The first weekend of December, ATO threw their end-of-season football rager.

It was the last big event Jackson was hosting as chapter president. As his girlfriend, I was supposed to be by his side, mingling with other Greek life couples in the Gothic Revival-style frat house.

By 1 a.m., I was exhausted.

“Can we go soon?” I asked Jackson quietly.

He was deep in a conversation with a few of his brothers about spring recruitment. He nodded.

“Give me ten minutes. Need to wrap this up.”

Ten minutes turned into twenty, then thirty.

When we finally left, it was half past one in the morning.

The late-November night in Massachusetts was freezing, the temperature had dipped into the 20s. I sank into his car, my party dress and thin coat doing little to keep me warm.

“I’ll drop you at Sigma Kappa,” Jackson said, starting the engine.

We had only driven two blocks when his phone rang.

A FaceTime call. It was Hailey.

Jackson answered. On the screen, Hailey’s face was flushed and streaked with tears. The neon lights of The Taphouse bar glowed behind her.

“Jackson!” she cried. “The bouncer said my ID is fake! They’re going to take it! They called campus police!”

Jackson’s hand tightened on the steering wheel.

“Shit,” he cursed. “If she gets caught with a fake ID again, her dad will kill her.”

I tried to be rational. “The campus police know her. The worst she’ll get is a warning…”

“You don’t get it,” Jackson cut me off. “Her family is going through some stuff right now. Any more infractions and she’ll lose her Goldman Sachs internship.”

He pulled over, three blocks away from my sorority house.

“Chloe,” he turned to me, “you can walk from here. It’s five minutes, tops. I have to go get her.”

I froze.

“Jackson, there are no streetlights here. Someone got mugged on this street last month…”

“This is campus!” he said impatiently. “You’re a grown woman, you’re five-foot-nine. What could happen in a five-minute walk?”

“It’s one-thirty in the morning!”

“Jackson!” Hailey’s shriek came from the phone. “The campus cops are here!”

Jackson looked at me, then pushed open the passenger door.

“I’m sorry. I have to go.”

“Jackson…”

But he was already out of patience. He practically shoved me out.

“You have your phone. Call if something happens.”

The door slammed shut in front of me, and the car sped away.

I stood on that dark street, the wind cutting through me.

I was wearing three-inch heels and a coat that was useless against the cold. My phone battery: 8%.

I started walking towards Sigma Kappa.

With every step, my heels rubbed my feet raw. I could feel them starting to bleed.

Passing a dark alley, my heart pounded and I quickened my pace.

My phone buzzed. A text from Jackson:

“It’s fine. The cops knew her dad, just gave her a warning. Are you back yet?”

I didn’t reply.

Two more blocks, and my feet were screaming in pain.

When I finally saw the Sigma Kappa house, I almost burst into tears.

Maya was in the living room and rushed out when she saw me.

“Oh my god! Chloe! What happened?”

She helped me inside and took off my shoes. My heels were a bloody mess.

“He left me on the street,” my voice was terrifyingly calm. “To go rescue Hailey.”

Maya’s face turned to stone.

“This isn’t the first time, is it?”

I said nothing.

That night, I came down with a fever. I was sick for a whole week.

Jackson only visited once, for ten minutes. He said ATO was organizing a charity fundraiser and he needed to oversee everything.

It was Maya and my other Sigma Kappa sisters who took care of me in shifts.

Lying in bed, I opened Instagram.

Hailey had posted a story:

“Thanks to my hero 💕 Always there when I need him most”

The picture was of her and Jackson outside The Taphouse. She was leaning on his shoulder, smiling like a protected princess.

I liked it.

Then I tossed my phone aside and closed my eyes.