Page 112 of The Friend Zone

Cole is watching them too. His brows are lowered in a frown. His muscles are ready to spring into action, like I’ve seen a thousand times on the ice.

The lights in the room are suddenly lowered, and a spotlight appears above the podium. I was so intent on looking at Bay and Topher that I didn’t notice that the Dean left the table and he’s now commencing his speech to the alumni.

I take a sip of the beer I’ve been nursing since we got here. I’ve only been here for a couple of months, but I already know that Dean Williams loves the sound of his own voice. His speeches tend to be very long.

Everyone knows that too, and it’s almost funny how people are already distracted the second the speech begins.

Tucker is chatting up Candace at the table behind ours; Liv and Corey slip away to the bar. Coach Miller is speaking to thedance team coach, and even Bianca isn’t paying attention to her father’s speech. The Dean’s daughter is no longer staring at Bay and Topher’s table. She looks engrossed in her phone.

To everyone’s surprise, the Dean ends his speech pretty quickly. Bay is invited to the podium, and I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t fill with pride looking at her. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have her love. Bay isn’t just stunning. I’m in complete awe of her talent and poise. If she puts her mind to it, there’s nothing my girl can’t achieve. Cole and Jagger are looking at her with the same pride in their eyes, and even that fucker, Topher, can’t take his eyes off of her. No doubt, he must be beating himself up for fucking things up with her.

When Bay greets the faculty members, the alumni and her fellow student representatives, she has the attention of the entire room.

Even the catering staff stop to listen to her brief, but perfectly thought out speech.

“I feel incredibly fortunate,” she’s saying. “To be a part of the incredible community of Star Cove University. Everyone in this room is a vital part of it. From our esteemed faculty members to the hockey and football teams. And who can forget about our alumni, who paved the path for us to attend one of the leading Ivy League schools in the country? Of course, many of you preceded us also as invaluable members of the Greek community. I see a few Gamma Delta Tau alumni and several sisters who lived in the Zeta house before my time.”

This is where she makes a pause, looking at the past Zeta Theta Beta members in the room.

Bay’s voice vibrates with emotion when she begins the second part of her speech. “Zeta Theta Beta has been my family since I rushed it my freshman year. I couldn’t have found better friends, confidants, sisters. I couldn’t be more proud of having been chosen by my sisters to lead them over two years ago.”

She presses a button on a remote and the screen behind the podium comes to life, showing the former Zeta house.

“I’m sure most of you know that this year our sorority has had to face some challenging circumstances,” Bay continues. “A horrible accident happened during Rush Week and we lost our beloved home.”

The image changes to the charred, scarred remains of the Zeta house.

“As president, my focus has been on my sisters’ safety first and foremost. We all had to be relocated, and I’m sure everyone in this room can appreciate how difficult that was since the academic year had already started. My sisters and I are extremely grateful for the help we received in that matter from the Dean. Can I ask you to thank him again on our behalf with a round of applause?”

Dean Williams has been less than cooperative with her since the fire. The Zetas came very close to losing their Star Cove chapter thanks to the obstacles and the red tape the Dean has thrown at them at every step.

Once Keith Connelly got involved in the rebuilding project, it would have gone against the faculty’s interests to continue on that course. The Dean had to change his tune if he didn’t want to lose Jagger’s family’s substantial donations. I think it’s very smart of Bay to throw him a bone, trying to appease him. It will ensure that next year’s class of Zetas—whether Bianca is elected president or not—won’t have a disgruntled Dean to contend with.

“As Zeta president, I made it my priority this year to rebuild what we lost. I’d be lying to you all if I didn’t tell you that it was a challenge. Things have changed since the original house was built on Greek Row and we simply lacked the funds to rebuild to today’s standards. Had we been anywhere else, in any other campus in the country, we would have probably lost our charter.But Star Cove is a tight-knit family, a community like no other. One of our alumni has come to our aid and his company will build a cutting edge, state-of-the art new Zeta Theta Beta house. I’m talking about none other than Mr. Keith Connelly. Connelly Tech will build our new house and I couldn’t be prouder to show you some of their most recently built Smart Homes.”

Bay presses the button on the remote again. What the actual fuck?

Rather than the photos Bay showed us last night, the screen behind her shows a photo of her and Jagger kissing.

It was taken during the Rush Week Fair. It’s easy to tell because they’re in front of the old Zeta house. The kissing booth the Zetas opened that night is right behind them.

There are a few giggles in the room and Bay turns just in time for the image to change.

The photo is replaced by a video of me and her kissing at the party at the Gamma house. Everyone gasps when Bay and I struggle and I shove, throwing Bay into the pool.

I can tell Bay is flustered by the frantic way she’s pressing the button on the remote. Someone must have hacked into the system, though, because the image changes, but not to the model homes provided by Jagger’s father.

It’s some kind of mini slideshow of her and Cole kissing. I recognize Lakyn’s living room and my name on the back of Bay’s Cove Knights jersey. In the first image, their lips are just touching. The kiss becomes more passionate with every photo; in the final one, Cole is grabbing Bay’s ass with both hands.

This is bullshit.

If this is a prank, it isn’t funny. I’m about to get out of my chair when my phone pings with a text message.

It isn’t just my phone, though. Every phone in the room chimes with an incoming text. I watch with horror as the sameblog post that’s on my screen appears magnified on the screen behind Bay.

Not Your Puck Bunny

Hey Bitches, remember me?

---