Palm South University: Season 1 Box Set (Palm South University #1) Page 4

  I’m one of the last ones in and less than a minute later, the professor claps her hands together. “Alright, let’s get the logistics out of the way, shall we?” She’s a middle-aged woman with dark brown hair and a smile too cheerful for me at the moment. She’s dressed modestly in an all-navy dress suit and dark red lipstick covers her bird lips. Yep, definitely fits the part of a political science professor. “I’m Dr. Louise Maynard and hopefully you all already know that this is Scope and Methods. If you’re here, I’m also safely assuming that you’re Poli Sci majors. So, show of hands, how many of you are pre-law?”

  I raise my hand along with a dozen others and we all look around the room at each other. If Erin were in this class, she would raise her hand, too. Of course, she already took this course last year when we were sophomores.

  Show off.

  “I see, I see,” she appraises as our hands slowly fall back down. “Well great. As you know, this course is required for the major. Let’s jump into what the semester will look like.” She leans back against the desk and crosses her ankles, pulling the syllabus out from a notebook behind her. “My Graduate Assistant will be here soon to pass out your copies. Take notes until then.”

  She starts going over class policies and grading. I groan when she says attendance is required and worth ten percent of our grade. I hate classes that count attendance. I’m paying for this class. I should be able to decide if I want to attend or not. But whatever, I don’t really have a say in it. My parents let me do whatever I want as long as I keep B’s or better, so that’s that. Looks like my Wednesday evenings will get off to a late start. This class is from 5:30 – 7:50p.m.

  Dr. Maynard is just wrapping up the breakdown of test scores versus presentation scores when the large wooden doors open, causing her to pause. I’m still jotting down notes as she claps her hands together again. “Ah! There he is. Class, this is my GA. He’ll be helping out throughout the semester with grading and tutoring along with various other tasks.” I finish my notes and lift my eyes to the front. When I do, I drop my pencil along with my jaw. “Jarrett, would you like to introduce yourself to the class? Tell us a little about your graduate program and career goals?”

  Jarrett, AKA the guy who had his hands weaved into my hair last week, is standing tall at the front of the room with Dr. Maynard. He’s dressed in black slacks and a teal Palm South button up that accentuates his tan but covers the tattoos I know are lining his arms. Definitely a huge change from the boy in board shorts I jumped in the back of a pickup truck.

  He casually runs a hand over his smooth head before tucking both hands in his pockets and appraising the room with a small grin and a glimmer in his dark eyes. “Hey everyone,” he says, clearing his throat. Is he nervous? “I’m Jarrett Locke. I graduated with my undergrad from PSU last spring and decided to stick around for grad school. I have a particular interest in government relations for non-profits, so I hope to one day have a career where I can explore that passion daily.” A few of the girls around me sigh and I fight against the urge to join them. Holy swoon. Please, someone wake me up. Someone tell me I don’t want to bone my professor’s graduate assistant.

  Or that I already did.

  “And I have nothing but faith that you will do just that,” Dr. Maynard says, beaming at Jarrett. “Okay class, that’s all for today. Jarrett’s going to call attendance and then you’re free to leave.”

  I repeatedly try to swallow as Jarrett goes down the list of names and one by one, students get up to leave. Why did my German ancestors have to leave me with a name close to the end of the alphabet?

  “Jess Vonnegut,” he says, my last name rolling off his lips slowly.

  I stand and quickly throw my messenger bag over my shoulder. “Here,” I chirp and bolt for the door. He checks me off and glances up quickly before his eyes fall back to the clipboard in his hand. When he realizes what he just saw, his eyes snap back up to mine.

  Crap.

  I cringe and try to duck away from his glare as I make my way up to the front of the room toward the door. It feels like it takes me ages to walk there, and his eyes never leave me. I feel them burning into my skin every step of the way. When I reach the front of the room and cross right in front of him, I chance meeting his gaze. And instantly regret it.

  His eyes are smoldering, dark, hungry – and they automatically ignite the same animalistic fever he inflicted on me last week. I gulp and he closes his mouth, opens it again like he might say something, but then snaps it shut.

  “Fuck,” I mumble under my breath, pulling my eyes away and breaking through the door. I hold my breath until I reach the end of the hallway and burst out of the glass doors to the outside world. Panting, I pull out my phone and send a text to the girls.

  - Emergency meeting. My room. Ten minutes. -

  When I make it back to the sorority house, Erin, Ashlei, and Skyler are all waiting in mine and Skyler’s room. “Oh my God,” I say immediately, tossing my bag down on my bed. “You are never going to believe who the graduate assistant is in my Scope and Methods class.”

  “Oh! Are you taking Dr. Maynard?” Erin interjects. “I love her. Whoever her GA is, they’re lucky. She’s the best professor in the department.”

  “Yes, I am. And he may be lucky, Ex, but I’m definitely not.”

  Ashlei checks her phone for the second time since I’ve arrived. “Spill, Jess. You’re not making sense.”

  “It’s Jarrett.” I wait, but they all just stare back at me so I sigh and toss my hands in the air. “The guy? From last week? Hot bartender, super hot truck?”

  “Oh shit!” Skyler says at the same time Erin gasps, “No!” Ashlei just laughs. I toss a pillow and smack her square in the head with it.

  “I’m sorry,” she says through her laughter. “It’s just, only you, Jess. Only you.”

  I groan, plopping my ass down on my bed and covering my face with my hands. “I know, right? Motherfucking fuck, dude. I really wanted to bang him again!” This time they all crack up and I toss pillows until I run out of ammo.

  “Well, you win some you lose some, J-Love,” Erin says, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. I grin at the ironic use of my nickname. They gave that to me freshman year when I said I was “in love” with every single guy I dated. Luckily, heartbreak got me out of that phase. Now I just have fun with boys – and it’s a lot less stressful that way.

  “Shit,” Ashlei murmurs, typing out a text on her phone before hopping off Skyler’s bed. It’s then that I realize she’s got a gym bag packed and thrown over her shoulder. “I have to go. I’ll see you later.”

  “Where are you going?” I ask, appraising the bag.

  Her eyes dart around the room but she smiles confidently. “Just the gym. Then maybe out for a while.”

  “Hell yes, I could use a drink,” I say. “Where you going? Ralph’s?”

  “Um.” She hesitates, shifting. “I’m not sure yet. I’ll text you after the gym. Love you!” Then she’s gone.

  Skyler and Erin eye me curiously. “Don’t ask me, she’s been weird since we got back. Did either of you talk to her over the summer?”

  “I called and spoke to her a few times and we chatted on Facebook,” Erin says, taking her spot on Skyler’s bed. “But other than that, not really.”

  “Yeah, I saw her during Shark Week but that’s it,” Skyler adds. Since we’re the Palm South Sharks, there are always huge parties and events during Shark Week on campus. I was on a cruise with my family this past summer and missed it.

  “Hm…” I kick off my wedges and fall back against the cool sheets of my bed. “I don’t know, maybe I’m thinking too much into it. She’s probably just busy with the first week of classes. What are you two doing tonight?”

  Skyler looks at Erin and they both shrug. “I was going to see if Cassie wants to hang out, but other than that, no plans,” Skyler says.

  “Girly movie night? I’ve got a bottle of wine stashed under my bed.” I waggle my eyebrows.r />
  “Done and done. I’m already stressed from classes this semester,” Erin says. “I’m going to change into yoga pants. Be right back!” She trots out of the room just as Skyler types out a text on her phone.

  “I invited Cassie,” she says, dropping her phone to the bed. “I really think I want her as my Little, Jess. Do you like her?”

  “Yeah, she’s cool. But if you want her as your Little you better put in work. Jamie Dapreese has been hanging out with her a lot since Friday, too.”

  Her eyes widen. “Really?”

  I nod, grabbing the remote to our TV off my bedside table and powering it on. “Yep. I saw them having lunch today between my two earlier classes.”

  “Well,” Skyler replies, kicking back and letting her shoes fall to the floor, too. “I’m Skyler Fucking Thorne. I love Jamie, but she doesn’t have shit on me. I’m going to show Cassie a kick ass time in the next few weeks and she’ll realize our group is the best place to be in this sorority.”

  “Well, duh,” Jess says, winking. “Just beware. You know Jamie, she likes to buy everything she wants – even if what she wants is a person and not an actual thing.” Skyler nods and I know she’s thinking back to Jamie’s past boyfriends and all the shiny toys she’s bought them. She’s clever, that girl.

  “Noted. Alright, what are we watching?”

  “Something with lots of smut,” I say, flipping through the channels. “I need a sexual distraction.” Skyler giggles and I smirk, still looking for something that fits that description.

  When I find a channel with a Rom Com on, I drop the remote and grab the wine bottle from underneath my bed. After a few swigs, I start to relax. So what if the bartender I hooked up with is one of my teachers now? At least he’s just the GA and not the actual professor. That would be awkward. Still, I was sort of hoping for a repeat of that magic he gave me in the truck. I had so many scenarios imagined already. The shower, the bed, a public dressing room, his kitchen…

  Sighing, I take one last pull of the wine before passing it to Skyler. Oh well, no use dwelling on it now. He’s off limits.

  Right?

  I CAN STILL REMEMBER the first moment I knew I wanted Erin as my Big Sister. I met her during rush week and I knew she was smart, I knew she was driven, and I knew she wanted to do big things in the sorority. But that wasn’t what won me over. It was two weeks after I rushed that I realized she would be the perfect Big for me.

  We snuck a bottle of whiskey into her room in the sorority house and played truth or dare, just the two of us. By the time we finished half the bottle, we were drunk, crying, and had each been tasked with at least a dozen dares that made for a lot of great stories that semester. Seeing her let loose that night and opening up to her about my past was what sold me on wanting her as my mentor. She didn’t pity me for the poor circumstances I came from or my loser high school days. Instead, she promised she’d help me reinvent myself at Palm South. She was the first one who told me I could convince anyone I wanted that I was the shit. And I believed her.

  So far, it’s paid off.

  And now, I want to be that same choice for Cassie. She reminds me a little of myself when I was a freshman last year, except I’m pretty sure she was just as popular in high school as I know she’ll be here. Me, on the other hand? I didn’t have a single real friend in high school. My family was dirt poor. We played poker to pass our time. Little did I know then how much that would play into my future.

  “So are you hanging out with her again tonight?” Ashlei asks. She ties her hair up into a high ponytail and starts packing up the rest of her stuff spread out on the bed. She’s been listening to me worry over Cassie choosing me as her Big for the past hour.

  “She’s supposed to text me after her last class. I know Jamie already asked her to go to some fancy steak place for dinner tonight too, though, so I guess we’ll see.”

  “You think she’ll bail to hang out with you instead?”

  “I don’t know. She doesn’t strike me as the kind of person to bail on anyone, but I guess I’m hoping she does.”

  Ashlei smiles. “You’re so cute. She’s going to pick you as her Big, Sky. I see the way she looks at you. She admires you already.”

  “I hope you’re right, Lei. It’s just…” I trail off. “Erin and I were always hanging out last year, but I can already tell she’s going to be busier this semester. And then she wants to run for a position for next year. And then she wants president. When is she going to have time for us?”

  “You know she’ll make time,” Ashlei says pointedly.

  “I guess, but I still want an awesome Little to add to our family. Someone I can depend on, someone I want to hang out with. I haven’t really connected with any of the other new members like I have with her.”

  “It’ll work itself out,” Ashlei says again, reassuring me. Suddenly, her door flies open and Jess and Erin waltz in.

  “Dudes. We’re drinking tonight,” Jess says, pointing at each of us. “Put on your party panties and let’s go.”

  “I can’t,” Ashlei says, zipping up her bag and throwing it over her shoulder. Standing next to Jess, their similar features are on prominent display. Long blonde hair, tan skin, lean figures with curves in all the right places. Ashlei is just a bit more toned than Jess, but their body types are almost identical. Where Ashlei has playful chocolate eyes, Jess has more of a hazel hue, but in low lighting they’re pretty much the same. They’re like twins. Except they’re polar opposites.

  “Where are you going now?” Jess asks, her hands outstretched toward the bag Ashlei just slung on. “Are you in some sort of gang we don’t know about? A roller derby squad? A porn star league?”

  “I’m meeting a friend at the gym and then we’re supposed to work on a project together.”

  “A project? Already? It’s the second week of school, Lei.” Then her eyes grow wide. “Wait a second. Who’s this friend? Oh my God, are you keeping a guy from us?!”

  Ashlei blushes and looks a bit uncomfortable, but just shrugs in response. “We’re juniors now, Jess. It’s not all fluff in our classes anymore. I’m going to the gym and then working on this project. That’s it, nothing more to tell.”

  Jess still seems skeptical, but she sighs in defeat. “True story. I already have a paper due for Scope and Methods next Wednesday.”

  “See?” Ashlei kisses Jess’ cheek. “I’ll see you at breakfast tomorrow.” With that, she’s gone and Jess turns to us.

  “So, you two in?”

  Erin declines and starts telling Jess about some sorority council sleepover she’s going to so she can rub elbows with other sorority officers on campus just as my phone pings with a text. It’s Cassie. She’s going to dinner with Jamie. I sigh.

  “Okay, you’ve got to come drink with me, Sky. You’re the most fun anyway.”

  “Hey!” Erin says, smacking Jess playfully.

  “What? You know it’s true!” She grins, turning back to me. “What do you say?”

  “Yeah, I’m in,” I reply, sighing again.

  “Speaking of fun,” Erin says. “Omega Chi Beta is having their first social on September twenty-second. And,” she pauses for effect. “It’s an ABC theme! We’re going, right?!”

  ABC. Anything But Clothes. It’s one of the most cherished social themes because the outfits are, well, endless. Anything but clothes, goes.

  “Oh hell to the yes,” Jess says without hesitating.

  “Ugh,” I groan. “I can’t.”

  “What are you talking about? Why?”

  “I have a poker tournament that night.”

  Erin and Jess exchange awkward glances. “Oh,” Jess says. “Well, can’t you just do a different one or something?”

  “It doesn’t work like that. I already paid the entry fee and it’s the best payout they’re having at the casino downtown for a while.”

  Erin’s eyes soften and I know she knows. She’s the only one who understands my parents’ financial situation. “Are you sur
e you can’t make it? Not even after the tournament?”

  I shake my head. “It’ll go all night.”

  “I don’t understand why you play anyway,” Jess says. Her words sting a little, but I try not to let them affect me. “It’s a total boys’ game.” I don’t respond and she sighs. “Sorry, but seriously, it is. Anyway, let’s go drink.”

  “Actually, I think I’m going to pass,” I say, standing from where I’d been sitting on Ashlei’s bed. “I’ll see you guys at breakfast.”

  Jess throws her hands in the air. “Are you serious? What does a girl have to do to find a drinking partner around here?”

  Erin laughs and I give an apologetic smile as I slip through Ashlei’s door and out into the hall. Pulling out my phone, I text Clinton.

  - I’m coming over. Need to talk. –

  He’s been short with me since the party during rush week and I can’t figure out why, but two seconds later he texts me back.

  - I’m here. See you soon. –

  I smile. Clinton and I met during Spring Break last year and he’s the only one at PSU who got excited when he realized I play poker. I just wish he could transfer that excitement to my sisters.

  When I get to the O Chi house and make my way back to his room, the music is already thumping through the house and brothers are lining up shots in the kitchen. Most of them look like they just woke up to start their days and it’s already seven. Gotta love college.

  “Your brothers are reckless,” I say when I reach his room. He smiles, not even trying to argue. The Omega Chi boys are known for their partying. It’s one of their best selling points during rush.

  Clinton pats the spot on his bed next to him. “I taught them well. Come here.” I sit down and he pulls me into his large chest. “Bear hugs fix everything.”