Becky frowned, stopping short and forcing me to halt so I didn’t lose sight of her as more students flooded around us.

“I don’t know yet, Jess,” she said with an edge to her voice. “But I know that one of the things I wanted to do while I was at college was come out of my shell a little. I figured joining a sorority might help—”

“No. You’re right,” I said, holding up my hands apologetically. “I’m being judgmental. You should go for it.”

“Only problem is I don’t know which one to pledge,” she said with a sigh as we passed yet another table with a group of bubbly twenty-somethings in tight t-shirts. “There are so many of them on campus, and I don’t know which one would be right for me.”

“How about you go look at some of them? I was wanting to look at some of the extracurriculars they have advertised here. How about we meet back at the dorm before dinner and we can order some Chinese, or something?”

“You’re awesome, Jess,” she said, pulling me into a tight, bone-crushing hug. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“See you,” I said as she finally let me go, the air finally returning to my lungs after she let go of me. “Just don’t jump into anything right away. Take your time and think about it before you make any decisions.

“Sure thing, Mom,” she said with a laugh as she went off toward one of the tables for the sororities. I was sure that I was being too critical. Becky knew the difference between right and wrong, and I knew she would never give in to anything like the horror stories I’d heard about. Nevertheless, I was more than a little worried for her. Hazing or not, women were brutal, especially when they felt like they were set apart from everyone else.

I heaved a sigh and continued along the through the tents and tables that had been set up outside, advertising the different activities available for the students on campus. I had almost cleared the cluster of fraternities before I heard someone calling out loudly.

“Hey!” they shouted, a chorus of chuckles following close behind. I made an effort to ignore it, hoping that they weren’t calling to me. I didn’t need this, not on my first day.

“Hey! Come here!” I heard again, this time closer. “We wanted to talk to you, babe!”

My stomach clenched and I turned toward the man trailing behind me. He wasn’t a particularly fit man—in fact he looked like your typical frat boy—slightly overweight, with a prickly five o’clock shadow all over his neck and second chin. He was wearing a blue sweater with “__Ω” written in bold yellow letters.

“Don’t you wanna talk to us, baby?”

“Don’t call me that,” I said, my fists coiled tight. “I don’t want to talk to you. Leave me alone.”

“Whoa!” he said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. “You don’t need to be a bitch about it, babe! We just wanted to know if you wanted to come to a party tonight. Alpha Epsilon Omega’s got a sick celebration goin’ on!”

“Go fuck yourself,” I said, turning to walk away. I didn’t want to be there anymore. I wanted to head straight back to the dorm and wait for Becky to get back. Inside of my head, alarms started to sound like the claxons in a science-fiction movie.

“Can you fuckin’ believe this chick?” the frat boy laughed, turning to his fellows. “Yo! Mikey! Come check this stuck-up bitch out!”

I frowned as I saw someone step out of the crowd in front of me, blocking my escape. At first I couldn’t make his face out, the mid-day sun shining right into my eyes. It wasn’t until the “Mikey” took another step closer that I realized who was standing in front of me.

“Well, well,” came the familiar, smooth voice of my ex-boyfriend, Michael, “look who’s here.”

“You know this bitch, Mike?” asked the chubby frat boy.

“Biblically,” he said with a chuckle. “You’ve never met a bigger slut in your life, boys. She’s a complete whore.”

“That’s a lie,” I tried to argue back, but Michael cut me off.

“Nobody said you could talk, slut. And you most certainly are a slut. I’ve had this bitch every way you can imagine.”

“Yeah! Tell us more, Mikey!” came shouts from his fellow pledges.

“Get out of my way,” I whispered, my voice trembling. I swallowed hard as my heart pounded like a drum.

“You’re not going anywhere. You’re coming to our little party, and we’re going to loosen up that tight little—”

I ran before he could even finish, dashing passed him and into the crowd of students. I don’t remember exactly how long I ran, but before I even realized it, I was completely alone underneath a pavilion, isolated from the rest of the students.

I took a moment to catch my breath, my eyes closed as I leaned myself against the thick cement columns that held the pavilion aloft. For that fleeting moment, I felt that maybe I was safe from whatever Michael’s new fraternity pals had in store, that they wouldn’t bother pursuing me past the crowd of people if it meant having to put effort into it… but then I remembered that no distance was too great for a man like Michael, a man who liked making people suffer.

“Thought you could run, did you?” came that confident voice from only a few yards away.

I turned, my heart kicking back into overdrive once again as I spotted Michael and his friends closing in on me fast. I turned to either side, hoping to see a quick way to escape as the men began to circle around me. Each of them had a smirk on their lips, a wolfish grin that made my skin crawl and gave a horrifying thought to just what they might be planning for me.

“Stay away from me, Michael,” I commanded, my voice faltering as he strolled confidently closer, his friends spreading out to try to block any escape routes. “I mean it!”

“Or you’ll do what, Jessica?” he asked, his bloodless lips turning up into a wicked smile. “Scream? Run for help? Call for Mommy?”

The others laughed, and it frightened me how quickly Michael had found people who complimented his sick and twisted mind—minions for his supervillain-level ego.

“Save your blubbering for your pillow tonight,” he spat, as he drew almost close enough to touch. “Nowhere to run now, little Jessie. Maybe I should take what I want from you… You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

He reached out, his fingers quickly embedding in the fabric of my blouse. I pulled away as he tried to yank me closer. I felt my top resist for a moment before it gave way, tearing loudly. If I hadn’t realized how real the danger was before, I knew now, a cold rush of adrenaline coursing through me at breakneck speeds, my heart thumping faster than I’d ever felt in my life. I could feel something stirring inside me… The same feelings that made me ashamed and angry with myself… The feelings that made me run away from Michael in the first place. My body was betraying me the way it always did.

“Hey! What the—”

Just beyond my view I heard the sound of a scuffle, and then someone falling against one of the pavilion’s benches with a loud bang.

Michael and I both turned our heads at the commotion, just in time for him to catch someone’s fist right against his jaw. Before I could react, Michael had released his hold on my shirt, sending me reeling until I came right down onto my backside, wincing in pain. I managed to look up just in time to see Michael stumbling back, his hand covering the right side of his face.

“Get the fuck away from her,” said my rescuer in a voice I’d heard whispering a thousand times in my fantasies.

“Richard?” I asked, turning my head to see my stepbrother more clearly. Sure enough, he stood in front of me, blocking Michael from taking even one step closer, his fists up and ready to take another swing.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Michael hissed, his face screwed up in anger.

“Keeping creeps like you from touching things that don’t belong to you,” he growled.

“We’re just having a little fun. Jessica likes it a little rough. Why don’t you tell your big brother here how wet you are right now, Jess? I bet he’d love to hear all about it,” Michael said, rubbing his swollen cheek.