Page 4 of The Vengeance You Crave
"Yeah." I pull a chunk of my cookie off and throw it into my mouth. Neither of them asks why I've moved here and I don't offer up any information either.
"I only started at the beginning of the year. I was at Columbia before that."
"Oh wow, Columbia."
"Yeah, it was pretty incredible, but things… things didn't work out."
"Life doesn't always turn out as we expect, huh?" I ask, more to myself than anyone else.
“You got that right,” Letty mutters, lifting her coffee to take a sip.
“So,” Ella asks. “What classes are you taking this semester?”
The three of us fall into easy conversation and before I know it, we’re having to clear our table and head to class.Ella and I walk back toward the Westerfield Building while Letty heads elsewhere.
"Where are you living? In dorms or…" Ella asks after a few minutes of comfortable silence as we get ourselves set up for class side by side.
Making friends here wasn't all that high up on my to-do list. Surviving has been my most pressing issue the past few months, but I can't deny that having someone beside me, who I think could potentially become a friend, doesn't feel incredible.
It seems like forever ago that I could let my hair down and have a night with the girls without the stress of real life weighing me down. And although I may have found a couple of possible friends, I still can't see a carefree night out happening any time soon. I've got too many responsibilities now, too many people relying on me.
"I'm actually living with my aunt off campus. Well, she's not actually my aunt but…" I trail off realizing that Ella probably doesn't care about the finer details of my life. Well, not bullshit like that anyway, I'm sure she'd more than happily listen to the dramatics because even after living through it all, I still find it unbelievable as if I'm living out a freaking movie.
"That's good though, it'll save you a ton of money."
"Y-yeah, it will," I agree because she's right, and if it weren't for Aunt Fee, then there's no way I'd be able to be here right now. She really is a guardian angel. I dread to even think what my life might be like right now if she didn't reach out and offer to help me.
"The Kappas are having a toga party Friday night to kick off the new semester. You're in, right?"
"Uh," I hesitate. "Actually, I have to work."
"What?" she says, but I can tell from her face that she understands. "That sucks."
I shrug. "Yeah, but I need the money."
"Fair enough. Where do you work?"
Thankfully, our professor follows a couple of latecomers into the auditorium and immediately demands all of our attention and puts a stop to me having to answer.
I won't lie about my job. I'm a waitress in a bar. I might just skirt around the name of said bar because even from only being here a few weeks, I know that the girls who work at The Locker Room have a certain kind of reputation. To be honest, from the things I've both heard and seen, most of them warrant it. But I'm not like them. Yes, I'm there because the pay is better than any other bar in Maddison County, but I have zero interest in the extracurricular activities that can come with the job. I might want the money, but not that bad.
Much like my morning class, I lose myself in the lecture and everything the professor has to say about the course and I eagerly write down our first assignment, already excited to get some words down onto paper to argue my case about whether fraternities promote misogyny, an interesting topic seeing as I was just invited to a party where we all have to wear nothing but sheets, of which I'm sure would cover up as little skin as possible.
"What classes do you have tomorrow?" Ella asks as we make our way out of the building surrounded by others who are equally excited to get out.
"Um… I've got a morning lecture, then I'll probably spend the rest of the day in the library."
"I'm in all day, but do you want to meet us for lunch? I'm pretty sure Letty is free in the afternoon, maybe she could study with you."
"I don't need babysitting." My voice comes out harsher than I intend and Ella's brows pull together, her shoulders dropping in disappointment.
"No, no. I know. That wasn't—fuck. I'm sorry. It's just… you seem like our kind of girl, you know. I didn't want you to be lonely."
"I know, I'm sorry. I'm just not used to…" I gesture between us. "This."
"I know I can be a little full-on at times. But when you know, you know. You know?" She wiggles her brows in amusement as a small laugh passes her lips.
"Yeah, I know." Although really, the only one I thought I knew that with, turned on me, so maybe I'm clueless. "Lunch tomorrow sounds great."
