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I flash a guilty smile. “Sorry.”

“I’m talking about old-school gossip. When Joanna Brown finds out you’re interested in Elijah, it’ll only take minutes before Elijah finds out. And since he’s already interested, it shouldn’t be long before he makes a move.”

“That is brilliant. What about the others?”

“I wasn’t finished.” Her sinister expression makes me laugh. “So . . . Amy Folger’s boyfriend is best friends with Trey, and we all know Amy can’t keep a secret to save her life. And Tyler’s on the baseball team with Jeremy, so if Jer happens to mention how his girlfriend’s best friend has a thing for him . . .”

“You’re an evil genius.” Thank God she’s on my side. I’d be in serious trouble if Nicole ever turned her devious mind against me.

“Yes.” She polishes her sparkly nails against her sweater. “Yes, I am.”

“Do I dare ask how I pull Caleb in?”

“Easy. When you see him in calc, you smile at him.”

I choke out a laugh. “If smiling were the key to luring him in, we’d already be a couple.”

“While you’re smiling, you scribble his name and a few hearts on a sheet of paper and drop it beside his desk. He’ll get the picture soon enough. It worked for Molly Ringwald in Sixteen Candles.”

I groan. “That’s so high school . . . and too embarrassing.”

“More embarrassing than having your mother set you up with random guys she finds in the Save A Lot checkout lane?”

I gape at her. “No. That’s way worse.”

“Thought so. Besides, everyone knows girls mature faster than boys, so I doubt Caleb has developed beyond a high school mentality.”

“If you say so.”

“It’s a good plan. All I need is your approval to set things in motion.”

I hold my breath for a long moment before releasing it with a whoosh. “Okay. Let’s do this before I change my mind.”

Bright and early Monday morning, I wake and find Nicole already gone. The nagging seed of doubt germinating in my belly since the moment I sanctioned the stupid “get laid” list erupts into a full-blown panic attack. What the hell did I agree to?

Determined to find Nicole before she sets the plan in motion, I pull on a pair of clean jeans and my Springer hoodie, shove my wallet and keys into my bag, and race out of Delta Sig house with my hair flying behind me like the fiery tail of a comet. As I dodge and weave through the crowded quad, my skin tingles as if a dozen eyes are watching me—witnessing every panicked thought running through my brain.

I finally reach the dining hall and spot Nicole standing in the breakfast line. Out of breath, I squeeze in behind her, slamming a white plastic tray onto the steel rails beside hers.

“I changed . . . my mind,” I choke out between gasps.

Nicole’s coffee-colored eyes stretch wide as she gapes at me. “What do you mean?”

“The plan,” I whisper through clenched teeth. “I’m backing out. I thought about it all night long. I can’t do it.”

She steps out of line and pulls me with her. “So you don’t want to lose your—”

“No. I mean, yes. I do, but . . .” I let out a low groan and lower my voice. “I don’t want my virginity becoming a sordid contract negotiation. If it happens, it happens, but I don’t want Joanna, or Amy, or God forbid, all of Delta Sig knowing I’m on the prowl like some desperate housewife.”

Like my mom.

I shudder, imagining myself wearing a low-cut leopard-print blouse and batting a pair of false eyelashes at Elijah across a crowded room. Or worse—wearing my granny panties under a frilly pink ball gown.

Losing my virginity is one thing. Plotting its demise like a lovestruck bookworm in a bad eighties rom-com is quite another.

“Um, okay.” Nicole flashes her teeth in a stiff smile.

A horrible thought twists my insides into a knot. “You haven’t . . . ?”