Tutoring the Player (Campus Wallflowers #1)(11)

I meet up with the girls at the cafeteria for dinner. Violet is in full-on planning mode for the ball. She flips through images from her Pinterest board, showing us everything from table designs to a photo background. As I suspected, she’s gone way overboard.

Jane is all about it, and Dahlia is busy cramming in homework. She has the craziest schedule of the four of us since she is on the golf team. They have practices in the afternoons and workouts in the evenings or mornings, sometimes both.

So, while my friends are preoccupied, I think about Liam. I can’t believe I was so stupid to bring up hockey when Jordan had just told me that was why he was upset. I guess I didn’t really believe that was all it could be. I know student-athletes take their sports seriously, but even on bad days, Dahlia seems more like herself than Liam did during lab.

“Everything is still good with the flowers?” Violet asks me, shaking me from my thoughts.

“Yes.” I take a drink of water. I’ve said so few words during this dinner my throat is dry. “She can deliver everything that Saturday afternoon, or we can pick it up as soon as Friday on the weekend of the event.”

“Saturday afternoon?” Violet’s eyes widen. “That’s too late.”

I nod. Hence the need for a backup plan—aka picking it up ourselves.

“I don’t think you understand how many flowers we’re talking about here, Daisy,” she says.

“So, we’ll take more than one trip.”

I look to Jane and Dahlia for backup.

“I don’t think we have a vehicle big enough for the archway,” Jane says. “Unless it comes apart somehow.”

“It doesn’t,” Violet says. “We need a van or a truck or something.”

I hadn’t thought of that. Honestly, I’ve given the flowers very little thought at all beyond the specific instructions Violet gave me. But I can practically see the stress rising as her shoulders lift toward her ears.

“I will figure it out,” I say. When she doesn’t look convinced, I add, “I will. Leave it to me.”

“Thank you.” She exhales.

“Why are you putting so much pressure on this? We had a blast last year, and it wasn’t nearly this…” I search for a word that doesn’t make her extreme planning seem negative.

“Decadent?” Dahlia offers, looking up from her homework.

“Yes, that.” I point to her.

“Because…” The energy around Violet shifts as she struggles to put her feelings into words. She gets this way when she’s really passionate about something. “For one night, I want our friends to feel like they are part of something as amazing and unique as they are. How many times have we been turned away or left out because we’re not cool enough or outgoing enough or don’t have the right friends? It’s dumb. We’re awesome. I want this party to be so incredible that people are begging to be invited.”

“That’s sweet, Vi.” Also, slightly delusional. “The flowers will be there Saturday morning.”

She tilts her head to the side and narrows her gaze.

“I mean Friday night.” I smother a laugh.

“Thank you.” She smiles. “Dahlia, do you have the fliers?”

“Yeah. They’re in my backpack.” She stops working to pull out a stack of fliers.

“They turned out amazing,” Vi squeals and hands Jane and me each one to examine.

I groan when I see the bold title. “Wallflower Ball? You’re officially calling it the Wallflower Ball?”

“Wallflowers are awesome,” Jane says.

The fliers are amazing. Dahlia designed them with girls in big gowns and fierce pantsuits—a mix of her and Violet’s designs. And around them a big, floral archway like the one causing the current floral nightmare.

Violet divides the stack into four. “We should post these around campus, and I have the digital file we can post online.”

“Where?” I ask.

“We split up. I’ll take the dorms. Daisy, take the library and University Hall. Jane can get the theater and music buildings, and Dahlia can get the rec center and athletic facilities. Anything else, we’ll hit together tomorrow afternoon.”

“Can I take the dorms? Or at least Freddy?” I ask as I wrap my fingers around the fliers.

“Sure,” Violet says the word slowly. “Why? What are you up to?”

“Nothing. I need to talk to someone from class that lives in the building, so I’ll be there anyway.”

My friends are quiet for too long, and my face gets hot.

“Doesn’t Liam live in Freddy dorm?” Violet’s smile widens, and she bats her lashes.

Dahlia and Jane are watching me expectantly for more information.

With a smile, I stand. “See you guys back at the house.”

Sitting and talking about him will talk me out of my plan. And the plan isn’t half bad.

Freddy dorm is where most of the jocks live. Even a lot of the upper-class students stay here instead of moving out. The dorm is one of the nicest on campus, and the setup is in suites with two or four bedrooms and shared living space.

I only know this because it was in the housing packet when I was accepted to Valley U. I didn’t know then it was reserved for student-athletes, but I should have guessed as much.