SUSIE
“Susie, you’ve got to calm down. Look what you’ve done to your room.” Belinda walked around, picking up the broken pieces of whatever I’d thrown against the wall in anger. My chest was tight with rage, and I wanted to punch someone. I gave some thought to punching her, the idiot, but I needed her still. It was with sheer willpower that I kept myself from lashing out.
“I thought I told you to find out everything about her?”
“I did; we all did.” She brought my attention to the others in the room. They’d followed me back to the dorms as if they had a choice. When I was ready to leave a place, everyone who called themselves my friend had better be ready to do the same. No one wanted to feel the iciness of my retaliation if they didn’t.
Mom had taught me how to withhold affection if I didn’t get what I wanted. Of the four girls in the room with me, none would ever go against me; this I know. Sometimes I hate them, like now. They’re nothing but a waste of space that can never do anything right, like with this situation. I’d been embarrassed tonight because of her and because of their lack of help in getting me what I wanted.
“So why didn’t I know that her mother is some bigshot on the Panhellenic council? Why didn’t I know that she and those peasants she calls friends were going to be accepted into our sorority?” Technically, my anger wasn’t at them; it was at the fact that my hands were tied, at least in this instance.
After hearing what Melissa and the others were up to, I’d made some calls. The rules were on my side, after all, and I just knew that I’d be able to put a stop to it. No way was I letting her into the sorority; she didn’t belong there. But imagine my surprise when I learned that the decision had come from the top, that it wasn’t a case of Melissa overstepping her bounds to do some low-level scion a favor.
The words of praise for her mother still stung my ears until I wanted to throw up. Who the hell is she anyway? No one has ever heard of her, at least I haven’t, while everyone knows my mom and how powerful she is. And let’s not get started on Cody; what was that tonight? Since when is he so attentive, so involved?
If I’d wanted to do something to her tonight, I’d have been thwarted by his very presence. He never left her side for a second, not even to go to the bathroom. Now everyone thinks they’re a real couple, and the news would no doubt spread all over campus even worse than before.
“We didn’t know; there was nothing about her mom, nothing about her even. Maybe, maybe her family are more….”
“More what?” I threw a book at Mimi, one of the others who’d followed me back. Belinda, Mimi, Tracy, and Heather, are my closest friends, the ones I let into the inner circle, while the others were little more than servants who did my bidding.
These four, at least, came from well-to-do families and had prestigious backgrounds. They’re the people I’d found my first year here, the ones I’d culled from the rest because they could be of help in the future, my future. They’ve never let me down before, until now. “Maybe you should just forget about Cody. It’s obvious he’s into her.”
“Get out!” Usually, when I turn my wrath on one of my people, they go into survival mode, sucking up and apologizing until I’m no longer upset. That bitch Tracy just rolled her eyes and left the room. “Is she crazy? What does she think she’s doing?” I glared at Belinda, who ran after Tracy calling her back.
Of all of them, Tracy is the one I wanted to hold onto the most. Her family has their fingers in all the pies, and she will be more than a step up in the future. But lately, she’s been more and more distant from the group, leaving just the others who weren’t half as useful as she is. She’d argued with me tonight when she realized that me getting her to invite Lisa and her friend to the party was more than the usual hazing prank on new pledges.
If she’d been around the last couple of weeks, she’d have known that I’d declared war on that idiot, but since she’d pretty much been finding excuses not to hang out with us for the last little while, she’d missed the memo, I guess. I felt a slight sense of panic when Belinda returned alone but hid it well. I can’t afford to lose anyone, not now, not when I’m in the battle of my life.