LACEY

I'm blocked.

On everything.

Instagram, Snapchat, Text Messages, Twitter, you name the social media, I am blocked. That's how people nowadays fix their problems. They block them out.

Why did I notice this because I was going to respond to our group text in Snapchat and I couldn't see his snap score or anything else. I'm pissed on this phone call with my therapist. What else would I expect honestly, I told him to never text me again. It's been a week since I sent that text message and I'm ready to go out. Get blacked out to be specific. I'm not going out with Carter, Tori, and the boys. Julie and I are going to Delta Chi who is throwing with Delta Gamma our sorority. Rae can't go out tonight because she has to cheer at the football game tomorrow.

Music is flowing through the apartment. We are hosting a huge pregame for the boys and some of my Delta Gamma sisters. We are all still getting ready and it's chaos. As it usually is. Tori and Carter are doing their makeup on their side, Julie is picking out an outfit, and I just putting my finishing touches on my own makeup. I haven't told any of them about Braden blocking me. It's not that I don't want to tell them but I'm afraid of how they'll react.

Tori slides into mine and Julie's bathroom shooting me a smile. Things have been kind of weird in our apartment. I never confronted Carter about how I didn't mean to come at her but Asher should butt the fuck out of my shit. Respectfully. Delta Chi's theme tonight is fratelina wine mixer. So I choose a short burgundy skirt with a small slit on my left thigh and a matching cropped tank top with one string smaller than the other paired with sparkly silver heels.

"Are excited for your Catalina Wine Mixer but frat edition?" Tori asks as she grabs a tube of lipstick from Julie's drawer. I let out a laugh and change the song on my phone.

"A whole free box of wine? Sign me up," I tell Tori glancing at her tight pink and gold mini skirt paired with a silky blue bra like top with white strappy heels. She laughs as Julie runs into the bathroom in a short strapless black dress that falls above mid thigh.

"Holy moly Julie!" Tori says pointing the tube of lipgloss she took from Julie's drawer.

"You don't think it's too short and slutty?" Julie asks tugging down the ends of the dress. Tori and I both shake our heads no as she sighs.

"This is a fratelina wine mixer not an actual one. We fit the part," I say looping my arm through Julie's. She smilies at me but I can tell it doesn't meet her eyes. I also know the only reason why she is coming with me to this frat tonight is because she feels bad.

"Okay, I am ready to start drinking," Julie says taking a deep inhale. I clap my hands together as Tori ducks her head out into the hallway.

"Carter, did you get the speaker to work?" she yells down the hallway. I vaguely hear Carters muffled sarcasm as I turn off my phone music and we walk out of my bathroom.

"Fuck this," Carter curses tipping the speaker. I head towards the kitchen to grab myself a High Noon. The door opens as soon as I open the fridge. I grab the first High Noon I can find and stand back up. I glance at the living room and sigh in relief when I only see Asher and Robbie. Rae has come out of the hole in her room in pajama shorts and a basketball sweatshirt. I also notice the tee shirt that Carter has tucked into her jeans with a pair of Nike Blazers and the chain Asher bought her.

"Are you wearing a tee shirt out?" I ask her cracking open my drink. She gives me a look standing up as the speaker connects to her phone.

"I think we should normalize wearing tee shirts when we go out, if men can do it so can women. Plus look at the back," she says turning around for me. We all look at the back of her shirt and laugh. It's a black tee shirt with white lettering saying fuck you, fuck this, fuck that, fuck off, fuck yeah.

It is probably the most Carter shirt I have ever seen.

"You keep telling yourself that, Carter. But I cannot wait until we go out tomorrow night and you are in a teeny tiny tee shirt," Robbie comments as Carter throws up a middle finger towards him. Asher pulls her into his side and kisses the side of her head as I bring the drink to my lips.

"And she still looks hot," Asher says looking at her whole fit. She rolls her eyes at him and shoves him away.

"Babe, do I look hot?" Rae asks posing in front of Robbie with her glasses and bunny slippers. Tori is rolling her eyes at the two couples while Julie admires them. I turn around before I can hear any more of this conversation and head to the liquor cabinet. We need shots.

Maybe I just need shots.

Tori steps into the kitchen behind me as I grab the ingredients for green tea shots. I set them down in a line and hand the shaker to Tori. She grabs it from my hand and opens the freezer for ice cubes. A few more people that I don't know walk through the door and apparently one of their names is Sanders? Unsure but the door never closes as the rest of the comes come in along with a couple girls.

"Green tea shots, children!" Tori yells through the apartment and over the music. Julie struts into the kitchen holding onto Trey's hand and my jaw drops at the scene in front of me. Q follows the two of them, well, stumbles behind them. I turn to Carter and her jaw is dropped.

I mouth an "Oh my God" towards her as she vigorously nods her head. We all line up to take the first round of green tea shots. It goes down smoothly as all of us toss our shot glasses into the sink.

"Lacey White, what the fuck is up!" Q yells pulling me into a large hug. I freeze feeling caught off guard. Q and I barely have talked for most of the summer and last semester. I hug him back quickly before we pull away.

"Hi, how have you been?" I ask him with a bright smile on my face. I can't tell if it's a real or fake smile. The real ones are getting lost in the fake ones.

"Good, president of my frat. How have you been? Haven't seen you around the girls too much," I ignore the pang in my chest as I bring my drink back up to my lips.

"You know sorority stuff in the beginning of the year and I am a chair now," I say nodding my head at him. He smiles even brighter at the mention of me being a chair. I am a chair but a chair of the stupid merchandise.

"I'm so proud of you Lace, look at you go being and sophomore and all that shit," Q says wrapping an arm around my shoulder. I sigh into him because I have missed him. He has been all of our best friend since freshman year. With him being a year older than us it helped us adjust. Him and Cooper always helped us with our stupid bullshit and I feel stupid that I didn't go to him.

Why don't you now, Lacey?

"Q there's actually something-"

"Quinton! Let's go!" Trey yells over the counter. Q lets out a huge laugh holding up a finger. "C'mon! We have pong to play before the bar!"

I am about to tell Trey to give us ten but my words get caught in my throat. Braden is holding the door open for two girls. Sabrina and Jackie. My two sorority sisters. Shit. Shit. Shit.

He gives them his charming Braden smile as he shuts the door. No Christine but I forgot about Sabrina and Jackie. The only girls in my sorority who actually responded to the text about the pregame we are hosting.

"Lacey! Hi," Sabrina says not even looking at me but surveying whose here. I also notice an eye roll from Tori. As they walk into the kitchen. Asher, Q, and Braden all head towards the pong table. Sarah pulls me into a hug.

I nearly choke on how much perfume she is wearing and give her a light hug back. I pull away clearing my throat as I move onto to Jackie. She pulls me into a hug that is not genuine before we pull away.

"Jackie, Sabrina, these are my roommates," I say point at the girls. They smile and wave at them but I can tell how they keep their eyes on Rae and Carter. They are oblivious but I take notice of it immediately.

"Hi! I'm Julie, I hope you guys don't mind me joining you," Julie says smiling at the two girls. They assure her that 'she's fine' and always more than welcome to come.

"So, Lacey, isn't that the guy you use to date?" Sarah asks as I choke on my drink. I clear my throat as Carter and Tori exchange a knowing look.

"Nah he's Rae and Carter's boyfriends teammate," I tell her as calmly as I can. I did not want to start my night off like this but here we are.

"Oh, we know who they are," Jackie responds as she bites her lip. Her eyes are on Asher. I think I see Carter's eye twitch as I chew on the inside of my cheek. Tori lets out an over dramatic laugh and grabs Carter's bare shoulders steering her in the boys direction.

"Haha we'll be right back," Tori says holding up a singular finger. I mouth a 'thank you' as she drags Carter towards her boyfriend. I clear my throat and shoot them my sorority girl smile.

"So, how did you guys meet them?" Sabrina asks looking in between Julie and I. I clear my throat looking at Jackie who still has her eyes trained on Asher and Carter.

"Carter and Jeremy were in the same statistics class and then we met all the guys," Julie says innocently but I wince. Sabrina and Jackie exchange a look before looking back at the guys. Robbie and Rae are sitting on our arm chair while the rest of them are playing an intense game of stack cup.

"Jules! Get over here and play stack with us!" Trey calls over as I clear my throat. Julie glancing at the three of us before back at me. I offer her the best smile I can and motion towards the table.

"Go! Have fun," I tell her encouragingly as more basketball players and random girls come into our apartment. We might as well be having a party with the amount of people that are piling into our apartment.

"Wow, so how do you fit into all of this?" Sabrina asks making me wince. It wasn't even a mean tone but how do I fit into all of this? Without Braden, I don't have a place in their group no matter how many times the girls say I do.

"Oh, I'm not really in that group," I say bringing my red solo cup to my lips. I need more vodka in this drink. Sabrina crosses her arms over her chest.

To think I had high hopes for the night.

How stupid of me.

"Pity," she says as Asher and Carter walk into the kitchen. Jackie follows Asher with her eyes and everything in me just wants to punch her. Both of them actually. Why do I let these bitches oh I'm sorry "sisters" do this shit.

"Asher Fletcher right?" Jackie says as they turn their attention away from me. Braden walks into the kitchen with Tori and looks right at me. I don't even care that he's looking at me because I know my pale skin is as red as a tomato with frustration.

"Jackie," I bite out but she ignores me and Carter. Who looks like she's ready to swing.

Swing, get me kicked out of my sorority. Fuck this.

"Who are you?" Asher asks making Jackie falter a little but her syrupy sweet smile comes back on her face. She finally glances back down at Carter and she may be taller but Carter could fully take her out.

"Oh my gosh! We found more cups, let's go resume stack cup," Jeremy says swinging the red solo cups around. Julie and I both perk up at the comment.

"Yeah guys, let's go play stack and Carter you can stay way way over here," Julie mumbles the last part under her breath. I nod my head as I steer Sabrina in that direction while Jackie shrugs Julie off of her.

Once Sabrina has her back turned I hear Carter murmur 'bitch' under her breath. I sigh going to follow Jackie, Sabrina, and Julie. I stop dead in my tracks when Asher cuts me off. He is still holding Carter's hand and he looks, nervous?

"Lacey, I'm sorry," he says glancing at a Carter then at me. I stumble back because what did he just say? Did Asher just apologize to me?

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry for being-" he takes a deep breath. "Being a dick. I was having a bad day and I should not have spoken to you like that."

I think I am hallucinating because what? Asher Fletcher is sorry for snapping at me, holy shit I never thought I'd see the day. This is progress. Small progress but progress.

"You're good, I was being a bitch about the Braden thing because I was pissed he told Carter," I say waving a hand at him. He nods his head at me as Carter wraps her arms around his waist.

"He was being a dick and I am sorry that I didn't tell you," Carter says giving me her puppy dog eyes. I roll my eyes at her but smile in relief. Finally people are trying to understand where I am coming from. "Also sorry for almost punching your friend."

"We're good, I promise," I tell them as Carter squeezes my shoulder.

"Okay good, you go play stack cup, I am being held hostage in the kitchen," Carter says lightly pushing me towards the living room. I laugh looking at Asher and Jeremy, who obviously want to keep her away from Jackie.

"I think it's for the best," I joke as she shoots me a glare. I slip past them towards the pong table back to Sabrina and Jackie. I slide into the spot next to Julie and Trey, the game still has yet to start as I glance up to see who I am across from. Dark brown eyes meet my own making my breath hitch in my throat. He doesn't look away from me despite people calling his name. He blocked me so why is he looking at me like he regrets it?

"Braden," Jackie say nudging her hip into his. I stare down at where their hips are touching and then back up at Braden. This whore. First Asher now Braden.

No. Why am I letting this get to me? He doesn't matter anymore and he clearly doesn't care. So, why should I?

I look away from Braden and ignore his stare. He can frankly fuck off. I don't care what he does anymore and I surely don't care if he hooks up with Jackie. I turn to the guy next to me, a bleach blonde with tanned skin, broad shoulders, and he's tall as hell.

"Hi," I say to him. He glances down and at me and shoots me a charming smile.

"Hello to you too, I'm Sanders," he says extending a hand towards me. I smile back, this is the guy who accidentally hit on Carter.

"Nice to meet you, I'm assuming you're on the team?" I ask him glancing around the apartment. Half the team has filled the apartment and I know it's going to be a pain to clean up tomorrow.

"Yeah, freshman though. Tori, Rae, and Carter are your roommates right? Lacey? I vaguely remember you from the first party," he says laughing more to himself. I join him appreciating the easy conversation. I go to grab my drink but pause when I realize I left it in the kitchen.

"I need a drink, do you need anything?" I ask him before I leave the table. Stack cup still hasn't started because everyone is chirping with each other. He glances around the table shrugging his shoulders.

"Nah but I love tormenting Fletcher and Gregor," Sanders said shrugging his shoulders. I nod my head as we turn away from the table and head for the kitchen. Carter, Jeremy, Robbie, Asher, and Rae are all drinking in the kitchen minus Rae.

"Oh this asshole," Robbie says shaking his head at Sanders. He has a smirk on his face so I know he's joking.

"Lacey, did you hear something, cause I didn't," Sanders says heading right for Robbie. I laugh shaking my head at him as I go to the fridge to grab another drink.

"They still haven't gotten stack cup started?" Rae asks pointing at the crowded living room. More and more people have piled in and I'm starting to wonder if they are even going to the bar at this point.

"Nope, kitchen looks more fun," Sanders says as I crack open a new High Noon. Carter pushes onto her tippy toes her eyes widening.

"Should we just have people here at this point?" Carter asks Rae. She holds her hands up in response as I pull my cheek in between my teeth. This could be good for us to have everyone here.

"I don't care, I'm going to bed soon," Rae says shrugging her shoulders. "I have earplugs thanks to you."

"I like the idea," I pipe up.

"Really? What about your wine mixer?" Carter asks raiding her eyebrows. I shrug my shoulders leaning my back against our counter.

"I can go to Delta Chi's tailgate tomorrow and get the wine. It could be fun!"

"Alright, let's ask Tori and Julie but I'm sure they'd be down," Carter shrugs. She pushes on to her toes to kiss Asher's cheek before heading towards the disastrous table.

It'll be fun. Right?