“Duh! Give me your phone.” She opened her hand, expecting it. Obliging, I handed it over. She took it and scrolled faster than I’d watched Kelly flipping through her phone. She took a selfie and then handed it back. “I put my info in your phone for quick access to me. I don’t hand out my number to just anyone, but I’ll trust you with it. I texted myself so I have yours too.” She flicked her wrist, and the entire group stood up with her. “We’ll see you tonight! I am so happy I caught you before the party. Don’t worry, babe. You are in good hands with me.”

That was a lot of speak for nothing of real substance being said. She struck me as the type to hold a firm grip on her place in the world, fearing losing it at any moment. Whatever just happened, it left me dumbfounded that people acted like that.

Kelly appeared in front of me, snickering. “What was all that?”

“A lot of nothing. One thing’s for certain: Sloane just told me that Brent is her boyfriend.”

She stiffened. “We’re so fucked, aren’t we? I mean, you definitely are.”

I had a feeling I was going to do a lot of mental facepalming this semester. “We definitely are. She invited us to an exclusive rich people party and in the same breath tried to hook me up with three different guys.”

My phone dinged with a message. It held the complete list that she mentioned. “Check this out. It’s a list of the ‘top families’ that Sloane is oddly obsessed with.”

“Wait.” She grabbed my phone from me. “You’re number three. No wonder she’s obsessed with you now. And her so-called boyfriend is number one. Are you surprised that she’s trying to claim him as hers? Huh. Looks like I’m number five.”

“Oh no.”

“What?”

“Sloane is going to hate you.”

She turned my phone around. “She’s sixth.”

​Chapter 20

Fallon

“What are these documents, even?”

Tucked away in my room with James, he had files and some documents out on display. My brain was spinning with words that sounded too business-y for my experience–well, lack of experience. The folders were full, and I was expected to start learning how to read documents like these as CEO.

“In this folder we have out are financial documents. This one is the profit and loss statement, and we read these to understand our operational efficiency. This one... are you okay?”

He must have seen my eyes glazed over and the words flying over my head. “I think I need to get a notebook for this. A big one.”

“This is why Mr. Evans wants you to be a business major. It’s not out of malice but for your benefit.” He had a level head in all of this mess. After all, I was paying him, right?