Page 9 of Born into Madness
Grabbing my Russian textbook, I flip to the chapter we’re working on and start reading. I’m a Biology major on the pre-vet track, but the truth is I’d much rather be a vet tech. I don’t want to spend the next eight years in school, and I’d rather be more hands-on with the animals. Surgery isn’t what I want to do, and eventually I’ll work up the courage to tell my mom and stepdad that.
The mere thought of that particular conversation has my chest tightening, so I quickly push it away before it has a chance to build and put my focus back on the foreign language I chose to study. Sometimes I kick myself for not choosing something a little easier, one that at least shares an alphabet with English, but I love the way Russian sounds, and my mom’s maiden name is Vetrov, so in a way it feels like I’m learning more about the family I never got to meet.
I could do without my professor, though. Professor Borzov gives me the willies. He’s never done anything inappropriate. He just makes me feel uneasy anytime I’m around him, and I’ve learned to trust my gut around people. My conscious mind may not have caught up yet, but my subconscious is picking up on something, and I’d be a fool to not trust that.
Two hours later, I’m all caught up in Russian and Organic Chemistry, freshly showered and my stomach growling while every cell in my body screams for caffeine. By the time I’mleaving our floor, Brittney is heading for the showers, not looking even slightly winded after her intense workout. I think I would literally die if I tried to follow along one day. If my asthma didn’t kill me, then my complete lack of muscle would. Either way, I’d be a goner before we were fifteen minutes into the thing.
She ignores me as we pass each other, so I stop worrying about how to politely decline any invitation to exercise and instead get in the elevator. There’s a coffee shop on the way to my first class, and when I step in, the scent of vanilla and coffee beans overwhelms my senses in the best possible way. Thankfully the line is short, and when I give my order for two oat milk French vanilla lattes, I also add in two breakfast croissants, one with bacon and one without.
I’d become a vegetarian when I was sixteen after watching the movieBabe. Sav and I had stayed up late one Friday night watching it, and I’d bawled like a baby when he gets separated from his mom in the beginning. I can’t stand suffering, and the thought of eating animals has sickened me ever since. Sav joined me for about three months but lost the battle one night when the guy she was dating took her out for a steak. I’d teased her about it, but I understand it’s not an easy sacrifice and not for everyone. I’m not about to make her feel guilty about it. I know firsthand how kind she is…even if she does eat dead animals.
By the time I’m walking up the sidewalk to my first class of the day, Sav is already waiting for me on the bench outside. I smile when she gives me a wave. My best friend and I are exact opposites. She’s all long legs and blonde hair, where I’m short with red hair that I’m sure one day I’ll learn to appreciate. I was teased mercilessly in school, and I still feel the sting of it. My friend looks like a supermodel, and I look like the random background extra who accidentally walked onto her set.
“You are an angel,” she squeals when she takes the latte I hand her and the bacon croissant sandwich. Unable to wait, shetakes a huge bite and then talks around the food to ask, “Did your crazy roomie wake up at the crack of dawn again?”
“Yes,” I groan and sit down next to her since we have a few minutes before our classes start. “I’ve never met anyone so peppy. I’m not sure I believe in destiny and people having callings, but there’s no denying that girl was born to wear a short skirt and shake a pom-pom.”
Sav laughs and takes another bite while I dig into mine. The spinach, feta, and sun-dried tomatoes are blended perfectly with the scrambled egg, and it takes me a second before I can say anything else because I’m too busy having a food orgasm.
When I can speak, I say, “My mom wants me to go to supper tonight.”
I feel Sav’s whole body still at my words. When I glance over, she’s giving me her concerned look, so I quickly say, “He won’t be there. Billy’s working late tonight, so it’ll just be the two of us. I’ll be fine, Sav. I promise.”
“I can ditch the thing I have tonight,” she quickly says, and I know she’s being serious. She’d cut and bail on whatever sorority event she’s required to attend tonight and not give it a second thought, but I can’t let her do that. I don’t want her feeling like she has to babysit me, and I definitely don’t want to hurt her place at Kappa Theta Rho.
“The Kappas need you,” I say, and she gives me a playful eye roll.
“We’re having a chapter meeting and then we’re planning the upcoming party with the Alphas. I’m pretty sure I can skip out on it and be fine.”
Alpha Psi Rho and Kappa Theta Rho are tightly connected on campus, easily the two most powerful houses at the university. Both of them are filled with a lot of old money and enough entitlement to make you want to dry heave. It drives Sav crazy sometimes, but she did get her house to agree to do theircommunity service at the animal shelter I volunteer at, so that was nice. It’s a no-kill shelter that’s always struggling to find money to take care of the animals they have and provide for more. A lot of the Kappas are animal lovers, so many of them have donated money along with their time. The Alphas, on the other hand, are known for one thing and one thing only—partying. They throw the biggest bashes on campus, and the Kappas have a standing invitation to any and all events held at the Alphas’ frat house.
“Not a chance,” I tell her. “But thank you.”
She nudges my shoulder with hers. “Promise me you’ll call if you need me.”
I nod. “Promise.” Wanting to change the subject, I ask, “So you’ll be seeing Ben tonight?”
Her groan pulls a laugh from me. “I hope not. He’s too, I don’t know,” she says, trying to find the right word before settling on, “eager.”
“Of course he is,” I tell her. “Have you looked in the mirror, Sav? Every guy wants to date you.”
She shakes her head. “No, they just want sex. With the Alphas it’s all about bragging rights, and I’m not about to give those arrogant assholes something like that.” Looking over at me, she grins, “Besides, we made a pinkie promise when we were thirteen, and I’m not backing out of it now.”
“I think we’re the last two virgins on campus, Sav. Maybe we shouldn’t have made that promise.” I look around, watching a group of students run across the square to get to their next class and sigh. “What if it never happens?”
She wraps an arm around me. “The deal was we don’t settle for anything less than thatPride and Prejudicefeeling. We wait until a guy lights us up from the inside, who drives us crazy, but also sets our panties aflame.”
I laugh, unable to resist, and shake my head before I lean it against her shoulder.
“Our men are out there,” she tells me. “And we’re not settling for anything less than fireworks. No one else deserves to get in our knickers.”
“Knickers? You’re watching way too much PBS Masterpiece. I’m going to need to cut you off.”
She laughs while I grab my bag and toss my garbage in the can next to our bench. “I’ve got to go or I’m going to be late.”
“Have fun with pervy Professor Borzov.” She stands and brushes back her long, blonde hair. “Text me later and don’t forget to call me if you need me. I can slip out the back and no one will be the wiser.”
“I will. Have fun at your meeting.”
