Page 186 of Burn Bright
She twirls her drumsticks way fancier than I ever did. “Such a jock.” She points a stick at me. “I do need to mention something.”
“Okay?” I can’t see where this is going.
“Earlier, I ate a pot cookie.”
“By choice?” I ask.
“I mean, yeah, no one forced me—and I’m not high.” She speaks fast. “I don’t think it was strong. I haven’t really felt effects, except maybe paranoia.”
My smile stretches. “Yeah, I could see that.”
“That’s the last time I ever eat an edible.”
“I’ve never had one,” I admit. “I’ve never done drugs or wanted to…” I trail off, hearing the creak of the door, and I spin around as a member of the Honors House peeks inside. It’s Kiki Kershaw. Her animable smile is on Harriet. She acknowledges me with a shorter wave, and it’s about the same curtness I’ve been gifted by several girls who live here.
They hate Kappa.
For good reason. And theonlyreason I was allowed inside this building is because I made friends with Guy Abernathy before I joined the frat. The president of the Honors House trusts me at least.
“Hey, a bunch of us are going to play volleyball in the pool,” Kiki says. “Nine times out of ten it turns into a game of chicken. But it can be pretty fun if you want to join. Just don’tget on Elijah’s shoulders, he will do anything to win—including throwing you at the opponent.”
I don’t like imagining her on another guy’s shoulders.
Harriet tenses a little bit. “Uh, that’s all right. You go ahead.”
“You sure?” Kiki asks. “The water is heated.”
“Yeah, I was wondering if it’s okay if I can play?”
“The drums?”
“Yeah, I mean, is that cool? I know how to play, so I won’t beat them up or?—”
“It’s totally fine,” she interjects with a growing smile. “That’s really awesome that you play. I didn’t see that on your application.”
She raises her shoulders in a stiff shrug. “I never played for a band, not even at school.”
“It’s a hobby,” she nods robustly. “Hobbies aren’t something to leave off the resume. I’ll tell Guy. He’ll find it cool too. No one’s very good at the drums here.” She sneaks a kinder smile at Harriet, then eyes me suspiciously before she exits.
“Left off the drumming talent, did you?” I tsk. “Fisher.” I shake my head in mock disapproval.
“Cobalt fam would never,” she teases.
“No, we would not. You have to pack that thing, even with the one-legged sack race you barely won in third grade.”
“Shucks, I forgot that one too.”
I smile at her. “I thought I was teaching you our ways?”
“Slowly but surely, Cobalt boy.” Her lips twitch upward, then go flat. “I can’t swim.”
I’m rigid. “You never learned?”
She nods. “My parents fought over which classes to put me in, then the divorce happened, and they totally forgot about it, so the story goes.”
She can’t swim.
I’m rushed all the way back to the frat party.Fuck.I scrape my hand through my hair and suck a breath through my nose. “Harriet…” She was almost thrown into the pool. “I thought you were terrified of being tossed in the water at the KPD party because you were wearing a white shirt.” That, coupled with the attention it’d bring—it didn’t register that it was anything deeper.
