I told her. She didn't know the rule. It's my fault. We have a class assignment together. I wasn't answering her texts, so she came to find me. We should have taken it to the study room."
Zach was a good enough actor to fool her. Morgan smiled. "Not another overeager academic achiever! She'll ruin our reputation." She laughed like that was an insult.
"Someone has to keep the house GPA high enough to keep you off suspension," Zach said.
"Too bad houseboys' grades don't count." Morgan's gaze lingered on him. "Don't let it happen again," she said as I brushed past her.
"It won't." I shot a hurt look at Zach. "I promise."
Her laughter echoed down the hall as I left.
Chapter Eight
Zach
I almost lost my head and spilled everything to Alexis. There was something about her that made me want to trust her. But girls like her didn't fall for guys like me. Not guys with a past and family like mine.
It was bullshit, really. On the surface, I wasn't someone any normal parents would object to. Not even Double Deltsie parents. Not if I wasn't a houseboy. I got good grades. Didn't get into any more trouble than was usual for a guy my age. My parents were firmly upper middle class. Some of the girls would be surprised at how well off they were, given how cash strapped I always was. From the outside, it looked almost like I rebelliously insisted on living the servant life.
It was all the crap you couldn't see. All the stuff we'd spent my lifetime hiding and all the resentment it caused. Those were the deal breakers.
Alexis was normal, completely normal with a happy childhood and parents who doted on her. Maybe too much, but who was I to judge? Too much was better than not at all. She didn't need my shit messing it up.
I was still stunned that I had come so close to confiding in her. I blamed the music and the sexual tension that charged the air whenever Alexis came around. I cursed fate for throwing her in my path. But then, that was nothing new. I cursed fate a lot for what it had thrown at me. I'd learned early that life wasn't fair. You had to find a way to deal with it and even the odds.
Alexis frightened me for the way she made me feel. Or could if I let her. She was the first girl I'd known that made me even consider doing something different, finding another job and way to get by. The problem was, I wasn't ready to give up living in the house for a girl I'd just met and barely knew. And the simple act of getting to know her better would put everything in jeopardy.
For all that, some of the girls in the house were total drama queens. And some were too stuck up to talk to me or treat me as anything but subservient. And the house as a whole had a rep for being snooty and snotty. Most of them treated me like a brother. They'd become like family to me. All the family I had for now. Too much to risk. I had to harden my heart against Alexis. It was the only way.
Alexis
On Wednesday when I arrived in class, Zach was already seated. All the desks around him were completely filled with girls. Geeds. Indie-music-loving girls who laughed as he flirted easily with them. His message was clear—stay away. He could get a girl who didn't come with complications.
The problem was that whenever I saw him, my heart beat faster and I felt a smile blooming.
Lingering after class, waiting to walk back with him, would have seemed desperate. I would have swallowed my pride and done it anyway, except I had to get back to the house to prepare for our open house that evening. I caught up with Emily in our room after our pledge class had finished decorating the house and dinner was over. We stood in our bras and panties, trying to decide what to wear, tossing dresses and discarded choices on our bed.
Our door was open. A pledge named Sarah and her roommate Katie knocked on the doorframe. "What are you girls wearing to the meat market tonight? Let's all coordinate."
"The meat market?" Laurel, the other live-in pledge, was walking by.
Zach was a good enough actor to fool her. Morgan smiled. "Not another overeager academic achiever! She'll ruin our reputation." She laughed like that was an insult.
"Someone has to keep the house GPA high enough to keep you off suspension," Zach said.
"Too bad houseboys' grades don't count." Morgan's gaze lingered on him. "Don't let it happen again," she said as I brushed past her.
"It won't." I shot a hurt look at Zach. "I promise."
Her laughter echoed down the hall as I left.
Chapter Eight
Zach
I almost lost my head and spilled everything to Alexis. There was something about her that made me want to trust her. But girls like her didn't fall for guys like me. Not guys with a past and family like mine.
It was bullshit, really. On the surface, I wasn't someone any normal parents would object to. Not even Double Deltsie parents. Not if I wasn't a houseboy. I got good grades. Didn't get into any more trouble than was usual for a guy my age. My parents were firmly upper middle class. Some of the girls would be surprised at how well off they were, given how cash strapped I always was. From the outside, it looked almost like I rebelliously insisted on living the servant life.
It was all the crap you couldn't see. All the stuff we'd spent my lifetime hiding and all the resentment it caused. Those were the deal breakers.
Alexis was normal, completely normal with a happy childhood and parents who doted on her. Maybe too much, but who was I to judge? Too much was better than not at all. She didn't need my shit messing it up.
I was still stunned that I had come so close to confiding in her. I blamed the music and the sexual tension that charged the air whenever Alexis came around. I cursed fate for throwing her in my path. But then, that was nothing new. I cursed fate a lot for what it had thrown at me. I'd learned early that life wasn't fair. You had to find a way to deal with it and even the odds.
Alexis frightened me for the way she made me feel. Or could if I let her. She was the first girl I'd known that made me even consider doing something different, finding another job and way to get by. The problem was, I wasn't ready to give up living in the house for a girl I'd just met and barely knew. And the simple act of getting to know her better would put everything in jeopardy.
For all that, some of the girls in the house were total drama queens. And some were too stuck up to talk to me or treat me as anything but subservient. And the house as a whole had a rep for being snooty and snotty. Most of them treated me like a brother. They'd become like family to me. All the family I had for now. Too much to risk. I had to harden my heart against Alexis. It was the only way.
Alexis
On Wednesday when I arrived in class, Zach was already seated. All the desks around him were completely filled with girls. Geeds. Indie-music-loving girls who laughed as he flirted easily with them. His message was clear—stay away. He could get a girl who didn't come with complications.
The problem was that whenever I saw him, my heart beat faster and I felt a smile blooming.
Lingering after class, waiting to walk back with him, would have seemed desperate. I would have swallowed my pride and done it anyway, except I had to get back to the house to prepare for our open house that evening. I caught up with Emily in our room after our pledge class had finished decorating the house and dinner was over. We stood in our bras and panties, trying to decide what to wear, tossing dresses and discarded choices on our bed.
Our door was open. A pledge named Sarah and her roommate Katie knocked on the doorframe. "What are you girls wearing to the meat market tonight? Let's all coordinate."
"The meat market?" Laurel, the other live-in pledge, was walking by.
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