down.â
I sat on the edge of the toilet. Hailey pulled a first-aid kit out of her backpack, knelt in front of me, poured some hydrogen peroxide onto a cotton pad, and started cleaning up my wounds.
âSo are you rushing or what?â Hailey asked.
âI donât know . . . I hadnât planned on it.â But I did know. I was not rushing.
âYouâre Taylor Bell, right? The girl who has, like, a huge legacy?â
âYeah. Would you mind telling me how everyone knows that?â
âEveryone knows everything about everyone here.â She threw the bloody wad of cotton into an overflowing trash can. âYouâre a fucking retard if you donât rush. It would be like Kate Middleton telling Prince William that she didnât want to marry him and, like, become the most powerful woman on earth.â
âBut sheâs not the most powerful woman on earth . . .â I said.
âBut she is, if you think about it, you know?â She started dabbing Neosporin on the scrapes. âLike, if you were anyone else, you would have had to walk of shame yourself through that party, never to be seen or heard from again, and your only shot at Greek life would be joining an Asian sorority. Which is actually not an easy thing to do. They test your coding skills before you can even pledge. At least thatâs what Iâve heard.â Hailey put Band-Aids on my knees and wrapped them both in gauze.
âSo, Iâm confused. Are you in Beta Zeta?â
âIrushed last year and didnât get Beta, so Iâm kind of kissing ass this year. Basically, Iâm the girlsâ Fairy Slop Mother. I see it as an internship. I mean, all I want to do tonight is get shitfaced and make out with this really hot Jewish kid from my econ class, but if I fuck up, Beta Zeta will shun me and everyone on campus will hate me and then Iâll die all alone. Okay! Your knees are good to go. Sucks that you canât wear shorts or dresses for a month, âcause you have cute legs.â
Hailey unzipped the garment bag and pulled out a pair of high-waisted, flowy floral pants and a crop top and handed them to me. âThis crop top will make your boobs look huge and fake, which is a good thingâtrust.â
Once Iâd changed clothes, I realized Hailey was right. My boobs did look amazing. Normally Iâd never wear something so Vanessa Hudgens-y, but I kind of loved the way I looked in this outfit. I felt like a different version of myself. I felt like a girl who could belong here.
There was a loud knock at the door.
Over the partyâs pumping music I heard someone shout: âItâs us. Open the door, bitches!â
Hailey ran to the door and unlocked it. The door flew open to reveal Meg, flanked by Olivia and Steph.
âOh my God, you look amazing!â Steph screamed.
My adrenaline had stopped pumping out of control and I could feel that my cheeks were their normal color again. These girls had just pulled me out of that type of awkward boy situation that can scar you for months. Maybe I didnât really know as much about Greek life as I thoughtâmaybe these girls were actually good people, and maybe Iâd been too quick to judge them.
As all thesethoughts rushed through my head, Steph squeezed my arm and leaned in to me.
âYou wouldnât happen to have any coke, would you?â
âNot now, LiLo,â Meg interjected. âWe need to get her back in the saddle.â
W hen we got back down to the basement I could tell that the makeover had worked. Peopleâs eyes were on me but it wasnât the thereâs-the-girl-who-just-fell-on-her-face look, instead I was getting jealous looks from the girls and wanna fuck looks from the guys. I spotted Jack across the room. He was also looking at me. I averted my eyes and put my hair up in a ponytail, trying to play it cool, but I could see in my periphery that he was beelining