Page 29 of Cruel Riches

Laurel nodded. “Yeah, I am.”

“Thanks again for letting me sit. All the desks out there are taken up by frat boys right now,” she said, gesturing toward the other side of the library. “They’re so loud.”

“Frat boys?” I said, arching my brows. “I didn’t know there were any fraternities here.”

Ruby nodded as she pulled her notes out of her bag. “There are a few. Sororities too. They all live on the north side of the campus.”

“Wow, I had no idea. Are you in a sorority?” I asked.

“Definitely,” Laurel said under her breath.

Ruby sighed. “No. None of them would accept me.”

Laurel looked guilty. “Really? But you seem so…” She trailed off and started again. “I mean, I’ve seen you with all those other girls in our class, and they’re definitely in them.”

“We’re not really friends. More like acquaintances,” Ruby said with a sad little half-smile. “I grew up here on the island, so I know some of them. But I’m not Blackthorne sorority material. Not like them.”

“Why?” I asked, forehead wrinkling.

She leaned forward. “They’re super-exclusive. Even the lower-tier ones. They’re obsessed with legacy, bloodlines, and power. It’s literally all that matters to them.” She raised a brow. “My family has money, but not Arcadia Bay money, so I would never be accepted.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, there’s five frats and five sororities,” she went on, twirling a long strand of hair around a finger. “The top-tier frat is the Skulls, and the top-tier sorority is the Roses. They basically won’t let you in unless you’re American royalty. You can recognize them by the stuff they wear. The Roses wear necklaces with little silver rosettes, and the Skulls wear silver signet rings with skulls.”

“Are the others the same?”

She nodded. “Yeah, they all have their own emblems too. The families here really get it into their kids’ heads that symbols matter. A lot. They represent who you are, where you come from, what you’re worth, and what sort of power you have.”

“So the frats and sororities are basically a breeding ground for the elite,” Laurel added, rolling her eyes.

“Exactly,” Ruby said, giving her a knowing smile. “But it’s not all bad. Some of the girls from the Roses are actually pretty nice once you get to know them. They’ve even invited me to some of their parties.”

“That’s cool.”

“Yeah. Anyway, where are you guys from?”

“She’s from California, and I’m from Connecticut,” Laurel said, nodding in my direction. “I grew up in California, though.”

“Cool. And you’re both freshmen?”

“Uh-huh. We took gap years, though. So we’re probably older than you,” Laurel said. There was a nervous tinge to her voice.

“Cool. I wish I took a gap year, but my parents wouldn’t let me,” Ruby replied.

I saw Laurel breathe a visible sigh of relief when Ruby didn’t question the gap year thing.

“You said you grew up on the island. Whereabouts?” I asked, wondering if it was an area I knew.

“Thunder Bay,” she said. “It’s about forty minutes south of here.”

My eyes widened as my breath hitched in my throat. I felt like I’d been hit in the guts with a fist. Ruby grew up in my hometown, and she was only a year younger than me. I probably went to elementary school with her. Maybe even lived near her.

“I’ve heard that’s a nice place,” I said. I kept my voice steady, even though the panic inside me was fizzing and bubbling, begging for an escape.

“Yeah, it’s pretty nice,” she replied. “It’s nothing like Arcadia Bay, though. This place is like a whole different world.”

I stared at her as she spoke, searching for the faintest flicker of recognition in her eyes. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to realize who I was at all. I breathed a quiet sigh of relief and slumped back in my seat.

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