The student lounge is packed, and Judith has to push through the crowd to get a good look at Jerome's table, only to discover that it's empty. She looks over her shoulder, her ears ringing from everyone's loud voices, but she searches the student lounge despite her annoyance.

"Are you kidding me," someone yells, catching her attention. When she sees Jerome, his friends, and Mary in front of the bulletin board posted against the wall far to the left of his table, she smiles and breathes a sigh of relief.

"Take a chill pill, K," Mary tells him, but her body is as tense as his from the news that they read. Judith approaches them.

"How can I when this is the second time that they rescheduled?" Khalíd turns his body to her, and he stares into her solemn, blue irises with his dark and serious ones.

"Exactly, and I spent my car money to join," Manuel chimes in. Judith stands at a distance, Mary is standing behind Jerome, and she has her back to her. "It's non-refundable, and without the payout, I'm fucked."

"You're exaggerating, Manny," she says, and he rolls his eyes in disbelief. Jerome and Eric turn away from the board to look at them. Khalíd lays his irises on Judith.

"Hey, 'Rome, your kitten is here," Khalíd says before Manuel can respond. They all avert their gazes at her, and Mary rolls hers as well.

"I don't mean to interrupt," she tells them while shifting her gaze from one to the other. "I actually need to speak with you, Mare."

"If this is about Derek," she begins, but Judith interrupts her.

"No, I was wondering why no one showed up for the group." They look at Mary when she heaves a sigh.

"La'Shawna hasn't shown up since your little announcement during our trust exercise, and William and Anthony think it's because of what you said," she explains. "You must've upset her."

"Well, that wasn't my intention." Mary shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly. "Where's Kacey?"

"Hell if I know. I don't keep tabs on you bitches – especially her." She scoffs incredulously and wrinkles her brows at her, taking undue offense from her question. Mary turns away from her to face her two snickering friends.

"You're so plastic," Judith says with a disgusted expression that she doesn't notice. Mary watches her walk toward the exit with her bag over her shoulder.

"Like a Barbie doll that you couldn't afford," Mary quips, and Judith raises her left hand, her middle finger aimed at her before she can reach the door.

"That's not funny," Mary lowers her voice at Khalíd and Manuel when they belt out louder laughs. Eric looks at Jerome, whose attention is glued to Judy until she steps outside.

Judith storms down the path to the sorority with her fists balled up at her sides, angry huffs of breath entering and exiting her nose.

"Hey!" When she sees Andrés approaching from the frat yards, she stops walking, and her hands relax. He stands in front of Judith, his hands in the pockets of his jeans, his long-sleeved black shirt hugging his frame.

"Hi," she says while forcing a smile before looking past his head. Derek Oliver is towering over a short girl with a sandy red afro and a caramel complexion. She's laughing heartily at whatever he is saying while resting her hands on her abdomen.

"I wanted to apologize for yesterday. Usually, I'm pretty cool around women, but I guess all that talk about my ex-girlfriend reminded me of how lonely I really am," Andrés says, but his voice is fading in her ears. "Can we restart?"

Judith watches the short girl attempt to walk away from him before stopping in her tracks, his hand on hers. Judith's eyes widen, and her heart races as she waits for his violent side to show, but she's happily disappointed when he merely leans in for a kiss.

"Thank God," she mumbles, sighs from relief, then returns her attention to him.

"So," he drones inquisitively. Judy looks at the young-looking woman in black yoga shorts and a long-sleeved pastel pink shirt strolling toward Zeta Kappa Delta. "Does that mean we can start over?"

"Sure, uh, can you give me a moment to talk to someone," she asks while taking steps away from him. "I'll meet you in the student lounge."

"I have a class to go to, so, yeah," he lowers his voice when she sprints toward the sorority, and he takes a deep breath, then continues toward the lecture and group building.

She steps into the lobby, and most of the sorority sisters laugh and chat in the living room. She runs up the stairs, and when she encounters an array of doors and yet another set of stairs, she groans defeatedly.

A towhead with a twiggy haircut emerges from the second door to the right in an off-white peasant dress, and they exchange a glance.

"Hi. Do you know Kacey McDaniels?" She nods uncertainly, her brow wrinkled and her lips pinched in disdain. "Which room is hers?"

"She's the last door to the left on the fourth floor," the girl says, then watches Judy race for the stairs down the hall. She continues ascending the next two stairs, then once down the hall, she knocks on Kacey's door.

"It's open," she announces from behind the door. She turns the knob in her left hand and thrusts the door back.

Kacey's sitting on the bed to the left of the room in black lace panties and a matching strapless bra. She has her knees to her chest, her irises on her toenails, a bottle of white polish in her left hand, and the brush in her right.

"Kacey, I have two questions," she says before stepping over the threshold and shutting the door behind her. She looks at her and furrows her brows at her appearance.

"Jesus H! What happened to your head, and where are your glasses?" Judith stands with the back of her bookbag to the door.

"That's a long story that I don't wanna get into. I'm waiting for my old pair to get fixed," she explains, then takes a breath. "Okay, first, there's this black girl with a red 'fro that came in here. Where is she?"

"Was she light-skinned or dark-skinned?" Kacey strokes the brush against the nail of the smallest toe on her left foot.

"She's a little lighter than me." She rolls her eyes and leans away from her nails. She returns the brush to the bottle, twisting the cap shut.

"That's Juniper." She sets the nail polish on her nightstand, then tosses her feet onto the floor, sitting on the edge of her bed. "What'd she do?"

"She was – never mind," Judith dismisses herself. "Where is she? I need to talk to her."

"She's usually skipping around campus like a kid in a candy shop, so good luck if you find her." Kacey glances at her freshly painted toenails. "Her sister – Jennifer – is my roommate, and she went to her lecture not long ago. When she gets back, I'll find you."

"Okay." She takes a breath to calm herself, and they look at each other. "Is La'Shawna okay?"

"Why do you ask?" Kacey squints her eyes in thought, and Judith approaches her. She sits to her right.

"Mary told me that William and Anthony think that I upset her during the trust exercise." Kacey turns her head to look at the bed across from them, her expression neutral. "It's true?"

"La'Shawna is dealing with shit, same as the rest of us, Judith, and Mary needs to shut the fuck up for a change," Kacey loudly asserts, then she folds her arms.

"I'll say," Judith mumbles, and when she follows her gaze, Kacey returns hers to her.

"What do you mean by that?" They look at each other when she asks.

"Oh, nothing, I was just saying," she stammers, and Kacey stands to her feet. Judith does as well.

"Did she say something about me, you, or La'Shawna," she presses her for an answer, but Judy merely purses her lips. "Fine. Step into the hall while I get changed and when I'm done, take me to her."

"Kacey, fighting isn't necessary," Judith tells her as she strolls toward the dresser at the foot of her bed, and she emits a sarcastic chuckle before pulling the top drawer back. "Seriously, if you two go at it on campus, you'll both be expelled."

"Then let's hope that Goldilocks won't start something she can't finish." She and Judy stare at each other long enough for Kacey to finish her statement, then she returns her gaze to the clothes in front of her.

Realizing that her warnings aren't reaching her, she exits her room with a huff. Judy leans against the wall to the left of the door, and she folds her arms. Her dark irises wander onto the side of the hall where the stairs lead them down a flight.

Juniper descends the stairs and Judith races behind her. Once they reach the third floor, she yells, "Juniper!"

The short, peach-toned girl stops in her tracks with her brows furrowed at the unfamiliar voice beckoning her, and her confused expression remains on her face as she turns on her heels.

"Do I know you?" She looks her up and down. Her voice is flat, which isn't what Judy expected from someone with a childlike face and aura.

"No, but I know someone that knows you – two people, to be exact." She narrows her eyes at her, and Judith shakes her head. "I'm not trying to seem creepy, but I saw you talking to Derek."

Juniper folds her arms, scoffs incredulously, and looks at the door to her right. "I'm guessing you're the crazy chick that put a target on his back."

"No." They look at each other. "You're probably talking about Mary, but that's what I want to talk to you about. He's dangerous."

"No, he's not," she says while raising her brows. Judith has her lips agape as she watches her speak. "He told me about the lies that your friend spread, and as someone who's experienced that for real, I'm utterly disgusted by her. You and that girl better stay away from me and my boyfriend unless you're both cruising for a bruising."

Juniper proceeds down the corridor and the next set of stairs before Judith can react. Kacey takes a hesitant step beside Judy, darting her gaze between the two until Juniper is out of sight.

Kacey's wearing a sea-moss-colored bell-sleeved crop top, denim bell-bottom pants, and brown leather sandals that highlight her white toes.

"What happened?" Judith shuts her eyelids and sighs.

"That scumbag won," she vaguely tells her, then walks toward the stairwell with Kacey in tow. Her eyebrows are knitted, and she has her arms folded under her chest.

"Scumbag? What're you talking about? Who're you talking about," she drills her with questions as they stroll down the steps.

"Derek Oliver. You probably don't know him, but I think he did something to Mary," Judith answers.

"Did something like what?" They stop in front of the next staircase, and Judy takes a deep breath.

"Remember that night of the rager, and you found us in the grass?" She nods her head, listening intently. "I was arguing with my boyfriend at the time, and I found Mary stumbling around like she was drunk. Her clothes were messed up, but I didn't think anything of it until yesterday when I confronted him about her, and he went apeshit. He accused me of being there to fight him over what Mary said he did."

"But what did he do," she asks, her voice higher and filled with impatience.

"I think he forced himself on her that night," Judith says, and Kacey watches her gaze lower with pity.