Page 71 of Pretty Vengeance

I swipe to answer. “Hi, weirdo. Do you know what pic you’ve got as your profile?”

“Yeah, the tongue one. Hey, I need a favor.”

“Okay.”

“Crosby’s been texting he needs his coat back before I leave for break, and I ignored him because I thought I didn’t have it.” She huffs out a breath. “Then I tossed my stuff in the back seat, and guess what I found.”

“Fuck’s sake.”

“Yeah, he definitely planted it back there on purpose when I gave him and another guy a ride home from the tavern on Wednesday. Listen, can you ride with me to return it? I’ll drop you over at Jamie and War’s right after.”

“Are you afraid to go alone? Maybe Jamie should come with us?”

“Hell no, I’m not afraid. Crosby’s monster strong, for sure, but I’m a little rain-forest PD frog. He doesn’t know—or need to—but me scared of an aggressive frat guy? No way.”

“You’re a what frog?”

She laughs. “A golden poison dart frog. They’re all little and sunny and cute. But even fully grown at four centimeters, they’ve got enough toxin to kill ten to twenty people. So, you know, predator beware.”

“And how are you like one?”

“Seesaw! We don’t have time for this discussion right now. If you’re coming with me, I need you to say so, so I can text my cousin not to pick you up. And I need you to come down with your stuff, ‘cause baby’s gotta bounce.”

My tone is full-on mock harassed, but I agree. “Yeah, sure, I’ll ride with you. But I don’t see why you need me if you’re really a poisonous frog.”

“It’s strategy. I’ll explain on the way. Come down!”

The phone goes silent, and I shake my head.

After I confirm Jamie isn’t on his way to get me and doesn’t mind Ash dropping me off, I grab my stuff and head downstairs.

On the passenger seat of Ash’s car, I find an envelope full of parking tickets. She’s so cavalier about the rules.

“Toss those in the glove box,” she says. “Gotta pay them when I get back.”

Slipping them away, I take my seat.

Ash pulls out of the parking spot and waits as the gated arm lifts.

“How do you get into this lot?”

“I bought an upperclassman’s key card from him.”

Staring at her, I cock an eyebrow. So sneaky. Maybe she is part rain-forest tree frog. “You got a key card, yet you’re still getting parking tickets?”

“Well, this is an unregistered car. But at least the parking fascists won’t straight-up tow it, which they do in the un-gated lots if they run a plate and find it belongs to a freshman. You and I really need to get an apartment off campus. Maybe a townhouse?”

Moving off campus this year isn’t an option for me, as I’ve told her, but still she persists. And next year, I’ll hopefully get a room in the Briar Club house. A wave of satisfaction courses through me.I’m in.That thought has not gotten old.

As we drive, my good mood makes me admire the campus all the more. GU’s old brick buildings are covered in ivy, the green threads crawling up the weathered walls and creeping along the windowsills. Afternoon sunshine has melted the morning’s frost, so the bare tree branches are like spindly fingers. I love Granthorpe’s creepiness as much as its storied history.

As we pull up in front of the large brick Beta fraternity house, I lean forward to look up at the Greek letters above the door.

A car on the street is pulling away as we arrive, so Ash parallel parks, expertly.

When I start to open my door, Ash’s hand shoots out to grab my arm to stop me. “No, Seesaw. We’re staying in the car.” Her fingers slide over her phone as she sends a text, presumably to Crosby.

The phone rings and Ash answers, putting the call on speaker so she can reach into the back. “Hey, Cros, I’m here. Come out and get your coat.”