Page 46 of Tell Me I'm Enough

They head off, leaving the rest of us to take over and finish everything ourselves. That’s when Joy—Gamma’s VP—walks up in her yellow thigh-length sundress and perfect confidence. She’s got that sorority leader look—friendly but firm, smiling but also a little distracted, thinking about the ten other things she needs to get done.

She crosses her arms and looks around. “Alright, boys, I’ve got some of our new pledges here to help you out before the mixer starts.”

Tank grins. “By help, do you mean—”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Joy says, cutting him off. Then she steps aside and introduces them. “Paige, Simone, and Parker—these are the guys running set-up. Mason, Chase, Tank, and…Ryan, whenever he gets back with Ava. Make yourselves useful, ladies.”

Three girls step forward. Paige looks confident, like she’s already made herself the queen of her pledge class. Parker’s stuck smiling at Tank like she’s calling dibs on the giant. And then there’s Simone—dark curly hair, soft features in the night light, wearing a loosely cropped Gamma tee and cutoff shorts.

Joy looks at us. “Each of you grab a girl and put them to work. Chop-chop.”

Tank immediately claims Parker. Chase takes Paige. And that leaves Simone standing there with her hands on her hips, waiting.

I sigh and jerk my chin toward the string lights in my hand. “You, come on.”

Her eyebrows lift slightly in annoyance, but it looks like she wasn’t really expecting any enthusiasm from me anyway. “Alright then,” she says, following me toward the back patio.

I try to give her direction with different tasks, but my head isn’t really here. I’m ready to get a couple of drinks in me that’ll get me out of this funk.

“Untangle these,” I tell her, handing her a wad of lights I found in a box from the party supply closet.

“Youcouldsay please, you know,” she tells me with a little bite.

I look over at her. It’s dark out here, and without the lights plugged up, I can’t really see her face or the shit expression she’s probably giving me.

“Andyoucould just do what you’re asked to do.”

“Are you always this much of a dick?” she asks.

“Only when I’m forced to play babysitter.”

“God forbid you have to interact with someone you think is under you.”

“I didn’t say that,” I tell her, trying not to roll my eyes.

“You didn’t have to.”

I ignore her and keep working. If this wasn’t mandatory for all actives, I’d be back in my room right now, not having to have this conversation.

After she finally gets the lights untangled, she looks back over to me. “Can you at least help me not fall off this?”

“Is it rocket science to climb up a ladder?”

I feel her eyes narrow on me. “You know what, you can find someone else to help with this crap.”

I grab her arm as she tries to walk away. “Not happening. I don’t have the energy to find someone else. We all have to do grunt work first year; get used to it.”

She yanks her arm out of my hold and huffs. “I can handle grunt work. I’m a big girl. What Ican’thandle is your attitude.”

I wave my hand over in the direction of the ladder that’s against the tall fence. “Just get up there; I’ll hold you. God forbid you fall and get a scratch on your perfect little body.”

She walks over to the ladder, seeming a little pleased. “So you think my body is perfect?” she teases, trying to get a rise out of me.

“I wasn’t checking you out…so no, I don’t.”

She gets up on the ladder, and I place my hands on her lower back, steadying her.

When she gets the set of lights hooked onto the fence, she takes the plug, connects it, and turns them on. I look up at her once the light fully shows me her face, and it’s the first time Ireallyget to look at her. It catches me off guard. The way the lights catch her warm, light brown skin, and the concentration on her face.