I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. I repeat the mantra a dozen times in my head until I convince myself it’s the truth. Why does he have to be so infuriating all of the time?
Mom doesn’t give me long to dwell on it before she marches me right through the front doors and to the left down a long hallway. We pass a living room, dining room, and kitchen before coming to the open door of an office with a small gold placard that reads, “House Mother.”
“Knock, knock,” my mother calls before stepping inside, pulling me right along with her.
An attractive brunette looks up and greets us, a wide smile on her face. “You must be Mrs. Henderson?” she says, coming around her desk and shaking mom’s hand.
“Ms. Douglas, actually. Kasey’s father and I divorced years ago.” She throws this out with a laugh like it’s no big deal, but I know mom hates it. Dad forced her to change her name after the divorce. Said she didn’t deserve it and the perks that came with being a Henderson. He’s an asshole and whatever perks come with my name I’m still waiting on to be delivered, but he’s also my dad, so I’m duty bound to love him. Even when he’s absent and downright cruel where mom is concerned. “But please, call me Helen.”
“Nice to meet you, Helen. I’m Hilary, the Kappa Mu president,” she says this with a sugary sweet smile so wide her cheeks are bound to crack. She’s not much older than I am. Twenty-one or twenty-two if I had to guess. “And you must be Kasey, our newest legacy. We are so excited to have you.”
I’ll bet she is. She might be fooling Mom but the fake smile and high-pitched laugh is not fooling me.
“Thanks,” I tell her, accepting her offered hand with a fake smile of my own.
“Hills, we’re out of—” a girl says behind us but cuts herself off when she sees Hilary isn’t alone. “Oh. My bad. I didn’t realize you were meeting with parents today,” the girl adds almost sheepishly.
I spot the empty liquor bottles in both her hands and know right away what they’ve recently run out of. I chance a look at my mom and wonder if she’ll call the whole thing off with the obvious drinking and partying going on right now despite it only being a little after 10am on a Sunday. But instead of worry or apprehension on her face, her smile is wide, her eyes glazed over, as though she’s reliving fond memories before she lets out a little laugh.
“Please, don’t worry about me. You girls do what you need to. Are you over twenty-one?” Mom asks her.
“Oh, umm, I …” She turns to Hilary with wide eyes and a help me expression.
Mom laughs again. “Why don’t I do you girls a favor and make a quick trip to the store while you guys show my baby girl around. That looks like,” she tilts her head for a better look at the bottles the newcomer is clearly trying and failing to hide, “Malibu rum, Sky Vodka, and … is that Blue Curacao?”
The girl nods but keeps her lips sealed.
“Perfect. I’ll be back in a jiff.”
Mom brushes a kiss across my temple and then slips past the girl and leaves me standing alone with two very surprised college girls.
“Did your mom just—“
“Offer to go buy you booze after you very obviously failed to confirm that you’re legally old enough to drink? Yes. Yes, she did.”
“Wicked. Your mom is so cool.”
I sigh and force myself to smile. That’s Mom. Always one to be your friend rather than your parent. “Yeah. She’s pretty chill. I’m Kasey by the way.”
“Quinn,” the girl says. “Nice to meet you.”
“Let’s show you around and go over the house rules while we wait for your mom to get back,” Hilary interjects. “Quinn, why don’t you go make sure the other pledges don’t need any assistance.”
Quinn nods and leaves to do what Hilary asked, and when I turn to face her, her smile is gone and an annoyed expression rests in its place. “Look,” she begins. “I’m going to be honest. I wasn’t thrilled when I was told we’d be admitting a new pledge. You skipped our entire application process, didn’t show up for a single interview, and didn’t have to jump through any of the hoops every other girl who was accepted had to.”
I keep my expression blank. Is she wanting me to apologize for something I played zero part in and had no control over? It’s not like I asked for this.
She sighs. “But, you’re a legacy and our house takes that seriously. It also doesn’t hurt that your dad made a donation to Kappa Mu in your name.” Huh, look at that. Good ole Dad helping us out. I try not to roll my eyes. He was probably worried I’d ask to live with him full time what with mom leaving. Not that I ever would. I love my dad, but where Mom parents by trying to be my friend, Dad parents with assistants and nannies, forgetting I’m seventeen, not seven.
“So, we’re going to make this work.” She sounds resigned. Join the club. “We don’t want to start getting a flood of running-start applicants. Hanging out with high schoolers isn’t really our thing. We also don’t want any trouble with the dean’s office for exposing you to anything you’re not ready for, so for now, keep your age to yourself.”
“I can do that,” I tell her. It’s not like I was planning on letting everyone know how young I was. I’m not an idiot.
“Good. Glad that’s out of the way. Like the plaque outside the door says, I’m the housemother, but I’m not going to be your mom while you’re here. If you’re upset or homesick, phone a friend. I’m not your shoulder to cry on.”
“Noted.”
“And I’m not your babysitter. The girls here like to have a bit of fun and we’re close with some of the campus fraternities. You’re responsible for looking after yourself. If you can’t handle your liquor, don’t drink. And if you do drink, don’t be stupid and drive yourself home. Got it?”
I give her two thumbs up. “Anything else?”
“Don’t cut classes. Part of eligibility requirements for being a member is maintaining a 3.0 GPA. If you fail any of your classes, you’re out. Legacy or not.”
“Good to know.”
She reaches behind her and grabs an envelope from her desk before handing it to me. “Inside is a map of campus, our events schedule, and your school ID. You’re required to attend all Kappa Mu functions so add these dates to your calendar. We don’t make acceptions.”
I tuck the envelope in the back pocket of my jeans. “Okay.” Not like I have a packed social calendar or anything. I hang out with Allie and Bibiana on most weekends but we don’t generally plan anything official. It’s usually just junk food and movies while the guys lock themselves in the media room to watch videos of past football games. If I have a sorority thing, no one will care if I need to skip a night.
“Your room is on the first floor toward the back of the house. It’s just you and Quinn, the girl you just met, on this level. Everyone else is upstairs. There’s a back entrance near your room you can use if you need to and additional parking out back if you have a car.” I nod. My dad bought me a WRX like Aaron’s, only mine is candy apple red, as a ‘congrats you’re going to college’ gift, so that will be convenient. He’s supposed to have his driver deliver it sometime this week, so I’ll have to let him know they can bring it straight here. It’ll save me from needing a campus parking pass since I really only plan on driving when I need to go off campus. I walk everywhere else.
“If you have questions, check with Quinn first. All of our new recruits are assigned a big sister. She’s yours.”
I nod. “Okay. Cool.” Do I leave now? I’m not sure what protocol is here exactly. Should I wait to be excused?
“That’s it,” Hilary confirms with a huff.
“Great. Thanks.” I make a hasty retreat and wander around downstairs, ducking around the other girls in the house until I find a long hallway that leads to the back. I figure I’ll get to know everyone later. Right now I just want to track down my room and unpack.
The first door I find is decorated with pictures and drawings. I make a wild guess that it’s Quinn’s since it’s her face in most of the pictures. Further down the hall are two more doors. One at the very end, which I confirm is the door that leads outside. I open it to find a small patch of grass and a concrete slab for parking on my right that leads to the main road.
I close that door and turn to the last one which I’m assuming is mine. I find Aaron lounging on my bed, phone in hand, and take in the rest of the space. It’s a decent size. Double closet. I scan the room for Dominique, noting the pile of neatly stacked boxes next to the bed, half expecting him to burst from behind them just to fuck with me. “Where’s Dom?” I ask when it’s clear my brother isn’t going to volunteer the information, too distracted by whoever he’s texting with on his phone.
“Coach called. The guys had to leave for some team thing.”
Relief sweeps through me and my shoulders sag. I plop down on the bed beside my brother. “I see you found my room?”
He nods, setting his phone aside. “Yeah, one of the girls told us which one was yours so we moved all your stuff in for you.”
“Roman and Emilio didn’t wait in the car, did they?”
He gives me a crooked grin. “Nope.”
“Urgh,” I groan, hiding my face with my hands. “Did anyone recognize them?”
Aaron chuckles. “Relax, sis. All they saw were some stacked guys moving boxes. No one asked if they were on the team, though Emilio definitely got his fair share of phone numbers.”
I scowl. “He better have thrown them away.” Emilio is a notorious flirt, but also absolutely obsessed with Bibi, his girlfriend and the mother of his child. They’re doing really good, but I know Bibiana sometimes has a hard time with all the attention Emilio receives. And being a football player doesn’t help. I swear all of the guys have their own personal fan clubs.
Aaron leans forward and tugs open the drawer of a nearby nightstand. Five small pieces of paper with girly handwriting in various colors greet me. “Nah, he left them for you so you could make friends. His words, not mine.”
I don’t bother fighting the smile that spreads over my face. That sounds like Emilio, alright.
Aaron leaves a few minutes later with the promise to help me find my classes on Monday when school starts. ‘Call me if you need me,’ he tells me on his way out, giving me a quick hug.
‘I will,’ I promise, and then settle in and unpack my things. The room is a blank canvas. White walls, hardwood floors, and a single window that gives me a glimpse of where my car will soon be parked. There’s a queen bed, a single nightstand, and a tall dresser, but nothing else aside from my boxes of belongings. I unpack my clothes first, hanging up what needs to be hung and folding everything else to add to the dresser drawers.
Mom shows up later that afternoon, her arms loaded down with shopping bags and a wide smile on her face.
“What is all that?” I ask, eyeing the pops of pink and gold peeking out the tops of the bags. I’m not a tomboy, but I’m not really a girly girl either. I played basketball throughout high school so I generally go for comfort over style. I haven’t decided if I’ll play this year. Coach said I could keep my spot, but a part of me would rather move beyond all things high school. I have no intention of playing in college, so stopping now wouldn’t really make much difference.
‘Pottery Barn was next to the grocery store so I thought I’d pick up a few things you might need. Wait until you see the comforter set I got you,’ she gushes, pulling out a white down comforter decorated with small pink tassels around the edge.
‘Pretty,’ I deadpan. I’m not sure what the purpose of the tassels is but it could have been worse.
‘I know, right? I wanted to make sure you were all set. I can’t believe my little girl is all grown up and going to college. I know this is a big step, but I want you to know I am so proud of you.’
‘Thanks, Mom.’
She beams. ‘Let’s get you settled. I only have an hour before I need to get on the road, but that’s plenty of time for us to turn this room into your home for the next four years.’
I groan. Four years. She really expects me to be a sorority girl for all four years of college?
Her eyes soften. ‘I know being an Kappa Mu might not seem exciting to you right now, but honey, I made some of my very best friends in this very house when I went to college. Twenty-five years later and I’m still close with them. Sorority sisters look out for each other and you’re going to meet some of the best people here. Try to be open-minded.’
I sigh. ‘I’ll try.’
‘Now, let’s get this room situated.’
