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She unlocks it and pushes it open, revealing a room that’s huge. There are two beds—one side of the room is fully decorated with twinkling lights, a fluffy pink comforter, and a million throw pillows. The other side is completely empty and barren, clearly waiting for me.

“That’s your side,” Maya says, pointing.

I nod, still processing everything. It’s bigger than my entire room back home, and definitely a hell of a lot fancier.

“I’ll leave you to get settled. If you need anything, just let me know!” Maya flashes me a smile and heads for the door. “I’ll see you around, Remy!”

“Thanks, Maya,” I call after her, still a little dazed.

I drop my bag on the bed and sit down, staring at the empty wall in front of me. This is... a lot. Everything about this place screams money, and I’m not sure I’m ready for it. But I’m here. Somehow, I made it.

I should probably call my mom. She might be asleep, but she’ll freak out when she realizes I haven’t called yet.

I’ll give it another hour. I toss the schedule on my bed and grab my phone instead.

I swipe through the home screen and look at the missed call from Collin.

Of course . There’s a part of me that wants to call him back, but we’ve been arguing so much lately, it’s probably better to leave it.

Another dumb fight about something stupid.

Lately, it’s like everything sets him off, and I’m getting tired of it.

I throw my phone down, not dealing with that right now. I need to get out of this room and explore before I go completely insane.

Grabbing my bag, I walk out and wander around campus.

The first day buzz is real, people everywhere, laughing, talking, and showing off their new outfits.

Everyone looks like they’re dressed for a photoshoot.

And then there’s me. I tug at my sleeve self-consciously.

I know I look out of place. I remind myself that I didn’t come here to impress anyone.

I spot a small campus store and decide to grab something quick—chips and a soda.

Classic. It’s probably all I can afford until I find a part-time job.

Maybe I’ll ask Maya later if she knows about any jobs on campus.

She seemed nice enough, though I still can’t figure out if she’s rich like the rest of these people or just pretending to be.

Heading back to my room, I kick my shoes off and sit on the bed, cracking open the bag of chips. My phone buzzes again. Another text from Collin. Ugh. Do I really want to deal with this right now?

I glance at the screen, reading his messages.

Collin: Hey, how’s it going?

Collin: I feel like you’ve been distant lately.

Collin: We should talk.

Yeah, no thanks. I’m not doing this today.

I throw the phone beside me and lean back against the wall.

Collin’s been my neighbor since forever, practically my whole life.

We started dating in middle school if you could even call it that back then.

Holding hands and awkward kisses in between classes—that kind of thing.

But now, it’s different. He wants more. More mature stuff, as he calls it.

I’m just not ready for that yet.

I’ve always had this idea in my head about how my first time would be.

Something romantic. Special. Like, candles, maybe some soft music, a guy who actually knows what he’s doing.

Not some rushed thing in the back of a car because he’s ready and I’m apparently too slow.

But that’s the problem—Collin’s impatient, and I’m starting to worry that’s all he cares about anymore.

I shake my head and pull up Pinterest, scrolling mindlessly through wedding dresses and cute couple ideas.

It’s kind of pathetic, but hey, a girl can dream.

Then I switch to the half-broken Kindle app on my cracked screen, squinting to read the latest chapter of this romance novel.

I can barely see half the text, but I’m determined to finish.

The guy in this book would never pressure the girl .

He’s rich, sexy, and has an accent. Total fantasy material.

I crunch on a chip and lose myself in the book. So much better than thinking about Collin right now. The heroine is in some billionaire’s penthouse, falling head over heels for him, and I’m grinning like an idiot. Who cares if it’s unrealistic? It’s a hell of a lot better than my real-life drama.

And then— someone’s standing over me .

I freeze, looking up and seeing this tall, blonde dude. Muscles for days. What the hell? He’s wearing a tight black shirt that shows off every inch of his biceps, and his green eyes are locked on me. No way this guy is real.

He reaches into my bag of chips and grabs a handful.

“Hey,” he says, like we’re old friends or something. “You’re new, huh?”

I blink, still trying to process the fact that he’s not only standing in my dorm room but also stealing my snacks. “Uh, yeah. I just got here.”

He grins, popping another chip into his mouth. “Thought so. I’m Caleb. Caleb McCabe.”

Oh. My. God.

“Remy,” I manage to say, finally sitting up straight and fixing my glasses. “I’m… Remy.”

“Yeah, I got that part. So, where’s Maya?”

“She left earlier,” I say, still thrown off by this whole situation. Who is this guy, and why does he think it’s cool to just… eat my chips?

He shrugs, like it doesn’t matter. “Tell her not to miss tonight, okay?”

“Okay. What’s tonight?”

He smirks, like I’m supposed to know. “You’ll see. Come as her plus one.”

“What if I don’t wanna go?” I ask, crossing my arms, trying to act all casual. But it’s hard when he’s towering over me like that, muscles bulging out of his sleeves and everything.

“Oh, you’ll want to come,” he says, winking. “Trust me. Plus, you’ve got great taste in chips. I think you and I are gonna be friends, Remy.”

Before I can even respond, he walks out, still munching on my snacks like he owns the place.

I stare at the door, wondering what just happened.

Less than five minutes later, Maya bursts through the door, looking a little winded but still all smiles. Her eyes land on me sitting on the bed, and she freezes for a second like she wasn’t expecting me to be here.

“Remy! Hey!” She grins and dumps her stuff on her desk. “How’ve you been?”

I shrug, trying to seem casual while shoving my phone under a pillow. “Oh, you know, first day and all that. What about you?”

She groans, rolling her eyes as she collapses onto her bed. “God, my friends are the worst .” She throws her arm dramatically over her face. “Like, I swear they live to annoy the shit out of me. I’m two seconds away from slapping someone.”

I wait for her to take a breath, though she doesn’t seem like she’s stopping anytime soon. Maya seems like the type to love to rant.

“They’re all like, ‘Maya, you never show up for anything anymore,’ and I’m like, ‘Dude, it’s the first fucking day of school, chill!

’ And then Brie was going off about some guy she hooked up with last weekend, and honestly, I couldn’t care less.

Like, I didn’t ask for details about his ‘incredible abs’ and whatever other bullshit. And don’t even get me started on—”

“Maya,” I interrupt her, raising a hand, “some guy was looking for you earlier.”

That gets her attention. She props herself up on her elbows, curiosity flashing in her eyes. “Who?”

I hesitate because the last thing I want is to feed into any drama. But hell, she’s going to find out sooner or later. “Uh, Caleb something… McCabe?”

Her eyes light up, and I swear there’s the tiniest blush on her cheeks. Oh yeah, this girl’s got it bad .

But of course, Maya waves it off like it’s nothing. “Oh, we’re just friends. He’s cool, though.”

“Sure you are,” I say, rolling my eyes.

Maya glares playfully, but I can tell she’s trying not to smile. “We are .”

“Whatever you say.” I smirk. “But anyway, he told me to tell you not to miss tonight.”

At that, she practically bounces up from the bed. “He what ? He said that?” She looks like a kid on Christmas morning.

I nod, popping another chip in my mouth. “Yep. Oh, and he invited me too. Said I could be your plus one.”

Maya’s eyes go wide, and then she squeals, jumping up and down like I just told her she won the lottery. “Oh my God, Remy! You have to come! This is going to be amazing!”

I raise an eyebrow, suddenly curious. “Wait, what’s happening tonight?”

Maya grins, leaning closer like she’s about to share the world’s biggest secret. “Only the biggest party of the year.”

I blink. “But it’s literally the first day of school.”

“Yeah, duh,” she says, like I’m the clueless one here. “That’s why it’s so huge. The Brotherhood always throws a party to kick off the year.”

I squint at her, confused. “The Brotherhood? What the hell is that?”

Maya’s eyes go wide, and she claps a hand over her mouth. “Oops, I shouldn’t have said that.”

Now I’m really intrigued. “Okay, spill. What the hell is this Brotherhood?”

She shakes her head, still grinning. “I’m not supposed to talk about it. But trust me, it’s a big deal . You can’t miss this party. Everyone’s going to be there.”

I lean back, crossing my arms. “I don’t know, Maya. I’ve got stuff to do—like calling my mom and making sure she’s not losing her mind over me being here.”

Maya pouts, giving me the world’s most exaggerated puppy-dog eyes. “Please, please, please come! You’ll have fun, I swear. Plus, Caleb already said you’re my plus one. It’ll be epic. It’s invitation only.”

I hesitate, mostly because I really should check in with my mom. But damn, Maya looks like she might start begging on her knees if I say no.

“Fine,” I sigh. “But I have to check with my mom first.”

Maya jumps up in excitement, clapping her hands together. “Yes! I hope she says yes because, Remy, welcome to Blackridge ! You and I are gonna have so much fun here.”

I can’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.

Maya bounces around the room for a minute, still hyped up about the party, while I pull out my phone and stare at the screen. My mom hasn’t texted yet, which is weird. Maybe she’s still sleeping or something. I glance at the time. It’s late enough that she should be up by now.

“Just call her,” Maya says, noticing me hesitating. “It’ll be fine.”

I nod, dialing my mom’s number and putting the phone to my ear. It rings a couple of times before she picks up.

“Hey, sweetie,” she answers, sounding groggy. “How’s it going? Settled in okay?”

I give her the quick rundown of my day, leaving out the part about the weird Caleb guy eating my chips and inviting me to an invitation-only party.

“Well, sounds like you’re adjusting pretty well. I was worried,” my mom admits, and I can hear the concern in her voice. “But you’re handling it like a pro.”

“Yeah,” I say, glancing at Maya, who’s practically buzzing with excitement across the room. “Uh, there’s this party tonight… Maya, my new friend, invited me. Can I go?”

My mom pauses, and I can already picture her overthinking it. “A party? On your first day? I don’t know, Remy…”

“Moooom,” I groan, rolling my eyes even though she can’t see me. “It’s not like I’m going to stay out all night. I’ll be fine.”

Another pause. “Alright, fine. Just don’t do anything crazy, okay?”

“When do I ever?”

At that she laughs. “Just promise.”

“Promise,” I say, crossing my fingers behind my back. I mean, how bad could this party actually be?

We hang up, and I glance over at Maya. “I’m coming.”

She squeals again, literally jumping up and down. “Yes! This is going to be so fun, I swear.”

I laugh, shaking my head. “Alright, alright. So, what’s the dress code for this thing?”

Maya grins, already rifling through her closet. “Something sexy, but not too obvious. You know, like you’re not even trying but you look hot as hell.”

I snort. “Right, because that’s so easy. And I don’t have clothes here.”

Maya pulls out a tight black dress and tosses it onto her bed. “Trust me. You’ll kill it. Now let’s find something for you.”

I sit back, watching as she digs through her closet like a woman on a mission. I have no idea what I’ve gotten myself into, but something tells me tonight’s going to be anything but boring.