psych- Leighton Murray

VII

Leighton walked into her and Emerson's bedroom with an annoying pep in her step. Emerson rolled over onto her belly, leaning her head on her balled-up fist.

"What's got you so excited?" Emerson inquired, moving her head back and forth with the pacing blonde's movements. The blonde had received an envelope- Identical to one that Emerson received- that morning, and ever since then she'd been full of energy.

"It's the first pre-rush event at Kappa, I've been prepping for this since sixth grade." she squealed.

"How do I look?" she did an off-balance twirl to show off her blue pantsuit.

"Wonderful, Madam." Emerson giggled.

"Are you rushing? I saw you got the letter too," Leighton asked, pulling on a pair of ridiculously high heels.

"Nope. Greek life isn't for me. Too much alcohol and potential rape for me." Leighton raised an eyebrow. "I've read way too many articles on the way Greek life is with women and stuff." Emerson scratched the back of her head awkwardly.

"But we could do it together! It would be a great bonding experience, you know, like what Kimberley wants us to do." Leighton sat down next to Emerson with an amazing pair of puppy dog eyes.

"Fine! But just the lunch thing." Emerson sighed. "You're too cute to resist." she poked Leighton's nose with a giggle.

"You did not." Leighton gasped dramatically.

"I did though," Emerson said with a crooked smile. Leighton loved that smile.

"Get dressed. We have to leave in about half an hour." Leighton stood up, wiping her pants off.

"Jeans and a band shirt aren't fancy enough?" Emerson groaned.

"If you want to go grocery shopping maybe."

"Shut up, rich girl," Emerson grumbled. "Get out, I've to change." Leighton dragged her feet as she left- it's not like it was weird for girls to change together, why did Emerson care so much? Why did Leighton care that she cared? She shook the thought off, waiting for Emerson to finish.

"Is this okay?"

Leighton swallowed the lump in her throat as the brunette walked out of their room. She wore a tight white dress that hugged her curves in all the right places. Leighton had to stop herself from gawking. "Wow. Yeah. You look, awesome."

"So, are we going or what?" Emerson asked, feeling self-conscious in the stare of the blonde.

"Yeah. Sorry."

They walked silently toward the Kappa house, Emerson admiring the beginnings of fall and Leighton admiring Emerson. Leighton had begun to realize today that she had some kind of feelings for Emerson. That scared the shit out of her.

"So, what do sororities do? Chit-chat about each other's nails and how straight you are?" Leighton snorted at the way Emerson finished her sentence.

"No! It's a sisterhood! We help each other through tough times, donate to charities, and we party!" Leighton grinned.

Emerson could only roll her eyes as they arrived at the large house. For something occupied by something like fifty college girls, it did look pretty clean from the outside. Emerson had always thought of sororities like this as piles of junk, from all the parties and attempted murders. They walked through a gate to a gorgeous garden full of even more gorgeous women.

"Good luck." Leighton whispered before rushing off to begin her campaign for a spot in Kappa.

Emerson stood awkwardly. She'd never been one for crowds, her social anxiety making her overthink every little movement she made. She made her way over to a table, grabbing a glass of lemonade.

"Hey! Are you the gay one?"

"Uh, that's me I guess?" Emerson chuckled, taken aback at the girls boldness.

"I'm Ashlee, and this is Ashley."

"Oh. Do you spell it differently?" Emerson asked awkwardly, digging her nails into her palm.

"Yah! I spell it like Ashley, but with two e's" "I spell it with a y!"

"Wow, isn't that cool." Emerson saw Leighton talking with a group of girls. It was obvious she was fitting in.

 Emerson had a group of girls around her, asking her questions about her major and how much they hated men and wished they were gay (average privileged straight girl stuff). Leighton had tried to show the other Kappa girls how cool she was and how much she loved Kappa, but none of them cared. She turned to leave.

"Hey! Wait up!" a brunette ran after Leighton. "Hey! Sorry, I'm Quinn. You obviously know me though- high school and all that. Don't leave."

"But everyone hates me."

"They don't! You're just a bit overbearing. We all love Kappa just as much, we're just better at hiding it." she laughed. Quinn led Leighton inside for a drink.

Emerson watched Leighton leave with the girl, laughing and smiling as they went. It made her jealous to see Leighton like that with someone else. She waved goodbye to a few of her new Kappa acquaintances and followed the pair inside.

"I'm not going to say I expected you to be a math major, but it is refreshing, I've met too many marketing majors." Quinn smiled, taking a sip of her drink. "Do you know Cory from Theta?"

Emerson leaned against the wall outside of the kitchen, trying to hear as much of the conversation as she could.

"He gave my brother COVID, but that's about it." Leighton giggled. "Why?"

"My boyfriend says that he likes you."

"I've heard something like that before." Leighton blushed, looking down at her shoes.

"I'm going to text him right now that you like him!" Quinn squealed pulling her phone out. Emerson walked into, a red faced Leighton turning to see her.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to walk back with me?" Emerson pointed towards the door with her thumb.

"I think I'm going to stay and see about this date, sorry Emerson."

"It was nice to meet you!" Quinn waved Emerson away.

She turned and left without another word. Her walked back to the dorm was solemn. Emerson knew Leighton was straight, but she'd thought that maybe somewhere in her she felt the same was as Emerson. But it was clear that wasn't true. So she hung her head like a sad heroine in a teen movie, trying not to cry. 

*not spell checked or proof-read