Page 19 of Hush, Hush

He peers up at me, eyes rounding briefly. He wipes his hands off on his apron. “Delilah, hey.”

“What happened to you?” I ask, gesturing toward the white bandage.

His gaze lowers. “I got jumped.”

I rear back. “Jumped? Here? On campus?”

“I was getting off work and walking home. I don’t have a car,” he explains. “These guys jumped out of the bushes near the main entrance.”

Horror strikes me. I can’t imagine something like that happening here. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

His jaw tenses, and he shakes his head. “Just scraped up. I don’t understand how you can go to school with these fucking punks. They’re all self-centered assholes.”

I blink, confused. He thinks it was one of the students here at Carnegie. They don’t seem like they’d want to get dirty enough to rough someone up. They might pay someone else to do it though. I sigh. “Yeah, tell me about it.” Walking closer, I take the spot next to him. From this vantage point, you can see a fair bit of campus. I imagine Carnegie University through his eyes. A bunch of posh, rich snobs who’ve gotten everything handed to them. I don’t know what it is about Tim that makes me want to open up, but I do. Maybe it’s because I don’t want him to think he’s the only one who has problems. “If you haven’t heard, I’m a virgin, which, suddenly, somehow, makes me extremely attractive.” He turns toward me, mouth agape. He looks so shocked that I laugh. “What? It’s not that bad.”

He shakes his head. “No, that’s not it. Those fuckers were talking about you, and I didn’t even realize it.”

“What? What...fuckers?”

“Some douchebags talking about bagging a virgin. There was big money on the line for whoever was able to do it.”

My stomach roils, and I peer away. “It’s pretty sick, isn’t it? I’ve known most of these guys my whole life, but I’m suddenly interesting. What about a girl who hasn’t had sex before is attractive? I’ll probably be terrible at it. You’d think they’d want someone with experience.”

Tim clears his throat nervously. “No offense, but I don’t think it’s about you at all. It’s probably just about ticking another box on their to-do list. If you really like a girl, it doesn’t matter what her, you know, status is.” His cheeks redden.

I press my lips together to hold back a laugh. “I made this conversation super awkward, didn’t I? Sorry about that.”

“Please, I’m pretty sure I called all of your friends stuck up assholes as soon as you showed up.”

“Obviously, they’re not my friends,” I tell him, letting that thought sit on my shoulders like a ten-ton weight. We’re all competitors, just like Anne-Marie said. When I started listening to her, I don’t know, but she does have a point. “Ugh,” I groan. “What a mess.”

Tim turns toward me. “You know, whoever told everyone that you’re a virgin probably isn’t worth your time worrying about. I’ve only spoken to you a handful of times and I can tell that you’re infinitely a better person than the rest of these guys. For one, you remembered my name and don’t just call me Coffee Guy or Hey you.”

“Well, I apologize on behalf of all these...fuckers,” I tell him.

He chuckles at my use of the word, probably because it sounds awkward coming out of my mouth. If I think it sounds awkward, I’m sure others think so too.

Now that I think about it. Maybe he’s right. Maybe someone did jump him just because he’s not one of us. “You should be careful out there, Tim. They’re all predators.”

“You, too, Delilah. See you around?”

I give him a smile and a wave before leaving. It’s refreshing to talk to someone who doesn’t think they’re the best thing God put on this earth.

Honestly, Tim gives me a little more faith about the people in this world.

ChapterTen

In between classes and the Devil’s Night Party meeting, I study my butt off. As the time nears, the more my stomach clenches. Though a lot of our traditions as Knights are old school, participating in committees and joining together for task forces are a modern sentiment. Today, the Knights of Arcadia is run more like a well-oiled business than a fraternity club. The idea being that, as a whole, members can make each other better. Of course, when I say better, I mean richer, furthering the divide between the mega rich and the only moderately wealthy. One Knight is even funding the first commercial spaceship to Mars. Talk about mind blown.

My nerves are as tight as taut rubber bands as I make my way back to the Knights of Arcadia hall. The last time I set foot in there, I was delivered bad news and then fell into bed with the person who made it happen. If what Devon says is true about Devil’s Night, it’s everything I want to change about the Knights. I’ll be skating a fine line while serving on the committee.

We can leave the guy who’s trying to get us all to Mars, but the outlandish show of money and sex needs to die a slow, painful death. We’re better than that. We should lead with values over desires. If we do that, I think we can grow even further and beyond materialistic things.

It’s making them see that—while also taking their toys away—that will be the most difficult part. In my eyes, they already started in the right direction when they agreed to give me a chance to make the Knights. Now that I’m here, I can continue to make changes. I might not be able to accomplish everything I want, but who knows? What about the girl after me? And the several girls after her?

The landscape will change. We just have to put in the work.

I enter the room Keegan told me to and come to a halt. Cameron is the only other person in the room. He peers up at me with one eye swollen shut, a hint of a purplish-blue bruise marring his usual good looks. “What happened to you?”

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