But Josie had a hardness to her, a toughness she had earned from growing up on the other side of the tracks like Ainsley. Kenna, on the other hand, had been sheltered and spoiled her entire life, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t suffered or felt pain. Kenna hid her damage and trauma with expensive clothes, makeup, and pretty smiles, whereas Josie used a cloak of sarcasm. They were two sides of a coin, and together they could be fucking troublesome and troublemakers.
One minute they were teaming up, taking down a common enemy, and in the next breath, they were at each other’s throats, cursing and pulling each other’s hair. In a way, despite their unusual circumstance, they loved and fought like real sisters. The difficult part for me was not getting caught in the middle. I loved them both and refused to take sides.
A year ago, they had been strangers, and here we were, all living together. To their credit, Josie and Kenna had come a long way in that year. Virtual strangers who didn’t even know the other existed.
I wasn’t sure if the dorm could handle having both Edwards sisters under the same roof.
“Ooookay,” Josie drawled, plopping down on my unmade bed. She crossed her long legs into a pretzel. “Aren’t you supposed to be in class right now?”
I pressed a hand to my temple, where the dull ache of a headache throbbed. “Yes.” I sighed, grabbing a random T-shirt before slamming the drawer shut.
“Is everything all right?” she asked, concern etched into her features.
I snatched a pair of jeans off the floor, not caring that they had been worn, and paused at the front of my bed. “I need a new phone. It fell in the fountain. Do you have any rice by chance?”
“Rice?” she echoed, brows bunching in confusion. “I don’t think so. Is that why you’re wet? You had to fish your phone out of the fountain?”
It was a good assumption, just not the whole story. “Not exactly. I was already in the fountain when I dropped my phone.”
Josie’s lips twitched, fighting back a smile. “Makes total sense.”
I dropped down onto the bed. “No it doesn’t. None of this does. I completely embarrassed myself.”
“And how is that different than any other day?”
I tossed my bundled-up shirt into her face. Nothing like my best friend to put shit into perspective.
Laughing, she flung it back at me. “Whatever happened, I’m sure it’s not that bad. And we’ll get the rice… or a new phone. I don’t have class until after lunch. We can go once you put some clothes on and dry your hair. You might want to check your makeup too,” she added, her gaze bouncing from one of my eyes to the other.
“Mascara?” I guessed.
She nodded.
Wiggling on the jeans, I left them unbuttoned as I went into the bathroom to check out the damage. My eyes were sporting the raccoon style, as expected. I glanced at the tube I had left on the sink this morning.Waterproof, my ass.Grabbing a makeup wipe, I cleaned up the dark smudges under my eyes, salvaging what I could.
“The day wasn’t a total loss. I did get an invite to a fraternity party tonight,” I said, raising my voice so it carried out into the bedroom as I tossed my damp hair up into a messy bun. It had started to curl, and since I didn’t want to deal with that and the humidity outside, it was best to just secure it up.
“You didn’t,” she proclaimed, but at the same time, I could hear in her voice that she really wasn’t all that surprised. When it came to those of us who were raised in the upper side of Elmwood, parties were as common as brunch on Sunday.
Discarding the towel on the floor, I made a mental note to it pick up later before Kenna could scold me yet again and walked back into the bedroom. “I did, at Chi Sigma. Have you heard of them?” I asked, remembering that Micah and Brock both knew Sterling. Apparently he had a reputation here. I shouldn’t have been, but I couldn’t help but be curious about what kind of reputation that was.
I could hardly believehewas the same guy. Seeing him had dredged up too many memories and feelings, almost all of them ones I wanted to forget.
Josie lifted a brow in intrigue as she pressed her palms into the mattress behind her, leaning back slightly. “So, are we going?”
Reaching for the old T-shirt I left on the bed, I slipped it over my head, tucking a corner into my jeans. “Probably not a good idea. Micah and Brock both warned me to stay away.”
“When has that ever stopped you?”
True. I wasn’t the kind of girlfriend who let her boyfriend make decisions for me. There was open communication, and then there was control. No one controlled me. In Micah’s case, he was legitimately looking out for my safety. As a female, we had to be more aware of our surroundings. There were so many guidelines that came with being a girl. Don’t walk alone at night. Go to bars, parties, concerts, and such in pairs or groups. Always watch your drink, because God forbid someone slipped something into it.
Kenna and Josie both had firsthand experience with just how dangerous a drugged drink could be. I’d never forgive the bastard who hurt them, and Kenna and Josie made sure he got what he deserved… and then some.
“Look at you being a bad influence,” I replied, a smile breaking over my lips.
“Hanging around the Elite, it was bound to happen. We can’t miss the first party of the year. We promised that we would make the best out of the four years we have together.”
“Did someone say there was a party tonight?” Ainsley leaned in the doorway, her once rainbow hair now a deep chestnut, honey highlights framing her face. It looked good on her, natural, but that didn’t mean she had lost her fun factor. Hell no. If anything, I swore she was wilder than when her hair was ten different shades. Someone only had to utter anything that remotely sounded like a party and her ears perked up.