Peyton growls. “This is going to pay for the new building? And?—”
“Yeah,” Blaze says. “You’re getting that internship you want, okay? I already talked to Drake Brutal. He says they’ve got your spot reserved. Provided your grades don’t suck.”
I have to say that Blaze is doing a decent job smoothing over things with the frat. He pulled strings and coaxed them onto his side.
I haven’t talked to him about how he did it, exactly, but the fact that he got Peyton here bodes well.
A few other Kappa Alpha brothers show up. Two of them joined at the same time I did, and I still remembertheirsecrets. The mild ones, not the ones they would have had to voice in front of a camera to be recorded for all Kappa Alpha members to lord over us.
I wonder if any of us count as official members, if we didn’t finish the firstyear initiation.
“Okay, Peyton, Carleton, you two can do the first fight,” Blaze says. “Time for the warm up!”
Peyton grumbles about beingthe warm-up, but he and Carleton both get into the cage.
“Here we go!” Anastasia’s bright voice announces via our new speakers. “Is everybody ready for our first round of challengers?”
The crowd cheers.
“Is Allers here yet?” Pandora asks, barely audible over the noise.
“No,” Mel responds.
Pandora makes a frustrated sound. “Are you sure? Maybe you simply didn’t recognize him.”
“I’m not face-blind,” Mel snaps at her. “And people aren’t coming in with baseball caps or anything. No one’s trying to hide who they are. He’s not here yet.”
“Hey,” I interrupt. “It’s still early. Maybe he got held up in traffic or something.”
“Or he stopped for a quickie with somebody,” Ares suggests. “Or he changed his mind about attending.”
“He didn’t change his mind,” Asch says. “Be patient. We can’t do anything immediately anyway.”
“He wouldn’t change his mind,” Blaze adds. “I got him to agree to be one of the largest sponsors. Donors. Whatever. He’s supposed to give a speech about brotherhood and how important Kappa Alpha Omega Sigma is.”
I take a deep breath. Everyone’s on edge, including me. I can’t wait for everything to devolve into chaos, when the real fighting starts.
I wonder again if this is my father’s blood flowing through my veins, coaxing me toward violence to alleviate stress.
Maybe this is why my mother wants nothing to do with me.
That thought should probably quell some of the need to fight, but it only exacerbates it.
It’s going to go wrong.
We’llfuck up the timing.
Allers won’t show.
Ares or Kratos will light the fires before we’re ready.
Anastasia won’t be as good as hacking as she thinks she is.
Bobbi will betray us.
Pandora will completely break down.
Why the fuck am I thinking so negatively now? None of those things are going to happen. We all know our roles, and so far everything is going according to plan.
