If  Liam and I were to ever smoke a cigarette, now would be the  perfect  time to light one. Liam lies next to me on his back and I watch  his chest quickly rise and fall. I remain on my side, also still  breathing  heavily from our romp sesh.

"I needed that Ellie. I felt like I was going to explode if I didn't   release some of that tension. I'm sorry I was so  quiet. I know your mind wanders when I don't tell you what I'm   thinking," Liam says rapidly, finally breaking the silence as he runs his finger down  the side of my cheek.

"You found out a lot today, I don't blame you for having mixed  emotions," I  respond as I put my clasped hands under my head. Liam  turns on his side  to face me, keeping our lips only inches apart. I gaze into his sapphire eyes and find comfort in his relaxed  expression. Liam is always so laid back that I get anxious when I see  him tense. It's rare  to see him so worked up. My voice is hardly  louder than a whisper when I ask, "What are your honest thoughts about  Virginia?"

Liam loudly inhales and holds his breath for a few seconds before  answering,  "I don't have the slightest clue, Ellie. I honestly don't  know how I feel about it. I went from hating my dad to understanding him  in a matter of minutes. I'm furious with my mom for lying to me for so  long, but I feel like my dad should have tried harder to find us. I don't  know. I honestly don't know." Liam covers his face with his hands and  slowly pulls downwards. He rolls over so he's looking at the ceiling and I don't know if I  should drop the subject or continue to ask my questions. One of his  answers leads to five more questions.

I know he's been   through a lot today so I decide to drop the sensitive subject for now.   If he wants to talk to me about it he will. He must want to drop the  subject too because he asks, "Pizza for dinner?"

"Pizza sounds good!" I reply as I sit up to look for my phone. Liam  hands me  one of his shirts to pull on off of the floor and I wander  toward my backpack once I am covered. I find my phone and see that  Harper has  tried calling me four more times. I hear the bathroom door  click shut so I use the opportunity to call her back. She answers on the  second ring,  "Finally Ellie! I have been trying to get a hold of you all damn day!"

"I know, I was in class and then I was in a meeting. What's up?" I ask and it sounds like she's around a bunch of people.

"Okay, so tomorrow is the big open house for all of the sororities so we can get all the information we need for rush week next week."

"Your rush week is already next week? That was fast," I ask as Liam  comes out  from the bathroom already showered. He catches my eye and mouths pizza to me  as he waves his phone in the air. I mouth back Harper and he nods. He  scoots around me to open the front door and I watch him walk to the pool  with his phone up to his ear.

"Yeah, but I've been in school for a week longer than you  have  remember?" She reminds me and I nod even though she can't see me. She  continues, "Anyway I am going to send you pictures of different outfits  and you have to tell me which one to wear. Zula Beth wears like, oversized band tees and socks with sandals so she's no help to me." I laugh and  think back to Zoe. Look's like I'll be sending Harper my rush week ideas   too.

"That's fine. I'll keep my phone handy," I say back to her.

"Okay great! Also, I wanted to let you know that we have a sorority  here, Kappa Delta, that also has a chapter at Pepperdine. We could be  sorority sisters! And their logo is olive green, which we both know I can  pull off with my skin tone and hair color. So make it a point to  go to the Kappa Delta chapter at your school and get all the  information. Okay?"

"Okay, I will remember that. Kappa Delta. Honestly, Harper, I haven't  looked too  much into my rush week yet," I confess and I already know  what her response will be.

"What?!  How have you not started looking into your options? Please,  please tell me it's not because of Liam. Girls can be in sororities and  still have committed boyfriends. Tell him to trust you," Harper pleads  and my gaze flickers out the window to Liam, who is now sitting with his  feet in the  pool.

"It's not that he doesn't trust me. It's the hazing he takes issue  with. He thinks sorority girls are bullies and he doesn't want me  engaging in that kind of behavior."

"Look  Ellie, I may not have been in that locker room with you two  last year, but I learned my lesson. And if I, Harper Weston can rise above  and not participate in hazing I know you, Saint Ellie Adler can rise  above it too. And anyway that's not what sororities are about. It's  about sisterhood, community service and awesome kegger parties with   fraternities." There's the Harper I know. I know she's not joining a sorority for  community  service. It's so she has V.I.P. access to all the fraternity  brothers.

"That's more like it, Harp. Well, I will be on the lookout for  your outfit  selections and call me after you get all the information on  rush week."

"I will. And promise me you'll look into Kappa Delta. And it has to be the best friend's promise. No if, ands or buts."

"I promise I will check out Kappa Delta."

"Okay good. Well, smoochies I gotta get back to my party. Love ya."  The line  goes dead and I toss my phone onto the bed. I figure with  everything  Liam already has on his mind, the conversation I need to  have with him about rush week can wait for another time. I watch him  from the window and his gaze is on the water. While I think about silly  things like sororities and Harper's outfits, he's sitting out there  wondering about his parents and his childhood. California was supposed to be our break from parents and rules. It was supposed to be our time to grow on our own and find ourselves. His dad is now coming in and messing up our carefully laid plans that we spent all summer getting excited about.

I know Liam is seriously  considering  Virginia even if he won't admit it to me yet. He's always  wanted to do something more with his abilities and this is an  interesting opportunity for him to explore them. I'm sure he also wants  to reconnect with his dad, seeing his mom has always been so absent.  I've been dating Liam  for almost a year and have only been around the  woman a handful of times.

I see Liam pop up from the pool and meander over to the driveway. The pizza guy stands at the gate entrance and Liam quickly pays and spins back to the house. I watch as he walks toward me carrying a small stack of boxes. His face is still tense, and I want to get him out of his head for a bit.

"What all did you order?" I ask with a laugh as soon as Liam is back inside.  The  amazing smell of greasy pizza fills the small kitchen.

"I had a rough day and just want to eat my feelings okay?"  Liam  jokingly replies and I giggle as I walk over to him. He opens a  box of stuffed crust pepperoni pizza, a small supreme pizza, a box of  wings, an order of cheese bread and an order of cinnamon sticks and I  can't help  but laugh. All this for two people.

His light carefree mood is back, so I don't bring up his dad for the  rest of the evening. We argue about what to watch on Netflix and stay  snuggled up next to each other as we eat pizza. My phone pings  throughout the evening with every picture Harper sends of different  outfits. I send her back my favorites and Liam never once asks what  she's sending me pictures for. I think he knows the conversation about  sororities is upon us but he pushes it off a little longer.

I  wanted to have a normal college experience and enjoy every  possible  opportunity that came my way. I wasn't even here for a week when I  was  reminded that I am anything but normal. I have a professor that  can control me at his will and a boyfriend that might possibly be recruited into the C.I.A.

I grab another cinnamon stick and realize this  night is as normal as it gets for me and I should enjoy it while it  lasts.