Treadmill

I.II

"I don't think you're understanding what I'm saying. $150 a night is nothing for people who are paying to spend the night in an apartment in a college town. I'm sure I could get more for it than that."

11:41 AM and Kennedy Abrams was going to be late for her first Wednesday class of her junior year, but she wasn't particularly worried. A much more pressing issue was the fact that her roommates and best friends were unable to see her vision for turning the empty fourth bedroom in their apartment into an Airbnb rental.

"I feel like it's illegal. Like it goes against our lease or something." Lyla Rose shook her head adamantly, clearly unwilling to see Kennedy's plan being executed well. Hardly any of them ever were.

"I dunno. It's not like we haven't broken lease agreements before." Rian Clark replied, twirling a strand of cropped ginger hair around her finger. "I feel like as long as we don't get caught, we could totally do it. Plus, we could charge extra for game day weekends."

Lyla was quiet for a moment and Kennedy felt herself starting to become impatient. Everything about this was perfect: they had a spare room in the apartment, they all knew self defense if any of the guests became suspicious, and it would mean that they didn't have to get real jobs for at least another semester.

"Ly, this isn't a difficult decision. Everything about this makes sense, I don't see—"

"Fine." Lyla sighed loudly and stood up from her seat at the kitchen table, "But just double check that the locks on our doors all work, please."

"For sure." Kennedy nodded, her chest filling with the excitement she got when a plan came together. She had been the mastermind behind every plan the girls had ever participated in...the last of which had gotten them kicked out of their previous apartment and forced them to move into this new one with the spare bedroom.

Lyla left the kitchen and headed for her bedroom as Kennedy checked her phone. 11:52. She was supposed to be in class by noon, and she hadn't even bothered doing her makeup or hair yet. She wouldn't be ready to go until at least 1:00, and by that time she would have missed her first class and been late for her second. Might as well not go to any of her four classes at all.

Rian started babbling about some new dance routine she wanted to try out before their next party and Kennedy tuned her out, picking up her phone and beginning to scroll through Instagram. Makeup guru with a picture of their latest makeup palette and a tag from the company sponsoring the palette in the first place. Actress with a post about her two kids and how they kept her grounded through the whirlwind of Hollywood. Some girl with a photo of a sunrise that had four likes and no comments on it. A Clemson football player posting about that weekend's game and how they needed the student body's support now more than ever.

Kennedy went to her own profile, where she had posted a picture the night before of her and Rian at the last football game, with orange streaks under their eyes and bottles that no longer had to be blurred out since she had turned 21. 579 likes and 48 comments since the night before. Not bad for @kabe99's 3,782 followers.

Rian was still talking. Why didn't she ever stop talking? Kennedy was sure that she hadn't talked so much when the two first became friends. But maybe that was just Kennedy's rose-colored glasses, looking back on when she had decided to become friends with two girls who had catapulted her onto the hall of fame at Clemson, allowing her to live her best life while simultaneously living out every nightmare she had ever had.

Kennedy shook her head slightly and focused again on Rian. Maybe the issue wasn't that Rian talked so much. Maybe it was that she talked about such terribly dull things. Kennedy was ready to meet someone who didn't talk about hair and makeup all the time. Someone who could play her in a volleyball game and bring back some of the competitiveness the girl had felt in high school. Someone different from her normal crowd.

But Rian was fine. For now.

A/N: Let me know your thoughts on the second part of chapter 1! This is one of the very few parts that will be from Kennedy's POV, the majority of the book will be told from Rebecca's!

-Katherine