If only dating were so lovely.

When I’m a few girls away from picking up my own match, I spot a potential new member on the other side.

Chewing her fingernails down to the nubs.

Her slicked-black hair is styled in two adorable space buns, a pair of oversized glasses slipping down her nose before she pushes them up and goes right back to chewing her thumb nail. She’s wearing the cutest romper I’ve ever seen, navy blue with a white and yellow floral design and a small gap showing the pale skin between her breasts and her belly button. It takes confidence to put on an outfit like that, and yet she looks like she’s ready to bolt at any second.

She doesn’t look up at me when it’s our turn, not until I step halfway out of the house and extend my hand for hers.

“Hi!” I say cheerily. “I’m Cassie. Welcome to KKB. I know it’s a little loud right now, let’s go inside and find somewhere we can talk.”

Her eyes are a cloudy river, blue and green swirling together inside an iris lined with a thick, navy blue rim. They stun me so much I have a hard time not gasping and commenting on them right away. Instead, I hold out my arm for her to link with mine, and she does so hesitantly before following me back down the hallway.

I’m supposed to lead her to a corner in the main dining room, where we’ll scream over the rest of the conversations happening in the house and strain to hear one another. But I’m already hoarse from the day before, and I can tell just by looking at her that this girl would appreciate some quiet. So, I lead her upstairs and back to my room.

“Whew,” I say when we’re inside, leaving the door open so we can still hear everything going on downstairs. “It’s a little crazy out there, huh?”

She nods emphatically, her eyes growing a bit wider as she folds her hands in front of her waist.

“Sorry, it’s kind of a mess up here,” I say, looking around at the rogue hair extensions and makeup and clothing tossed this way and that. “During Rush, we open up our rooms to everyone — even if they don’t live in the house. And with seventy-six of us getting ready every morning, there’s not much time to clean up after.”

She smiles. “This is your room?”

I nod. “It is. I have a roommate, Lindsey, who rushed last semester. She’s really sweet. And my Big is the president, the one who greeted you before you came in. Her room is right down the hall.”

The girl’s eyes go wide. “Wow. That’s so cool.”

I smile. “What’s your name?”

“Tera,” she says. “Tera Rosebaum.”

“Nice to meet you, Tera. I’m Cassie, in case you couldn’t hear me downstairs. How’s Rush going so far?” I grab my desk chair and pull it over to Lindsey’s, sliding that one out for Tera to have a seat.

She hesitates at first, but when she finally sits down, I don’t miss the relief she feels to no longer be standing in her wedges. “It’s… going.”

I laugh. “Kind of overwhelming, isn’t it?”

“That’s an understatement,” she says, wincing a little as she rolls her ankles. “To be honest… I kind of feel out of my element here. All the hair and makeup, the dresses, the heels, the screaming, the music… it’s a lot.”

I nod, remembering all too well how it felt to be on that side of it. “I had those same thoughts when I rushed. I remember thinking to myself that I was among a bunch of walking, talking Barbies.”

“Oh, my God. That’s exactly what it is!”

“Like how did all these girls learn how to do makeup like this?”

“I can barely keep up with mascara and lip gloss.”

“You should see me try to contour. Hideous. Like a clown.”

Tera giggles, relaxing a little more in her seat. “How did you get over that initial discomfort?”

I sigh, looking to the side as I try to recall who I’d been at that time in my life. It feels so long ago now that it takes a lot of effort.

“Well, for me, it took meeting the right girls. Some of the houses I went to, I could just tell I wouldn’t fit in. It was nothing against them, I just didn’t feel that connection, that spark, you know? But when I came to KKB, I met a girl named Erin.” I smile at the memory. “I didn’t know it then, but one day, she’d be my GrandBig.”

“Your what?”

I chuckle. “It’s kind of like your family within the family of the sisterhood as a whole. After you Rush, a girl in our sorority will pick you for her Little, and you have to pick her for your Big, in return. Then you’re part of a line. So, Erin was my Big’s Big.”

Tags: Kandi Steiner Romance
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