Page 72 of Unwritten Rules

“Come sit with us for lunch!”

All of it was brutal, and they wouldn’t stop. Bodyguards could only go so far to keep crowds at bay, but my life had turned into a tabloid story and the internet spread it like wildfire. I expected Evans would soon be all over me at some point to start doing damage control. A true PR nightmare for a soon-to-be-christened CEO.

So much for going to classes and keeping my head down. Those days were long gone and were never coming back no matter how much I begged or pleaded the universe.

Welcome to the elite life, Fallon Montgomery.

Class was more of the same, but I was grateful my schedule change wouldn’t go into effect until the next semester. There was only so much time I needed to spend on campus with students taking pictures of me and whispering. I hoped it was a fleeting story that would be consumed by the next hot drama to sweep campus.

It got worse when the professor made an announcement not to take pictures of me and to stop with all the noise. All eyes were all over me the entirety of class. If someone could have warned me about the fame attached to my mother’s company, I could have at least tried to be mentally prepared for it all.

The head of Beta Kappa Phi, Sloane, made her appearance, linking arms with me acting like we were the best of friends. “Hey girl!”

“Hello,” was all I thought to say. She was top girl at the school–at least that’s what she made it seem like. My being instantly famous, and from a prominent company I was set to inherit must have looked attractive enough to her that she wanted me in her circle.

She sat and crossed her legs, flipping her hair across her shoulder. “You aretheFallon Montgomery. I wish you would have told me sooner, babe. You are ever the elusive girl, but I amsoexcited to meet you. Did you know you’re third on the list?”

The girls around her started nodding and chattering. Her tone was odd, fake.

“List?” Yetanotherthing I was unaware of.

“Yes, silly.” She giggled. “The rich list, of course. Being a top ten is an honor, but top three? Ugh, I’m jealous! We have no time to waste. I’m sixth, by the way. But someone of your caliber is needed in our sorority, and we need to find you a man in the top ten.”

I had no fucking idea what this girl was saying to me.

She pulled me down by my arm, forcing me to sit with her so she could show me her phone. A list on her phone was shoved into my face. “See? Montgomery is number three. That means you’re the third richest family of, kind of, everyone. Number one is my boyfriend, Brent Vaughn. So having the two of you associated with BKP will keep us a living legacy for years to come, marking us down in the history books. We don’t normally allow sophomores, but you’d be an exception.

“Then there’s the issue of getting you coupled up with someone. I’ll have to do a little digging in the gossip and chatter, but I think Alexander Fitzgerald might be up for the taking.” She grabbed some of my hair and pushed it around a bit, eyeing my face. “I think with a little work and some training you’d make such a little hottie. Do you wear much makeup at all? Some light contouring could make all the difference and make those blue eyes pop. Right girls?”

Again, they all nodded and agreed with her, creeping me out like I was in a horror movie about a cult.

If one thing terrified me, it was cults. And I was sitting right in front of one.

Wait.

Did she just say her boyfriend wasBrent Vaughn?

Kelly half-watched me from afar, leaving me to teal with these vultures on my own. Hell, James didn’t look like he wanted to intervene with Sloane. Kelly looked amused while she leaned against the wall, typing away on her phone. Her attention was on something else, but I was sure she’d want to hear what this was all about later.

For a chill girl, she was very into learning all the gossip and secrets.

“Anyway,” she continued, “you need to rush with us. It will rebrand you away from that piece of shit Garrett and his family. Did you hear his father was being investigated? They’re going to be blacklisted for, probably, ever, and you donotneed to be anywhere near that dumpster fire. Did you know that they were shady?”

Everyone leaned in simultaneously, eager to hear what my response was.

“As everyone knows, I’ve kept my head down. I was oblivious to a lot, and I thought he was just being nice to me. We met over the summer and went on dates and stuff...but we never talked about family businesses. Do you think he knew who I was?” I was genuinely curious. She seemed to be on top of the latest information. I just got the feeling Sloane was nosey.

The girl directly to her right gasped. “Of course he did. I bet hestalkedyou before he approached you! He’s barely holding on in the top ten. His family has been falling year after year, and I’m not surprised at all about them going down. I bet you he wanted to step up his family’s reputation by canoodling with you!”

I scoffed. “Stalked me? Really?”

They nodded in unison. The precision of these girls was better than any team of synchronized swimmers I’ve ever seen.

“He totally did,” Sloane said. “A rebrand is necessary. Then, we get you linked up with a squeaky-clean boy, stat.” She clapped her hands, and a few girls produced their phones, showing me pictures of what I only could assume were the guys they wanted to push on me. “Penn. Calvin. Alexander. They are top ten boys and likely to be single as of right now per our sources. I can have the girls do more recon on them, but solid options. I would say go for the number one, but he’s mine.”

Holding in my facial expressions was so hard that I opted for biting my tongue as hard as I could. What would she do to me if she found out that not only did I sleep with Brent, but that he was pursuing me endlessly.Don’t forget you gave him your V card,youdumbass.

Another girl clapped briskly. “We need to find out who’s single and set her up on dates. Immediately.”

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