Before I left for school, Bryce had asked if I would check in with Miss Connors. He thought she could help me in my quest to become a new and nicer Sheldon. I wanted to growl at the thought of how much work that was going to take.

"No, wait!" Natalie planted herself in front of me. I shuffled two steps to the side and she shuffled with me. She was smack dab in front of me. When her chin tightened, I knew she wasn't going anywhere.

"Move," I glared.

"My name is Cadence, and this is Natalie," the taller one introduced herself. Finally. She extended a golden hand for me to shake.

I didn't.

With a slight twitch to her eyelid, she pulled her hand back. "I apologize for starting off on the wrong foot. It's just that some people are not in my personal good graces—"

"Personal good graces? You're crazy. I'm not anything personal to you at all. You guys didn't want me as a sister—" Leah bristled.

"Moving on." Cadence rushed forward, "I wanted to formally introduce myself and invite you to a house social."

"They're super fun." Natalie bounced closer. "We start by getting ready for the night and drinking together. And then we all go out as a house, usually to a frat party or a bar. It's a great way of bonding, especially with the new sisters."

Cadence nudged her aside. She opened her mouth but closed it as Leah interrupted, "They want to be invited to your party tonight. And they really want to use you because you're best friends with Corrigan and boning Bryce Scout."

Both sisters gasped.

I hated to admit it, but I felt a weird kinship with Leah.

"What do you want?"

Natalie looked entranced, but Cadence skimmed me up and down with a shrewd eye. I matched her, eye to eye, as she tried to get a better read on how to handle me. And then she snapped to her decision and drew upright to her fullest height. "We want to come to your party, but not because of your best friend or boyfriend. We want to come because you're hosting it and you're connected in ways that could benefit our house."

"So you want to use me?"

Leah rolled her eyes and huffed beside me.

Cadence narrowed her eyes. "We were hoping it could benefit both of us."

"And how could you benefit me?"

"You don't have girlfriends. We could be your friends."

"I don't have female friends for a reason."

"I can't hurt a girl if she hurts you. I don't like those rules."

I shivered as I remembered Bryce's words, but it didn't matter. My girlfriends weren't his problem. They were mine.

I focused back on Cadence. "No offense, but girls are catty and I don't have time for that in my life. I'm friends with people I trust. And I'm not going to trust a houseful of sorority girls."

"None taken, but let us prove you wrong."

Natalie piped in, "You can trust us. We're not like other sororities."

"Oh please," Leah groaned.

"Whatever. I don't care to be your friend, but you can come to the party. I have to go." And I did. I needed to track down Miss Connors. I turned on my heel and strode away, but I didn't miss Natalie's squeal or Leah's outburst of curses. When I rounded the corner, I looked back and was struck by Cadence's surreal stillness. She looked triumphant, like she'd won a battle and was on her way to winning a war.

Weird. And whatever. I had more important things to figure out.

I made it to the science building in record time and found Miss Connors alone in her office. When I knocked on the door, she looked up from her computer. Her eyes widened in surprise. "Sheldon? We don't have class until next Tuesday."

I shut the door and plopped down across from her. I ignored the mess of papers spread out on her desk and really ignored something that looked like an exam. "I need you to counsel me again."

"What?" She fell against her plush chair and ran a hand through her hair. It was her thing. She did that when she was scrambling.

"Bryce's agent hates me. He thinks I'm a bad influence, so I need to learn how to be nice. I trust you. And I want you to help me with this."

"Oh." She pushed her glasses higher up her nose and blinked again.

"Say something." It shouldn't be surprising.

"I'm just surprised, I guess."

I narrowed my eyes and leaned forward. "You don't want to counsel me? You don't want to hear about my mess of a life?"

"No. No! No, Sheldon. It's not that. But this is sudden. What brought this on?"

I snorted. "Why the questions? Do you or don't you want to be my counselor?"

"Sheldon," Miss Connors fought back a smile, "you realize that you need to put up with questions if I'm going to be your counselor. It's what we do. We ask questions. We ask hard ones."

I waved a hand to the side. "Oh come on. Just talk to me about my anger. That's all you need to ask about. I figure if I get rid of my anger, I'll be a nicer person. Simple, right?"

"Sheldon," Miss Connors shook her head and stood up. "I don't think you're ready for this, at least maybe not with me."

Wha—huh? I stood up as she rounded the desk. "What are you talking about? You don't want to counsel me?"

"I don't think I'm the best fit for you anymore."

I was dumbfounded.

"I think you need someone new, someone who has a fresh set of eyes and can hear what I can't anymore. I'm too emotionally invested in you. I can't trust myself to be objective. I'm blind to things that someone else could help you with."

"That makes no sense," I sputtered out. Was it me? Did she not want to help me anymore?

"I want to help you, Sheldon. And I think it's great that you are seeking further counseling, even if you're a bit coerced. That's good. You need it. You went through an awful thing, and I know it's still affecting you. Bryce is right. He's good for you, Sheldon. He's very, very good for you."

I frowned. "I already know that. It's why I love him. But I need someone to help me with this anger stuff. If you can't, who then? I trust you."

"And you'll trust someone else. There are plenty of great counselors out there."

"Who are all idiots! I know you."