Notes: Thank you for the positive feedback! I love reading y'all's reviews.
Disclaimer: All characters are property of Lisi Harrison. All mentioned organizations are fictional. Inspiration for this chapter was taken from Kate Brian's Private novels.
She'd never quite had a welcome like this before.
Nana and Granddad stood at the front of the arrivals gate, clutching a big sign bearing the message, "Welcome home, Massie!" Nana, perfectly coiffed as usual, looked as spry as ever, and Granddad's smile reached all the way to his bright blue eyes. He held a giant bag of Three Musketeers in his free hand, a throwback to the Christmases where he and Massie would go through a whole box of the chocolate bars in one sitting.
Then, there was Kristen. After a year and a half, the dirty blonde still hadn't changed: her blue eyes were still bright, her hair fell down to her shoulders in curly waves, and her toned arms and legs were pumping as she ran full speed towards Massie, scooping her up in a hug.
"Kris," Massie managed to choke out, her amber eyes swimming with happy tears.
"Mass," Kristen shrieked. "I can't believe you're really, actually here!" The girls broke apart and Massie got a good view of the other people who had come to greet her at the Westchester County Airport.
Even though she'd never met any of them in her life, she could name each person: Dylan was the rosy-cheeked redhead with the bright emerald green eyes, sucking down a milkshake from Chik-fil-a; Claire was pale, slender girl with an alluring smile, big navy eyes, and brown-blonde hair piled on top of her head, eating Sour Patch Straws; Chris Plovert was the tall blonde with piercing blue eyes; Kemp had the build of a linebacker and a goofy grin; Josh was tall, dark, and handsome personified; Derrick was the kid with tousled brown hair hanging towards the back.
Massie was rarely one to let guys fluster her. But there was just something about Derrick Harrington that made her breath catch in her throat. She had seen him before in pictures that Kristen had sent her, but in real life, everything about him was so much sharper and focused: the way his shaggy hair fell into his wide brown eyes, the freckles across the bridge of his nose, his lean build, and his laid back demeanor. It all hit Massie with the force of a full-blown crush before she'd even said two words to the guy.
"Massie, darling, we can't even begin to say how happy we are that you decided to move up here," her Nana gushed, pulling Massie into a firm hug.
"Glad you made it up safe, kid," her Granddad said, handing her the bag of candy.
"Granddad!" Massie squealed, feeling a lot like her 7-year-old self as she was enveloped into yet another hug. She pulled away to find herself face-to-face with Claire.
"Hi, I'm Massie, but you probably already knew that," Massie introduced herself. Claire reached out to shake Massie's hand. There was something about the way that Claire carried herself that made Massie think that Claire was the bitch in charge around here.
"I'm Claire Lyons. It's nice to finally meet you," Claire said, giving Massie a genuine smile. "This is Dylan Marvil, whose mom, Merri-Lee, does the news with your granddad. And these dorks are Chris Plovert, Josh Hotz, Kemp Hurley, and Derrick Harrington." Each person waved as Claire said their names, except for Dylan, who gave a loud burp.
"Niiiiiiiiice," Chris chuckled, extending his palm for a congratulatory high five. Claire rolled her eyes while a laughing Dylan high-fived him. Out of the corner of Massie's eye, she spotted a skinny boy with dark brown hair and green eyes rushing towards the group.
"Oh, and this is Cam Fisher," Claire greeted Cam with a loving glance. "My boyfriend of 3 years." Claire shot Massie a look, pausing to see how this sunk in. The girl's glare clearly said he's mine. Massie narrowed her eyes in return. She perfectly understood boundaries and when not to cross them.
"Massie," Nana said, bringing her granddaughter's attention back to her. "We've got to leave now if we want to avoid the traffic. You'll have plenty of time to talk to your new friends later, okay?" Massie nodded and turned back for one last hug from Kristen.
"I'll come over to help you unpack later, kay?" Kristen said. Massie nodded. As happy as she was, she couldn't help but feel exhausted.
As she walked away with her grandparents, Massie looked back for another glance at her new friends. She saw Dylan and Josh flirting heavily and Kemp, Chris, and Kristen laughing and pushing each other around. But what really caught her eye was Derrick and Cam staring at her as she left.
She most certainly was not in Orlando anymore.
-x-
Kristen arrived to help Massie unpack nearly two hours later with Derrick and Cam in tow. As interested as she was in getting to know the boys, all she really wanted to do was flop on her new bed while Kristen put away her sweatshirts and caught her up about life.
"Hey, I'm Cam," the green-eyed boy announced as he burst through Massie's grandparent's front door, shaking his dark bangs out of his zit-free face. If he hadn't been taken, Massie might have been crushing on him as well.
Derrick pushed past Cam and stood directly in front of Massie. "Got any food?" he mumbled.
"Way to invite yourself in," she giggled. "The pantry is that way." Cam and Derrick nearly tripped over themselves as they scrambled towards the roomy kitchen. Kristen trudged in last.
"Sorry that they came too," she apologized. "We've all known each other since we were potty-trained. So I kinda had to bring them. Plus they've been dying to talk to you."
Massie grinned. "Oh, I don't mind." Kristen shot her a knowing look. Massie rolled her eyes and dragged Kristen upstairs.
Kristen's light blue eyes widened at the sight of Massie's luggage: three blue footlockers, a giant black wheelie suitcase, a huge duffel bag, one Lilly Pulitzer gym bag, and her Lilly carry-on.
"Mom would take me shopping when I got too depressed," Massie explained. "Retail therapy and all that. Is it lame that it actually kind of worked?"
"Holy crap," Cam gasped as he and Derrick arrived in Massie's new bedroom, licking fudgesicles and apprehensively eyeing Massie's seven pieces of luggage.
"Don't you dare drip chocolate on my new rug," Massie snapped, glaring at the chocolate stains accumulating around Derrick's mouth. He grinned back at her. Massie tried desperately not to think about her heart, which was beating at a ridiculous frequency.
"Hey, she should come to Claire's Friday night sleepovers," Cam suggested while Kristen and Massie began pulling out clothes and stuffing them in dressers, closets and under the bed.
Derrick grabbed a lacy purple thong of Massie's and stuck it on his head. "Hey, yeah, you should! It'd be fun!"
Kristen slapped him upside the head and yanked the thong off of his head. "That's for Claire to decide."
Massie looked up, her light brown brows crinkled. "Is New York really as exclusive, East Coast, Ivy League, I've-got-a-silver-spoon-up-my-ass as I thought it was?" she asked. Cam, Derrick, and Kristen burst out laughing, but in a knowing way.
"To be honest, yes, it is," Cam explained. "Everything here is super exclusive, from getting into private school to Claire's Friday night sleepovers to the Legacy." Derrick punched Cam in the arm and Kristen reached out a hand to slap his head.
"What?" Cam whined, rubbing his arm. "Oh…"
Massie's eyes narrowed with suspicion. Kristen's emails had outlined nearly every aspect of life in Westchester, but the Legacy had gone unmentioned.
"I really don't know if I can explain it to you," Kristen said sheepishly. "My pledge chair would kill me if she knew I was telling a potential about how it all works."
"Don't be vague, she's your best friend," Cam snapped. "So basically, there's this party—"
"It's not a party," Derrick cut Cam off as he tossed a couple of t-shirts into Massie's closet. "It's the party."
"Guys!" Kristen hissed. "Do you really not give a shit what your pledge master will do when he finds out what you're telling her?"
"Our pledge master is Cam's older brother," Derrick retorted. "Chill. And besides, Massie's dad was on Scout Team."
"Would someone like to explain what any of this means?" Massie asked, her voice rising louder than she had intended.
"So the Westchester high schools are pretty notorious for having sororities and fraternities," Kristen explained. "At Briarwood there's the Jets and the Dolls, at Rye there's the Debs and the Bones, the list goes on and on. At OCD we have Tri-Theta and Scout Team. At the beginning of freshman year at OCD, if you have family in the Westchester area that's gone back at least three generations, you'll get tapped by Tri-Theta or Scout Team, depending on your gender. The organization then rushes you and sees how you party and how well you keep up your grades. Unless you're a real fuckup, they give you an acceptance letter and you begin pledging. We get initiated in February, just in time for the Legacy in March, which is this huge party exclusive to Westchester sororities and fraternities."
"Each year, the Legacy is hosted by a different sorority, and Tri-Theta is planning it this year," Derrick said.
"If your legacy line is long enough, you get to take a non-frat plus-one to the Legacy," Cam added.
"But the non-frat date has to be approved by the party host," Kristen said.
"So this is a party I won't be able to get into, clearly," Massie sighed.
"Not necessarily," Derrick said. "I flipped through the rush handbook while we were waiting at the airport. To qualify to be tapped, you have to have a parent or grandparent who was previously in a Westchester fraternity or sorority. It doesn't specify which parent. So even though Massie's mom wasn't a Tri-Theta or a Deb or whatever, her dad was on Scout Team. So she could go through deferred rush."
"Derrick Harrington, you are a genius," Kristen declared, immediately reaching for her phone.
"I don't know if that's for me," Massie murmured. She had spent enough time around sorority girls in Florida to know better than to get mixed up in a high school version.
"Trust me, it is," Cam said.
"I just texted Leticia Rivera," Kristen announced. "She's going to double-check the rush handbook and then get in touch with our rush chair. You may as well tag along with me to the next pledge meeting because you're practically in."
"Rivera?" Massie asked. "Like Alicia Rivera from your emails? The dumb girl?"
Derrick and Cam burst out laughing. Kristen just gave Massie a sad smile.
"Leticia is the president of Tri-Theta, and Alicia is her younger sister," Kristen said. "And Alicia hangs out exclusively with Olivia Ryan, who's the leader of our pledge class. Which means if you want your acceptance, you're going to have to get on their good side. And that is so, so much easier said than done."