Bad Rep
Page 51

I was tempted to change when my doorbell rang. I heard Riley let Gracie and Vivian in. I waited for the two girls to come down the hall but they didn't. After five minutes, I went to find out what was keeping them. Not surprisingly, Riley and Gracie were in deep conversation. Three guesses as to who they were talking about.
“So have the two of you figured out how to fix my shit hole of a life yet?” I called out. Vivian, Gracie and Riley looked up and I almost laughed at the near identical fake smiles they each wore. If I wasn't so damn depressed I'd find the fact that they were conspiring behind my back really amusing. Gracie and Riley didn't get along in the best of times. Riley found Gracie's pro Greek stance obnoxious and vapid. Gracie found Riley to be pretentious and snobby.
“There you are! You look great!” Gracie chirped, coming over and giving me a hug.
“Don't lie. I look like I'm going out to sell encyclopedias.” I grumped. Vivian chuckled and I gave her a smile over Gracie's shoulder. “Hey Viv. Thanks for coming tonight.” I said sincerely after pulling away from Gracie. Vivian nodded.
“You don't need to thank me. I've been there, done that, have the emotional scars. These girls are ruthless when they want to be. You'll need all the backup you can get.”
Riley made a noise. “Now why isn't that on the school's Greek living brochure? I think that's a fantastic soundbite,” she snarked. I thought my sisters would get pissed, but instead they laughed, shocking the hell out of me.
“Okay, let's do this,” I said with more determination than I felt. Gracie pumped her fist into the air. I didn't miss the look she exchanged with Riley but I pretended not to notice.
“Good luck, Mays. If you need me to beat someone up for you, just let me know!” Riley called out as we left the apartment. I shook my head but couldn't help but feel a little warm and fuzzy at the support I was receiving from my friends. It made me feel like perhaps I could come out of all this with my skin intact.
Chapter Fourteen
Our ride to the campus was quiet. We didn't talk at all. Which I was fine with, I didn't know what to say anyway. Vivian pulled into the parking lot outside of the Chi Delta house and for the first time since I had pledged, I didn't want to go inside. This place that had been a source of happiness for me, had now become something much more sinister.
“Come on, Maysie,” Gracie said softly, getting out of the car. Not being able to put it off any longer, I got out and followed my friends up to the front door. We had five minutes until the meeting started so I hoped most of the girls would already be in the chapter room.
Clearly luck was not on my side tonight. Big surprise. We walked in and it was like the sound evaporated from the room. At least twenty of our sisters were in the common room. Every single one of them stopped what they were doing and looked up as we entered. Not one of them said anything. They glared at me as though I had walked in with a scarlet A branded on my forehead.
My palms began to sweat and my heart started to palpitate uncomfortably in my chest. Gracie reached down and took my hand in hers. I looked at her gratefully as she pulled us down the hallway toward the meeting room. Milla stood in front of the door, not letting us enter.
“What the hell is she doing here?” she hissed, giving me a once over and sneered. I straightened my back and looked my “sister” straight in the eye.
“I'm here for the sisterhood meeting. Isn't that why you're here, Milla? For the sisterhood?” I goaded. We had a thirty second stare down before Milla looked away, her lip curling in disgust.
“Move, Milla,” Vivian grit out, shouldering passed the other girl so we could make our way into the room. I wanted to train my eyes on the floor, not wanting to look at anyone. But I couldn't. That would be acknowledging my shame and I wouldn't do that. Not here.
My eyes fell on the head of the table, where Olivia held court. She looked stunning, as always. Nothing let on to the emotional turmoil of the last 24 hours. Her black hair was shiny and perfect. Her skin fresh, her eyes free of the black circles that ringed mine. She looked...happy?
Olivia raised her chin as I made my way to my normal seat, flanked by Vivian and Gracie. Our eyes met and I could see the anger there. Her lips quirked in revulsion before she looked away. I swallowed thickly and sat down. This was going to be a long evening.
Ten minutes later, the rest of the sisters had filed in and we were ready to start the meeting. All eyes rested on Olivia Peer and waited for her to begin. Slowly, she got to her feet and slammed the gavel in her hand down onto the table. “I call this meeting of the Beta Pi chapter of Chi Delta to order,” she said with authority.
The first part of the meeting ran like any other. Details of upcoming mixers. Discussions about the Fall Ball. Ideas for increasing our philanthropy efforts. The president of our new pledge class gave a rundown of their meeting minutes. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as I had feared.
“Now, I think we need to talk about rush week and what we can do to improve things next for spring.” Olivia announced. I blinked in surprise, sharing a shocked look with Vivian. What we needed to change? Rush had been a roaring success. No one could deny that. We were able to recruit every girl we had wanted.
“We've had some complaints that our themes were trite and cliched. That leadership was somewhat lacking. I think we need to take a look at the way things went and whether this was how we want Chi Delts to be perceived by potential pledges.” Olivia didn't look my way, but her words were meant for me alone.