Page 31 of Fault Line

“I’m gonna try to sleep now, okay?

“Alright. Night, Kai.”

“Good night.” A sense of comfort surges through me as I hang up the phone. I turn over in bed, pull the covers up to my chin, and say a silent prayer to whatever god might be listening: please let me fall back asleep, I beg, just this once.

* * *

The next night,it’s more of the same miserable bullshit. I’m running on a never-ending hamster wheel, and my brain won’t allow me to take a single break. It’s mentally, physically, and emotionally draining.

A burning exhaustion that melts me down to my bones.

All I’m asking for—dear fucking universe—is one little night of reprieve. Just an opportunity to catch up on some much-needed beauty rest. Maybe if I could fall asleep for a solid twenty-four hours straight, then I could make it through the rest of the semester without sleeping another wink.

It’s plausible, right?

But the only way I’ve managed that in the past is by turning to methods I’m not so proud of. And I won’t go back there again.

So, if my usual coping mechanisms aren’t working and my fictional, fantasy hookups are less effective, that probably means I need to resort to the real thing this time.

Someone, anyone out there, please just rail me until my brain shuts off.

Fully desperate at this point, I grab my phone off the nightstand and shoot a text to Lizzie.

Kaia

hey, where are you?

Lizzie

sig tau party. did you want to come?

Kaia

yes, please. any hot guys?

Lizzie

plenty *winking emoji* *eggplant emoji*

With the address secured, I spring out of bed and start prepping myself. I put in my best effort to look as hot as possible in less than ten minutes and then call for another Uber. Tonight, I’m resolved to make this shit happen, once and for all.

Honest to God, I don’t think a willing college girl has ever had this much trouble getting herself laid.

12

HOLDEN

After tonight’s win,I’m so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. But Rai’s got the rest of the guys all riled up, convinced that we need to head over to the Sigma Tau house to celebrate. It’s honestly the last thing I want to do, but I figure I’ll tag along for a little while just to see how things shake out.

As soon as we arrive, the frat house is a blur of sound and motion. People are milling around everywhere, their voices overlapping in a noisy hum. It’s chaotic as fuck. And much different from the parties we host at our place, that’s for damn sure.

There’s no rhyme or reason to the guest list, and their house is already a fucking disaster—the floors are sticky, there’s trash littering the walls, and the state of their communal bathrooms is something out of a nightmare. From the state of things, it doesn’t look like these guys have properly cleaned the place since the early 2000s.

But I suppose no one really gives a shit, do they? They just want a place to party, to drink, and they clearly don’t care about the consequences.

I make my way over to their makeshift bar and grab myself a beer, hoping to find some small pocket of quiet in the chaos.

By this point, I’ve officially lost sight of my housemates, so I make do chatting with a few Sig Tau brothers. They’re alright guys, and I’m generally fine with small talk, especially since they seem to want to stroke my ego.

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