Page 2 of Unwritten Rules

Kelly shook her head. “Yeah, but you and Garrett haven’t done anything yet?”

I looked down at my plate. “We aren’t exclusive, and I don’t know that I want to have sex with him so soon. We literally just met.”

“Fine, fine. You win.” She waved me off with a hand and went about finishing her breakfast.

After breakfast we decided to head to campus a bit early to take in the sights. I never got over how big the campus was; it was its own town with a shopping center to boot. Buildings scattered everywhere, a mix of modern buildings surrounding classic architecture adorned the original campus built in the late 1800s. Just north of the campus buildings was downtown Willow Bay where anyone over twenty-one went to party if they weren’t on Greek Row.

And then there was Greek Row. That could be a town all in itself if it wanted to be. Each fraternity or sorority house was situated on acres–yes acres–of land, allowing each house to do whatever they saw fit with the property. They were all located to the south of campus, boasting forty houses, and were evenly split between the guys and the girls.

I read that they shared somewhere around six hundred acres of land between all of the houses. There was alotof money in Willow Bay.

A lot of legacies too.

The original architecture spoke to the times–and money–of the past. Founding families, new money families, and secret millionaires were among the students and faculty.

Money was no object here.

Kelly and I meandered into the science sect of campus as we browsed our schedules. Since we both needed the initial two years of base credits, we were able to take a few classes together. She was hoping to declare her major this year, and I already declared Exercise Science.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to declare a minor or not.

Dance called to me, but I wanted to explore all my interests. My mother always encouraged me to do so, and I wanted to honor her memory by continuing to pursue my passions even if I was going to take over her company, the Montgomery Group.

She never told me many details before she died, and I assumed it was to keep me normal and down to earth. I only found out via the will that I was to take over a luxury real estate firm after I was cut a check for my initial inheritance money.

I refocused on my schedule, pointing out a smaller building to the left of the main science building. “Looks like that’s the building for our bio class.”

She checked her phone and looked around. “We’re crazy early. What should we do?”

“No idea.” I shrugged.

Before we could make a decision, a girl with an all-pink outfit approached us with a bright smile and a stack of pamphlets. “Hiya, gals! Are you two rushing this year?”

I considered it last year, much to Kelly’s displeasure. ShehatedGreek life and wanted nothing to do with it. I told her it could be fun, but she said she’d rather me stay a hermit.

I took a pamphlet, ignoring the glare I got from Kelly. “I thought about it. Do you admit sophomores?”

Her smile widened. “Of course we do! Just between us, there are only two houses that don’t. Beta Kappa Pi and Theta Nu. We try to avoid their Debby Downer attitudes.”

With a look from Kelly, that saidhow the hell am I supposed to remember that?I tried to take mental note of the names.

Looking over the pamphlet, I searched for dates and deadlines. “Is there a date on here?”

Pink Girl pointed out the date on the back. “Yes ma’am! Phi Beta Lambda at your service! Please consider rushing us this year! We will also be at the big back-to-school bash, so come say hi if you see me. Happy first day!”

We watched her as she happily skipped away to another group of girls arriving on campus, probably giving them the same spiel she just gave us.

“Ugh,” Kelly rolled her eyes. “You aren’tstillon the sorority thing, are you?”

I shrugged. “It could be fun. I want to have a normal college experience with you. If we joined, we could make some new friends. You might even find yourself that hunky man you were talking about earlier and start your little mafia side gig.”

She shook her head as I followed her inside, pushing past the large double doors. “If you want to check that out, go ahead. Personally, I have no interest. No major yet, and I prefer to play things by ear. Be a little spontaneous before settling into big decisions, yeah?”

Meandering down the hallways, we had plenty of time to kill. With me being the forever early bird and Kelly being fashionably late, we settled on an hour early to campus. It was nice to take in the sights before everyone else rushed into the building–it helped me keep calm.

“Look,” Kelly pointed down the hallway. “I wonder what kinds of sugary goodness awaits in that vending machine.”

“There better be sour gummy worms,” I mumbled, hoping for my comfort snacks to ease my anxiety.

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