walk. The room is spinning.”
Silence.
The sound of violent vomiting made my entire body cringe and the hairs across my arms stand on end.
“Holly!” I yelled into the phone, my voice echoing up the dark street and making a couple of people walking practically leap out of their shoes.
I held my breath for a second, releasing it when I heard her voice again. “Ave, please, I don’t know what to do.”
Fuck.
“Where are you?”
“Upstairs. Bathroom.” The tears in her voice almost broke me, and I could feel my own start to burn at my throat.
“I’m coming,” I assured her, trying to cover the way my voice cracked with emotion. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“Okay.” She sniffled as I grabbed the door handle to the car and ripped it open like I was the Hulk.
“I need to change the address,” I told the driver urgently, my heart in my throat as I dove headfirst into the back seat. “Can you take me to Beta Beta’s frat house?”
My foot tapped nervously against the floor as we cruised the streets. Since I was still on campus, the frat house wasn’t far from the library, given Greek Row bordered the school’s edge. The traffic seemed to be moving extra slow—Friday night, people heading out, probably to Empire, where I should be starting my shift in less than twenty minutes.
I shot a text to Meyah, letting her know I’d be running late, and that something urgent had come up.
I knew she’d understand.
I never missed a shift.
I’d even come in on days that other girls had bailed, in the middle of exams, and studied during the quiet moments and while I made drinks. I never half-assed anything. If I said I would do something, it would be done, and it would be done to the best of my ability.
Maybe that made me an overachiever.
Then again, maybe I was determined to make something of a life I learned a long time ago wasn’t promised to us.
Maybe I was determined to have something left to hold on to when I lost everything else. Everyone else.
The Uber pulled up to the curb, the heavy music already making it feel like the car’s windows were bending and shaking with the vibrations moving through the air. I took a deep breath, praying for strength, knowing I was probably about to make a scene.
But hey, what’s new?
I knew I had to get in there.
Find her.
Then get the both of us out.
“Thanks,” I called, throwing my backpack over my shoulders before sucking in a deep breath and making a run for the side of the building, avoiding the front. Beta Beta was Cooper’s frat house, and since meeting him briefly the other day, it was clear we didn’t exactly see eye to eye.
It was a trust fund fraternity for fuck boys like him, who were the exact reason I chose the club.
Being a club girl—my duty was to the men there.
Keyword—men.
No dating outside.
No parties without permission.
Both things frat boys couldn’t understand because their entitled, arrogant, rich-boy attitudes vehemently denied there were any women at this college who didn’t want to spend their weekends getting drunk and fucking them.
Wrong again.
I slipped in a side door, carefully sliding past three couples who looked like they could seriously use a bedroom or something. There was smoke in the air, fruity smelling, letting me know it was coming from vaping, not cigarettes.
“It just gets better and better,” I choked, finally making it through the thick crowd of drunks to the upstairs bathroom and slamming my fist against it. “Holly!”
I held my breath.
Please still be breathing.
Please still be breathing.
“Avery?” she slurred my name, her voice so quiet I was lucky I caught it in between the pause of the music. A second later, the lock flicked, and I said a silent prayer, turning the handle and pushing softly, not knowing how close she was.
“Fuck.” I dropped to my knees and scooted across the floor, shoving the door closed with my foot as I scrambled toward Holly’s limp form. “What the hell have you taken?” I whispered, pressing my palm to her cheek and stroking away the fresh tears that were falling.
Her body was struggling, her breathing unnatural and unnerving.
What the hell did I do?
I couldn’t carry her.
Did I call the police?
Campus security?
Letting out a groan, I pinched the bridge of my nose, knowing exactly who I needed to call, and exactly how much shit I was going to get into because of it. But I couldn’t just sit here