Sleeping Around

Corey Reed, called Corey by most people, has spent years in foster homes and is hoping that college will mark a clean break. She arrives at Borns College carrying a violin bought at a pawn shop and a duffle bag borrowed from someone else, determined to start over. The day goes badly from the start. Her rival, the violinist Dylan Mason, is already there, and her name is missing from the dormitory roster.

Corey cannot move into Harmony Hall, the residence for music majors, because she has not yet been admitted to the music program. Instead, housing assigns her to a temporary triple with two roommates who have almost nothing in common with her or with each other. After one of them does something unforgivable, Corey spends her nights moving from air mattresses to couches around campus while she waits for a permanent room to open. Without sleep, she wonders how she can win first chair against Dylan, get through final exams, or keep her dream of a professional music career alive.

The novel is a first-person story about foster care, stability, and what it means to have a home. It also follows the difficult friendships, first love, and insecurity that come with early college life, along with the religious trauma and questions about sexuality that shape Corey's past and present.