Jake shot his sister a look that would rival any pissed-off parent’s. “Are you kidding me?”
“Summer reading is stupid,” Ashley whined.
Poor kid. I agreed with her, but I wisely kept my mouth shut.
“You didn’t think it was stupid when you begged for us to put you in honors classes,” Jake said. “You knew summer reading was part of the deal.”
I scooted to the edge of the couch. “I’m gonna go.”
“You don’t have to,” Rachel said. “Stay.”
Emily tugged at Jake’s sleeve. “Look at my toes.” She shoved them under his nose and wriggled them. “The color is petunia, which doesn’t make sense because petunias can be a lot of different colors, not just pink.”
Yeah… Jake had more important things to do than entertain my bored ass. I stood. “I’ll catch you later.”
Jake apologized and told me to stay, but I waved him off. It was my dumb fault for showing up without calling first. I normally didn’t, but I was restless.
I drove through downtown on the way back to my apartment, and everything was dead. Even the biggest partiers tended to take a break the night before classes started. Of course, it would only take about a week before the downtown scene started hopping every night. The start of a new semester was kind of like New Year’s in that way—it didn’t take long for good intentions to wear off.
As soon I as parked in front of my townhouse, the phone rang. It was Stacey, my mother’s assistant.
“Hi, Stacey,” I answered. I talked more to her than I ever talked to my mother. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gotten a direct call from my mom. Everything went through Stacey first. “How’s your ankle?”
“Much better since I started the physical therapy. Thanks. I’m calling about Chelsea’s engagement party.”
My brow furrowed. “What?” Chelsea was my older sister and in her last year at Harvard Law. I had no idea she even had a boyfriend.
“As of last week, she’s engaged to John Henneman.”
“Why does that name sound familiar?” I muttered.
“Chelsea’s fiancé is actually John Henneman III. His father is John Henneman Jr., the senator from Rhode Island.”
“Right,” I said slowly. Everything made much more sense now. My mother was a state senator for Maryland and had her eye on the governor’s office. She must be doing backflips about her daughter being engaged to the heir of the Henneman political dynasty.
Stacey continued. “So anyway, your parents are throwing an engagement party the first weekend in November.”
Of course they were, because that was the weekend of the VVU football team’s family-appreciation game. And to think I’d actually invited them this year since it was my senior year. I supposed this phone call served as the RSVP that they wouldn’t be in attendance.
I ran a hand through my hair and fisted the strands. “Thanks for letting me know, I guess, but you know I can’t go.”
Stacey sighed. “I figured as much. Your mother is not going to be happy.”
“Does she seriously expect me to blow off a game for an engagement party?” I was blaming the messenger, but it was difficult to stay neutral when this happy horseshit was being shoveled in my direction. If Chelsea were engaged to John Nobody from down the street, my mother wouldn’t give a damn. Instead, she was using it to further her political career. I wondered what Chelsea thought about the whole thing. She and I weren’t close, but we got along well enough at family events, which was the only time we saw each other.
Stacey stayed silent, which was an answer in and of itself. Un-fucking-believable. My parents hadn’t supported my playing football because it was a “common thug’s game.” When I’d earned a starting position at VVU, then it had become a little more respectable because it gave them bragging rights, though they would rather I was rubbing elbows with American royalty at an Ivy League school. I’d been nothing but a disappointment to them from the time I was a kid, and it was apparent that I was never going to excel at anything intellectual. Playing football didn’t exactly further the family’s business and political interests.
Cheer up, Dad. Maybe if I make it to the pros, I can be a celebrity endorser for your business.
My mother came from a wealthy family, but my father was a self-made man, something he liked to remind me of every chance he got. He’d started with nothing, and his highest education was a degree from a local community college. Fleck Holdings was now a multimillion-dollar company with business interests up and down the East Coast. Though my dad prided himself on being self-made, he sure as hell didn’t like to remember where he’d come from. My grandparents had been good blue-collar people who’d worked hard to eke out a meager living. But Charles Fleck would have never been satisfied with that. He had wanted more. It was always more with him. Nothing—including me—was ever enough.
Except maybe Chelsea. My older sister could do no wrong in his eyes. I tried not to hold that against her.
“You’ll be receiving a formal invitation shortly,” Stacey said finally.
“Thanks, Stacey,” I replied. “I’ll handle it from there.” I didn’t want to put her in the middle of family drama. She’d always been good to me. Besides that, I didn’t need any help disappointing my parents.
I could do that very well on my own.
CHAPTER 4
Becca
THE FOUR WIE board members lounged in Nicole’s living room, munching on popcorn and sipping boxed wine. High class. Of course, I was sticking to water.
I nudged Nicole. “Are you taking notes?”
She looked between her two hands, one of which was full of popcorn while the other held a wine glass. “Um, no.”
I sighed. Nicole hadn’t wanted to take over as secretary, but we’d had a shortage of candidates this year, so I’d begged her to step up. She had only agreed after I’d promised her the position was easy. It was, but I hadn’t promised her it wasn’t tedious.
“Well, could you? We have to document our meetings for the Student Activities Board.”
She shoved the popcorn into her mouth then wiped her fingers on a napkin before opening her laptop and saluting me.
I looked at the agenda I had pulled up on my phone. “Courtney, did you reserve space for the welcome pizza party?”
The vice president nodded. “I got a room in the student center. I’ll email the invitations this evening.”
“Great.” Membership in WIE had dwindled over the past few years, and we didn’t understand why because the number of females enrolled in engineering hadn’t decreased. Our focus for this semester was building our membership.
“I bought a few cases of water last week,” Hanima, our treasurer, said. “I wanted to beat the freshman rush.”
“Good idea,” I said. Several thousand freshmen and their parents had invaded Bleaksburg over the weekend, which meant stores were a nightmare. “Make sure you fill out the reimbursement form, and I’ll sign it. Are we good on funds?”
Hanima scrolled through her tablet for a moment then read off the financial report. I didn’t like how low our balance was, but it was still worth spending the money to make the incoming freshmen feel welcome. Engineering was a hard enough major without being outnumbered five to one by males. Most guys in the major were okay, but there were some who were demeaning toward the girls.