“Okay! Okay! Stop,” Simone says, putting her fingers in her ears.
That’s when Lani finally breaks and almost falls over, leaning on me, laughing.
“You guys are awful.”
Lani and I are too busy dying of laughter when Simone starts walking away from us. I lift Lani up with me, and we both jog to catch up with her. I swing an arm around Simone, and she just crosses hers in a fake pout.
“Listen. I’m sure they’ll just make you drink a whole bottle of wine, or sleep outside, or something super cute and lame. You’ll be fine.”
Lani pulls out a pack of gum, popping one into her mouth, and then offers Simone one in a peace offering. Simone rolls her eyes, smiles, and takes it.
When we make it to Delta Gamma, I see several girls walking in and out of the house already—all beautiful, all perfect, and allnothinglike me. I look down at my low-rise baggy jeans and black tube top, wondering how differently I would probably get treated if I dressed like these girls—mini skirts, colorful, girly crop tops, cute dresses. You know the style—cute and just alittleslutty.
Simone pulls us up to the front door and catches it as another girl walks out. They wave to each other, and then we all walk inside.
“Simone! Hey!” a girl calls out as she runs down the stairs. “I’m glad you stopped by. I need you to run some forms over to the main office when you can today for our philanthropy event next week. Think you can handle that for me?”
The girl is drop-dead gorgeous. I mean, like, should be in a magazine gorgeous. She’s wearing a cute pink tennis skirt with a Delta Gamma T-shirt on that’s tied in a knot at the front to make it more fitted. Her skin is beautiful—this perfect mix of cocoa and caramel tones with an ungodly glow. She doesn’t even look like she’s wearing any makeup, yet there are no flaws anywhere to be found.
“Yeah, of course,” Simone replies.
The girl notices us standing with Simone and gives us both a warm smile. “Did you bring me some recruits for next year already?” she teases.
“I wish. If I can convince them, I promise you I will.”
The girl introduces herself to both of us. “Well, hey. I’m Joy. I’m the VP here at Gamma.”
“Hey. I’m Lydia, and this is Lani. We’re Simone’s roommates.”
“Ahh, how fun! Well, I’m glad y’all stopped by. Hopefully, I see more of you two around at parties or events since Simone is one of us now.”
Lani and I both nod. “Definitely!”
Another girl walks over to us from what looks like the kitchen area. I lean over and nudge Lani’s arm, whispering to her, “Does everyone in this house look like a supermodel? What the hell?”
She looked like a real-life Barbie—long blonde hair, bright green eyes, and the perfect figure.
Joy introduces her to Simone. “This is Ava; she’s our spirit chair. Ava, this is Simone, one of our new pledges.”
She hugs Simone and tells her they’re happy to have her at Gamma, and as soon as she goes to say something else to Joy, there’s a knock on the door.
Ava perks up. “That must be Ryan.”
She rushes over to the door, and when she opens it, three guys walk in together. The one I assume isRyanleans down and kisses Ava before they all walk back over to where we’re standing.
Ava introduces Simone to the guys. “Simone, this is my boyfriend, Ryan, and this is Chase and Tank, his frat brothers from Sigma Chi.”
Simone smiles and introduces herself to them as well.
Chase stares at me with a smirk on his face as he looks me over. “And who are these pretty ladies?”
Simone turns to us and lights up. “These are my roommates and best friends—Lydia and Lani.”
Chase steps closer, reaching his hand out to shake mine, never breaking eye contact. “Lydia,” he repeats like he likes the way it sounds. “Nice to meet you.”
I take his hand and smile back at him. “You too,” I say shyly.
“Okay, Playboy. Stop flirting with the fresh meat,” Tank tells him as he claps a hand on his shoulder.
