just kind of casually asked about him – where he was from, what he was like – it’s definitely him, girls!”
Cassie and Jess’s eyes snap to me and I feel them burning through my skin. Pair that with the extreme pace of my heart right now and you could say I feel a little like passing out, a little like throwing up, and a little like bashing my head into the floor so I can be absent for the conversation that’s about to happen.
“What?” Ashlei asks, eying us all. She hasn’t been filled in on last night yet, either. “Why are you guys acting so weird?” Erin’s expression starts to match Ashlei’s, confusion rolling over her.
“Nothing,” I say dismissively. “We know him. Well, we met him. Last night.”
“At rush?!” Erin asks excitedly.
I nod. “Yep. He was nice.” I shoot my laser beams at my Little, pleading for her to not say anything, but I’m too late with Jess.
“That’s one way to put it, Sky.” She snickers and nudges Cassie, expecting her to join in, but Cassie just coughs uncomfortably and tucks her hair behind her ear.
Erin’s face screws up even more and she turns her focus on me. “Okay, what the hell happened, Little?”
I groan, sinking my face down into the pillow on my lap. “Nothing. We played foosball.”
“And he lost, so she made him take a shot of tequila…” Jess adds. I want to shoot her another death glare, but I know it has to come out sometime. This campus is too small for anything to remain a secret, especially something like that. I’m surprised she hasn’t already heard, honestly. Erin waits, crossing her arms impatiently for Jess to continue.
“… off her body.”
I cringe as she drops the bomb, chancing a peek at my Big to see her face. It’s stone. Typical. She always handles bad news like a pro, never really showing you how she feels about it. She could be pissed right now, raging mad – or hell, she could be on the verge of tears. But, does she show that? No. Instead, she looks like Jess just told her it’s raining outside.
“Oh,” she says, breaking the awkward silence and standing again. This is the closest thing to fidgeting I’ve ever seen her do. She walks toward her closet and starts absentmindedly touching different clothes. “Well, that’s okay. I mean, you didn’t know. How could you?”
“I swear I didn’t, Big,” I say, my mouth still muffled through the pillow. “You know I wouldn’t have done it if I had known.”
She nods, still turned away. “No, no it’s okay.” Her voice trails off and then suddenly she whips around, her eyes big and bright again. “Actually, no – this is good. This is perfect.”
We all exchange glances again. “Um, how is this even remotely in the same category as good?” Cassie asks.
Erin moves quickly over to her Lilly Pulitzer planner and starts flipping pages. “Well, Kip and I didn’t exactly have the best ending that summer. I may have acted a little immature, at best. ” She stops on a page full of highlights and taps her finger on one of the dates. “This will be perfect.” She spins to face me. “I don’t think he would want to talk to me, let alone get back together right now. I need him to come around more, to see how I’ve grown and how respected I am here. I want him to see that four years has done me well.”
“Absolutely! You’re the shit,” Jess says. “But, I’m lost on how this has anything to do with your Little having lover boy’s tongue in her mouth.” I stuff my head back down into the pillow and cringe inward.
“Really, J-Love?”
“Because,” Erin says, sitting down to join me on the floor. “She’s going to be the one to get him to come back to me. She’s the bait.”
My head snaps up, my eyes meeting hers. “What? No way!” I jump up from the floor and toss the pillow back on the bed. “I mistakenly made out with your high school… whatever he was, but I’m not involved in this.”
“You are now!” She stands, stepping