“Tomorrow night,” I say, looking away from her. “Come at midnight. Come alone. Don’t tell anyone where you’re going.”
“Really? You’re letting me join?”
“I’m letting you try to join.” I glance back at her, shivering with anticipation. “Nothing is easy on Saint Parras, Kaye. If you want to join the Calico Club, you’d better be prepared to go as far as I take you.”
“I’ll do whatever I have to do.” She stands abruptly, shin knocking against the coffee table, making the spoons rattle. I imagine she’s picturing some light hazing, some ritual involving alcohol and fake blood or whatever frat bullshit she remembers from the movies. “Thank you for giving me this chance.” She growls the words, that fucking sexy rasp driving me insane.
“Don’t thank me yet. You’re not going to like what you’ll have to endure.”
She nods once, determination in her eyes, and walks to the door. She slides it open, but before she can leave, I call her name.
“Tell nobody and come alone. Do you understand? I have long arms and wide ears at this school. I hear everything and touch everyone.”
“I understand.”
She disappears. I hesitate, staring down at the empty glass in my hand, before walking out after her.
Lesley meets me in the hall. She’s wearing her customary glare and has a clipboard with a running tally of the shipment clutched to her chest. “Everything’s accounted for. How’s the girl?”
“She’s joining tomorrow.”
She snorts once. “Are you going to put her through the gauntlet?”
I shake my head. The gauntlet is the traditional hazing ritual—it involves taking the boat out alone and at night around the entire length of the island and is more unpleasant than anything else.
“No, that one’s going through something special. Spread the word. Tomorrow night, everyone stays clear of the basement.”
Her eyebrows raise in alarm. “You’re not going to hurt her, are you?”
“I don’t lie to my people,” I say and head toward the stairs. “Break out a couple bottles. Everyone did good tonight.”
I feel Lesley’s eyes on my back as I climb toward my room, a smile on my lips.
Am I going to hurt little Kaye Drake?
Yes, I am most definitely going to make the girl bleed, but if all goes well, I think she’ll like it.
Chapter3
Kaye
Dry palm fronds crunch underfoot as I walk along the gravel path toward Calico House.
It’s ten until midnight. Campus is deserted—there’s a bonfire down on the beach and the fruits of the Calico shipment are being passed around the revelers. I heard a few teachers were going to show up, but I figured that was probably just a stupid rumor. Although it wouldn’t shock me.
Life on Saint Parras is strange.
On the one hand, it’s a typical college. There are dorms, dining halls, a student center, a rec center, soccer fields, tennis courts, everything you’d expect at a normal college. I go to class, sit in the library, write papers, take tests, and eat lunch under a shady palm tree while people-watching the other students wander along the winding paths.
But beneath the surface, there are secrets. The Calico Club isn’t the only student society, and the rumors about these groups are ugly. Hazing, sex, drugs, and worse. And even beyond the societies, there’s the general culture of the island—it’s common for people to lie on the beach between class, for guys to show up to class in a wet suit still drenched from surfing, for girls to wander around in only flip-flops, shorts, and a bikini top. There are beach parties most nights, and the only place off limits is the central interior of the island, a mostly untamed jungle wilderness shrouded in mystique.
It’s like a college mixed with an island resort, and I’m having trouble separating the hedonistic lifestyle of partying on the beach all day and night and the need to write papers and pass tests.
None of that matters right now. I push my worries and uncertainties aside as I put one foot in front of the other. I hurry up toward Calico House, my heart racing, not sure what to expect but determined not to turn around. I’ve come this far and it’s time to take it all the way.
The lights glow dimly from the windows but nobody’s around. I’m nervous as I climb up the main steps and I halfway expect that girl from before, the one with the angry glare and the tea, to show up and tell me to leave. Instead, before I can knock, the door opens.
And Emilio stares out at me.