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“Not a problem. Are you okay? What Professor Hall did was brutal.”

“What did she do?” Valencia interrupts, but I just sip my drink.

She’s still staring at me, so I say, “I thought you had some architecture project this afternoon.”

With a shift of her gaze to my dance partner, she waits for him to protest her dismissal, but Mitch only runs a hand through his wavy brown hair and looks away. I’m not sure why she’s interested in Mitch all of a sudden. Valencia is obsessed with another Beta senior named Logan Dawson.

Wait a minute… Mitch’s friend . I understand now.

“We were just discussing how Beta made out in the rankings,” she says.

“But you’re right. I have to go. Well…see you around, Mitch, and if you run into Logan, tell him I said hi, and I’m sad that he didn’t score any points last night.

” She says it as if she doesn’t have one ounce of sadness in her about that.

“Bye,” Mitch returns politely, but his face is focused on mine. “So are you?” he asks as soon as she leaves.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just embarrassed. Won’t be doing that again.”

He gets quiet and picks up a straw paper, crumbling it between his thumb and fingers. “How did last night go?”

“Um, not good.”

The ball of muscle in the back of his jaw flinches. “You lose it?”

My brow furrows. “Lose what? Points? Yeah…I suppose I did.”

His dark blue eyes flash to my face. “No. Your virginity , Pip.”

A strange feeling comes over me, like all the times he’s tried to become more than dance partners. If I were appointed to him, I guess it wouldn’t be terrible, but I’ve never been attracted to him. Not like…

Adalantea divine . An image of Ryan Cardell from this morning pops into my mind, and I get heated all over.

The ripples of his abs and the way his shoulders twitched as he thrust his hips forward.

A bob of his Adam’s apple when he swallowed and groaned with pleasure.

One of my hands slaps against the back of my neck to pull me back to the present, despite my heart beating faster.

“It’s really none of your business.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “So we’re doing that now.”

“Doing what now?” I ask through gritted teeth.

“Pretending like we haven’t talked about this for a few years. That we aren’t friends who tell each other this kind of stuff. Which I guess that means it’s a yes .”

“What about you, huh? Did you fuck a bunch of girls last night? Haul a sex slave over the wall? How many, Mitch?”

Another tense moment of silence passes, and his eyes drop to my lips. Finally, he takes a deep breath and says, “Sorry. Didn’t mean to— Can we practice this week? I need to rehearse.”

The fall showcase isn’t that serious, but I still want it clean. And I can’t do it without him.

Relieved to be rid of the awkwardness of that conversation, I nod. “Yeah. Probably Friday. I’ll let you know.” I scoot over so I can grab my bag, then stand. “I’ll text you.”

“Pip,” he says, laying his hand over mine on the table. “I am sorry.”

I offer him a pity smile and leave.

It’s come up before over the last few years.

Mitch wants more than I want to give him.

Things can get confusing on the dance floor when he holds my waist, when our hips shift as one, or when our sweaty bodies grind on each other…

All of that. But I’ve never felt that sizzling spark that I have with?—

Here I go again. At one time in my life, I would have said Nico. But I haven’t thought much of him since Ryan forced his way into my life, clearly trying to ruin it.

Good thing I’ve got him blocked.

That evening, Elina calls us to a meeting to review the Massacre Monday wins and losses. Dread is not a strong enough word to describe the gnawing sensation deep in the pit of my belly.

It’s as if everyone already heard I lost our house a point. The glares aren’t as painful as the sisters who are straight up ignoring me. Even more hurtful is when I hear, “All talk. She was all talk. Ugh, I hate people like that.”

“Yeah, what a letdown. Sigma’s savior, she is not !”

“Thinks she’s better than everyone and wound up losing. Serves her right, honestly.”

Amelia grips the back of my arm and pushes me forward in the line to our seats.

With a harsh whisper, she says, “Don’t you dare listen to those fucking cunts.

You hear me, Pippi Freidenberg? You’re amazing, and they’re jealous of all that you are.

Just waiting for an opportunity to tear you down.

Well, you’re not going to let them.” With a glance over her shoulder, she says, “We’ll get them back, even if it’s winning everything on Thriller Thursday. ”

For the first time, I really look at my friend.

Outwardly, she’s like a Barbie doll, with her long legs, blonde hair, thin body, and stacked rack.

Pure beauty. Beneath that, however, I get the sense that she probably had to deal with a lot of mean girls over the years, and I’m curious if that’s why she chose Sigma over Omega, where she was expected to pledge.

“Thank you.”

Grabbing my hand, she squeezes as we take our seats. Elina enters the room, and my head swivels around, searching for my roommate. But she’s not here…

“Have you seen Gwen?” I whisper to Amelia.

“No. Not today.”

My stomach churns, worried about where she could be. Pasting a smile on my face, I try to sound casual. “How was it for you last night?—”

“This is an informal recap before Sunday’s official meeting,” Elina gains everyone’s attention from the podium. “Things weren’t looking good last night for quite some time. In fact, Iota had the numbers on us at first.”

Shocked gasps and murmurs travel through the room.

“ Sigma’s savior failed us.” Elina has the gall to look at me when she says it, and all eyes follow hers as more grumblings erupt around us.

If I could fight them all at this moment…I would.

“But we had a surprise sister take the lead for us, earning Sigma enough points for the victory over the other sororities. Amelia Joseph, get up here! You get the prize ribbon this year!”

My eyes widen as my friend stands and makes her way to the front of the room with a round of applause and cheers in the background. I’m relieved to hear that we scored enough to win and join in with the others to praise her.

Elina pins a specially crafted blue hyacinth ribbon on Amelia’s shirt, and she takes a dramatic bow for everyone, then returns to sit next to me with a bright smile on her face.

While I’m thrilled for her, I can’t help but wish things had gone differently last night. I’d trained for this. And I let everyone down, including myself.

It’s all Ryan Cardell’s fault .

After the meeting is over, it’s late, and I hope to get to bed early after such a long week already. Amelia and I stumble up to the sophomore floor together while she rehashes how she sneaked away from the hordes of Theta men who eventually took the fraternity prize for first place.

When I reach my room, I half expect Gwen to be there, sleeping in her bed.

But nothing has been touched. Growing more concerned, I check my phone again, but she hasn’t texted or even read my one from earlier.

Despite the reluctance I feel, I march up to the top floor and find the president’s room, lift my hand, and gently knock.

Elina’s light blue eyes peek through a crack in the door when she opens it. Her shoulders drop when she sees me. With a hurried turn, she waves me in, then strolls into her anteroom and sits at a vanity to remove her makeup. “Yes?”

“Um, Gwen is missing. She hasn’t returned from Massacre Monday. Hasn’t answered my text, and I’m worried about—” My breath gets caught in my lungs.

On her dresser is a line of framed photos of her…

with Ryan Cardell . Like, over years of pictures.

Ryan and Elina at a carnival, looking like they may be around twelve.

Ryan and Elina at prom. Ryan in a hockey uniform while Elina’s in a school dance team outfit, her pom-pom pressed to his wide chest.

Ryan and Elina kissing .

When I turn back, my vision is blurry, blood rushing to my head until I can barely hear anything else. Elina eyes me curiously in her mirror until I ask, “Is that your boyfriend?”

Elina looks over her shoulder and sneers. “Yes. Look, I know he won you for the month… Just don’t get used to it. We all know where he’ll end up after the games.”

I can’t even think; my brain is so confused with warring thoughts. Especially when she shrugs and says, “I’m his appointed.”