“Is that brand-new information?” Helen asked.
Elena tore off a piece of her wrap. “Obviously not. They’re vapid and boring half the time, but our parents are friends and blah, blah, blah.Boring. I just can’t do it anymore.”
“Why not?” I asked.
Elena blended in with her pretty blonde friends. She had the same money, social status, clothes, looks, but to me, she stood apart. Not that she wasn’t capable of evil. But beneath it all, she was good. It was just that there were layers of thorns and brambles to get to that part of her. The other girls, at least the ones I’d met and lived with freshman year, didn’t have that same core. I hoped she was beginning to see that too.
“I was at this dinner thing with some of them...actually, it was a dinner with some guys from your frat, Theo.”
Theo raised his hands. “I just live there. I’m not one of them.”
Elena lifted a shoulder and went on. “Well, they’re guys you know at any rate. They were talking about some stupid movie calledDogfightwhere they throw a party and the guys compete to invite the least desirable date. I don’t know, I haven’t watched it.”
Helen groaned. “Don’t tell me they’re going to throw a party like that.”
“That’s their plan. It was just...gross. The whole thing.” Elena shuddered, and my stomach flipped. Those poor, poor girls. “What really got me was the girls I was with were laughing about it and cooing over these assholes like they were so fucking clever, when really, they were just cruel. Like, I’m not usually rah-rah sisterhood or anything, but are we really at the point where we’re cheering guys on for misogyny?”
“Careful, girlie, next step is burning your bra,” Helen said dryly.
Elena cupped her breasts and gave them a jiggle. “Oh, god, can I? Let the tits breathe.”
“Which guys?” Theo brought the subject back around.
Elena flicked her fingernails. “The usual suspects. Ryan, Sean, Dylan, Deacon, Owen...a few others. I didn’t write down names or anything, but I think most of the house was involved.”
Lock made a rumbling sound, but he didn’t say anything. He studied his food as he methodically shoveled it into his mouth, pointedly not looking at anyone, but we were all looking at him.
“What’s on your mind, man?” Theo slapped his arm.
Lock swallowed, wiped his mouth, then slowly turned his head to Theo. “Nothing.”
Theo folded his arms. “Nothing? Right.” Then he addressed us. “At the end of the semester, I’m moving out of the frat house and getting a place with Lock. So yeah, my ties will be cut with those guys. I encourage you to do the same, El.”
She folded her napkin into a triangle. “Believe me, I’m done with those boys. The girls will be more of a slow extraction.” Then she grabbed my arm. “We should move in together too. Abby asked me, but I’ll just tell her you and Helen needed a third roommate, and since I felt sorry for you guys, I agreed.”
Helen’s head jerked back. “I did not agree to that.”
“But it’s a great idea, right?”
“No,” Helen replied. “I can’t afford it, so no.”
Elena pursed her lips, then her eyes alighted. “We’ll pay on a sliding scale. We’ll each contribute based on our parents’ income. Equity, babes. I’m all about the equity.”
“You could rent a house by ours, baby,” Theo suggested.
Lock pushed back from the table so abruptly, his chair made a loud screech. “I’m out.” Then he lumbered off, his tray looking like a playing card in his big hand.
Elena’s narrowed eyes followed his wide back and something about her deflated when he disappeared. It was strange, but now that I thought of it, Lock never hung around when Elena was nearby.
I touched her hand. “I’ll live with you, if you’re serious. I’m kind of over the dorm.”
Helen sat up straight. “What? No. I’m not leaving you alone with her.”
I met her gaze and raised a brow. “I guess you’re going to have to live with us.”
Helen sighed and let her head drop onto her arms. “God, I guess so.”
By Wednesday afternoon, I hadn’t received a text from Amir at all, so I decided to take that to mean he still didn’t want me at the house. It was just as well, since I had an exam coming up. I headed straight to the library after my last class, intent on burrowing in and studying for the next few hours.