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Lila Stangard was naive, but she was self-aware. Hard not to be, when the man you’re falling in love with is your psychology professor. He had tried using psychological concepts to trick her into believing she wasn’t really in love with him, something called transference Lila didn’t entirely understand, but Lila shut him up with a kiss.
Lila had never meant to be a stereotype, she just wanted to be different from the mousy little girl she was in high school. Her parents were worried about Griffin’s religion, thought he was trying to control Lila, and maybe he was, but Lila liked it. She liked kissing, she liked how the football player knew almost all the Kappa Kappa Theta girls’ names when Lila struggled to learn them. It’s just - Lila still found herself lonely. Dr. Keating had office hours, and Lila had nothing but time.
Having nothing but time was also what led Lila to meeting Rebecca, who was very much not a college student. Rebecca was interesting in ways Lila had never met before - she had scars, she did drugs, she worked at night. Lila’s friends wanted to try ketamine one night, and Rebecca hooked Lila up with a burner phone and taught her how to start dealing.
One evening, the sorority decided to throw a spontaneous party. The house was filled with laughter, music, and a sea of colorful decorations. Lila joined in, trying to lose herself in the festivities. She couldn’t, so she decided to be stupid and invite Rebecca.
Rebecca arrived, looking out of place among the preppy sorority girls, but Lila felt a strange sense of relief seeing her. They found a quieter corner of the house, away from the noise and chaos.
“Why’d you invite me here?” Rebecca asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I don’t know,” Lila admitted, taking a sip of her drink. “I just… I didn’t want to be alone.”
Rebecca smirked. “Well, you picked the right person for that.” Indeed, they weren’t alone. They talked about Rebecca’s wild life at the bar, Lila’s far less interesting one at Middleton, and even joined in when some of the sisters decided to play Rocky Horror Picture Show. The night turned out to be fun - if only every night could be that way. If only Lila wasn’t so boy-crazy, maybe she’d have survived college.