“Makes my head spin.”
Another laugh from me. “We can get into it later. But yeah, for me, meeting her, and then a few other girls in this sorority… I just felt like I was home. I was torn, actually, on the night before bid day, and I talked to a girl down by the reflection pond who helped me pick. Come to find out, she was a KKB sister, too.” I paused. “And she became my Big.”
Tera smiles, but then the light goes out in her eyes, gaze falling to her shoes. “What if you don’t fit in anywhere?”
I tilt my head. “Is that how you feel?”
She nods. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not like the girl who has no friends. I have a lot, actually.” She pauses. “Had. Back home. But I don’t know, I’m… different. I like anime, and romance books, and video games and cosplay.” She clears her throat, smoothing her hands over the shorts of her romper. “And look at me. I look like I ate three of your sisters before I came in here.”
My heart lurches into my throat, and I instantly want to reach for her, to pet her arm and say she’s gorgeous, and that her size was the last thing I noticed about her. But I can tell just from this small interaction that Tera doesn’t trust easily, doesn’t open easily, and I want her to feel safe with me — not like I pity her, especially since from what I can see, there’s nothing to pity.
She’s a badass. I can sense it.
“Cosplay, huh?” I decide on. “What exactly does that mean?”
She laughs uncomfortably, grabbing the back of her neck. “It’s really nerdy.”
“Stop that. I bet it’s cool if you love it so much.”
She shrugs. “I mean, I think it’s cool.”
“And you have a whole slew of friends who do, too, right?”
She nods. “We dress up like our favorite characters from movies, or books, or video games or shows.”
“Wow! Like, costumes?”
“Yes, but way more intense. I mean, especially for conventions and stuff, we go all out. I’m talking chopping our hair off, or growing it out for years to get a specific look, spending thousands of dollars on fabric and supplies to make our costumes.”
“So you’re not just buying them online or something?”
“God, no,” she says, brows furrowing with the offense.
I chuckle. “Sounds like I have a lot to learn. Do you have any pictures of you dressed up?”
Tera bites her lip, like she’s deciding if she can trust me, but in the end, she pulls out her phone and taps until there’s an image so striking it makes me gasp.
I grab the phone out of her hand, pulling it closer and zooming in to inspect the intricate design of the fire-engine red costume. It’s skin-tight, leather-like and hugging every curve she has. Paired with the badass thigh-high boots and her bright red hair — which I can’t tell if it’s is a wig or her actual hair dyed that color — she looks like a completely different person.
“Bitch!” I say without thinking, but she laughs, so I take it as permission. “Get out of here with that I can’t do makeup shit. Look at you! This is incredible!”
“I was Asuka Langley Soryu. She’s an anime character.”
“She’s iconic,” I correct, handing her phone back to her. “And so are you.”
The smile she’s wearing now is her most genuine once since she walked in the room, but with a shout from below and a music cue, I know it’s time to start walking her out.
I sigh, standing. “There’s never enough time during these things.”
“It’s time to go already?”
“Afraid so,” I answer as she stands to join me. “But I really hope I’ll see you back here tomorrow. I’d love to get to know you better.”
She smiles, her mesmerizing eyes flicking back and forth between mine. “I’d like that, too.”
We link arms and walk downstairs, chatting a little until the music is too loud to do much other than smile and wave goodbye.
And when the doors shut, my sisters excitedly filling into the kitchen for lunch, I run around the house until I find Skyler, nearly toppling into her once I finally do.
“Whoa, whoa!” she says, catching my arms as we both find our balance. She laughs. “Slow down there, killer.”
“I think I just met my Little.”
Her mouth pops open at that, and her eyes search mine for a moment before her lips meet again and spread into a knowing smile.
“Tell me everything.”
I’M USED TO THE way lonely feels.
Growing up, I was an outcast, a nerd, the girl who hung out with her poor family and didn’t have more than a handful of friends — if you could even call them that. When I wasn’t playing poker with my parents, I was studying or coloring or listening to music in my room. Sometimes I would ride my bike around town by myself, just listening to the wind breezing through my hair.