“From now on, you shouldn’t be alone on campus,” Camila said. “If he sees you by yourself, he’ll pounce. Especially now that he can’t contact you via phone. So you should always be with at least one of us, or your other friends. That way we can tell him to fuck off if he tries to come near you, and you don’t need to say or do anything. You can just blank him like hedeserves.”
“Okay.” I rubbed my temples and leaned back, letting out a heavy sigh. “I still can’t believe he did this to me. I honestly would’ve preferred it if he just walked up and punchedme.”
I meant that with every ounce of my being. A vicious jab to the face would’ve hurt a hell of a lot less than what Hunter put me through in the auditorium. Even a stab in the heart with a white-hot dagger would’ve hurtless.
“I get it,” a pretty blonde girl said from across the table. I couldn’t remember her exact name, but I knew it was something like Lila or Layla. “It’s fucked up, and it’s a massive shock too. But you have us now, so it’s all going to befine.”
“Layla’s right,” Kiri said, nodding emphatically. “Hunter won’t be able to hurt you anymore. Not unless you let him back in. And obviously, you’re not going to dothat.”
“Even if you feel weak one day and start falling for his bullshit, we won’t let you, because once you join us, you’re going to be like our sister, and we don’t let our sisters get fucked over by guys,” Camila said, lifting her chinhigh.
I wiped my eyes again and looked at her. “How does this work, exactly?” I asked. “Becoming one of you, I mean. Is there some sort of test I need to passfirst?”
She smiled. “I love the enthusiasm, but before we worry about any of that, I think you should take a few days off school to let things calm down a bit. I’m sure Sanders will be happy to let you do your classwork in your dorm for a while after everything you’ve gonethrough.”
“I hope so. I don’t think I can face the rest of RFA at the moment. Or if I can face it ever again,” I murmured, inwardly cringing at the idea of walking through the halls and knowing that my shame was vividly imprinted on the minds of every student I crossed pathswith.
“You can. Trust me. You’re stronger than you know,” Kirisaid.
“That’s right. And now that you’re going to be one of us, no one will dare to cross you. Not even the Princes, as much as it might annoy them,” Camila said, brows rising in a triumphant expression. “Anyway, as I was saying, we’ll let you have a few days before we initiate you. You need time to recuperate after today’s shit-show.”
“What happens in the initiation?” Iasked.
“We can’t really tell you that,” she said with an enigmatic smile. “You’ll have to wait andsee.”
“Oh.Right.”
That made sense. It was a secret society, afterall.
“We can go over the membership conditions, if it makes you feel better,” she said, tilting her head to theside.
“Yes,please.”
“Okay, so I don’t know how much you remember from our meeting a few weeks ago, but there’s three things the society requires from a Medusa girl.” She held up one finger. “Firstly, you need to maintain excellentgrades.”
“Uh-huh.”
She held up another finger. “Secondly, you have to attend any Network functions that you’re invitedto.”
“Okay.”
“And lastly, after you’re initiated, you’ll sign a contract stating that you will never talk about what we do to non-members, and another stating that you will work at a Network-related company after collegegraduation.”
“Right. I remember that now,” I said, noddingslowly.
“Do you think that’s something you canmanage?”
I nodded again, more firmly this time. “Yes.”
It wasn’t really a choice anymore. If I was going to survive the rest of the school year at RFA, I needed the Medusa Society’s protection. That meant I needed to give them whatever they asked of me inreturn.
Besides, it wasn’t a bad deal. I could easily keep my grades up as long as I studied hard enough, and the fact that I would have a job waiting for me after college was a serious boon. The vast majority of students in this country weren’t that fortunate. They had to do everything aloneinstead.
Camila beamed at me. “Great,” she said, squeezing my arm. “I’m so glad you finally decided to join us, even though it happened under such horriblecircumstances.”
“Me too,” Layla said, eyes sparkling. “Once you’re past this, we’re going to have so muchfun!”
I smiled tightly, even though I was in no mood for smiles. “I hope so,” Imurmured.