Secret Society Girl: An Ivy League Novel

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"Diana

DELACDRTE P R E S S , *

SECRET SOCIETY GIRL

A Delacorte Press Book /July 2006 Published by Bantam Dell A Division of Random House, Inc. New York, New York This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved Copyright © 2006 by Diana Peterfreund Book design by Carol Malcolm Russo Delacorte Press is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Peterfreund, Diana. Secret society girl: an Ivy League novel / Diana Peterfreund. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-0-385-34002-1 ISBN-10: 0-385-34002-8 1. Women college students—Fiction. 2. Greek letter societies— Fiction. I. Title. PS3616.E835S43 2006 813'.6—dc22 2006040663

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Printed in the United States of America Published simultaneously in Canada www.bantamdell.com 10

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For the sons and daughters of Eli

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J hereby J am a member Of one of wye mo6i in(amou s h e said, crowding up on him. "And much as we both l i k e yo^ t h a t m e a n s o u t N o w » "But—" Brandon s a i d) iooking over his shoulder at me as Lydia hustled him dut. I w o u l d h a v e s p o k e n u p a b o u t the w a y she was manhandling r n y _ w e l l ) m y fnend-with-bennies—but my mind was too busy doing round-off back handsprings and I was caressing that wax s ea l in my pocket like I was Frodo and it was the One Ring. "Good night, Brandon!" I called as Lydia shoved him over the threshold and shut th e door in his face. "I'll call you tomorrow, I promise!" She threw the lock a r i d tarned t o m e « O p e n k » I drew back, p r o t e c t ^ m y p o c k et. "In front of you?" "I'm your best friend!" she argued. I snorted. "You've b e e n p u i i i n g a disappearing act all week! You won't tell me a thing a b o ut your society interview, and yet you think you get dibs O r i r e a d i n g m y l e t t e r?" She thought about i t for a s e c o n d > ^ n o d d e d . " Yes !" "You show me yours, m show you mine." I put my hands on my hips, realizing ev e n a s j d i d t^t i w a s l e a v i n g ±e enve _ lope wide open for pickp o c k e t s . "Fine," Lydia said, stepping back. "Be that way. I'll leave you alone with your p r e c i o u s enve lope." And then she turned,

Secret Society Girl

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walked into her room, and shut the door, leaving me blinking at her whiteboard in surprise. That's not how I expected that to go at all. But I recovered a few seconds later, remembering that I still hadn't opened the envelope. I spent a good long time just staring at the seal. Would it crack when I opened it? I turned the paper over and over in my hands. Yep, that was my name, and yep, that was the Rose & Grave seal. And that was still my name. But Rose & Grave did not tap women. What the hell was going on? Finally, I carefully slipped my fingertips beneath the wax and popped it open in one piece. The envelope split on irregular lines, and unfolded into an odd, distorted hexagon. The words were written on the diagonal in a heavy, angular script, and this is what they said: B. S. C* Amy Maureen Haskel:

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You have been judged and found worthy. Be in your room tonight at five minutes past eight o'clock and await further instructions.

And then beneath that was the mark of Rose & Grave. I was being tapped by Rose & Grave!

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