Page 13 of Distortion
I smirk back. ‘Her, too.’
‘Oh,’ Shade grimaces. ‘I forgot. One of you is going to have to make sure she gets to her classes tomorrow.’
‘Fuck. What?’ Mav exclaims. ‘We have to babysit the crazy girl, too? Come on! What areyoudoing?’
‘I have an early class, and then I have to figure out her allowance.’ His lip curls in evident disgust. ‘My father’s orders.’
I scoff. ‘Don’t give that money-hungry bitch anything. No, wait,’ I laugh. ‘You should make it a really tiny number. Like two bucks a week.’
That draws a chuckle out of Shade. ‘Bro, that’s hilarious.’
‘Okay. How long do we need to follow her around?’ Mav asks, scrolling through his phone.
‘It’s just for a couple days. I’ll get the pledges to do it after that.’
Mav lets out a sigh. ‘Fine. It looks like I can take her with me tomorrow, but I want first dibs on the pledge slaves.’
‘Okay, you can choose first. Anyway,’ he sighs. ‘I gotta go see Laurie.’
‘She still all over you?’
Shade runs a hand through his hair and closes his eyes for a second. ‘Wish I’d never fucked that girl. I knew she was the type to suck your dick and think it means marriage. She won’t leave me the hell alone. I hoped a summer of ignoringher would have been a wake-up call that I’m not interested, but she won’t take the hint.’
I snort. ‘I can think of worse things than Laurie deepthroating my cock.’
Shade tilts his head. ‘Sheispretty good at it.’
He goes to leave but turns back. ‘No one mentions the fact that we have a girl here outside the frat, okay? She doesn’t live here. Any questions about her, we don’t know her. Make sure everyone understands that frat business is frat business, especially the pledges.’
‘Sure thing.’ I grab my laptop and give the guys a look. ‘I’m going to see if the cams are working. Maybe I’ll see your sister’s tits.’
Shade lets out a weary noise and goes out the door, slamming it hard behind him, and we both snigger.
‘Wanna see?’ I ask Mav, and he nods.
‘Hell yeah, I do.’
‘Okay, but only upstairs. I don’t want any of the pledges to know Big Brother is watching.’
‘What about her?’ he smirks.
‘Her, too.’
3
DAISY
Igo upstairs, seeing no one as I make my way along the landing and up the next set of narrower, steeper steps. At the top, there’s a short hallway with five doors. One is open and I can see it’s the bathroom. I consider the others carefully, looking for a tell-tale sign that one of them isn’t as well used as the others, so that I don’t have to peek into anyone else’s space. I had no place that was truly mine at The Heath and the only time I was alone was when I was allowed to go on my daily run. I won’t intrude in any of the others’ rooms unless I’m invited.
Considering my interactions with him so far, I doubt that sitting with Shade and playing videogames like we used to is in my future.
I go to the door at the end of the corridor that’s on the left. There’s a light coating of dust on the brass knob. I turn it, crack it open slowly, and peer inside. There’s a large, unmade bed with some storage boxes on it. The walls are white with two windows set into the pitched roof that looks out over the trees and I can just see the roofs of the campus buildings and houses nearby. A lamp sits on the bedside tableand there’s a desk with a comfy-looking chair on the other side of the room.
I step inside and, as I do, I hear footsteps coming up the stairs. I close the door quickly behind me. After the littlewelcomeI received when I got here, I don’t want any more run-ins with the other residents of the house today.
I’m coiled tight. I’m also exhausted to the bone. It must be close to ten at night in the UK.Almost lights out.And yet, I find I have some energy to burn.
I throw my bag on the bed and am happy to find that a cloud of dust doesn’t rise from it. Although this room is disused, it’s clearly cleaned at least semi-regularly. After moving the storage boxes into the corner and making a mental note to ask one of them for some sheets, I open my duffle bag.
