t w o ;

Once inside university grounds, he walked towards the row of sorority and frat houses. All around were students with their backpacks slung over their shoulders, others with their cellphones out, and more that were on bicycles, headed for their first classes of the day. Luke took in all of it. It was a much different world than the one he was used to when he was a high school student. There was a sense of freedom to being a university student, a freedom he didn't have until then.

He got his cellphone out of his pocket and hit the home button. He let the finger scan unlock his phone and opened up the conversation with Ashton in his messages. He had been about to type in a text when he ran into someone.

In the next second, he found himself soaked by something cold. He gasped at the sensation of the cold liquid drenching the front of his shirt and he looked up to see who had been the person responsible for it. It was a girl with long brown hair and big brown eyes that were widened in shock at what had just happened. There was a now half-empty cup of ice coffee in her hand, and he noticed none of it had done anything to stain her pink knitted sweater or her bright white pencil skirt. He would need to head to the student store now. He couldn't show up at Alpha house like that, with a huge coffee stain down the front of his shirt.

"I'm so sorry." The girl rushed out an apology. 

In her opposite hand was her cellphone, which she had been looking at when she collided with him. The girl quickly stuffed her cellphone into her book bag and pulled out some napkins which she immediately used to attempt to clean the stain on his shirt. By the looks of her hesitant movements and the clothes she was wearing, he figured that she was probably rich and had never cleaned anything up in her life.

Taking the napkins from her hands, he said to her reassuringly, "Don't worry, it was just an accident. I'll just go to the book store and buy a new shirt." 

"I'll pay for your new shirt." She offered. "I'm sorry, dude. I didn't see where I was going, it was totally my fault. My cousin texted me and it was very important. She's trying to get me a spot at Sigma House and--"

"Wait." Luke stopped her, now even more interested in the girl who had spilled coffee on him. "You're applying to Sigma House today?" Get yourself a Sigma House girlfriend, he remembered Ashton's words fresh in his mind. When she nodded in confirmation, a smile broke out onto his face. "What a coincidence. I'm applying to Alpha House today and we all know Sigmas and Alphas always get along really well." He winked at her. That girl had a cousin who was already part of Sigma House, which meant there was a greater chance of her getting in. If she got in and he was dating her, he could easily get into Alpha House. 

But despite her expensive clothes, Luke thought she didn't seem like the Sigma type. She seemed more reserved and shy, whereas the Sigmas were girls who were outgoing and liked to party with Alpha frat boys.

A smile graced her lips as she replied to him, "Then maybe I'll be seeing you later."

"But in case I don't see you..." He trailed off for a second, grabbing his cellphone out of his pocket. "Can I have your number? Instead of paying for my new shirt, you can compensate me by going out with me."

"Umm...yeah, sure." She smiled at him.

The girl dictated her phone number aloud and he typed it into his cellphone, once he hit save, he added, "And are you gonna tell me what your name is? Or can I just put you under Beautiful in my contacts?"

She let out a shy giggle, and gave a shake of her head. "My name's Solange Altamirano Johnson."

"That name sounds foreign." He commented, his fingers nervously lingering over the keyboard of his phone. He didn't exactly know how to spell her name, and he thought it rude to ask her.

Solange nodded in agreement with his comment. "Solange is a French name. It means angel of the sun. My father Ernesto Altamirano is French and Mexican, his family migrated to Guadalajara from Mâcon when the French took over Mexico in the late eighteen hundreds, so he named me after his mother. Its spelled S-O-L-A-N-G-E. You don't have to jot down my last name, I'm sure you don't have many Solanges in your contacts. And--I mean--if its too hard to pronounce, you can call me Sun or Angie, most people do." In her nervousness, she had given him too long of an explanation about her name. But Luke quickly followed her spelling, typing it onto his phone and hit save. 

"Beautiful name." Luke told her, looking up from his phone screen. "Mine's super plain, nothing fancy like yours. Luke Hemmings." He breathed out a small laugh.

"Its a very nice name." She assured him. "I've never heard of anyone last named Hemmings before. It almost sounds like Hemingway." 

His lips parted to reply to her, when he was interrupted by the ringing of his phone with an incoming text message. He looked at the screen to see that it was Ashton, wondering where he was. In his message he said he wanted to meet up so that they could go over exactly what he would need to say, and then they would head over to Alpha House together. 

"I have to go." Luke said, adding, "My friend is looking for me. He's gonna help me impress the Alphas."

"Good luck." She waved at him as she herself was on her way as well.

He winked at her, "I'll see you later, Solange." He had tried to pronounce her name correctly, but it came out totally butchered. The way he had said it made her name sound like soul ange, like range but without the r.  As he walked in the direction of the place he was to meet up with Ashton, he muttered to himself, "English speakers should never be allowed to pronounce foreign names. We make them sound terrible. And how the fuck is her last name even pronounced? Maybe I'll just call her Angie Johnson..."

-

"I'm sorry I'm late, Alexa." Solange rushed into the room they would be meeting at. It was inside Sigma's sorority house, but most of the other girls had early morning classes and wouldn't be seeing a nonmember entering the house. Her half-filled ice coffee cup was still in her hand which was sticky with the coffee that had spilled out on Luke Hemmings moments earlier. Solange placed her purse on one of the chairs on the terrace tables and she sat on the chair next to it.

Her cousin Alexa Villaraigoza Winchester was sat there, having her breakfast which was a bowl of fruit and some plain yogurt. As the vice president of Sigma house, she had the authority to do most anything she wanted--except allow new members into the house without the president's permission.

Alexa had taken a while to convince her best friend. Mila Sotomayor Williams wanted only the best of the best in her sorority house. 

"I ran into this poor guy and accidentally spilled my coffee on him." Solange explained her reason for being late. She was about to continue, but her cousin lifted up a hand to stop her.

"I honestly could not care less." Alexa said.

"You'll want to hear this." Solange insisted, leaning closer to her cousin as she continued, "He said his friend was going to get him a spot at Alpha house."

Alexa raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Looks like you spilled coffee on the right person then."

"It was an accident." Solange assured her.

"Accident or not," Her cousin said, stabbing one of the strawberries on her plate and bringing it to her lips. "I would recommend following up with this guy. If he becomes an Alpha, like he plans, it would be great for your reputation as an incoming Sigma to date him. You know Sigmas and Alphas always get along really well." She smiled knowingly. Alexa was already dating one of the Alpha house boys. Liam Payne, who was vice president of Alpha House was her boyfriend. They had only been dating because they had been set up by their friends Mila and Louis, who were presidents of their respective frat and sorority and were dating. "You need to make sure this guy falls in love with you if he gets into Alpha house. If not, you can just dump him and I can set you up with one of Liam's friends already in Alpha house. But they really won't be interested unless you get picked to join Sigma House."

For Alexa Winchester, the Sigmas, and even the Alphas, power and prestige were above everything.

"Now hurry and leave through the back door before someone sees you, or I'll get in trouble." Alexa waved her off once their conversation ended. "We're having an open house for girls who are interested in joining, but the other Sigmas might arrive any moment to help me set up."

Solange nodded, getting back on her feet quickly and reaching for her book bag on the chair nearby. She left the house the same way her cousin had instructed her and went to find somewhere to sit until it was time for the Sigmas' open house event. Solange hoped that she would run into Luke Hemmings again, not only because it was beneficial for her as a Sigma, but because she had genuinely liked him and thought they had really hit it off.

She didn't realize that he was out to use her too.

-

another update for this story. finally. i hope you all like it, and i added some pictures of the girls. the first one is paulina goto who is playing the part of solange altamirano johnson. and the second girl is michelle renaud who is playing the part of alexa villaraigoza winchester. 

thank you loads for reading, and i hope to be able to update soon.

have a wonderful week!

-clary xx