Page 6 of Freshmeet
In the blink of an eye, my head met the cold, wet ground below, forcing my neck into an unnatural angle.
With a sickening snap, I died.
ONE
SLUTTY FUNERAL, NOT ACTUAL FUNERAL
SARAH
“Is that the dress you wore to Emma’s funeral?”
I glanced down at the tasteful black A-line cocktail dress and frowned. “Yeah? The theme is funeral, right?”
“Slutty funeral, not actual funeral. It’s pretty fucked up to wear the actual dress you wore to our sorority sister’s funeral to a frat party,” Sadie, Beta Alpha Epsilon’s newly elected social chair, said, gesturing to everyone around us dressed in black party clothes getting shit faced on Natty Light and Everclear.
“Oh, shut the fuck up,” Kat snapped, handing Mona her phone. “This entire party is fucked up. Who throws a funeral-themed party just a few months after a sister dies?” She bit the lip of her empty red cup as she twisted her long pink hair into a bun.
“Epsilon Chi picked the theme for this six-pack, not me. If you don’t like it, leave,” Sadie said, walking away to join her big at the beer pong tables. She’d been a jerk when Emma was alive, but after her death? Sadie was determined to snatch the title of Northeast Missouri State’s biggest bitch.
“I’m so fucking hot.” Olivia pulled the collar of her black sundress from her body and sighed. “Why are there so many people here? The semester’s over.”
“That’s Kirksville summer. Every Greek still in town is here tonight,” Mona said absently, looking up from Kat’s phone and asking Kat, “Why have you been texting Duncan?”
Kat dropped the plastic cup from her mouth, stomping on it as she snatched her phone back. “I was weak! And you weren’t around. You can’t hold me responsible for my actions.”
Mona’s eyes narrowed. “What’s your excuse for texting him right now?”
A dark blush spread across Kat’s already rosy cheeks as she looked around and then down at her phone as it lit up with a new notification. “I’m drunk?”
“Mm-hmm.” Mona rolled her eyes. “Just make sure he stays away from Frattic.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Kat mumbled, tapping away on her phone.
Mona whispered something in her ear, and Kat smirked, shaking her head. The two continued their back and forth, tussling over the phone like we weren’t in public.
“Do you really have to leave tomorrow? You’ll be leaving me alone with—” I glanced at our fellow Frattic roommates and frowned. “Them.”
“Unfortunately, yes. Grandma is having her surgery on Wednesday, and I need to help Mom set up the guest room. Not to mention I’m on deadline with my editor. A little quiet will hopefully help get this draft done.” Taking a sip of her drink, she took her phone out of her pocket. “Michael is unbelievable.”
“Still trying to apologize?”
Olivia aggressively tapped out a message and then slid her phone back in the pocket of her sundress. “He is, which is psychotic. I caught him with his tongue shoved down Callie Turner’s throat. There’s no coming back from that.” As the words left her mouth, she pulled her phone back out and fell right back into the habit of arguing with her asshole boyfriend instead of dumping his cheating ass.
Downing the cup of potent jungle juice, I glanced around the room and froze. Across from us, wearing a crisp white shirt in the sea of black clothes, was a guy I’d never seen before.
Holy shit, he’s hot.
The lights flashed across his high cheekbones and sharp jaw as he ran a hand through his tousled hair. I blinked rapidly, pretty sure he was a mirage. No one was that good-looking in real life.
He raised a cup to his mouth just as he noticed me watching. Our eyes locked, and hand to God, my heartbeat stuttered.
Lowering his drink, he looked me up and down, his plush lips stretching into a wide smile. Mr. Handsome tilted his head, inviting me to join him.
I dipped my chin, glancing down at my cup and then back up through my eyelashes. I’d never been good at long-distance flirting, so it was a crap shoot on whether he’d take the coy bait.
Still grinning, he shook his head and pushed off the wall, walking out of sight.
Well, damn.
