It spoke volumes that out of the Denver girls, most of whom she knew, only Cassie and Charlotte were nice to her. She was now a threat, their competition. And she was an heir.
“THE BOYS!” Bindy said excitedly as she shut down the blow-dryer in her hand. “I’m so excited for dinner to be over so we can feast our eyes on those boys.”
Kennedy snorted. Bindy just had a way with words. She was right though. It was Monday evening. They finally got to see the first video of the guys down at supper.
Bindy looked at her, then circled her hand in Kennedy’s face. “Why this?”
“Why what?”
Bindy kept doing it. “Why does this face not show the excitement right now?”
Kennedy let out a sigh. “I don’t know. I just don’t want to see Josiah, like, ever.”
Bindy nodded while beginning to run a straightener through her hair. “Ah. The guy you dated who’s in the Culling.”
Kennedy appreciated Bindy’s kind phrasing. “Bingo. I mean, technically I’ve dated two, but only slept with the one.”
“What?!” Bindy’s eyes widened. “There’s another?”
Kennedy rolled her eyes. “Calm down. I’ve dated three people ever. Two of them are in the Culling.”
Bindy’s eyebrows reached for the ceiling. “Wow. Those odds suck for you.” Then, after a few seconds, she added, “But also kind of show you have high standards.”
Kennedy shook her head in surprise. “Most people would probably want to call me a slut, but you manage to find something positive even in that.” She squinted an eye. “Why are you so nice to me, Bindy?”
Bindy sighed. “It’s not like I poop cotton candy, okay?”
Kennedy snorted.
“It’s just that this life is too dang short to do anything but find the light and share it as far and as often as you can.” Bindy paused, her face turning serious. “My little brother got really sick a while back. We came very close to losing him.” She swallowed hard and continued doing her hair. “I know firsthand how fragile this life we live is. I don’t want to live trapped in darkness and hate. So I choose joy. If you look for it, you can find it just about anywhere. The hate is always right there next to joy, both there for the taking, but it’s up to us what we grab onto, what we spread.”
Kennedy blinked hard, thinking of her two brothers. If anything had happened to either of them, she wasn’t sure she’d have the same outlook. In fact, she was pretty sure she wouldn’t. “Bindy, I may have thought you were all sunshine and rainbow sprinkles at first, but I’m really glad we’re roommates.”
“Me too! But wait—can I ask who the other guy you dated was?” Bindy asked. “Or maybe you don’t want anyone to know?”
Kennedy shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. Because it wasn’t. “It was Andre. We only lasted a few short months. The physical chemistry was there, but we were so . . . volatile. We were too similar and argued about everything. He’s in my brother’s unit too, so that was just awkward.”
“He’s cuuuute,” Bindy said. “Josiah is too, but he just screams Jerkasaurus Rex.” She snapped the straightener in her hands together a few times for extra emphasis.
Kennedy laughed. “That’s one way to put it. Andre and I, for as much as we argued in the short time we dated, ended on pretty good terms. We were young and stupid and just knew we weren’t meant to be. I don’t think Josiah knows we dated, though. Not many people do.”
Bindy nodded. “Interesting.” After a beat she added, “You didn’t tell him?”
Kennedy shook her head. “Josiah just kept going on and on about how he was so honored to be my first kiss. I just felt bad and didn’t know how to break it to him, so I let him believe it, I guess.” She scrunched up her nose. “That was kind of rude, huh?”
Bindy scrunched up her nose with Kennedy. “I would say yes if we were talking about literally anyone but Josiah. So no rekindling of the fires of desires with Andre either?”
Kennedy grinned at her word choice. “Goodness no.”
Bindy squinted. “Can I ask a personal question?”
Kennedy groaned. “Is it about my brothers?”
Bindy laughed, pointing at her with the straightener. “No, actually. But I will go on record and say they’re both super attractive.”
Kennedy rolled her eyes.
Bindy asked softly, “Why do you always wear your hair braided? It’s so pretty. Most girls here are trying to be all dolled up every day.” She pointed at her hair. “What’s with the braids?”
Kennedy ran a hand down her long braid, feeling the cool bumps along her fingers. “Umm. It’s kind of petty and I will tell you, but you have to keep it between us.”
Bindy nodded. “Of course.” Then she added, “And that goes for everything you just said too.”
Kennedy let out a long breath. “Josiah loved my hair down and when I got dressed up all girly. Like he’d comment on it all the time. So now that I know what he was doing, how he was manipulating me to look how he liked me best, I want to do the exact opposite of that.”
Bindy thought on that. “He really is a piece of work.”
Kennedy smiled. “Here’s to hoping he’s already kicked out and not on that video tonight.”
***
He was on the video. They only showed a clip of him trying to talk to her brother James, but James was not giving him the time of day. She was surprised Josiah’s big nose was still on his face without being crooked.
Her brothers looked good on video, though—James particularly as he was crushing some of their physical drills.
While some of the girls giggled and blushed with how attractive some of the guys were, she tried her best to block that out. Yes, there were some very attractive men in the Culling. Very. But where had that gotten her with Josiah?
Broken. It had broken her.
So this time around she was going to be extra cautious. Though the Culling guys came in all shapes and sizes, above all she was looking for integrity. Who the person was when no one else watched. Who helped others. And that was all very hard to look for in the five-minute video. She was probably going to have to wait for the Candidatorial Ball before she started really watching and observing them. If she even made it that far.
After the video that night, she went up to her room, found the notebook she’d packed, and jotted down some notes—things she’d noticed, good or bad, about each of the guys. She was going to study them. Do a little surveillance.
Because she would not be blindsided again.
…………..
Chapter 4
…………..
“I do not like this even a little,” Bindy sighed from the left of her.
She was right. It was a weird sensation not being able to see at all. The Trident sims were underway with the girls going in groups of five. Kennedy had lucked out and gotten a pretty good group: Bindy, Megan from KC, Annette from Vegas, and Grace from Galveston. Grace was kind of quiet, but Kennedy liked all four of the girls she was trapped in the sim with.