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My gut sinks. “Oh.”
Our luck really ran out this time.
“I mentioned I’m really sorry, right?” Jenna asks.
“I’ll be right there.”
“Because I’m, like... really sorry.”
I hang up as a rock forms in my throat. We should have come clean sooner. I knew we should have, but the taste of the forbidden was just too sweet. For both of us.
I shake it off as a rush of adrenaline tingles my fingertips.
I need to go save my boyfriend.
From my brother.
* * *
I hear the chanting before I even reach Greek Row.
People have surrounded the Delta Xi house. They’ve practically blocked the street. I try to squeeze through them, my ears throbbing with the loud chants of Delta Xi.
“Heidi!”
I spot Jenna on the curb across from the house, bouncing up and down and waving her hands to get my attention. A stubborn gaggle of Beta Kappa girls block my path, so I plow through them to get to her.
“What’s going on?” I ask. “Where is Drew?”
Jenna points. “Over there,” she shouts. “On the lawn.”
Laughter and applause rise from the center of the circular crowd.
What are they doing to him?
Jenna hooks my arm and charges forward, butting elbows and forcing people aside to get me through. As we inch across the street, my mind comes up with worst-case scenarios and my heart aches even more. Are they hurting him? Are they making him go through some horrible hazing ritual?
We stop at the front of the crowd.
Drew.
He’s kneeling in a plastic children’s pool, surrounded by water and soil. He’s holding his arms out to the side with a few leaves in each hand, his skin painted green with body paint. They smeared his face with red paint, too.
There’s a sign around his neck; wild scribbles with black ink.
I betrayed my brother.
Seth sits beside him in a lawn chair, smiling gleefully and looking oh-so-damn proud of himself as he urges on the crowd.
I spot Brick standing on the porch, watching over everything, not doing a damn thing to stop this crap.
“Brick!” I stomp up to the porch.
His eyes flick in my direction. “Stampy,” he greets me.
I stop on the stairs with Jenna. “What’s going on? Why are you doing this to him?”
He looks forward, big and proud. “Any Delta Xi man who breaks Delta Xi law will be punished to the full extent of Delta Xi law.”
