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“Let’s go! Let’s go, ladies! Quiz time!”
Are you fucking kidding me?
Flopping back down with a thump, I muffle my scream under the bedsheets just as Fiona pops open my door.
“Get up, Mikayla! Breakfast!”
How anyone can eat at this ungodly hour, I have no idea. With a groan, I roll over and check the time. Six frickin’ thirty. Do these people have no concept of how good sleep is for the body?
“Let’s go!” someone shouts into my closet room, and I jerk my eyes open in time to see the megaphone. “Get your ass up!”
I’m so tempted to grab that thing and smash it on the floor, but then I’m reminded of my mother and tuition and what I want out of my life. So I sit up, feeling like a prisoner as I shove my hair into a ponytail and shuffle out to the kitchen.
The other two freshmen are already in there, happily making French toast. I sniff the coffee and try to imbibe some caffeine before being yanked toward a frying pan.
“Don’t let anything burn!” Louisa fusses around me, all frenetic as she tries to prove just how much she deserves a permanent place in this sorority.
She obviously doesn’t realize how perfect she already is. When they listed off the qualities of a Sig Be sister the other night, it was like reading from the Louisa Hartman study guide.
I flip the toast, not bothering to cover my yawn as I blink and try to shake some of the sludge from my brain. Mornings have never been my strong suit.
“Okay.” Aimee swans into the kitchen, clapping her hands. “Why don’t we sing the sorority song while you’re preparing breakfast for everyone.”
She starts us off, and the other girls join with enthusiasm while I sing about sisterhood glory through gritted teeth. You know Barney the Purple Dinosaur’s song? Yeah, this one is worse than that. Some bubblegum tune that was probably composed by…
Actually, I should know this.
My slow brain struggles to hunt down the fact, but as I lay a new piece of toast into the pan, Clarita May Holbrook pops into my head. “1958,” I murmur.
“Well done.” Teah grins at me, collecting the plate of already-cooked toast and heading for the dining room.
I stay by that frying pan for what feels like ages before following Louisa and Trinity into the dining room and then having to endure a pop quiz on the history of Sigma Beta Mu.
I get three out of ten right, which makes me the loser of the morning comp and puts me on kitchen detail. I rush through the cleanup, worried I might be late for my first class. I have to sprint through campus, dodging clumps of students and hauling my ass in the door just as Professor Malcom starts talking.
The lecture is relatively interesting, although trying to concentrate with zero caffeine is a major effort on my part. I try to take a myriad of notes that I’ll have to dissect later, although whether I’ll be able to decipher my drivel is another story. He also lumps us with our first major assignment, which I’ll have to find some secret place to work on, because the sorority house is way too distracting.
Glancing at my watch, I figure I’ll head to the library right now. I may as well get an early start. I want to ace this paper and?—
“There you are.” Teah grins, standing in my path while another sister, Bella, flanks my right side.
“Hey, guys.” I look between them, alarm bells starting to clang. Bella’s smile is freaking me out. “What’s up?”
“Well, we didn’t get a chance for a progress report this morning.”
“Progress report?”
Teah leans in with a conspiratorial whisper. “On your special assignment.”
“Special assign—oh. That.”
She wiggles her eyebrows at me, and her smile would probably be cute if she was talking about anything else.
“Now, you’ve made first contact with Ethan, but we noticed no action throughout the weekend. Have you been in touch with him again? Sought him out? Do you have a plan for when you’ll next interact with him?” Bella’s thumbs are poised over her phone as if she’s about to take detailed notes.
I tip my head, clamping my lips against telling them how stupidly ridiculous this entire thing is.
Don’t be a smartass. If you don’t play ball, you’ll embarrass Mom and could ultimately lose your funding.
