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“What happened to your old one?”
Addison’s brown eyes widen and she reaches over to grab a clip off her desk, impulsively pulling back one of my curls and pinning it to see how it looks. She nods, apparently satisfied with her handiwork, then she explains, “She pulled a Rory Gilmore, had a total meltdown and dropped out.”
“Yikes.”
“Yeah.”
“I wish you didn’t have to be a Zeta to live here,” I remark, since hanging out with Addison while she got me ready has been really nice. “I’m between places myself, and you seem like a great roommate.”
“You should talk to Sloane about it,” she tells me. “You do have to be a Zeta to live here, but since my old roomie short-circuited, we are down a Zeta. You never know, she might let you join us.”
“Can you do that after rush?” I ask with a mild frown.
Addison nods. “You can. We don’t usually, but it is possible. You’re in the Zeta date auction, so you may as well be one of us.”
I shake my head, looking over my own reflection. “I got tricked into doing this. I don’t even know how it happened, though to be fair, I was a little foggy when I talked to Vanessa about helping out.”
Her eyes widen. “You didn’t mean to sign up?”
“No, and now it sounds like I have to go up in front of people and have a bunch of eyes on me. Not my cup of tea at all.”
“If we’re far enough apart in the lineup, I’ll sneak into the audience and bid on you as soon as bidding opens so you can get off the stage as fast as possible,” Addison offers. “I mean, as long as it wouldn’t make you feel weird. I am into girls, but I tend to have a thing for blue-eyed blondes, not brown-eyed brunettes. I think maybe it’s because I’m a brown-eyed brunette. I don’t know, just feels weird. I had a friend back home who dated a girl who looked just like her. You couldn’t tell if they were dating or sisters, and I think it left an impression.”
I crack a smile. “I bet you like Sloane then.”
“I like looking at Sloane,” she says wryly. “She would never date me even if we played for the same team, so I don’t let myself consider her that way beyond being an aesthetic sight to behold.”
“Smart. If only we all had the willpower to mind-block beautiful people who aren’t right for us.”
She smiles at me in the mirror, fluffing up my dress. “I think you’re ready.”
We head downstairs, and a girl named Shelby positions me where she wants me on the photo wall. I strike a few poses that make me feel silly at best, and ridiculous at worst, but it’s only because I can feel people looking at me and I don’t enjoy being the center of attention.
But I suck it up, and I pose and smile until Shelby gets a picture she’s happy with.
At the end of the day, even if it was a real date I was expected to go on, I would agree to it.
I am the reason the fundraiser is needed, after all.
___
I’m worn out by the time I change back into my clothes and leave the Zeta house. It’s dark, and the lack of sleep last night is catching up with me.
In a weak moment, I consider texting Killian and asking him to come pick me up. I want to curl up somewhere I’m wanted and cuddle my cat before I go to bed.
But I do the right thing and call myself an Uber instead.
I go back to Stacie’s apartment alone and finish packing up my stuff.
I hate that it’s starting to get to me, but I’m also getting worried about the fact that I haven’t heard from Killian. He hasn’t texted me even once, and I don’t know if he’s waiting to see when I’ll crack and text him, but it makes me very uneasy. Especially because he still has Toast.
I don’t want to be the one to crack and text him, but as I’m lying on my old bed trying to study, I can’t keep my mind from wandering.
After wasting nearly a full hour and only managing to read three pages, I finally give up and grab my phone.
“I thought kidnappers were supposed to send ransom demands,” I type, then I press send.
It only takes a few seconds for a response to come. “I tried to get a proof of life pic to send you, but Toast is too depressed you left her here with me.”
