Prologue
Kinsley
“This needs to be kept to ourselves, Kinsley,” The dean said, nodding his head. His stiffly styled hair didn’t move. The obvious dye job looked ridiculous against his pallid skin. “I’m sure you can appreciate, our school is one of the best in the country, held to the highest standards, and matters such as this can be detrimental to our impeccable record.”
“What are you saying, sir?” I asked, my eyes flitting between his and a couple of the attending board members sitting around the long, dark desk. “That this isn’t even up for discussion?”
A woman in her late fifties lifted her chin, gaining the attention of the room. “Miss. Jensen, I understand that this is a delicate subject and shouldn’t be taken lightly, but you have to see this from our perspective. We cannot, and we will not, see our school tarnished because of one mild incident.”
My mouth fell open, my eyes bugged, and I sucked in a sharp breath. “Please tell me you’re not serious,” I said, then held my hands out, gesturing to the adults in the room. “You think this is mild? What Owen did doesn’t matter?” I glared at the woman whose looks resembled the guy who’d caused this shit. Her hard stare was difficult to hold contact with, but I had to for my own sake. “Do you even hear yourselves?”
The dean opened his mouth again, but the woman cut in before he could speak. “We hear ourselves well, young lady,” she snapped, her venomous tone cutting right through me. “This will be buried right here and now, or we’ll have no choice but to take action against you.”
I flinched back in disbelief. “Against me?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. “I did nothing but defend myself.”
Her dark eyes bore into me with such hatred I could feel the depths of her malice deep into my bones. It was as though I were shrinking in my seat, and no matter how much I tried to straighten, she wouldn’t let me.
Her lip curled up into a snarl. “You are no longer welcome at Crosshall Brow, Miss. Jensen. Your false report has been wiped from the school records, and your semester is being refunded as we speak.”
“What?”
“You heard me,” she spat out. “Get your belongings and leave the premises immediately. Otherwise, I’ll call for security to escort you. I’m sure you’d rather that didn’t happen.”
I stood slowly, my legs shaking and my hands trembling. “Y-you can’t do this. I didn’t make anything up, and you know that.”
The bitter woman blinked slowly. “That’s your word against Owen’s,” she said, her voice level now. “But believe me when I say, that boy’s name is free and clear, and nothing you say will ever change that. Now”—she pointed to the door—“get out.”
I grabbed my bag as tears began streaming down my face. I rushed to the door, opened it, and came face to face with my mom, a letter in her hand, and her eyes mirroring my own.
“Kins?” she whispered “What’s going on?”
“Mom,” I sobbed, running into her arms. “They’ve kicked me out. It wasn’t my fault, but they’ve kicked me out anyway.”
She rubbed the back of my head and held me close. “Shh, honey, we’ll figure this out together, okay? This isn’t the end.”
I lifted my head, her face out of focus through my hot streaming tears. “It already is.” I held her hand up that still held the letter-headed paper, bearing the college’s crest and name. “What’s this?” My mom’s lips tightened, and her sympathetic eyes told me everything I needed to know. “They’d already made their decision, hadn’t they?” I looked over my shoulder at the now-closed door. “They just wanted to tell me to my face that they’d won—that their precious school wouldn’t let someone like me speak up.”
My mom’s hands cupped my face, and she leaned in to kiss my forehead like she always did when I was upset, ever since I was little. “If this is how they handle things like this here, then we’re not going to be a part of it.” Her eyes bounced between mine. “We’ve just got to work hard to get you enrolled elsewhere.”
“This is so messed up, Mom.”
She held me close again. “I know, baby. I know.”
As we made our way out of the building, all eyes were on us, and hushed voices whispered lies and derogatory names when we passed them.
“Rosy,” I hiccuped, stopping by one of the people I’d called a friend. “They’ve kicked me out.”
Her blue eyes darted around, her head jerking back and forth, making her blonde waves swish about her shoulders. She hitched her bag higher on her shoulder, her dark-yellow blazer creasing under the thin strap. “Um, sorry, Kinsley, but I can’t talk to you,” she whispered, her tone clipped. Her cautious gaze wandered around again, then she dipped her head as though pretending to check the floor. “You know how things are. I’ll be cast out of the Omega club and lose my extra points for the Zeta Kappa awards at the end of the semester.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I shrieked, then lowered my voice when heads snapped to attention at me.
“I could be kicked out of the sorority if I talk to you. You understand, right?”
I felt like I’d been sucker-punched in the gut. My chest burned, and the growing knot in my stomach wound tighter and tighter.
“I’ve just been kicked out of the entire fucking college, and you’re worried about a fucking sorority that you never gave a shit about in the first place?” And she hadn’t. I’d listened to endless rants of how bitchy the other sisters were with their judgmental glances and snide comments.
Rosy’s eyes bulged, and she shook her head quickly. “Please, Kinsley, I need this.” She took a step back. “I’m sorry it came to this, and how things worked out for you, but I’ve got to think about myself right now.”
Her words were like a knife in my back. A big, fat cleaver still vibrating from the thrust. “I thought you were my friend,” I said, new tears rolling down my cheeks. “I thought what I did for you would count, but I guess I was wrong.”
“Kins,”
“Don’t you dare ‘Kins’ me. Ever again. Go fuck yourself, Rosy.” I lifted my gaze to the rest of the growing number of people crowding around to witness the scene, then back to her. “Go back to your pen. The rest of the sheep are waiting.”
Chapter 1
Quinn
“Fucking groupies,” I growled under my breath. “They need to leave me the fuck alone.” I’d managed to break through the crowd of young women waiting for me to leave. They were mostly the ones I’d already rejected from coming in, but a few had the cash for entry, and they were the worst.
“Hate to break it to you, but you’re sort of a big deal. Ya know, a fighter and all,” Josh said with his usual sarcasm. This shit had been happening for a long time, but it didn’t mean I had to like it. I wasn’t exactly a ‘people’ person.
Josh and I had met in middle school, and he’d stuck around, even into college. One of the good guys. He didn’t try to talk me out of doing this shit, not once. He knew I needed it, and he stood by and supported me every step of the way.