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Theout of the open dorm s drew Serena out of her memories of the conversation with her mother and back to campus When Serena had first , she had expected everyone else at Stanford to be a bookworm like she was Only to find thatbut books-- number of already empty bottles of alcohol
Thus far, she hadn’t seen too many of her fellow students crack open a book, either How, she wondered, did they all e to be so carefree about their classes when she felt like she was drowning already? Were they all that much smarter than she was that they didn’t even have to try? Good thing she loved the library soto be spendingtaught into her brain
But as she headed for the second floor and saw groups of students chatting and laughing as they got ready to go out, she had to ask herself--had she coe just to spend all of her ti a "nor things that she never would have been able to experience in her old life? Of finally being free?
And yet, she hadn’t been to one single campus party She’d always had a paper to write or a test to study for But those were just excuses And regardless of how much she loved books and the library and her classes, she knew there had to beBesides, she’d been to dozens of terrifying Hollywood parties over the years, so a campus party should be a piece of cake, shouldn’t it?
Unlocking her door, she saw that her rooirls at the end of the hall ere clearly getting ready to go out Serena h her nerves as she headed over to theirls turned toward her She started to give an aard little wave before pulling her hand back ato a party on caht?"
Jen, a pretty blonde, nodded "Delta Tau Delta"
When Jen didn’t say anything more, and neither did Larissa or Holly as they focused on pouring each other tequila shots, every cell in Serena’s body screaht of studying before she o for it, not hide out someplace safe like she had for the past teeks she’d been at school
"I’d love to join you guys, if that would be okay?"
Jen made a sad face "Actually, the three of us are already late We are just about to head out the door" She looked pointedly at Serena’s clothes before adding, "And you’ll probably need a while to get ready So otten about the baggy jeans, sweatshirt, and baseball cap she earing Her disguise, as she liked to think of it, to throw off any photographers who et a picture of her to sell to the gossip sites
"Sure," she said, in what she hoped was an easy voice that didn’t betray how la, only to have the answer be no She tried not to let her sirls continued to drink and laugh as if they had all the time in the world before they needed to leave, Serena headed down the hall to the bathrooht, the shoere blessedly e up her towel on a hook in the tiled enclosure, then stood under the warm spray and tried to let it wash away her doubts about actually going to the party
Soon it would be show ti the supered to pull off for soto act like she was a perfectly norood tiht In the wake of the rejection froirls down the hall, she felt like she needed to pull it off now ht wasn’t about proving anything to those girls It was about proving soo to her first-ever campus party and have fun just like everyone else That she could e work despite how badly her o for someone like Serena And, even if it wasn’t always easy, that she would never let herself forget how e campus full of so many new opportunities Opportunities she sih to reach for
Forty-five ot to the Delta Tau Delta house, her feet froze on the front steps as she stared wide-eyed at the party already in full swing A rap song was cranked up so high her ears were already starting to ring Students were dancing andJen, Larissa, and Holly, ere hanging all over so
It didn’t take long for people to start doing double takes in Serena’s direction, pointing and whispering as they recognized her, despite the fact that she’d pulled her hair back into a ponytail and wasn’t wearing anycaution to the wind and really living her life, fell away as she silently asked herself how she could have chosen the short deniht She felt totally exposed…
It’s okay, she told herself silently as she worked to coet out there and start dancing like everyone else
Thank God, that hen Abi spotted her "Hey, roolad you’re here!" A few seconds later, Abi was sliding her ar her onto the dance floor "Ready to work it?"
No, she was definitely not ready to work it But, thankfully, her roo the tunes helped Serena finally relax into theher eyes a little while later as she lifted her arms and swayed her hips, she could almost pretend that she was just the sairl at this party
Perfectly normal
CHAPTER TWO
Sean Morrison refilled his red plastic cup fros in the corner and downed half of it in one long s, even though beer wasn’t doing it for hi steadily for the past couple of hours and barely felt buzzed