Author's Note: Thank you to all who are brave enough to continue reading this. I'd love to hear your feedback!
"I think my nipple is infected." Thea muttered quietly, wincing as she readjusted the strap of her bra.
Taking a sip of her punch, Evie eyed the swarm of sisters milling about the room, before glancing at her friend from the corner of her eye. "Thea, I am not going to look at your boob."
"I mean it." Shifting her shoulders awkwardly, Thea grimaced. "There's this crusty crap -."
"Please don't."
"It's kind of this yellowish green color." Her friend went on.
Making a face, Evie glanced down at her cup and quickly placed it on a nearby table. "Then go to the student clinic."
"You know a real friend would take one for the team." Thea whined.
Grimacing, Evie shook her head. "Then you should've made friends with someone who's pre-med."
"Spoil sport." Jabbing Evie in the arm with her obnoxiously pointy elbow.
"Bitch." Rubbing at her arm, Evie glowered up at her friend's smug face. "And that seriously hurt."
"Ladies." Kara's voice came from somewhere behind them, setting Evie's teeth on edge. The last week had been unbearable. It wasn't just her random unsolicited rude comments. Or her passive aggressive behavior that had most the house walking on eggshells. It was Kara's desperation to get herself out of trouble that had taken on a life of its own.
Nothing was good enough. She spent the first day of classes critiquing all the sister's outfits. In Kara's neurotic mind, if the sisters presented themselves on campus as being perfect, it would somehow erase the growing stigma aimed at their house. As if their wardrobe could stop the nasty gossip.
She'd also wagged war on Evie herself. At first Kara had tried to subtly suggest Evie apologize to Grady. To tell him she'd overreacted and had made a hasty decision to break-up. When that didn't work, Kara had gotten dirty. Telling the sisters, it would be Evie's fault if they didn't get future invites from the TeKes for their notorious mixers. It had made a few uncomfortable days, as the girls turned slightly hostile towards her. It took Thea and her sharp tongue to set them straight, but it still hurt that they'd want her to get back with someone because they wanted to party.
"Kara." Putting a fake smile on her face, one that would've made Sookie proud, Evie turned to where Kara was once again glaring at them. It seemed their president was still holding a personal grudge.
"If the two of you are done, I'd like to say a few things before this shitfest of a nightmare starts." The rest of the room grew quiet, no one eager to have the wrath of Kara to come barreling down on them.
"Just a reminder for those who may have forgotten, we're currently under a microscope." Evie sighed silently when Kara flashed a look her way. "This Rush week has to be by the book. That means no dirty rushing. Do not imply that any of these twits have a chance in hell of make it in. No softening them up to accept potential bids. We are going to be as vanilla as it gets. And for the love of god, no spiking the punch tonight."
"So, what are we supposed to do?" One brave soul asked, seeing that none of them had ever participated in a rush that wasn't just a little dirty.
"I don't know Gabi, perhaps try some originality." Kara snapped. "We still have standards, and an image to protect. That means we only allow the right kind of girls in."
By right girls, Kara meant rich girls from influential families. If they didn't fit that mold, then coming from a family with deep southern roots was marginally okay too. That was how she'd gotten her bid. The Stackhouse name went back generations. Gran's house stood on property that had been purchased in the 1800's. There was a time when her family had once been respected, even had a past mayor to brag about. Gran and her love for the past helped Evie secure her spot freshman year.
"But more importantly." Kara looked over the room to make sure everyone was listening. "We cut anyone, no matter how desirable they are, if there are any ties to them and vampires. We can't repair our image if we start handing out bids to undesirables." Kara's gaze moved back to Evie's, and the two girls glared at one another.
πβΩ
There were four stages to Rush week.
Open house, where all the potentials went on a tour of Greek row, visiting perspective sororities. They got a chance to mingle with the sisters. Depending on how many girls wanted to participate, determined how many rounds they had to endure. Each stop lasted anywhere from half an hour to forty-five minutes.
The second round was Evie's least favorite, Skit night. All the sisters had to participate, and usually the skit was regurgitated from previous years. But it gave the house a chance to follow up with the girls who had impressed them the first night.
House tours came next. Kara had commissioned the sophomores to give the tours. The task was relatively simple, leaving the juniors and seniors the job to mingle with the returning prospects.
Last was Pref night. The least tedious, but still bothersome, the sorority invited the chosen few they intended to offer bids to.
Normally, open house was a less formal affair. But due to current affairs, Kara had nearly foamed at the mouth while laying down the ground rules, and appropriate attire. And in Delta Zeta that meant pink. A color Evie was starting to despise. But besides the color, Evie liked the style and soft fabric of her midi dress.
"We're in the middle of open house, and so far, neither one of you bitches have spoken a word to a potential pledge." Eyes on fire, Kara glanced around, making sure she wasn't overheard by anyone before continuing. "You are being the opposite of what I need to have a flawless night."
"We've talked to a few." Thea shrugged. "They're all painfully stupid."
"Of course, they are." Kara fumed. "All freshmen are kind of stupid. But you're going to start mingling. You two are going to be so sugary sweet that every one of these blathering morons gets diabetes. The entire reason for this night is to socialize, to filter through this cesspool until you find me the least annoying little shits in this cluster fuck of incoming fresh meat."
"You know, you were a lot nicer when you were twenty pounds heavier and had acne." Sending Evie an apologetic look, Thea moved across the room to a small crowd of nervous girls.
When Kara turned her stunned look on Evie, she simply shrugged and moved in the opposite direction, only to be stopped by a young red head. "OMG you're the body shot girl."
Taking a startled step back, Evie stared at the other girl's flushed over eager face. "No one actually talks like that."
"I'm from Highland Park, right outside of Dallas." The girl shrugged in the way of an excuse.
From Evie's experience there were three types who typically came to Rush night.
The meek, timid ones, who were desperate to find a place to belong. Alone for the first time, away from their family and home, and feeling the weight of the world bearing down on them. They were trying to make a connection with their peers, and believed they'd find a surrogate family with the Greeks.
Then there were the overly confident, stuck-up types. Once holding the prestigious position in the popular 'it' crowd. They essentially oozed over confidence, as they eyed the competition like vultures.
The worst of the three was the last group. Socially awkward girls who couldn't pick up on a social queue to save their life. They typically vibed nervous energy, that made Evie extremely uncomfortable. But it was their inability to shut up that really made her nerves raw.
Evie was stuck with the last type, and she seriously considered gnawing off her arm for a quick escape.
"You're the one who did the body shot with that vampire." The girl all but gushed, as Evie's eyes flashed open in shock. A quick scan around the room showed no one had overheard. How that was possible, she would never know. To her ears the little eager beaver sounded like a gunshot during Sunday service. "My sister went there once and told me all about how hot the blonde vampire is."
"We really don't talk about it." Evie tried in vain to explain but had a bad feeling her words were falling on deaf ears. "There was a little fallout."
"Oh, I know." The girl nodded, her eyes wide and wild, and Evie started to wonder if she was just a little touched in the head. "But I heard that the sexy bar owner licked you. What was it like?"
"Awkward." Yup, the girl was absolutely batshit, and Evie knew she needed to cut bait and run. She really didn't need a recap of that night. Every second was burned into her brain.
"I heard he barely acknowledges anyone." The girl gushed. "Like ever."
"From your sister, the one who went to the bar once?" Thea came to the rescue, and there was no way Evie could express her gratitude.
Something must have gotten through the rushee's thick skull, because she briefly turned to look at Thea, only to blink a few times before turning her attention back on her. "Maybe he's in love with you. Has he sent flowers? Or done anything romantic?"
Evie shared a look with Thea, then turned back to the other girl. Before Thea could say something that would most likely result in the young girl running off in tears, Evie spoke up. "It was a body shot, on a bar."
To her annoyance, a squeal came out of the girl's mouth. "Maybe someday you'll have his babies."
Barely able to contain the laugh threatening to spill from her lips, Evie swallowed it down when Kara glared their way from across the room. "I don't think it works that way."
"Listen I don't know what you think sorority life is like." Thea said slowly, as if she were talking to a mentally unstable patient. "But that night was a one off. We're more centered around philanthropy. Our house's GPA is one of the highest on campus, and many of our alumni are now running fortune five-hundred companies."
It seemed at last the girl was starting to see that no one was going to feed into her sick vampire fetish, and crestfallen she asked one last question. "Did you give him your number?"
Unable to form a response, Evie spun on her heel and headed for the next group of girls. If Kara wanted fresh meat, then she'd find her some fresh meat. But there was no way in hell she would share a house with someone like that fangirl.
The night hadn't gotten any better. With each group came even more questions, all about the same bar and its apparently extremely popular owner. Word traveled fast, and she hated every single second of it.
Even when she tried to find a few spare minutes to herself from the onslaught of questions, she could hear them whispering. About the infamous body shot, of the attention Eric gave, even about how her hot boyfriend dumped her ass over it.
Grabbing Thea, Evie pulled her friend away from a group and pulled her into the kitchen.
"I can't take much more of this." They said in unison.
"Kara looks ready to combust." Evie sighed, as she hopped up on the counter.
"Yeah, because all these girls want to talk about is the one thing Kara wants to have scrubbed from everybody's heads." Moving to the cupboard, Thea opened a few cabinets until she found a bag of chips.
"Did you know they're calling me the body shot girl?"
"That's what got you upset?" Thea looked over her shoulder and frowned. "I thought you'd be more upset that Grady's been telling everyone he dumped you because you slutted it up with a vampire."
"He's not really taking the break-up well." Tilting her head, Evie was mildly surprised that she could barely bring herself to care how Grady was handling their split. It hadn't taken long after leaving the library to start spreading vicious lies about her. Or if word on Greek row was right, with a little help from Jack he'd been working his way through the underclassmen like a man on a mission.
The only thing that made her feel sad, was how little it had taken for him to become the type of frat boy he once looked down on.
"Grady can say whatever he wants." Evie finally said. "I just hate being the center of attention."
"Don't sweat it." Popping a chip in her mouth, Thea wiped her fingers on a nearby dish towel. "Next week one of the Phi Mu's will undoubtfully do something amazingly stupid, its practically stamped into their DNA to do dumb shit. Then all this body shot talk will die down, and life will go on as usual."
"You promise?" Evie shot her friend a look.
"Nope." Thea smirked. "But if we don't get back in there, I'm pretty sure Kara's head is going to spin, right before she starts puking up feathers."
With a groan, Evie tilted her head back. "Do we have to? This is worse than the last two years combined."
"One hour to go princess." Dropping the bag of chips down, Thea moved over to join her. Evie let her pull her off the counter. "At least that's one good thing about this new curfew."
Ωβπ
The night came to a lackluster end when Kara kicked the last girl out the door and muttered something about getting sloppy drunk and not to disturb her. She'd stomped her way up the stairs, as the sisters did their best to avoid her.
"I just feel the sisterly love." Thea muttered as she looked down her top and looked a little uneasy. "I need to go see about a painful nipple."
"Go have fun with that." Evie winced. "I need some fresh air."
"Please tell me you aren't going for a run now?" With a raised brow, Thea checked her watch. "There's only thirty minutes until curfew."
"I'm just going to the backyard." She'd rather go for a run, but Thea was right, there wasn't enough time for that now.
"I'll never understand you country girls and the outdoors." Shaking her head, Thea gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before rushing up to their room.
Slipping out the back door, Evie kicked off her shoes and sighed. Nights were her favorite time of the day. Everything seemed so calm when the sun dipped down below the horizon. The quiet seemed to be as endless as the dark.
Some of her best memories happened at nighttime. Catching fireflies with Sookie and Jason when they were all younger, running around the large yard surrounding the ancient farmhouse. Sitting on the porch swing with Gran after dinner, talking about the day but mostly not talking at all as they both enjoyed the silence. Laying on her back on the itchy grass as she stared up at the stars, trying to wrap her mind around how she'd been accepted into LSUS. Wondering what her future would bring.
The chirping sound of crickets filled the night, and she stepped off the cement path. The freshly cut lawn beneath her feet felt amazing, after a night of being shoved into uncomfortable heels, and made her way further from the house and the noise from within.
The backyard of the Delta Zeta was her third favorite place on campus. It boasted beautiful gardens, and an honest to god gazebo. But it wasn't just the well-manicured landscape that captured her heart, it was the feeling of solitude that was always an easy balm after a particularly disastrous day.
"Your sister can read minds." The voice came from out of nowhere, startling Evie to the point that a yelp tore from her throat.
Tripping over her own feet, she felt the world tilt as she tried to turn around at the same time her body tried to jump in shock. Just as her face was dangerously close to meeting the ground, a strong pair of hands caught her and set her straight.
"Are you always so clumsy?" Wide eyed, Evie's gaze shot to the humored expression of the last person she ever wanted to see.
"No." It was all she could say, as her feet were quick to put some space between them.
"No, she can't read minds, or no you're not always so clumsy?" Eric's cocked a brow at her, and she kind of wanted to slap the smug expression off his face. Unfortunately, she'd never been the type to go around slapping people, that was in Sookie's bag of tricks.
"You can't be here." Deciding to ignore either question, because god only knew they were both true, Evie went another route and that was the one she played ignorant.
"And yet I am." His voice purred; his face half hidden in shadow.
Looking back up at the house, Evie searched the windows. Most of the lights were on, and she could see many of her sisters going about their night. Thankfully, they were all oblivious to their unwanted visitor in the backyard.
"I mean, I'm going to get in a heap of trouble if I'm caught out here with you."
Looking around, Eric turned his look back at her. "I'm not forcing you to be here."
"So, I can just go back inside?"
Taking a large step to the side, Eric motioned with his hand toward the safety of the house. "The only danger you face is your own clumsiness."
Rolling her eyes, Evie shook her head at his attempt at a sense of humor. But she also wasn't going to be stupid enough to stick around. Careful to keep her distance, she nearly made it to the safety of the concrete patio before his words stopped her.
"Before you scurry off, how much would you say you trust Bill Compton?" He asked.
"I hardly know him."
"But you must be somewhat familiar with him." He looked annoyed that she hadn't given him an answer. "Seeing your sister is . . . socializing with him."
Licking at her lips, Evie decided she really didn't like the way this conversation was headed. "I really don't have an opinion."
"Evie, that's another lie." Eric tsked. "It's a rather simple question. To be honest I already know the answer, I just wanted to hear you say it."
"Maybe you're the one who can read minds." Feeling cornered, Evie let her tongue do the talking, even though it usually got her in trouble.
"Sadly, that is not one of my gifts." He shrugged, but his lips twitched. "Why do you dislike Compton?"
Ice cold dread filled her veins. He'd voiced something that she hadn't had the guts to say in the months her sister had known Bill. Every fiber of her being told her not to trust him. He was only saying what needed to be said to gain the trust of the Stackhouse women. But she'd never been able to succumb to his well-mannered, painfully polite façade.
Evie bit down on her lip wondering if she dared answer his one simple question. Not seeing any reason not to, Evie sighed and eyed the tall blonde before answering. "I think he's a fraud, and I wouldn't trust Bill Compton to stop and piss on me if I were on fire."
Perhaps her words were a tad bit crude. Something her Gran would undoubtedly be ashamed of, but it was the only one she could think of to make her point.
"Well at least you're not stupid." Nodding, he took a small step toward her, that only forced her to take a step back. "Does he really have claim over your sister?"
"Claim?"
"Is she his?"
Remembering Bill's words from the previous week, and then her sister's admission the next morning, Evie pondered the question for a moment. To be honest, she really had no idea what it meant when Bill had claimed Sookie as his. It hadn't sounded overly romantic, like he had some emotional attachment to her. Instead, Evie felt as though Bill were referring to Sookie as belonging to him, like he would claim his mundane sedan he drove as his.
But other than knowing vampires existed, she knew little else of their ways. Bill had said something about Eric being a Sheriff, which made her think they had some sort of order. To be fair, Bill really hadn't inspired her to lean much about his life, or his lifestyle.
From the moment Sookie had introduced her to him, Evie couldn't help but compare him to one of those old fashioned snake oil peddlers who sold scam medicine but knew how to charm small town people into believing him. At least when he wanted to. Her gut told her he couldn't be trusted, and the more she learned about their neighbor, the more she relied on her intuition.
Right now, her gut was telling her to proceed with caution. Her knowledge of vampires might be limited, but one thing she knew for certain, not all vampires were created equal. And from where she stood, there was little doubt who was more dangerous.
Obviously, it was the blonde who was still waiting to be answered.
Evie had felt the shared animosity between Bill and Eric. There was no friendship between the two, probably never was, but there was more to it.
It was also clear Eric wasn't here on a social call. He wouldn't have given her a second thought, if she didn't possess information, he hadn't been able to acquire elsewhere.
"Yes." Telling herself she wasn't exactly lying; Bill probably was delusional enough to believe he had rights to her sister. "Bill has a claim on Sookie."
"That is rather unfortunate." He replied more to himself than to her. Raising his eyes up, Evie swore she could almost see the gears turning inside his head. It was as though he were figuring out some intricate puzzle, and she was hoarding all the pieces. "How did they meet?"
Not entirely sure he had missed her reluctance to talk about her sister, or more probable he just didn't care she hadn't been a fountain of information; Evie was careful to keep space between them. She hadn't forgotten how quickly he had been able to close the distance between them the other night in the alley, or that he'd had her gathered up against his body and had them in the air.
She also hadn't forgotten how she'd yacked in a bush.
"Does it matter how they met?" Trying to figure out his angle, Evie stared at him from beneath her lashes.
He gave sent her an exasperated look. "I wouldn't ask if it didn't matter."
"Is my sister in some kind of danger?" She could tell he hadn't been expecting her question. "Or are you asking all these questions because you want Sookie for yourself?"
He was obviously not expecting her to ask that.
He stared at her for a moment before frowning. "To have a mind reader in my arsenal would be rather convenient."
"So, if she wasn't Bill's, then what?" Equally intrigued and irritated, Evie tilted her head, studying Eric's facial expression. She'd noticed he was pretty good at keeping his emotions to himself. Every once in awhile something would slip through. But now, his face was a clean slate. "Would she be up for grabs or something? Like a Sookie free-for-all."
"Are you jealous?" His tone was humored.
"Nope." Evie shook her head. The last thing she needed in her life was to be in a vampire tug-of-war. Even if one of the vampires looked like an underwear model with his handsome face and shoulder length blonde hair "I'm still dealing with the fallout from last week."
"Ah." He nodded. "Yes, I too am still dealing with the fallout from last week. I had yet another illuminating meeting with some sweaty bald administrator from you school. They seem to be under the impression I care about their request to ban their students entry to my bar."
That did not surprise her. The same short older man showed up at their house days after the 'incident'. He'd stressed how he and the rest of the administration felt they were too young and impressionable to be associating with vampires. That even though the school hadn't exactly put Fangtasia off limits, like Nationals did, there was talk about passing a ban.
"What about the police?"
He gave her a look, one that clearly said that wasn't any of her business. He wasn't wrong. And she was left a little dazed with why she would even ask. Or why she was still standing in the backyard, talking to him.
"I won't lie, your sister has intrigued me." His words were clipped, irritated. But he kept his feelings from reaching his face. "More specifically, her ability to know about the raid before it even happened."
She had nothing to say to that, so Evie kept her mouth shut.
"Evie?" Thea' called out from just inside the door. "It's after curfew, do you seriously want Kara to have an aneurysm?"
Looking toward the house, Evie saw that Thea had already changed into her pajamas and was standing in the doorway.
"I'll be in, in a sec." She called out.
Turning back around, she blinked when she found she was alone.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Evie knew she'd been lucky no one had seen her out here with Eric. That would've been like dousing gasoline on a five alarm fire. But the relief faded, as dread knotted in her stomach. She doubted this would be the last visit from Eric, not if his questions went unanswered.
And speaking of unanswered questions, she had a one of her own.
He never did say if Sookie was in danger.