Toe the Line

Chapter Four

"Hey!" a familiar voice calls from behind us as we're walking down the hallway. Jake walks up and puts his arms around Amanda and I.

"Just wanted to come and formally invite you ladies to Labor Day Weekend. You're all coming, right?"

"Wait, it's in Newport this year?"

"Yeah! Collin's parents are getting the pool drained and the landscaping redone at his place in the Hamptons, so we can't do it there this year." He looks a little too happy about this.

"No one else can host? I would much prefer the Hamptons," Lilly said, whining.

"You could step up then, Lil," Amanda asserts, with a knowing smile.

"No, no, my parents would never allow a bunch of kids at our house," she huffs.

"Then Newport it is!" Jake says, completely unfazed by Lilly's attitude. "If you guys want, I'll reserve the guest house just for you guys."

"Done, we'll take it!" Char exclaims.

A three day weekend in Newport. With Jake. Where we messed around all summer. Great.

"Guys," Annie squeals. "I'm so excited, this year is already amazing, and it's barely started! What bathing suits should I pack?"

As my friends chatter away, I can't help but think that Annie is right. This year is already taking off, and Jimmy and the rose seem like a distant memory to me.

"Wine and primping in my room before Sit-Down tonight?" I ask, suddenly feeling extremely hopeful about my senior year at Abbott's. I put Jake and Jimmy and any other distractions out of my mind.

A few hours later, my room is a cloud of perfume and hairspray as the girls and I all get ready for Sit-Down. The freshmen on my floor are all worked up, and girls keep coming in to ask which dress they should wear.

"Ah, the freshman fear, I remember it so well," Amanda says nostalgically.

"Had to make the best impression, or we would get a low ranking for our dorm house," Char chimes in sarcastically.

"Those were stressful times, man," I shake my head, remembering the stress that the upperclassmen prefects put on us as freshmen to be the best dorm house. "The boys will only like you if you're a top two house," they drilled into us. "So don't fuck it up for all your peers."

"Yeah, well, our dorm house got number one, so it wasn't that stressful," Amanda quips with a smile. The boys came pouring in after that.

"Speak for yourself!" Annie exclaims, her curls shaking from side to side. "Huron House got voted fifth, and I had to go to formal with Freddie Urnstein because of it." She wrinkles her nose.

"I never cared about those stupid boys, they all just talk to each other about it afterwards anyways," Lilly says. "It's as if you slept with all of them." she dabs on some light pink lip gloss.

"Yeah, well, apparently Lianna did," Amanda says with a loud laugh.

"Hey, the eighteen hole challenge is a legacy, don't hate on it," I say, laughing with her.

"Lucy," Amanda's face gets very serious. "She did the eighteen hole challenge with eighteen different guys."

"You're lying."

"No way."

All of us burst into laughter.

"I thought that was something you're supposed to do with like your boyfriend, or someone you're hooking up with consistently," Char says. "Eighteen guys at all eighteen holes of the golf course, that's just plain impressive."

"Or disgusting," Lilly offers.

"Hm. That too." Char would never dare speak out against Lilly.

"Oh come on Lil, you've never thought about taking Nate down to Hole 1 for a good time?" Amanda shoves her playfully.

Lilly contorts her face. "None of the boys here interest me anymore."

"Except Jake," Amanda whispers in my ear. I just shake my head. It's been an ongoing thing that we all suspect Lilly is in love with Jake. But she refuses to admit it or even try to make it happen. Hence, why I don't feel guilty about this summer. Not that guilty at least.

"Alright, we should go, guys. We have ten minutes to get to the dining hall," I say, straightening my lilac dress in the mirror. Probably too much cleavage, but oh well.

"Don't forget your shawl, granny," Amanda says, throwing my cotton wrap in my face. "The boys might just go wild if they see those shoulders."

I roll my eyes and grab the stupid wrap. As much as I think some of the rules here at Abbott's are outdated and dumb, I'm also not the type of person to break them. I have too much at stake.

We all sit down at the long, mahogany tables in the dimly lit dining hall. Seniors at the front of the room, freshmen at the back. The teachers file in after us, and I watch every girl's eyes snap to Mr. Ferrier.

"Ugh, I'm feeling faint," Amanda says, feigning illness.

"Shit, I was just going to ask you to hold me up," I say back to her, taking in his built figure in a perfectly tailored blue jacket and pants.

"Guess we're both ending up on the floor at his feet," Amanda whispers.

Father Michaels gives the welcome and the blessing, and introduces each of the prefects, so that the freshmen know who to find if they need anything. I stand up and wave when they call my name, sitting back down as quickly as possible.

"I hate doing that," I groan. "Everyone was staring."

"Yeah, everyone, including Mr. Hottie," Amanda says, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Oh, shut up, Amanda."