Page 57 of Lilies in Autumn

“CeCe, be nice,” I murmur, not in the mood to referee. “Oh, thank God, we’re here.” I bolt out of the Uber as soon as it stops in front of the soccer house. Though I’m not extremely familiar with the town around Marymount, we came to a party at this house two weeks ago. I grab CeCe and Sera’s hands and drag them behind me, not caring to wait for my sister’s friend. “Serena texted us. She’s inside with Dylan already.”

Unlike the first party we went to, I don’t bother knocking and walk into the house. Already brimming with sweaty, writhing bodies, I thank my foresight for wearing minimal clothing, despite how revealing it is. The only thing worse than having my tits out on display is boob sweat.

I chose the lesser of two evils.

Squeezing through the crowd, I look for Serena. From the text she sent five minutes ago, she’s by the pool table with Dylan and his fraternity brothers. It doesn’t take a psychic to predict that Grey, Dante, and Lincoln are probably amongst the group with Serena, but at this point, I don’t care if we’re seen in public together if it takes me away from Hyacinth’s grating voice.

Not paying attention to what’s in front of me, I round the corner and slam into a body, nearly falling back from the force of the collision. “Shit, I’m sorry,” I apologize before looking up into a pair of faces that are openly hostile. Felicity and Jordan glare at me, as though I intentionally attacked them.

“Watch where you’re going, loser.” Loser? What are we, in elementary school?

“Sorry, I didn’t see you.” I try stepping around them, my hands still pulling CeCe and Sera behind me, when Felicity strikes out and grabs my arm, ripping me away from my sister and best friend and into her personal space.

“Listen, you fucking cunt,” her voice is low and menacing, not the peppy sorority girl I met at move-in. “You think you’re hot shit because you were featured on Campus Hotties, but you’re a little whore and we all see it. Grey doesn’t want you; I’ve asked around and no one has seen you together since the barbecue. None of the sororities will touch you. Your social life will be ruined as soon as I say so. So,” she leans in closer, whispering directly into my ear. “Do yourself a favor and transfer schools, move back home, and get fucking lost. No one wants you; no one likes you. You fucking cow.” With that, she shoves me back and walks away, Jordan trailing closely behind her.

Stunned by the harshness of her words, I can barely process CeCe’s yelling or my sister’s soft hands rubbing my back in comfort. If I ever had any doubt as to what Felicity’s opinion of me was, she just solidified it. It’s not that I care that she doesn’t like me—to be honest, I think she’s an asshole—it’s that she is so aggressive in her distaste solely because I gained the favor of the man she wanted.

I’m compartmentalizing the words, and her insults, and breaking them down into a way that I can understand them without allowing self-deprecation to creep in.

She said Grey and I haven’t been seen together and that he doesn’t want me. Buthebeggedmeto be exclusive and go public; it’s me that refused. She claims no sororities will touch me, but I have more rush party requests than I know what to do with. Does her sorority want me? No, probably not. But do I want to belong to them? Immediately no. She called me a cow, which is better than the insults I’ve said to myself when I look in the mirror on my darker days. So that doesn’t faze me.

“I hope you get explosive diarrhea, you small-minded, egotistical kumquat,” CeCe yells into the crowd, garnering her more than a few looks.

I can’t help the laugh that bubbles up. “What an insult,” I giggle. “C, I’m fine. I was shocked for, like, two minutes that she was so cruel, but I’m over it.” I tilt my head, remembering the Campus Hotties comment. “C, have you checked the Campus Hotties channel today? Felicity said something about me being on there.”

CeCe grabs her phone out of her back pocket and opens the app. “No, there’s nothing there. At least, not anymore.” I shrug. Weird. “Come on, I see Serena.” She grabs my hand before shooting a look over her shoulder. “And you”—she points at Hyacinth—“if I hear one more nasty comment come out of your mouth, I will stab you with my shoe and then call my cousins to clean up the mess.” Hyacinth shoots her a disgruntled look but remains silent.

Thank God.

—

It takes ten minutes to make it through the crowd and to the room where Serena is. When we finally meet her in the center of the room, CeCe is red-faced from yelling at the people that were in our path, putting her residual aggression from the interaction with Felicity to “good use,” as she puts it.

Arms are thrown around me from behind and a feminine squeal sounds in my ear. “Finally, I was worried you wouldn’t be able to get through the oppressive crowd and stench of Axe body spray.”

I laugh. Turning around and embracing Serena, I reply, “Now that you mention it, there is a cloud of cheap cologne in this house.” Pulling back, I take in her petite form. In an outfit that is more revealing than I’ve ever seen her wear, Serena is wrapped in a black shirt that is completely see-through with a bikini-like bra underneath. With black leather pants and black boots, she looks like a cross between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a dominatrix. “Holy shit, you look incredible.”

“Me? Your boobs look fake, that’s how impressive they are.”

She pokes one of the swells over the corset cups to test the give. I swat her hand away and turn toward Sera. “This is my sister, Seraphina. Her friend, Hyacinth, is here too, but don’t blame her. Childhood friends and all that, even though she’s a monster now.” I look at Sera pointedly, who just gives me an eye roll. “I see CeCe has already approached her mark for the night.”

Just like I expected, CeCe found Dante as soon as we came into the room. Though they’re not touching, their heads are bent conspiratorially, and Dante’s fists are clenched by his side, like he’s waiting for permission to touch her. For all of her talk, it’s obvious that CeCe is into him, not just physically, but mentally as well. I’ve seen her chew up and spit out more guys than I can count, never bothering to play this cat-and-mouse game like what she’s doing with Dante.

Goosebumps erupt on my neck, and the heavy feeling of eyes on me has me turning away from Dante and CeCe. My gaze lands on Grey, standing tall and imposing against the pocket door separating the room from a hallway. Flames engulf my skin as his eyes trail from my face to my chest, to my waist, and back up again. Lifting a hand, he runs his thumb along his bottom lip.

“Aves, care to explain why that Adonis is eye-fucking you?” Sera asks.

I open my mouth to respond, but Serena beats me to it. “That is Greyson Jansen, your sister’s number one fan.” I glare at her but that just seems to encourage her to keep talking. “Ask our dear Ava what’s going on between her and the ‘Adonis,’ as you put it.” My sister looks at me, curiosity written all over her face.

“He’s more Thor than Adonis, okay?” I start before looking back at him. His eyes are still on me. “We’re… a thing.” They both remain silent, begging me to continue. “We’re together, okay? A thing. It’s complicated,” I grind out. I turn around, putting space between us and this conversation when I feel myself collide with a body. A-fucking-gain. This time, though, the collision causes a cool liquid to spill down my body, drenching my corset and jeans in… beer? Disgusting.

“Watch where you’re going, you fucking slut,” the guy I collided with barks out. What the fuck is it with everyone calling me a slut? I lost my virginity twenty-four hours ago. Between Hyacinth talking about my inexperience, and now Felicity and this random man referring to me as a slut, it’s like I’m the living personification of the Madonna and the Jezebel.

“Excuse me? You walked into me and now I’m drenched.” I’m soaking wet, fed up with being called a slut, and annoyed that this guy just ruined my outfit.

“I bet you are wet, little whore. I heard you give it to guys real fucking easy. I bet you and that fire crotch sent that Campus Hotties post in. Fucking desperate.”

A growl comes from behind me. “What the fuck did you just say to her?” Grey’s voice is cool and menacing, and if I weren’t intimately acquainted with him, I’d be petrified of that tone.

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