Present
After my classes for the day are over, I make my way to the gardens outside. Kayla asked me in a message to meet her there. I can already see her sitting on a plaid blanket in the grass with a bunch of other students, casually sipping their drinks and eating their food.
When I get close enough, Kayla waves. “Hey, Pen, you finally made it.” She pats the plaid blanket next to her. “Come sit.”
I sit down beside her and introduce myself to the rest of the group. “Hi, I’m Penelope. You can call me Pen.”
“Hey, Pen,” the girl next to Kayla says. “I’m Crystal. Nice to meet you too. You must be her new roommate, right?”
The boys opposite of me give me a hand. “Hey, I’m Jeremy.”
“And my name is Calvin.”
I eagerly shake their hands.
“This is our little group,” Kayla says. “We eat lunch here together almost every day.” She takes a bite of her sandwich. “Did you bring something?”
“Yeah,” I reply, and I pull out my own sandwich that I made in a hurry this morning at my parents’ house before I arrived here. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, all smooshed up. I should really check out the cafeteria here.
“So Kayla told me you switched schools,” Jeremy says.
“Yeah, this university was actually my preferred university,” I explain even though it’s a lie I made up on the spot. “So I made a last-minute switch.”
“Awesome,” Calvin says. “So what are you studying?”
“Economics. I want to take over my dad’s business one day.” I add a smile.
“Obviously,” Jeremy says, “I mean, we’re all studying business at a business university.”
Crystal laughs. “I only want to be rich.”
Kayla and Crystal bump their drinks against each other.
“Same, girl, same,” Kayla jokes.
I take another bite of my sandwich. “So you’re Kayla’s best friend, right?”
Crystal blushes and grabs Kayla’s hand. “We’ve only known each other for like a few weeks now, but it feels like it’s been ages.”
I take another bite of my sandwich. Swallowing it is hard, though.
Because across from me, a few yards away, leaning against a stone fencing, are none other than Felix, Dylan, and Alistair. They’re smoking what appears to be marijuana right here on the university’s grounds without even a single care in the world even though I know that isn’t allowed here, let alone in this state.
But rules don’t apply to boys like them.
“Don’t look.” Kayla nudges me, pulling me from my thoughts.
“What?” I mutter.
“If you stare, they’ll see,” she murmurs, leaning in to whisper. “You do know who they are, right? Those guys belong to the Skull & Serpent Society.”
“No, I don’t know them,” I lie.
I technically don’t know them, but I have definitely heard of them.
“That society is like the worst of all the fraternities near this university combined. No one ever gets in except when they’ve got the right connections, and with that, I mean the criminal ones.” Kayla lowers her eyes at me. “They practically run this place.”
So they’re the leaders? Interesting. That only makes me want to look harder.
“You really don’t want to mess with those guys. Even a simple look can trigger them to come after you,” Kayla explains.
“How do you know?” I ask.
“Because they targeted her brother a few months ago,” Crystal explains, injecting herself into the conversation.
Kayla cringes. “Only because he dared to try to apply to their society. Gave him a rough initiation and then told him he didn’t make it.”
“What did they do?” I ask.
“Well, it involved piss,” Calvin fills in. “I only know that because of what one of my friends told me. I wasn’t there myself.”
Crystal gags and nearly vomits right there and then, but she covers her mouth. “Excuse me.”
“Okay, I get the picture,” I say.
“Point is, you don’t ever want them to point their arrows at you,” Kayla says. “I know they do a lot of bad shit, but if you stay out of their way, they won’t cause you trouble.”
“They’re sick,” Crystal adds.
“Right,” I mutter, but I’m way too distracted by the fact that Felix’s eyes have already homed in on me.
And no matter how hard I try, I can’t look away.
He’s been staring at me in class too, even mentioning my name to his friend Dylan.
And I didn’t give it to him, so there’s only one way he could know.
My sister.
Dylan
Felix can’t stop staring at her.
In a way, I’ve only ever seen him look at the people he either wants to fuck into oblivion or kill.
And now that I know who she is, neither can I.
I wonder why she transferred here, out of all places. It can’t be a coincidence.
I take another hit and burn away whatever remains of my restraint.
A smirk forms on my lips. Looking at her now, maybe I should go up to her and just … ask.
Some girl suddenly bumps into me and slaps her arms around my neck. Cathy, Sadie, Kiera … I don’t know, I don’t remember, and I don’t care.
“Hey, Dylan. You up for some fun later this evening? Carry on where we left off at the bonfire?”
The mere mention of that fucking party puts me on edge.
I throw her arms off me. “No, I have other plans.”
She eyes Alistair. “Is he taking up all your time again? You two planning something?” She licks her lips. “A surprise?”
I tilt my head. “If we were, it’s now ruined.”
“Aw, Dylan,” she muses, pecking me on the cheek. “You’re sweet.”
“Well, it’s not for you.”
Her smile fades as quickly as the autumn leaves, and it’s fucking magnificent. “Oh, I thought you had something planned for my birthday.”
Is it?
“Yeah, well, my schedule is full, so see you next week, okay?” I wink and turn toward the guys so she can’t butt in again.
“Yeah, I’m keeping my boy busy.” Alistair throws his arm over my shoulders to pull me into our group.
The girl tries for a moment but gives up after a few attempts at squeezing underneath my arm. Deflated, she walks off, her heels click-clacking across the pavement, a snooty look directed at me thrown over her shoulders.
What was her name again?
All I can think about is that girl sitting there in the grass and how much she reminds me of someone else … someone I used to know.
I take a final whiff and chuck the smoke away.
A tasty afternoon snack.
Just like her.
My phone suddenly buzzes and pulls me from my thoughts.
“What’s that?” Alistair asks.
“Fuck,” I say under my breath.
“Oh, that fucker?”
I ignore Alistair and head straight for the biggest building on the campus. The place I abhor and rarely enter unless necessary for classes … or to visit my goddamn father.
The thought of having to visit him makes me want to fucking punch a hole in the wall. But if I damage even a single inch of his property, there will be hell to pay.
I clutch the banister and head up the old wooden stairs to floor three, where the rooms are inaccessible to the rest of the students and even me when not summoned.
Grinding my teeth, I knock on the third door.
“Come in.”
I open the door and stare at him while leaning against the wall. “You called?”
“Texted,” he replies, only glaring up at me briefly before returning to the mountain of papers on his desk.
“It’s a metaphor,” I reply, folding my arms.
“I don’t have time for duplicity. Sit.” He points at the chair in front of his desk.
“Can you at least ask?” I retort, raising a brow.
“No.”
He can’t even look at me.
My nostrils twitch, but I still bite my tongue and march over to the chair, scooting it back loudly before plopping my ass down. For good measure, I throw my boots on his desk.
“Don’t do that,” he says.
“Why not? It’s comfy,” I reply.
His eyes lift from his work again and finally connect with mine.
“Do you like the boots you wear?” he asks.
“Yeah.”
“The food you eat?”
I narrow my eyes. Where is this going?
“The frat house you live in?”
“What about it?”
“Who do you think pays for all that?”
I roll my eyes. Here we go again.
“Oh, don’t tell me …” I put my finger in front of my mouth. “You.”
“Exactly,” he replies. “Now are you going to be respectful, or do I have to force it out of you?”
The way he looks at me makes me grind my teeth, but eventually, I put my feet down.
“Good boy.”
“Don’t,” I growl.
If he speaks to me again like I’m a dog, I’m going to bite like one.
“You’d better be grateful,” he retorts.
“Oh, like you?” I quip.
“I am grateful.” He looks me dead in the eye. “For this job.”
Not for his son.
“And I’m not about to lose it thanks to you.”
I shrug. “You literally run the campus. Who’s going to fire you?”
“Did you forget about the board?”
Grinding my teeth, I look away, annoyed. “Felix can talk with his dad.”
“Felix and you need to shut the hell up, sit down, and do your fucking work,” he growls.
Now he’s got my attention.
That kind of aggression … it flows through my veins too.
He slams a stamp onto a paper and pushes it into his folder. “Do you understand?”
“Is that why you brought me up here? To lecture me?”
He licks his finger and grabs the next paper. “It took me fucking days to solve all the mess you boys left this summer. I’m not about to let you fuck it all up again.” He points at me. “Behave.”
“Or else?”
He tilts his head, and he grabs the box cutter, clutching it too tightly. “Don’t test me, Dylan.”
“Whatever,” I say, sighing. “I can’t stop being me.” I get up.
“No, you’re too much like your father,” he growls back, still sifting through his papers without even looking at me. “Now go and fucking study like an actual college student.”
He waves me off without even looking at me, so I saunter off with my hands tucked in my pocket and kick open the door.
The moment I cross the threshold, a peculiar set of eyes stares back at me from below the staircase. They widen in shock and immediately turn away, hiding behind the pillar next to the stairs.
But I know she’s there.
Her footsteps as she bolts bring a grin to my face.
I’ll never resist a chase.
I rush down the stairs and see her run through the hallway, heading straight for the emergency staircase in the back instead of the one below mine. But I know this place like the back of my hand, so there’s no way she can outrun me.
And I’m not letting her get away after catching her snooping on me.
Halfway across the hall, Felix comes up the staircase behind me, and yells, “Dylan, what the fuck? You here too?”
“Dad’s interrogating us. Doesn’t matter,” I say, shaking off my annoyance. “It’s her, the girl, she eavesdropped.”
His eyes turn murderous as I point at the emergency staircase, and he nods and runs right back down the stairs.
I open the door leading to the emergency staircase and head inside. “Oh, Penelope … where are you?” I murmur, looking up and down the stairwell. It’s quiet. Too quiet. “I know you’re in here … there’s no point in hiding.” I lick my lips. “I will find you, and when I do, you’d better pray for mercy.”
