“I have a dress that might hit below the knee if you want to borrow it for tomorrow.” One brow quirks up as she waits for me to accept the offer.
“Oh, no. Really. I—” I grit my teeth. The more I protest, the worse it’ll be. “Okay. I appreciate it.”
“Great, I’ll make sure you have it before the meeting tomorrow.”
“Meeting?” I give her a quizzical stare.
Freya covers her mouth with her hands. “Oops. Yes! Oh my gosh, I keep forgetting that you don’t know everything. You’re a unique case, Echo. Usually, freshmen aren’t involved in any of this. Anyway.” She gives me a cute little grin and flips her long, dark hair over her shoulder. “House meeting. The rush events start tomorrow, and we have other things on the agenda, too. I’m excited. You’re going to love it here. Promise.”
* * *
To my surprise,when I come downstairs the next morning, Cassie is standing at the glossy gray kitchen island but no one else is in sight. She pops a few pills in her mouth and follows them up with a swallow from her pink water bottle.
When she catches sight of me, she sets it down with a clunk and cocks her head at me. “You okay?” She frowns, her eyes scanning my face. The makeup I’d applied in an attempt to hide the redness hadn’t given me nearly enough coverage. Thank goodness for the sundress Freya loaned me. As promised, I’d found it hanging outside my door first thing this morning. She’s a bit taller than I am, so it hides the scrapes on my knees perfectly.
“Oh, uh.” I wince. “Last night during the bonfire, I went for a walk in the woods to get away from all the smoke and got myself a little lost. I might’ve panicked a bit before I found my way back to all the fun. Walked right into a few branches.” I shoot her what I hope is a playful look with a shrug as I touch a few fingers to the scratch on my cheek. “Oops.”
Her mouth forms an O, eyes roaming over my face again. “I’m so sorry you got lost out there. I get it, though—about the smoke, I mean. I actually came back early. It gives me a headache. And the music. And the shouting.” She laughs. “I think I heard you come in. Did you enjoy the event otherwise?”
“Oh. Yeah. It was great, thanks.” Great until the one person I’ve feared ever seeing again showed up. Pushing that aside, I busy myself getting a mug down out of the cabinet and pouring myself a cup of coffee. As I’m doctoring it with cream and sugar, the house slowly comes to life. I settle at the island on a stool with my drink and one by one, or in pairs, the other girls leisurely make their way into the kitchen. I recognize most of them on sight now, but I’m still foggy on names.
As I take a sip of coffee, a curly red-haired girl that I’d met when I first arrived, Christine, blows through the kitchen. “Who has painkillers? I’m dying.” She stops across the island from me, groaning as she leans against the counter, and holds her head up with her hands as if it might roll off if she were to let go.
Following right behind her is the girl who’d been running around in the fuchsia undergarments last night. She sidles up beside Christine and shakes a bottle of what appears to be ibuprofen in front of her nose. With a mischievous glare Christine huffs out a laugh. “Samantha, you’re a lifesaver. But if you keep shaking those pills like that, I’m gonna strangle you.”
Setting the bottle down and shooting a wink over her shoulder, Samantha turns to pull a jug of orange juice from the refrigerator, along with a bottle of water for her grumpy friend. Judging by their interaction, I think they must be reasonably close. Sisterlike, even. Which I suppose makes sense since they belong to a sisterhood. Too fucking weird. I keep having to remind myself that I’m now part of it, too.
There’s a flurry of chatter and activity as more people enter the kitchen, then a few moments later, Cassie claps her hands to get our attention. “Okay, ladies. If you want to grab drinks and breakfast, we’ll make our way to the back patio. I think we could all use some fresh air after last night’s misadventures. I’m sure half of you would like to crawl back into bed as quickly as possible, so let’s get moving. We’ve got a full agenda this morning.” She chuckles at the round of cheerful groans that tumble from the entire sisterhood as they gather their things and shuffle out the wide, glass-paned patio doors.
Without a clue about what happens at the meetings or what I’m supposed to be doing, I give a nervous look around for Freya, hoping she can clue me in. My eyes wander over one sister after another, but her blue-black hair and dark, penetrating eyes aren’t anywhere to be found, so I slip off the stool and follow the crowd of sleepy, dehydrated women out to the meeting on my own.
Feeling awkward, I stand off to the side for a few minutes, waiting while everyone gets settled. I end up taking a seat on an ottoman, making sure Freya’s borrowed dress covers my knees, and wait for the meeting to begin.
A blue-eyed blonde hurries over to where Cassie is standing and anxiously whispers loud enough for anyone to hear, “The drawing for Sunday’s cage girl is on the agenda, right?”
“It is, actually. Whoever is chosen will probably have to miss the event at Lambda Mu that night. You know Mr. Pierce likes our girl to be there plenty early.”
My brow furrows. Cage girl? Sounds… interesting. So far, this house has proven to supply endless entertainment for me—especially when I consider the fact that my own mother must have participated in activities like the bonfire, these meetings, rush, and whatever else is still to come. Crossing my legs at the ankles, I draw in a deep breath, noting that Freya has yet to appear. It’s all good. I don’t need anyone, per se. In fact, some of the shit that life has thrown my way has made me very independent. For now, I’ll drink in as much information as I can about the other sisters and learn how to survive at TZE.
As if wondering about Freya has conjured her, she takes a place near Cassie, then scans the group until she finds me, giving me a quick wave. I smile back, patting the skirt of her dress and mouth, “Thank you.” Before Freya can respond with more than a slight nod, the meeting is called to order.
“Okay, first”—Cassie stretches her arm in my direction, and I feel a rush of embarrassment at being the center of attention—“everyone give a warm welcome to Echo Madden.” I can tell color is flooding my cheeks because they’ve become very warm. “Some of you may have seen Freya’s new little sister move in earlier this week. Her mother was a TZE sister back in the day, so of course, we’re extending her a legacy bid and the use of our spare room. So, play nice, and let’s help her get acclimated.”
I may be mistaken, but Cassie’s gaze lands on a couple girls in particular. If I’m remembering correctly, their names are Ireland and Savannah. I haven’t had any interaction with them at all thus far, so I don’t know what their deal is. Maybe they both just have resting-bitch faces.
Freya looks around the room. “Of course, everyone is going to treat my little sister with kindness and respect, the way we do all our sisters. She’s one of us now. She’ll officially have her pledge pin next week after rush, but she’s legacy. And there’s no arguing with that. Welcome, Echo. Did you have anything you’d like to say, or is there anything we should know about you?”
Any number of things rush through my mind, but I have no desire to share any of that with a roomful of people I don’t yet know, so I nod, ducking my head as I find all eyes on me. “Thanks. I’m, uh, happy to be here.” Wiping my hands on my sundress-covered thighs, I give them a sheepish grin. “My mom loved it here, so when I was contacted over the summer, I figured why not?” My stomach rolls uncomfortably in my abdomen as I notice some strained looks passing among the girls. Is there something going on that I don’t know about?Isthe legacy thing actually an issue? Inwardly cringing, I decide I’ll ask Freya to explain later if I’ve missed something.
There’s some shifting around from the sisterhood, nods of agreement, and a whole lot of whispering behind hands. It leaves me feeling decidedly nervous.
Fuck.I don’t need something else to worry about on top of everything that happened last night.
I must have tuned out for a few moments because when I finally focus, Cassie has moved on with her agenda. There’s discussion about a fundraiser that we’ll be involved in with our brother frat. I’ll have to ask her about that term because it seems redundant to me. A brother brotherhood. My forehead pinches.
Freya’s eyes flash to mine, and seeing my confusion, she bobs her head reassuringly. I read the look on her face asDon’t worry, I’ve got you, boo.Encouragement practically oozes from her before giving me a thumbs-up and turning back to Cassie. She appears to be excited to share with me how everything works. Having a brother frat is probably their way of getting the guys and girls to mingle, but I’ve been wrong before. I barely choke down the internal laughter at my own thoughts.Mingle.I sincerely doubt we’re talking about cute mixers and whatnot like might have existed in the days my mother was here. More like ragers and hazing and who the hell knows what else. With alcohol consumption high and inhibitions low, there’s probably not much going on that’s brotherly or sisterly.
“Okay, one final thing on the agenda.” Cassie’s eyes have a certain excited gleam to them as she begins speaking again. “And I know so many of you are waiting with bated breath for this… It’s time to select our cage girl for the first fight night of the year.”
