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“Hey.” I gave her a warm smile back. “What’s up? Is everything okay?” We normally never met one-to-one unless there was something wrong that specifically pertained to my responsibilities, and from her text, I assumed this was urgent.
Ilene shook her head. “Not really. Lily... Well, she quit.”
“What do you mean?” My jaw dropped. There wasno wayour sorority president had just up and quit. Not in the middle of the semester.
“She’s moving home.” She gave me a firm nod. “I hadn’t seen it coming, but with her gone, I’ll need someone to step into the role for the rest of the semester and this spring. I think you’d be a good choice.” She gave me a warm smile. As if what she was suggesting wasn’t absolutely insane.
“But I’m just…”A wallflower. I liked to blend in, not stand out. I did my best keeping my head down around campus. There was a reason I stuck to the background in the theater department, and why I’d run for this role on the executive board.
A dark eyebrow raised on her forehead. “My vice president.”
“I’m not a figurehead.” I finished the sentence I’d started before. “Behind the scenes stuff, sure. I’m good at that. Organizing, booking rooms, planning—I can do that. Leading the entire sorority?” I bit my lip. “I don’t know if I’m the best person for the job.”
“You are.”
“Don’t I need to be elected or something?”
Her pink lips curled up into a smirk. “Orsomething.” Ilene never had a hair out of place, and she always looked impeccable.I was especially envious of that right now, because I felt like a mess.
A groan slipped from my lips. “Why do I have a feeling I don’t have a say in this?”
“There’s only a month left of the semester, so having a special election at this point just seems like a waste of time for everyone. Getting candidates to apply, having an interview night, we just don’t have time for any of it. But there’s a special exemption in the bylaws that when the President steps down, the Vice President steps up.”
You gotta be kidding me.“Of course there is.” I winced, thinking of something else. “Who will take over my job?” There’d still be an empty seat on the executive board, after all. I couldn’t exactly manage both jobs and still be a full-time student.
“Why don’t you leave that to me?” Ilene gave me her best smile. “Just have courage. I have faith in you.”
Before nodding, I took a deep breath.I could do this.The only person standing in my way wasme, after all. I just needed to believe in myself. “Okay.”
“There’s one more thing.” Her lips flattened into a thin line. “The Delta Sigs advisor reached out to me. He wanted to see if our chapters could partner up for the rest of the year.”
“What?” I stared at her once again, wondering if my mouth was about to be permanently formed in a shocked expression. What did she mean,partner up? As in… work together?
Withhisfraternity?
Charming.
I didn’t even know his actual name, but I’d been avoiding all mentions of their chapter—and their events—after my one-night-stand on Halloween. I didn’t need to risk running into the man I’d slept with and then ditched the next morning again.
But of course, it was Charming’sfraternity. Ilene shrugged. “He thinks it would be good for his guys. But I know. It was a shock to me too.”
“But…” I protested, though I didn’t have words to explain why I didn’t want to be paired with them. Explaining my sexual hookups to the woman I looked up to certainly hadn’t been included in my plans for the day, either.
“The school is looking closely into all the Greek life organizations. With all the hazing and incidents that have happened at fraternity parties the last few years, it’s no wonder. So partnering with them is ultimately a good thing. It will help both of us provide a stellar image to the campus.”
I almost groaned. When she put it like that, how could I argue?
“As the new president, I expect you to meet with their chapter president. His name is Cameron, and I have his number here for you. Extend the olive branch, Ella.” She handed me a piece of paper with his contact information, as well as a binder that in big, block letters readCHAPTER PRESIDENT.
Ignoring the nervous feeling in my stomach, I folded my hands over my lap. “Anything else?”
“Oh, right? You can move into your new room any time you’d like, though if you’d like to wait until next semester, that’s fine too.”
“New room?” I blinked.Leaving Audrey?Even though I wasn’t really leaving her—I’d only be a floor away, really—it still felt weird to think about.
“Well…” Her brow furrowed. “You want the president’s room, right? It’s the only other single in the house.” Besides hers, since she lived here too. Our chapter was small enough that the chapter advisor also doubled as our house mom, which meant she pulled double duty often.
“Right.” It would be crazy for me to turn it down, especially with all the space. And the privacy. But still.
