You are nothing.
My chest aches with the memory.
I’m honestly not sure how I managed to let him in so deeply. Because it feels like Malcolm is a part of me now, and that prying us apart is like pulling bread away from peanut butter. There will always be bits of him that were tangled with me now.
“Well, if it isn’t Juno Dennard.” Melody slips into the seat across from me, looking as glamorous as ever. Her normal group of friends from Tri Delta surround me at my table to. Taylor’s here, standing right behind her sister, smirking like the devil.
“Hi, Melody.”
“You’re not looking so good, Juno,” she says. “I heard you were kicked out of Granite House.”
I’m not wearing make-up, and I know I don’t look the way they look. But I’ve never looked the way that they looked. It’s just not a part of who I am. I don’t contradict her. Technically I did get kicked out of the house, but that’s none of her business.
“Is it cause they got tired of you?” One of the girls beside me asks.
“What?”
Melody smiles, and in this moment, I can’t believe that I ever wanted to be a part of her group. Her smile is poisonous. “The guys. It hasn’t even been a month and everyone knows that Juno Dennard is the live-in slut of Granite House.”
I shake my head. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
A voice to my left. “Jack told us all about it. How you get passed around from bed to bed, as many as you can in one night and by the end you’re so covered in cum that you’re dripping.”
Horror spears through me. I’m sure that’s what Jack would say. “Jack doesn’t live in the house anymore,” I say. “He doesn’t know anything.”
“Oh,” Melody says, “but you don’t live in the house anymore either. Is that because they fucked you so much that your pussy isn’t tight enough for them anymore?”
“Tri Delta doesn’t accept sluts,” a fourth girl says.
“I didn’t send you in there to fuck Malcolm and his merry band of men, Juno. I sent you in there with a very simple task. Sleep in the house overnight and get proof. You certainly did the one.”
“I—” What do I even say to that? My face flushes hot with a blush. They’re going to believe what they want to believe, and there’s nothing I can say that will contradict them.
The redhead next to me puts her hand on my shoulder. “If you want, we can help you find a new frat to be a hole for. You seem really sad without having a bunch of faceless cocks to fuck, and we really just want you to be happy, Juno.”
“Maybe they kicked her out for getting fat. Eating cereal for every meal has to be sending all that sugar straight to her hips.”
Melody reaches across the table and takes my hand. I pull it away. “It really is okay, Juno. The world needs sluts, and frats need people to fuck. And it’s fine to be one of those people. You just need to embrace your real self. Veronica is right. We know all the best frats, and I know we can find a good place for you to get fucked that won’t kick you out after a month.”
“It’ll be at least two months,” Veronica laughs.
That laughter makes me blush harder. They’re bitches, and I don’t have to stand here and take it. The fact that Taylor is standing there grinning like she’s won the fucking lottery is further proof of what Bailey told me. She hates me and she isn’t bothering to hide it.
I stand up and take my bowl of cereal with me. It’s stupid of me to think that that would be the end of it. They follow me through the cafeteria. “Listen, Juno,” Melody calls after me, voice way too loud. “It’s really okay. It’s my job on this campus to help freshman girls like you find your place, and the fact that you’ve decided that your best place is with your legs spread is your prerogative.” The other girls are laughing with her now, and people are looking at me. I’m not blushing anymore. Now I can feel the blood draining from my face and like I might pass out. She keeps going. “But if that’s what you want, I want to help you. I’m sure there are plenty of guys in here who want a slut-toy like you. Especially once they find out that you were kicked out of Granite House for fucking everything that moved.”
I want to be stronger than this. I want to walk away and ignore the words that are hitting home, but I can’t breathe and tears are clouding my vision. What can I say to this? Denial will only confirm my guilt to them, and now everyone within hearing distance thinks that I would do anything for anyone, when nothing could be further from the truth.
“Who said she was kicked out of Granite House?” A voice says from behind me. I know that voice. There’s no way I could ever forget it, and every cell in my body leans toward Malcolm.
He steps around me, not looking at me and not touching me, but standing in front of me enough that he suddenly became a shield. And the people that had been watching know who he is. If Malcolm says something, then they’ll believe it.
The problem is that I have no idea what he is going to say.
“The last time I checked,” Malcolm says loudly, “Juno still lived in Granite House. Her things are still there. She still has a key. You can check with student services, she doesn’t have a room on campus.”
Silence spreads through the air for a moment, sinking in. “And who Juno decides to sleep with is her business alone, and no one else’s. Why are you spreading lies?”
Melody straightens her shoulders. “They’re not lies.
