Page 27 of Terror Tuesday

“Thetasent over their group rosters for the Hallow’s Eve event. I need to know who we’re allowing through the mirror maze we rented, and you have to sign off on the final playlist.”

“Why is the playlist my responsibility?”

“You vetoed all the songs as vice president last year, remember?”

My lips form a solid line. I really did do that. And now my superior taste in music has come to bite me in the ass.

I swipe through the files, eyes skimming overThetaboys andDeltasand— Ugh, theBetas. Bryce’s name is still there. My finger freezes over it. My breath catches.

“You okay?” Sora asks, frowning.

“Fine,” I say too fast. “Delete theBetas.”

She blinks. “All of them?”

“Yes. If they can’t show up to confirm attendance for our party, we’re not mothering them.”

Her lips twitch like she wants to say something, but she just nods and whirls away, calling out something to Anaya as she vanishes into the hallway.

By the time I make it to the plush pink common room overstuffed with Louis XIV-style furniture, five girls ask me questions at once.

Someone’s lost her costume. Another broke up with her Viscount last night, but still has to go through the Culling. The fog machine is making the carpet wet. Hailey’s dress is too short for the cold, and she wants to know if she can just wear a cape over it and go “like, slutty Dracula?” And the lighting is off in the lounge, and if we don’t fix it, everyone’s Pixtagram photos will be “tragic, Olivia,tragic!”

I smile. I nod. I fix it all.

Like I always do.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy being in charge. I do. I need it. Because if I stop moving, the memories take over. And if they catch me, I’ll crumble.

People think I was soft before Reggie, but I wasn’t. I was dangerous in my own way. Maybe Dad was the only one to truly know.

Back in high school, I ruled everything. Student Council President. Girl Scout troop leader. Class queen bee with a clipboard and a bloodthirsty schedule.

I was always a leader. Knew exactly what I wanted. To be a politician. At home, I was used to commanding my three brothers and having to wrangle them in. I was good at it. It came naturally.

Until sophomore year, when the golden couple imploded—Corey Wentsworth and Lakin Anderson. Quarterback and cheer captain. He rebounded with me. It was fun being the scandal. For once, I wasn’t the future valedictorian. The girl who wouldhelp you with your homework and who obeyed the rules.Iwas the one someone wanted.

Lakin didn’t like that.

She ran against me for class president and painted me as the homewrecking whore. People picked sides. My campaign signs were ripped. My locker was vandalized. And me?

I played sweet.

But deviously poisoned her bake sale brownies with laxatives. Defaced her posters with Sharpie mustaches. Made out with Corey in front of the cheerleaders until they screamed.

And on election day, I had my brothers stuff the ballot box to make sure I won.

Corey dumped me the day after, of course. Ran back to her like I was just a warm-up act.

But I kept the presidency. And the crown.

That was the first time I realized: I’d rather be hated and powerful than pretty and forgettable.

Fire lit in my veins, and I knew I was going places. I could win anything placed before me and wouldn’t stop until I did. It was a high I’d never really felt before.

Until Reggie put a stop to all of it.

And now? I kind of feel sorry for what I did to Lakin.