Page 1 of The Friend Zone

CHAPTER 1

LEGACY

BAY

The wrecking ball hits the front of the Zeta house and I wince.

My eyes close of their own accord as my heart can’t handle it to see the place I’ve been calling home for the past two years destroyed like this.

Blow after blow hits the white walls of what’s left of the condemned sorority house and my heart breaks a little more with every hit.

“Just remember,” Tami wraps a comforting arm around my shoulders. “This is necessary, so we can rebuild. It’s going to be bigger and better than the old one.”

I nod, but there’s no conviction in it as all my energy is needed to keep the tears from spilling.

This isn’t just the end of an era. No, this is my legacy. This is what my presidency will be remembered for in the annals of time.

I’m Bay Woods, the Zeta Theta Beta president who let her sorority house burn down.

Judging by how many people are standing behind me and my sisters, right on the curb outside what used to be our front lawn, the entire school came to witness this moment.

Greek Row has never been so crowded, not even during the Rush Week Fair.

I don’t even need to turn around to know that people are filming as our house is being demolished, brick by brick.

Social media is going to be buzzing with this and I can’t stay away. My influencer empire is what pays for my studies, what will eventually fund my makeup company once I graduate.

I turn away from the ruins of the house, there’s only so much my heart can take.

A tall figure in red athletic shorts and a tight black wife beater is running toward us.

It’s Cole. I would recognize that blond hair anywhere.

Relief floods me as I wait for him to come to a stop. My best friend is the only one who can make me feel better right now, with Lakyn three hours away in Bridgeport.

Cole gives the best hugs and I don’t even care if he’s sweaty from his run.

I would never admit this out loud, because it sounds pretty pathetic, but Cole’s sweat doesn’t turn me off; it smells like cinnamon, a little sweet and a little spicy.

He doesn’t stop.

Cole runs past me without even turning my way. “Huh,” I bite on my bottom lip so hard that I taste blood. “That’s weird.”

Tami looks embarrassed as she shrugs. “Maybe he didn’t see you.”

Right.

Half the student population is gathered to watch, there’s no way he wouldn’t notice. Cole knows me better than anyone, even if he didn’t see me, he must have known that I’d be here.

“Let’s go,” I sigh, fighting to keep my voice from trembling. “I never thought we’d have our first official meeting in the library, but here we are.”

Twenty minutes later, my Zeta sisters crowd in one of the biggest study rooms in the library.

A pang of nostalgia hits me at the thought that I had to book this room a couple of weeks ago, right after the fire at the Zeta house. A year ago, I would have had an in when Lakyn worked here as a librarian technician.

Yeah. A year can make a huge difference in life.

“Sisters,” I raise my voice to be heard over the chatter that fills the room. “We have a few important things to discuss. But first of all, let me tell you how nice it is to see you all gathered here. How is everyone? Are you all settled down in your temporary housing?”

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