Fuck, he was here.

"Hey, Anderson."

Shit, he saw me.

When I raised my head, I saw him eye the logo on my sweatshirt. It had the Kappa Pi Kappa letters on it. I had my legs crossed on my chair, looking chill as I stared back at him. Seriously, these yoga pants were the fucking bomb during fall season in New Jersey.

I caught Scout's eyes travel down my body that I couldn't help squint my eyes. When did he have the balls to look at a girl like he wanted to eat her up?

"Kappa Pi Kappa," he read. Finally, he met my eyes. "You a pledge?"

I nodded and turned back to my froyo, blatantly brushing him off.

Hopefully, he takes the hint.

But nooo, of course he didn't. Instead, he pulled out the chair across from me and sat like I invited him – like we were buddies. Fat fucking chance.

"Didn't know you were a sorority type of girl."

"Obviously, there are a lot of things you don't know." I looked up, just to give him a brief smile. "But that doesn't really surprise me."

He chuckled, shaking his head as if I was the most amusing thing he encountered in a long time. Well, after what happened in high school, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

I bit my lip as I took a spoonful of my froyo and ate some, not willing to admit that there was a part of me that felt bad for Scout Crimson. Yeah, he was the Golden Boy back in our town with the good grades, great athletic skills, and happy family. But there was still that fact that back in our senior year, his friends had done some pretty fucked up shit behind his back.

I'm not sure if he even called them his friends anymore.

"Why don't you like me?"

I shrugged, and continued to eat my froyo. It was the peanut butter flavored one. My ultimate favorite. The crew always bought me one every month when I had my period. Yeah, they knew when it was my time of the month. They were scared shitless of me whenever I was swimming in the red sea.

There was a slight pain in my chest knowing they wouldn't be able to do that anymore now that we were in different colleges – and states.

"You hate me, then?" asked Scout.

I snorted. "You think?"

"Did I do something wrong?"

Far from it, dude. You do everything right.

Wait, that came out totally weird.

"Was it that time I accidentally threw water balloons at you?"

I slightly frowned. I already forgot about that.

It happened in fourth grade. I was on my way home when I passed by the park and there were stupid boys having a snowball fight. Scout was one of them. How did he still remember that?

Someone's got a sharp memory.

"C'mon, I thought you were Cameron."

I tried to hide my wince. That was one of the dickheads who sabotaged my friends. As a result, my friends were forced to forfeit the entire football season during junior year. Scout didn't find out that they did it until senior year, when the crew was taking them out one by one.

It had been a very dramatic couple of years.

"If I'd known," continued Scout, dragging me out of my thoughts, "I would've called for a time out."

Yeah, no doubt he would've. He wouldn't want anyone getting hurt.

"I don't even remember that shit happened," I told him nonchalantly.

"Really?" he asked skeptically.

"Uh-huh."

"Then, why do you always look at me like I'm the poop you stepped on your shoe?"

I tried not to smile so I ate more froyo, inwardly glad I ordered the largest one they had.

He sighed. "Why can't we at least be friends?"

I looked up, and said in a bored tone, "Why don't you just give up?"

He leaned forward, and I could clearly see his determined green eyes. His freckles were streaked across his cheeks and nose. His ginger hair was clean-cut, yet a little tousled. He didn't look like the nerdy little boy I've always seen him to be. He looked confident but also laid-back as he propped his elbows on the edge of the table.

Was he always this attractive?

"Do I look like I'm gonna give up anytime soon?"

No, he didn't.

"Where did the awkward Scout Crimson from high school go?"

I wasn't used to seeing this. I caught a glimpse of this side of him that night at the Alpha Alpha house a.k.a the Aces Estate when we played beer pong. But I figured he just had too much to drink.

His lips turned up in a lopsided smile. "When was I ever awkward?"

Now that I thought about it, I didn't remember one instance that he was. He was always so sure of himself, so at ease. No matter how sickeningly self-righteous he was. Maybe I just never paid enough attention to notice.

Besides, I was surrounded by my best friends, Oz and Alfie. Together, they were a force to be reckoned with – the way they intimidated and dominated every room they entered. Scout paled in comparison.

Scout's grin turned wider. "Told you, Anderson. You don't know me."

I was seriously getting sick of that phrase.

"I've seen enough," I said, with a shrug.

"You've barely scratched the surface."

"I'd rather not dig more."

"You'll like me, I swear."

He legit looked like a little boy trying to convince his mom to buy him a puppy. Cute.

I blinked and shook my head. What the actual fuck?

The puppy. It was the puppy that was cute. Right, it was the puppy that I thought was cute.

"And if you don't, which I promise you – won't be the case, then I'll leave you alone."

I raised an eyebrow at that.

"Just one hang out."

My eyes narrowed, considering it.

"What do you say, Anderson?"

Just before I could answer, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Rae, the KPK pledge educator. We needed to be at the KPK house in thirty minutes.

"Gotta go," I stated, standing up and already walking towards the exit.

"Alright, but we're not done talking about this!" he called after me.

I stopped and looked over my shoulder. "Don't hold your breath, Crimson."

After that, I pushed the door open and stepped out.

It was a good thing that the frat row wasn't too far from the froyo place since it was by the old street. When I entered the chapter room at the KPK house, I caught sight of Madeline sitting at the corner of the room. She waved a hand at me and pointed at the empty seat beside her.

I walked across the chapter room and sat beside Madeline, my eyes wandering to the front, where there was a huge table with five seats facing us. When the room was finally filled with about twenty pledges, Ophelia stood up and walked to the stand to address us.

"Good evening, pledges," she started. "Hope you all had a good weekend after bid day."

There were collective smiles and giggles.

My mind wandered to last week, being called out in the courtyard, getting envelopes, finding out I got a bid from both Kappa Pi Kappa and Zeta Theta. Obviously, I chose KPK. Then, all the pledges running along frat row to their respective houses. After that, everyone partied all night.

"Today, we're splitting up your pledge class into four groups," continued Ophelia. "Each group will be given a mission that should be completed by initiation day, which is in three months. Every individual in the group will each have their own task aside from the group mission. You don't have to work together with the individual tasks, but teamwork is required with the group mission." She paused, her eyes scanning the room. "Everyone following so far?"

All of the pledges nodded.

"Questions?"

One of the girls in the front row raised a hand.

"Yes, Jamaica?"

"Can we help each other out with the individual task?"

"Yes. In fact, it is encouraged."

"Do we get a group name or something?"

Ophelia grinned. "That would be up to you and your sisters in the group. But I must remind everyone that this is not a competition." She waited for anyone to raise a hand up for a question. When no one did, she clapped her hands together. "Alright, should we get started with the groups?" She glanced at Naomi for confirmation.

Naomi nodded.

"When I call out the names, please stand up," said Ophelia, looking through the list on her paper. "Kendall, Jean, Emma..." She went on with two more names, then she directed them to go to one of the sisters standing nearby.

She went on to mention the names of the second group, then the third, and I was so fucking glad that Madeline and I wasn't mentioned because that only meant...

"Madeline, Jamaica, Lilian, and Connie."

I stood up and eyed the others.

Jamaica had tanned skin, golden eyes, and wavy shoulder-length hair with blonde highlights. The girl called Lilian had long unruly ash brown hair – the kind that didn't look as if it had been brushed for days. But it only added that little something to her.

"Please go to our sister, Honor."

The four of us walked towards the Asian with the chic grunge style waiting for us.

"Now, the sisters assigned to you will be your go-to sister if ever you're confused and need guidance for your tasks. Be familiar with them. Off you go!"

Honor smiled when her eyes landed on me, but she didn't say anything about our last encounter. When she turned to the others, she nodded.

"I'm Honor, and here's my number." She recited her cell number, and my three roommates scrambled to type it down on their phones. I'd get her number from Madeline later. "Use it whenever. I'm always bored so even if you just wanna grab something to eat, I'm in." She turned to leave and waved for us to follow her. "Let's go find a spot in the house."

We followed her to the sunroom at the back of the house, where the walls and roofs were made of glass windows. It was as though we were in a greenhouse, only it was a chill living room smack right in the middle. It was honestly pretty cool.

We took our seats all around the coffee table, and looked at Honor who sat on the armchair.

"Alright, here's the deal," said Honor. "I was supposed to give you your individual tasks but I figured you'd know yourself better than I do. So here's the list." She placed a piece of paper on the table for us to see.

All four of us leaned over to look it over.

"You girls decide which one you'll take over."

"The group mission isn't here," I remarked.

"The group mission will be given to you a month before initiation day," answered Honor, pulling up her legs and dangling them sideways on the armchair. "That way, you can focus on your individual tasks."

Madeline shrugged. "Makes sense." She looked at everyone and introduced herself, "My name's Madeline. I'm supposed to be a legacy at Zeta Theta, but I prefer to be here at KPK."

"Why?" asked Jamaica, looking at her curiously.

"It's KPK," replied Madeline simply, as if that already explained it.

Jamaica only grinned. "Well, I'm Jamaica. I'm taking pre-law. And before you ask, I'm half-Filipino and half-Norwegian on the outside, all American on the inside."

"Hello, I'm Lilian," said the boho princess shyly, with a clear British accent. That earned her a stare from all of us in the room. "Yes, I'm English," she confirmed sheepishly. "Both my parents are historians from London, and they decided to continue their teachings here as professors."

"Wow," whistled Madeline.

"Connie here," I said. Deciding to be honest, I added, "I'm from a town just a couple of hours away from here. My brother and I had a deal that he'd pay for my college fees as long as I joined a sorority."

Honor raised an eyebrow at that. I guess that secret was out.

I shrugged. "So here I am."

Madeline visibly tried to muffle her laughter.

"You'll find it worthwhile," Jamaica assured me, winking playfully.

The corner of my lips turned up. "We'll see."

"Shall we pick our tasks?" asked Lilian.

"I'll go first!" Madeline beamed and put her hands together. "Let's see..."

1. Make the university cheer squad.

2. Volunteer at the shelter on weekends.

3. Talk someone into donating in one of the sorority's charities.

4. Date a frat brother from one of the top 3 houses until November.

"I'll take the third one," declared Madeline.

I glanced at the task and snorted. Of course, she'd pick that one. It was the easiest for her since she had many connections and knew enough people to donate a small fortune.

"You're gonna ask for daddy's credit card?" I teased her.

She laughed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. I like a little challenge." She paused thoughtfully and shrugged. "I'm gonna talk to my cousin, Peter, in New York and convince him it's for a good cause."

"How is it a challenge?" asked Jamaica.

"He's a businessman. He doesn't do any philanthropy work unless he gets something out of it."

I tilted my head. "What will he get out of this?"

"Exactly," said Madeline with a smile.

I shook my head in amusement.

"I'd very much like to volunteer at the shelter please," said Lilian softly.

Oh, this girl was too precious.

With no arguments from any of us, we agreed with Lilian. All eyes stared at the last two tasks.

Shit.

"I used to be a cheerleader at my high school," stated Jamaica.

I bit my lip. Even though I was surrounded by athletes, I wasn't nearly one. But that didn't mean I wanted to date a random stranger for three fucking months either.

"Any objections?" asked Madeline, looking pointedly at me.

I didn't reply to her and turned my eyes to Honor instead, who was busy on her phone. "What's the point of dating a frat guy?"

"Connections," she answered, without looking at me.

"Will you choose the guy?"

"Sort of."

I frowned. "What does that even mean?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "You'll see."

"Do I have to sleep with him?"

At that, Honor looked at me with a rueful smile. "Depends on you."

After giving it much thought, I finally sighed.

"Fine, I'll do the stupid fourth task," I grumbled.

Madeline grinned at me, before scribbling our names on the paper. "And we're done!"

"Let me see," said Honor, righting herself on the chair and reaching out a hand. Madeline handed her the paper and she looked through it. "You girls sure about this? There's no turning back."

We nodded. When she was satisfied with our answer, she stood up.

"Alrighty then."

"What now?" I asked.

"Now," she said slowly, as she folded the paper. "We get ready for the party."

_____________

Next update: Sunday