by Penny Wylder
Jack’s face goes red and he sneers. “That little slut from the party that you’ve been banging in your room for the last week? How’s that for ‘how it would look’?”
I level a look at him, and he has the intelligence to look embarrassed. “Juno asked publicly to declare Granite House. She’s an impeccable student, adds to our diverse profile, and has agreed to do things around the house for us. Some cooking and cleaning. So relax.”
He’s still clearly not relaxed. “At least she’ll be eye candy,” he says. “Can’t deny that she was hot in that dress, and from what I’ve heard coming from your room, she’s a good fuck.”
I stare at him. He’s smiling, and I’m not. There’s a deep satisfaction as I see that smile wither away under my gaze. “Move your shit, Jack. Now.”
Turning on my heel, I don’t let him say another thing. Hopefully he gets the message. I’m going to keep the peace, but if he says anything else about Juno, I probably won’t be able to keep my fist out of his face. And that won’t be good for anyone. Jack has been in the house as long as I have, and has a certain level of seniority. I can understand why he’s not happy, but he’ll have to fucking deal with it.
I knock on Evan’s door this time, and it takes him longer to answer. But Evan is one of the most laid-back people I’ve met. It’s clear that he was taking a nap when he pulls open the door. “What’s up, Malcolm?”
“We have someone new moving in and I need Jack to share with you. Cool?”
He blinks the sleep from his eyes and glances around the room. It’s a little messy, but huge. It practically takes up half of the second floor.
“Yeah. That’s fine. He’s moving his stuff now?”
“Should be soon.”
He nods. “I’ll shuffle some stuff around.”
“Thanks, Evan.”
If the conversation with Jack had gone that well, it would have been a whole different story. But there’s more than one reason I want Juno upstairs with me. First, of course I want her close. Second, even though I beat consent into every one of the guys in my house, she’s still living in a house full of men. And that deep instinct that I have when it comes to her tells me that I have to protect her.
Though Juno is a fighter, and if anything were to happen, I have no doubt that she’d easily be able to take care of herself, no problem.
When I climb the stairs again, I hear slamming noises from Jack’s room. He’s aggressively packing his stuff, but I don’t give a shit. It’s been barely a week of school, nothing is that settled yet. He can deal.
My phone rings, and I half expect it to be Juno scolding me for sending people and scaring Bailey, but it’s not. It’s my little brother John. That’s good, I haven’t heard from him yet.
“Hey bro, how are you settling in?”
John is a freshman just like Juno, though he decided not to come here, much to my father’s embarrassment. But I get it. He needs to be his own person away from me and my dad, even if I wish that he were here so that I could keep an eye on him.”
He laughs on the other end of the phone. “I’ll tell you if you promise not to call me ‘bro.’”
“Sure thing.” I’m definitely going to call him that again.
“Things are going okay. Pretty average first week, I guess.”
I sit down on my bed and ignore the passive aggressive yelling that’s coming from across the hall. “You got to all your classes?”
“Thankfully I made my schedule so that I don’t have to get up that early,” he says. “It’s brilliant.”
“That’s what I like to hear.”
“Roommate is good so far,” he says. “Though the one thing I’m jealous of right now is that you live in the house.”
“Yeah, that is nice,” I say. “Though it’s annoying at the moment.”
“Why?”
I snort. “Leadership duties. I asked one of the guys to move in with someone else so we can have a new person and he’s not taking it well.”
“Sounds like a fun guy to be around,” John says.
I shrug, even though he can’t see me. “Most of the time he’s usually okay. Today though, he’s a raging pain in my ass.”
John laughs. “Who’s moving in.”
I hesitate, because I don’t want John to tell our father, but I trust him. The question is, do I ask him specifically not to tell Dad? I’m not sure.
“Malcolm?”
I was quiet long enough that he had to ask if I was okay. Geeze. “Okay, John, it’s an experimental thing, but I need you not to tell Dad.”
John snorts. “Because I’m on such buddy-buddy terms with Dad? That’s fine.”
“It’s a girl. Woman. She’s moving in.”
I can practically hear his eyebrows rise in shock. “Really?”
“Yeah. She marched into the beginning of school party and into my poker game and declared that she wanted to pledge Granite House. It was a dare, but…she’s moving in anyway.”
He pauses for a second. “I feel like there’s a lot of parts to that story that you’re not telling me.”
“That’s entirely possible.”
“You’re sleeping with her, aren’t you?” He chuckles. “Bold move, bro.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“I’m not judging, Malcolm, but I can see why you don’t want me to tell Dad.”
I sigh and rub my hand across my face. “We’re seeing where it goes. And there are things I can’t talk about yet, but I think that you would like her. She hates drinking and drugs. Despises them.”
“Does she have any idea what she’s getting in for, moving in there?”
This time I do laugh. “Well, she’s with me, so at the very least she’ll have a sober partner.”
“That’s true.”
“How’s that going?”
He sighs heavily. “Don’t worry, Malcolm. I’m not doing anything wild. My college existence is safe, boring, and educational.”
“Well you know that you can call me,” I say. “Any time you’re struggling.”
“I’m not struggling.” He sounds entirely genuine. “Trust me, after everything that happened, I don’t miss it. I’m not going to break the pact, you don’t have to worry about me at all.”
“Just because I don’t have to, doesn’t mean I still won’t,” I say.
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t you have a class to get to or something?”
There’s a slam from across the hall that shakes the floor, almost like Jack has thrown a piece of furniture, and I swear I’m going to pummel his ass into the ground. “You’re the one who called me, remember?”
“Just like I promised.”
“Good. Well I’d love to keep talking but I have to make sure that this guy doesn’t break any furniture. Call me if you need me, otherwise I’ll talk to you next week.”
“Sounds good. Thanks,” John says.
“Love you, bro.”
“Fuck off, asshole,” he says, laughing as he hangs up.
I used to be one of the guys in Granite House that loved to drink. Hell, even before I got to college I was what people considered to be the life of the party.
I never thought anything of it, until I got the call one night that John was in the hospital with alcohol poisoning. He’d drunk himself into a stupor, and could have died. And I realized that he got it from me.
He had seen me drink myself so drunk I couldn’t see straight and done the same. And so we made a pact together that neither of us would drink until we both graduated from college. After that, we would decide together if we wanted to lift the ban or continue it.
Granted, not the easiest thing to do when you’re the head of the most infamous party house on campus, but I don’t miss it that much. The terror that I felt seeing John unconscious and nearly gray cured me of any need for the buzz of alcohol.
Besides, right now Juno gives me more than enough of a buzz. When I touch her it feels better than any high that I’ve ever had, and I don’t see that fadin
g anytime soon.
Suddenly, something clicks, and I remember why Juno looked so familiar to me when I first met her. I’ve seen her before. She was in the hospital that day when John was there. She brought him flowers. They must have been friends in high school, and I always thought it was sweet that one of his classmates brought him flowers. She seemed genuinely distraught over what had happened to him.
I’m surprised that I didn’t realize that that was her, because I regularly relive that day in my dreams, including looking up and seeing a pretty girl with flowers and tears streaming down her face.
Of course it was her. I mean, I had no idea that she was from here, or that she and John were in the same class. But I can already see that Juno has a great heart. The very reason for her major speaks to her emotional depth. It’s not surprising to me.
I like her so much, I want to see her. I could turn on the little toy that I made her wear, just to make her think of me, but I don’t want to do that right now. I just want to actually see her. But unfortunately John was right. I do have an afternoon class, and it’s about time I went to it. Right after I make sure that Jack is doing his job.
Grabbing my bag, I see that Evan is helping lug garbage bags of clothes down the stairs. “Going okay?”
Half his mouth turns up into a smile. “Just fine,” he says. “Jack said he had to run an errand, but I’ll have his stuff moved by the time that he gets back.” Evan is a quiet guy, but he’s perceptive. I think he’s amused by Jack’s anger, which will work out for me.
“Thank you. Text me if something goes wrong,” I say.
“Will do, boss.”
I thought I was brilliant scheduling my classes later in the day so I could sleep in, but right now I’m pissed because it’s more time until I get to see Juno, help her move in, and thoroughly break in her room. But the rules of Granite House hold, even for me. I need to go to class. Two more until I can see her.
I can make it.
12
Juno
To my surprise, Malcolm never uses the toy for the rest of the time that I’m at the library. Maybe he forgot in the course of getting my stuff—something that he absolutely didn’t have to do—or he just got busy. I kept half expecting it to turn on any second, but regardless, I got a lot of studying done. I reviewed the anatomy chart that we did in class that I was so distracted for, and got a lot of my homework done for the next week.
Now, as I head to Granite House, I realize I’m not heading there as a temporary girl sleeping with Malcolm, I’m heading there because I live there. Up until now I’ve been avoiding everyone. I didn’t know what they would say, and I didn’t know what they would think. But if my stuff is getting moved into one of the rooms, then it might be time to actually introduce myself to them.
I hope they don’t hate me.
That’s a weird thought, but a bunch of frat guys might think that I’m cramping their style. Honestly, I don’t plan to. I’ll have my own room, and I plan on being in there or with Malcolm. Maybe in the kitchen if I’m cooking or cleaning, but I’m not going to stop them from doing whatever the hell they want.
Bailey seemed relieved and happy that I was coming to get my things. She didn’t even seem mad that I was abandoning her anymore. We haven’t talked much this week, but we’ve both been crazy busy with classes. Bailey is pre-law, and is going to have just as heavy a workload as I will. And since I moved out, she won’t have a roommate for at least the rest of the semester.
It kind of works out for the both of us.
There are more guys in the living room than I’ve ever seen at one time, other than the party, and I stop in my tracks just inside the door, because they all look up at me. I don’t see Malcolm anywhere.
“You’re Juno, right?” one guy asks. I vaguely recognize him from the party, but I’m not exactly sure where I encountered him.
“That’s me,” I say with a smile that I don’t really feel. I wish Malcolm were here to introduce me, just because I think that it would be easier. And it’s then, with a start, that I realize that Malcolm makes me feel safe. Even with the things he makes me do, and the obedience he demands of me, he makes me feel okay doing those things. “Nice to meet you,” I say lamely.
That guy comes forward. “I’m Jack, these are the rest of the guys. We wanted to welcome you to the house.”
I smile more warmly this time. “That’s really nice of you. Thanks.”
“We’ve never had a girl living in Granite House,” another one says. “It’s going to be kind of weird.”
“I don’t think it will be,” I say. “I promise I’m not here to change the way you guys do things.”
Jack smirks. “Well, you’re going to change some things. Malcolm said that you’d be doing all the cooking and the cleaning.”
There are some voices of agreement.
“Some of it,” I say, nerves fluttering in my gut. “Still have to work on my classes and stuff.” I leave off the sentence ‘and only when Malcolm asks me to.’ I don’t know what he’s told them about us, and I don’t want them to draw any unnecessary conclusions yet if they don’t have to.
The other guy who spoke before—not Jack—smiles kindly. “We’re grateful for whatever you do, honestly.” More murmurs.
I really need to learn everyone’s names. Especially if I’m going to be living here.
“Your stuff is upstairs,” Jack says. “The room across from Malcolm. We all know you know where that is.”
I can’t fight the blush. “Thanks…and thanks for the welcome. I’ll just go start unpacking then I guess.”
“Hold on,” Jack says, stepping in front of me before I can make it to the stairs. “Malcolm went to class, but he left a housewarming gift for you, and he wanted us to give it to you.”
I glance at the other guys, and most of them are grinning. “Okay.”
Jack picks up a bag and hands it to me. Reaching inside, I pull out a plastic sleeve, and I immediately recognize it as a Halloween costume. A French maid Halloween costume. That’s…weird. But okay.
“Time to clean,” Jack says. “In that.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m perfectly capable of cleaning without wearing a maid costume, but thanks.”
Jack looks around at the guys, but they don’t say anything. “But Malcolm is the boss, and he’s the one that left it for you. Initiation. You know. We had to tailor it just for you.”
I’ve never heard about any kind of initiation for Granite House, but then again, given that they lost their fraternity status they probably wouldn’t advertise it. Even if they still had it, hazing wasn’t a thing you really talked about. And this is exactly a thing that Malcolm would do. He would tease me about it but love to see me prancing around in an outfit like this. I would think that he would be here to see it.
I swallow, and look Jack in the eyes. “Any other instructions that Malcolm left?”
“Just that you needed to do it, or that your living arrangements here would be reconsidered. Or more than that, your enrollment.”
Nobody says anything to contradict him. They’re waiting to see what I’ll do. I don’t know what the rules are here as far as the initiation. Would I really have to leave if I don’t do it? Malcolm is in class for another half an hour, so I can’t ask.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see one of the guys look at me and shoot off a text message. Great. Probably inviting more friends over to witness this humiliation. There’s absolutely no way that this could go wrong. Ever.
“In that case,” I say, “I’ll be back.”
I just thought that Malcolm made me feel safe, and it’s true that he does. And it’s because of that that I’ll do this. He wouldn’t do it without a reason, even with the surprise. And I’m sure that as soon as he gets home he’ll tell me why.
The room I enter across from his is a mess. The furniture is everywhere, drawers scattered and taken out of the dresser, the mattress is off the bed frame. My boxes are stacked neatly in a corner, but that’s t
he only part of the room that’s neat. Thankfully I don’t think it will take too long to put in order. But I’m not going to do that in a maid costume, and that’s the only thing I have to worry about right now.
I drop my book bag on the floor, and pull the stupid slutty maid costume out of the bag. I’ll just get it over with. Let them have their fun and then retreat. I’m sure they all had to do something equally embarrassing, and then I’ll just be one of the guys.
My gut pings with doubt at that, but I don’t have a choice.
The skirt is so short that it barely covers my ass, and the neckline plunges down revealing part of my bra. But I’m not taking off the bra. This isn’t Halloween.
I leave my high-top sneakers on—I’m certainly not changing into high heels for this, and being barefoot makes it seem even more strange. Taking a deep breath, I head back down the stairs, and every eye is on me when I come down. I keep my head high and my back straight. “Where are your cleaning supplies?” I ask.
“Under the sink in the kitchen,” one of the guys says.
“Thanks.”
It’s oddly silent, but finally someone starts some music and at the very least the atmosphere feels a little more normal. A few of the guys float to the kitchen behind me to watch—Jack included—but more of them don’t.
There’s a whistle when I bend down to get the cleaning stuff, but I ignore it. I will get through this without reacting. Without the embarrassment they’re hoping to wring from me. I’ll do it with dignity, take the hazing, and that’s that.
But god, this kitchen does actually need to be cleaned. I decide to start with the stove, because I’m not sure I want to know how long ago that was deep cleaned. I spray it down, and actually decide to let it sit for a while and soak and move to the sink and start to scrubbing.
“Just wait, Juno,” Jack says, sitting down at the kitchen table. “Until the next part of initiation.”
“Care to clue me in?” I let my words drip with sarcasm.
“We’re all going to have a chance to make you scream the way we know that Malcolm does.”
