Page 2 of Tell Me You Like It

I turn to see Bree walk up to me with something cradled in her palm. It’s a piece of green sea glass. “It was probably a beer bottle or something originally.”

Picking it up, I angle it toward the fading sunlight, looking at it from different angles, admiring its beauty. The power of the ocean is wild—transforming an ordinary beer bottle into something so beautiful. I wonder if it has the power to transform me, too. “What are you going to do with it?”

Bree shrugs. “Turn it into a necklace or something, maybe.”

Another gust of ocean breeze whips through me, and my teeth start chattering. “It’s almost sunset. We should head back to the residence hall.”

Exeter Univerity West—one of the West Coast's most prestigious colleges—isrighton the beach. When Bree and I applied last year, it was a long shot. A pipe dream. We both have decent grades, but nothing spectacular. So, months later, when we werebothaccepted, it felt like a miracle. Then when I scored afullscholarship, I finally started to believe my luck was changing.

Exter is the escape I’ve been desperate for.

A fresh start.

I look down the length of the beach and see a huge Victorian mansion perched on a cliff, overlooking the ocean. I noticed it when we first got to campus a couple of days ago. It’s hard to miss. The giant Gothic structure is painted a dark, crimson red with navy blue trim, and ornate woodwork that makes it look out of place on a modern college campus. I was probably here first, though, and the university just encroached gradually until the house and grounds were consumed by the sprawling campus.

It’s a creepy-looking house, though. No lie.

“Our residence hall is right on the other side of that weird house,” I say.

“Okay, let’s go,” Bree says, her bottom lip quivering. “I’m turning into a brine-flavored popsicle.”

The sharp wind continues to cut through us as we walk along the sand, close to the water. It’s getting dark quickly, and we’re two girls walking alone, so I’m on full alert—glancing behind us, my hand resting on the small stun gun tucked into my front pocket.

But the beach is empty–which is surprising, considering the amount of students on campus. It rained a little earlier, and it’s freezing, so maybe that’s why no one is here. But cold or not, there would still bea coupleof people out here, at least, right?

“Slow down,” Bree pouts. “Your legs are longer than mine.”

I pause so she can catch up. “Have you noticed there’s no one else out here? That’s weird, right? I mean, it’s cold, but it’s notthatcold.”

“There are people out here,” she says, pointing ahead. I squint, and sure enough, there’s a fire burning abouthalf a mile in the distance, on the beach directly below the creepy house. I don’t know how I missed that, but to be fair, the beach isn’t straight—there’s a shrub-capped berm in the way, and the fire is partially hidden behind that.

“Oh, yeah, huh.”

Bree shakes her head and continues walking. “You are so blind. I keep telling you to go to the eye doctor.”

“I’mnotblind.”

“Oh, really?” she says. “So when you walked up to that girl back in high school and started telling her off because you thought she was Veronica?”

I frown, trudging after Bree in the sand. Now it’smetrying to keep up withher. “Okay, but in my defense, they could be twins. I’d like to see the DNA report on those two.”

Bree stops and rolls her eyes at me. “The girl you accosted wasthree inches shorterthan Veronica, and has glasses—which youalsoneed.”

I blow out a breath. “Details. Whatever.”

With a scoff, Bree turns back around and we both keep walking. The beach narrows as we approach the fire, so we have to climb over the berm to get to the other side. It’s rough, and the shrubs are spiny, but we manage to make it down the other side.

“I’m remembering why we didn’t come this way originally,” Bree says. “The sidewalk was a lot easier.”

The sidewalk also dips between several university buildings, and in the dark, there’s no way I’m taking that route. I don’t want to say that, though, so I just shrug. “This way is shorter.”

Bree just pushes out a frustrated breath.

The closer we get to the fire, though, itbecomes clear that something is sketchy. There are several people, all wearing robes with hoods, gathered in a half-circle around the fire, facing the ocean, chanting something.

Chanting.

What the…?

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