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“What’s what?” My voice was a strange, high-pitched warble. Now that my eyes had adjusted to the darkness, I realized that my phone was more visible than I’d anticipated. The screen glowed faintly, reflecting the resplendent campus meadow in the film.
I palmed the phone and tucked it into my bag, then turned to the screen. “Oh my God, the quad looks gorgeous with all those cherry blossoms!”
Manning was still staring. A strange glaze came over his eyes, and his features seemed to distort. “Raina,” he said in a low voice. “Perhaps it was a mistake for you to come.”
“W-What?” I could feel the smile melting on my face.
“I want you to leave.”
I was thrown that he’d figured me out so fast. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!” But then I stared down at my bare legs, my tits hanging out. I looked ridiculous.
And then it was just... over. I couldn’t go to his office that next Monday. I wondered, actually, if I’d ever set foot on Aldrich campus again. The prospect gave me chest pains. Aldrich University had seeped into me. I didn’t want to leave its walls. I sat down on the frigid curb outside his house, too numb to cry. It felt like I’d run into a brick wall. Like I’d fallen down a deep, endless hole.
But I’m not going to make the same mistake twice.
The Uber has dropped me at a detached three-story house painted a Wedgwood blue. The doorway is narrow, dark, and kind of grim. When I ring the bell and the door swings open, though, the house widens into a big space with exposed-brick walls and ceiling beams. The space is packed, and the kitchen is new and swanky and way nicer than anything a college student should be living in. Cool, funky music swirls through the speakers.
“You made it!” I feel a hand on my arm and there is Alexis, her eyes looking extra huge and sultry, her dark hair piled on her head, and a slinky black jumpsuit clinging to her curves. The tag pokes out the back: Tory Burch again. She looks me up and down, then pouts. “No fair. You look prettier than me.”
I swish my hand. “I’ve been at a funeral all day. I probably smell like church.”
Alexa’s eyes widen. “Was it that doctor who was murdered?”
I blink. “How’d you know?”
Her gaze drifts to the corner. Of all people,Siennasits in profile, speaking to a guy in a Thom Yorke T-shirt. I watch as she tips the bottle of wine she’s holding to her mouth and takes a long drink.Whoa.
“I know you guys are friends,” Alexis says in a low voice. “And a bunch of people asked her about her stepfather’s funeral today, so...” She looks puzzled. “You didn’t know she was coming?”
I shake my head. Sienna didn’t mention anything about going to a party tonight... not that I’d asked. But this party seems way out of her league. Just as I’m about to head over there, Alexis catches my arm. “Can I show you around?”
Alexis’s eyes are hopeful. “Okay,” I say. “Just a sec.”
I quickly open the Uber app and type in all the details, charging a ride for Sienna to my account. Then I send Sienna a text:A friend says you’re at a party but maybe need rescuing. There will be a car waiting for you outside in five minutes. Please get home safe, and call me in the morning.
There. Now it’s up to Sienna to actually heed my advice.
I peer around the house. A spiral staircase leads to a second level. The floors are a dark, expensive-looking wood. “Whose place is this, anyway?”
Alexis leans so close I can smell her citrus perfume. “My boyfriend’s.”
I keep my smile pasted on, but inside, my spirits sink. “He must be some baller.”
“His name’s Trip,” Alexis says, as though this tells me everything I need to know. She looks around the room. “There he is.”
She points to a tall guy with floppy hair. His skin has a healthy glow, his teeth are straight and white, and there’s something about his bone structure that screams WASP. On one hand, I can totally see them together. On the other, I can’t at all.
Alexis takes my hand and leads me through the crowd. I figure she’s going to introduce me to Trip, but instead, we walk through the kitchen and to a set of dark back stairs. I glance over my shoulder. Sienna’s still in the corner, talking to that guy—I’ve never seen him before. She’s also moved on to a new bottle of wine.
I bite my lip hard. Did she even see my text? I open the phone and send another one.Sienna, seriously. You should go home.
I watch as she pulls her phone out and squints at the screen. Then she peers around the room. Looking for me? Looking for the “friend” who told on her? To my relief, she gets up, sets the wine bottle on the table, and wobbles out the door.Good.
Finally, I can follow Alexis. Our shoes clonk against the bare wood on the stairs. It’s hotter on the second floor and has that stuffy smell of a grandmother’s house. The staircase winds around past the second floor, and Alexis follows it until we reach a door in the ceiling. She pushes it open, and a blast of cool air rushes in. I can see a sky full of stars. The only way to get to the roof is to climb a rickety metal ladder, which I can’t manage in heels.
Alexis senses my hesitation and points to my shoes. “Take those off. You have to come up. It’s the best view in the neighborhood.”
I kick off my heels. The ladder wobbles vertiginously as I put my weight on it, and once I’m on the roof, I have a sudden, sharp fear that something terrible might happen. It’s not like I know Alexis very well. She could close the hatch, lock me up here, and leave me for dead. I glance down at her nervously; she’s still on solid ground at the ladder’s base. But then she follows me. I breathe out.
