge lists.”
I almost trip over my own two feet. I stop and turn to lock eyes with the witch herself. “She has nothing to do with this.”
“She most certainly does. Seems your bestie wants nothing more than to pledge Beta Phi Alpha. How hurt would she be if she found out you ruined that for her?”
“Sounds like I’d be doing her a favor.”
“Doing who a favor?” We all turn to see Christine, smiling wide next to Brittany. “Whatcha guys talking about?”
I want to tell her how evil this place is and that she doesn’t need these people in her life. I want to protect her and, even if she hates me in the end, know I did the right thing. But the smile she wears stops me.
Sylvia steps forward. “Oh, we were just talking about pledging. Jensen was just telling us how much you want to become a sister at Beta Phi.”
It takes all of me not to pull out the football moves my dad taught me and bum-rush her.
“Oh my God, yes! I would love it here. This is like my dream house. You girls are all so awesome!” Again, my stomach drops with guilt.
Sylvia continues to dig the winner’s knife in my back. “So, what do we say, Jensen? Up for a little field trip?”