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“That’s awesome! You must be really close with the current sisters then.”

She laughs. “Yeah, though not entirely by choice. My younger sister is part of Kappa Theta Alpha too.”

“Oh, who’s your sister?”

“Sage.”

My jaw drops. “Wait, you guys are sisters?” I ask, trying to process. I never would’ve guessed they were related, let alone sisters.

“I know, we don’t look anything alike. Sage is my adopted sister.”

“Ah, that makes more sense.” Sage was a beach blonde, Malibu Barbie, and Theia might as well be Logan Browning’s doppelganger.

“She spoke a lot about you this week.”

“Really?”

She nods. “Yep. I think Sage has a bit of a girl crush on you. But don’t tell her I told you that,” she says, putting her finger to her lips.

I mime zipping my lips shut and throwing away the key. “Your secret’s safe with me, Theia.” I grin.

She smiles back at me, reaching out and lightly touching my elbow. “Let’s grab a coffee soon, yeah? I’d love to sit down and get to know you.”

“I’d like that,” I say as Theia walks away.

I finally head back out into the backyard, beelining toward Maeve and Alex. Maeve has her phone out, taking photos. She takes a photo of me in my Kappa T-shirt before handing her phone to someone else and asking them to take a photo of the three of us. I stand in the middle, Alex and Maeve on either side of me, pushing in tight and pointing to the writing on my shirt.

We take another photo with them sandwiching me in the middle of a big group hug. This is what I longed for: genuine friendship. And I think I finally found it with my roommates, now sorority sisters.

5

Naomi

Class dismissed.

I absolutely hated my Organizational Behavior professor. Imagine the most bored you’ve ever been, add in the somberness of a funeral and the joy of a colonoscopy, and now you know what it’s like to sit through one of Professor Connors’ classes. And of course, it’s the one class I don’t share with any of my new friends. I just keep my head down, do the work, and hope that the class passes quickly.

I gather up my notebook and laptop, packing my things away.

“Hey, Naomi, right?”

I turn, looking up to see a very, very handsome man. “Well, hello there. Yes, that’s my name. Who are you?”

The man holds his hand out to me. “The name’s Elijah. Nice to meet you.” I take a moment to check him out, sizing him up. He’s good looking, conventionally attractive. He has wavy blond hair, piercing blue eyes, and a smattering of light freckles across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. Elijah is extremely tall, probably 6’4”, and built. He’s wearing a polo and jeans, but his clothes stretch across his body, muscles bulging underneath. He honestly looks like he stepped off the page of a Ralph Lauren ad.

“Nice to meet you, Elijah,” I say, shaking his hand. “Can I help you with something?”

He smiles, shaking his head. “There’s that southern hospitality. You have a really strong accent. It’s cute.”

I blush, shifting my bag on my shoulder. “Thank you, but why’d you approach me today? We haven’t talked all semester.”

“Well, you caught my eye a while ago. I’ve just been waiting for the right time to approach you.”

“Oh, really?”

“Of course. You’re beautiful, extremely smart, and I want to get to know you better. Maybe buy you coffee?” Elijah asks, leaning against the lecture hall table behind us.

I think it over for a moment before nodding. “I’d like that.”