I covered my eyes to avoid getting any of the sand in them. “How do you do it?”
“Do what?” She folded up the towel.
“Always stay so strong and confident.”
She laughed. “Is that a joke?”
“No.”
“Even after everything that happened with Dylan last year, you still think I’m always strong and confident?”
I shrugged. “99.9 percent of the time.”
“From the outside, you seem that way too. You’re just having a tough time right now. My cousin Amy warned me that the first semester of sophomore year is hard. After a summer away, you have to get used to school again, this time without the safety net of orientation or the ‘I’m a freshman excuse.’”
“But you’re fine.”
“Yeah. Probably because I got all the drama out of my system last year.”
I laughed. “Hopefully, it works that way, and I’ll get a pass next year.”
“Cut yourself a break and follow your heart.” She started walking back to the house. “That’s the only advice I have.”
“Thanks.” If only following the advice were as easy as she made it sound.
Chapter Nineteen
I thought about Juliet’s words a lot over the next few weeks. Time moved at a snail’s pace. My classes were all fine, but nothing really kept my interest. The only thing I enjoyed doing was spending time with my friends and Colt. And the latter was hard to do. Cara and Juliet kept their word. They didn’t tell anyone about us, but they also didn’t go out of their way to help me sneak around to see him. I understood, they thought I was making a mistake by keeping it a secret. I just wasn’t ready to deal with more humiliation, at school or back home.
Anthro turned out to be one of my favorite classes. First, Colt was in it, and second Professor Cains was so out there that he never ceased to be entertaining. I was actually looking forward to class when I left my house in the morning.
By mid semester, I was so used to the routine that I never considered picking up my own coffee on those mornings. Once again, I happily accepted my usual cup from Colt and took my seat at the table.
Cains walked in a few minutes earlier than usual. “Hey class, I have an extra credit opportunity available this week if anyone’s interested.”
“This week?” a girl asked.
“Yes. Participation will excuse you from one of your papers or give you an alternative assignment to the final exam.”
Colt winked at me before picking up my hand and raising both of ours together. “We’re in.”
“We are?” I tugged my hand out of his.
Half the class laughed at my reaction.
“Fantastic.” Cains grinned. “Colton, isn’t it?”
“Yes, and this is Mallory.”
Cains took out a pad and started writing down our names.
“What are you doing?” I hissed. Was he really signing us up for more work?
“Making sure we have time together.”
“There are better ways to do that.”
He shook his head and leaned in to whisper. “Aaron said the only excuse from pledge stuff this week is for class. This is for class.”
“Again, you could have come up with a better idea.”
Cains cleared his throat, and I knew the rest of the conversation would have to wait until after class. Luckily, Cains dismissed us a few minutes early.
“So you think there’s a better way to get me out of pledge stuff this week?” Colton bumped his shoulder into mine.
“Yes.” I packed up my stuff.
“Fine. I found this one. You find another excuse to get me out.”
“Why?” I stood up.
He jumped up and held open the door for me “Because you can’t turn down a challenge.”
“Yes, I can.”
He gave me a skeptical look. It just made him look cuter. “Fine, then don’t. It just means I won.”
“I can get you out. I’ll get you out tonight.”
“Tonight? Isn’t that pushing it? Very last minute.”
“You doubt my abilities?”
“No. Not for a second.” He grinned before we headed to our next classes.
***
I knocked on the door of the Kappa house completely secure in my plan. Juliet and Cara stood on either side of me. We were all dressed in cover ups over bikinis. Once Jana told us about the surprise outing we were taking our pledges on, I knew I had the perfect way to win the challenge. It took little planning, and my friends were more than happy to go along with it.
“Uh, what are you girls doing here?” Ryan asked when he opened the door. We’d still barely talked since the no-sex incident freshman year.
“We need to see the guys.” Juliet slipped past Ryan into the house, Cara and I followed.
“Aaron’s up with the pledges. Reed’s in his room.” Ryan still only looked at me. “And I haven’t seen Tanner.” Ryan didn’t seem happy to admit it. Didn’t he know that Tanner and I had stopped seeing each other weeks ago?
“I’m going up to get Reed. Meet you guys back here in a few.” Juliet took off up the stairs. My guess is she’d be at least twenty minutes.
“Want to come with me?” Cara asked. “I feel kind of weird interrupting a pledge meeting.”
I’d hoped she would ask. I wanted to see the look on Colt’s face when Aaron shared the news. “Sure. Let’s go.”
Cara knocked on the white door, and Aaron threw it open. By his expression, he’d been ready to snap at whoever was interrupting him. Instead, his face fell into something else entirely when he took in Cara’s beach wear. “Hey… what are you doing here?”
“We’re taking our pledges to Morgan’s house for a pool party. They have no idea what we’re doing and think it’s going to be the night from hell. I can’t wait to see their faces when they realize it was all a joke. Thought your guys might want to come?” She turned her head slightly, letting him know she really wanted him to say yes.
“Uh, sure. I guess we could cut this short.”
Colton shot me a grin from where he sat on the ground. I nodded in his direction.
“Good.” She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “I think you’ll like this bikini I picked up earlier.”
He nodded without taking his eyes off her. “Hey guys, change of plans tonight.”
“Yeah?” one of the pledges asked.
“Looks like we’re hanging out with the Delta Mu’s.”