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She scooped his ice cream into a cone, putting a few extra dollops on top. She handed it to him. “You’re cute, freshman,” she said, returning his wink. “Now scram.”
Eric licked his ice cream as he pulled me away from the stand, steering me back to his group of friends.
He’d really just flirted with another girl with his arm around my shoulder—and I’d let him. Just like I’d let Elliot and his friends kick me around, play with me, hurt me.
Of course I’d fallen for a player. So damn quick, too. I needed to get a grip.
“There’s a party Friday night,” Eric whispered, leaning into my ear just as I tried to break away from his grasp. “You should come.”
“Why?” I responded. “You barely know me.”
He saw an emo girl with a good body and thought she’d make easy prey. What he didn’t see was the years of torment. Once he found out who I really was, he’d drop me like a hot fucking potato into the shadow of some other thirsty brat. I didn’t deserve that. I was through with boys and their bullshit.
“I want to know you,” he said, his arm dropping back to his side. He took a big bite out of his ice cream. “That’s how you get free scoops, by the way.”
I looked up at him. He was beaming like a kid.
How cruel.
“Wow,” I laughed, shaking my head. “Is that what that was?”
“It’s all that was,” he said, nudging me with his elbow. I gathered in a deep breath. Fine. I’d trust him. He was no Elliot.
We arrived back at the group, and while we’d been gone, it looked like they’d picked up a new recruitment to join the posse. Giggling along with Vivian was a girl with pin-straight black hair and short-shorts. Like Vivian, she wore a crop top, showing off her belly piercing.
Jason lifted his chin at Eric as we rejoined the circle. The new girl stopped her chatter and gave me a side glance before my roommate fell back giggling into her shoulder. I wasn’t stupid. They were laughing at me.
I couldn’t give a damn.
“So,” I said, raising my eyebrows at Eric. “Where’s this party?”
Vivian went still like a deer at the sound of footsteps, ready to hang onto Eric’s every word. I could see the rage in her eyes. She’d give me a verbal beating later on, a hundred percent.
“Oh, well,” he said, “there’s a frat house up at Powell. Since it’s the first party of the semester, they’regonnalet in freshmen for a limited time only.” Jason caught his eye. “You should all come,” he added.
“Powell obliterated our team last year, man,” Jason laughed. “Booze is the least they can do for us. Count me in.”
The name finally clicked. Powell University was a couple miles away from Freeman and earned the reputation of our fiercest rival, sports-wise and in almost every other niche. Students who applied to Freeman also apply to Powell, myself being the exception. The two administrations hate each other’s guts.
Eric looked at Vivian. She dragged her tongue along her bottom lip.
“Sounds fun,” she said, sharpening her gaze on me. “Why not?”
I ignored her look, turning to examine her new friend.
“What about you?” I said, deciding to be bold. “What’s your name?”
She gave me a nauseous half-smile. “Luna,” she sighed, like answering me took effort. “I’m dying to get drunk. Fuck this dry campus.”
Right. If there was one distinction between Freeman and Powell, it’d be the party scene.
“Sweet,” Eric said, taking out his phone. “Let’s exchange numbers. We can meet up beforehand. Pregame.”
I took out my phone, turning it on to find Pierre’s text. One hour ago.
Don’t change too much, Kitty Kat.
I swallowed. Even if I was thousands of miles away, he still had my back. He knew the real me. Maybe I wasn’t much of a partier, but people change. They have to. If I wanted to start over, I would have to change too.
