Bad Rep
Page 96

“7:30, Maysie,” Olivia said shortly, still trying to get her breath. Milla openly laughed at me, enjoying this way too much. Olivia and the other girls shoved passed me and went downstairs. I was shaking, the adrenaline in my system was going crazy.
“I can't believe I just did that,” I said in a hushed whisper. Vivian and Gracie were quiet.
“I'm going to get kicked out. I physically assaulted the freaking president!” My voice hitched as I realized the huge hole I had just dug for myself. Vivian put a comforting hand on my shoulder.
“That was pretty righteous, Mays,” she said with a chuckle. I looked at her in disbelief. I couldn't believe how tickled she seemed by the whole thing.
“Glad you think this is funny,” I bit out.
Vivian covered her grinning mouth with a hand. “I'm sorry, Maysie. But if you knew how many times I fantasized about doing that.” Her laughter broke through and I could only gape at her in shock as my life swirled down the toilet. Gracie shot her a look and then grabbed my hand.
“Let's get you home, Mays.” She took me out the back door of the house. Vivian followed us as Gracie led me to her car.
“What happens now?” I asked, my voice deadened by the free fall I found myself in.
“Well, most likely you'll have a mediation with Olivia and then the sisterhood has to vote whether to suspend you.” Well, that's what I had expected. Even though I no longer felt Chi Delta was where I needed to be, I didn't like the decision being made for me. Call it stupid pride or whatever, but I didn't take a loss of control lightly.
“That's just freaking dandy,” I muttered, propping my feet up on Gracie's dashboard and resting my forehead on my knees.
“We'll have your back, sweetie. I promise,” Gracie told me, turning out onto the main road by the campus. My phone buzzed in my bag and I reached down to find it.
Pulling it out I saw I had two missed texts. The first one was from twenty minutes ago.
I'm heading into work. Leave the door unlocked for me tonight, because I'm comin' for you.
My stomach clenched up painfully after reading Jordan's text. I couldn't even smile at his message. I felt like my life had hit fast forward in the last half an hour. The girl who would have giggled at Jordan Levitt thinking about her was on vacation.
I deleted the first text and ran my finger over the second one.
Where are you? I tried calling.
I turned off my phone. I should call him, but I couldn't deal with him. With us. Our relationship had been built on dishonesty and secrets. Right now, with my recent rumble with Olivia fresh in my mind, I knew that wasn't a particularly good thing.
Gracie and Vivian got me home, deposited me on the couch with a bag of chocolate chip cookies and the TiVo remote before leaving. They promised they'd be back at 7:00 to take me to the house. They would have stayed but they each had an early evening class. Riley was still on campus and would be there for a while longer. So I was alone.
Alone with my less than pleasant thoughts and even worse feelings. My phone rang beside me. It was Motorhead's Ace of Spades, Jordan's ring tone. I had laughed at the inside joke when he programmed it a few weeks ago, remembering how he liked to make my eardrums bleed with that particular song. Now I just wanted it to stop. I hit ignore and focused on the television. The noise didn't penetrate and all I could do was obsess over tonight's meeting.
Riley came home a couple of hours later. She tried to talk to me but I wasn't much up for conversation. She quickly discovered I wasn't going to answer beyond monosyllabic responses. I got ready for the meeting with the grimness of someone going into battle. Ace of Spades rang out a few more times. But I continued to ignore it. I would have to talk to Jordan eventually. But right then I wasn't sure what I exactly wanted to say.
Part of me wanted to unload everything. I knew he'd listen. He'd hear me out without trying to give me ridiculous advice. He'd be everything I needed him to be. But I didn't really know what I actually needed him to be.
I didn't know anything.
Gracie and Vivian came and got me, just as they said they would. Riley said something supportive but I didn't really hear her. We drove to the meeting in silence. Walking into the Chi Delta house was almost like the first time I went inside. The nerves, the clammy hands, the apprehension. But this time there wasn't the excited anxiousness and instead I just felt sick.
Gracie held my hand as we walked down the hallway and entered the chapter room. It was already full of our sisters. Everyone looked up when I came in. The quiet murmur of voices quieted instantly and silence descended like a blanket.
Gracie and Vivian pulled me toward three seats at the end of the long table that took up most of the room. At 7:32, Olivia hit the gavel and brought the meeting to order. I watched her, refusing to look away. No weakness. I wouldn't show an inch.
“I originally called this meeting to talk about some issues around the fall Ball Blast. But I think we need to table that discussion for another night. Instead, we, as a sisterhood need to address some serious issues that have recently arisen.” Olivia said tightly as her eyes met mine. I tried not to flinch at the outright hatred I saw there.
Olivia coughed and clasped her hands together in front of her on the table. “Everyone is very aware of the...problems...that have come up between Maysie and myself. I know this is creating a very decisive division between us. This has gone on long enough. A decision needs to be made in how we can handle this and move forward.” My jaw clenched and I hated that our lives were playing out in front of everyone like this. But like Olivia said, it was affecting everyone in this room. So they had a say in how it went down. As much as I hated that.