False Start - Jessica Ruddick Page 0,19

any friends who are girls?”

I frowned. “Besides you?” I had to think. I considered Rachel my friend, but she’d only gained that status because she was dating Jake. I also considered Katie a friend for the same reason. But there was no one else. I wasn’t the type of guy who was friends with girls. I was too busy sleeping with them.

God, I’m a dick. At least I was an honest dick, though.

“Just stick to your friends,” she instructed. “Usually the girls you associate with aren’t too fond of me.”

My frown deepened. “What do you mean?”

She stared at me like I should be able to figure it out on my own. “It’s just a vibe I get.”

It was true that whenever I was with a girl and Ziz was around, the girls seemed to get annoyed. But that was their problem, not mine. I wouldn’t apologize for my friendship with Zizzo.

I grinned. “Is it okay if I call you Queen Ziz?”

“It very much is not.”

Damn.

CHAPTER 5

Becca

I USHERED THE last of the freshman girls out of the room, declining their offer to help clean up after the pizza party. There wasn’t much to do, but besides that, I was done peopling. I was introverted to my core, and meeting new people—even ones cut from the same cloth as me—wore me out.

Given how tired I was after this one event, I was seriously second-guessing my decision to apply for homecoming court. I didn’t know exactly what it entailed, but I imagined it involved meeting lots of people and maybe campaigning. I couldn’t back out now, though. Hanima had already announced it to the incoming freshman WIE members, and I had to admit that it had been gratifying to see how excited they were. More than that, though, it made me happy that I would be raising money for a good cause.

Hanima was gathering the used paper plates. “Are there any more trash bags?”

“Here.” Nicole handed her one then peeked inside a pizza box. “Man, we have an entire pizza left. Cold pizza for breakfast. Yum.”

I wrinkled my nose. Gross. If pizza was meant to be eaten cold, the pizza places would deliver it that way.

Courtney tossed the paper towel she’d been using to wipe the tables into the trash. “I hate to leave you with the mess, but is it okay if I go? I have an assignment due tomorrow.” She had arrived an hour before us to get everything set up.

“We got this,” I told her. “See you later.”

“Don’t forget the court application is due tomorrow.” Throwing her bag over her shoulder, Courtney gave me a stern look.

“I already said I’d do it.”

“I know.” She sounded skeptical, which was probably why she and Hanima had made the announcement only seconds after I confirmed I would do it—they didn’t want to leave me any time to back out. They should know me better than that. Once I said I would do something, I followed through.

Though I could understand my friends’ surprise when I’d agreed. Being on the homecoming court would put me way out of my comfort zone. The thought of walking on the field in front of thousands of people made my palms slick. But there was no point worrying yet. Chances were I wouldn’t make it past the application phase. Part of me was hoping for that. It would only be a mild embarrassment since the only people who knew I was applying were my friends, the freshman WIE girls, and Carson.

Ugh, Carson.

His reaction had been the final push I’d needed. It was the equivalent of a dare. He didn’t think I could or should do it, so I wanted to prove him wrong. I might not play sports anymore, but I was still competitive.

It irked me that he found it so unfathomable that I could be on the homecoming court. It shouldn’t, though, because he’d been right—I normally wasn’t into girly things like that. Maybe if I were, he wouldn’t see me as one of the guys. That wasn’t the reason I’d decided to give it a go, though. Nope. I simply wanted to prove him wrong.

Oh, and I wanted to raise money for girls in STEM. That was important too.

I was still thinking about everything when I got home an hour later. My roommate, Lucy, was in the living room when I walked in. She and I were total opposites, which was why we worked. The musical theater major was a refreshing departure from the engineering majors I