The Pledge

by Laura Ward

  “No one has ever complained about my oral skills.” Julie ran her tongue along the edge of the cone in a way that made me blush.

  “Hey,” the guy yelled, clearly not discouraged by the fact that we never answered his first catcall. “Need a ride?”

  I looked back over my shoulder because, well hell, it was a long walk back to the dorms. If he had a car, that might be worth a “hello.”

  The guy smirked when he caught my eye. “I’ve been told I’m a great ride.”

  I didn’t see any car, only a loser palming his junk. I whipped my head back around. “Jesus. I thought guys were only that douchey in movies.”

  “Nope, that there is a real, live jackass.” Julie rolled her eyes.

  “You know what they say?” The guy followed us, hoping to get another reaction. We ignored him and continued walking. “Need a date? Try a Gamma. You three gotta be Tri-Gams for sure.”

  I looked at Alexis and shook my head. Ah. A fraternity dude classifying us by a sorority house. How wonderfully judgmental of him. We picked up our pace, refusing to respond, and he stopped stalking us.

  “It just goes to prove that what I’ve been telling you since last week is true.” Julie walked with her chin held high and chest puffed out.

  “What?” I threw my cup and spoon in the trash can.

  “Have you heard of Tri-Gam?” she asked. Alexis and I shook our heads. “He’s talking about Gamma Gamma Gamma. It’s the hottest sorority on campus. They only take beautiful girls who have daddies with fat wallets.”

  I smiled to myself. I didn’t even know my daddy, let alone a relative with a fat wallet, but I’d gladly take a compliment about being beautiful, even if it did come from a douche waffle making catcalls.

  ***

  “There! Perfecto!” Julie stood back to admire her handiwork. “Working at mom’s beauty shop every summer finally paid off.” Evidently, she was not only a fashion guru, but a genius with hair, too.

  She turned me to face the mirror, and I gasped. “That’s me?”

  Julie rested her chin on my shoulder. “You’ve looked like this all along little nugget. I just shaped you up.”

  Shaped up my ass. Julie had worked a freaking makeover miracle. I ran my fingers through my hair. She cut several inches off my long brown locks, added a ton of blonde highlights, and plucked my eyebrows into graceful arches.

  I took a moment and studied my reflection. I didn’t just look good. I looked like I’d walked off a runway. I didn’t recognize myself, and that was a damn good thing. I may have been queen of my nerdom in high school, but today I was ruling my makeover.

  Alexis stood next to me with her mouth hung open, staring into the mirror. Her face was pale, and her eyes wide with shock. “Liam’s going to be so pissed.” Those were her first words since Julie had finished with her. Gone were the barrettes that held back Alexis’ thick hair, followed by a few inches off the length. Now her hair hung down to her shoulders with flattering layers that made her look at least five years older.

  I moved behind her, wrapping my arms around her shoulders. “Why? You look amazing.” She was stunning, and I was surprised she sounded more wary than ecstatic.

  “Oh, it’s just different. I’m not sure he’ll like the change.” Alexis’ brow furrowed, and she played with a strand of her hair.

  “How do you feel, Alexis?” Julie planted her hands on her hips.

  Alexis met my eyes in the mirror and spoke in a shaky voice. “I feel...I feel...renewed.” Renewed? What an odd choice of words. Her eyes were full of tears as she turned to face Julie. “And pretty. I do feel very pretty, so thank you.”

  “No tears! We want to make a good impression tonight.” Julie blew air in Alexis’ face and waved her hands manically in front of her. “Let’s do your makeup and get dressed, okay?”

  The rush informational meeting started in one hour. With altered looks and attitudes, we were almost ready to unveil the brand new Alexis and Taren.

  ***

  Julie yanked my arm, steering me toward the sorority section on the mall. The “mall” at the University of Maryland was really a long stretch of grass with a reflecting pool in the middle. It was housed in between several of the largest and oldest academic buildings on campus. Today all the fraternities and sororities, along with other clubs, were participating in the First Look Fair in an attempt to get freshmen to join.

  Julie was currently explaining the rush process and that “rushing” meant different things if you were a female than if you were a male.

  “Guys stop by fraternity houses during parties. They make the decision to pledge based on several factors.” Julie held up one finger. “Amount and quality of available beer.” She added a second finger. “Amount and quality of available girls.” She held up a third finger. “And amount and quality of interest in sports.” Julie rolled her eyes, and we giggled.

  “Girls have a formal rush. We’ll visit each sorority house on campus in rounds until we’re left with our top three houses. Then the Preference Ceremonies occur.” Julie talked like a cruise director. While Alexis and I studied for our classes at night, Jules studied the Greek system. “That’s when the rushees and the sororities rank each other and final matches are made.”

  After hearing the lengthy details, my brain hurt. Calculus was easier to understand than the complex, social algorithm that was the sorority rush process.

  “Denton! Over here!” I glanced toward the sound of my nickname to see Doug waving his hand over his head.

  “Keep walking. Head down. Avoid eye contact,” Julie whispered. “Don’t you dare give him the time of day.”

  As Julie tried to lead me away, I looked over my shoulder at Pickles. He sat at the Delta Epsilon table and was still trying to get my attention. I smiled, flattered that he remembered me. Despite Julie’s warning, I wanted to talk to him again.

  “I’m going to say hi to him. Just for a second. I’ll meet you in a minute.”

  Julie shook her head in disapproval. “Just so you know, I think he’s a bad idea.” She and Alexis walked away as I turned and headed for Doug.

  “How are you, Denton-now-Taren?” Doug came around from behind his table and hugged me.

  “You remembered my name. Nice. You also lost your whistle. Nicer.” I did my best impression of a flirty smile, and Doug laughed.

  “You look different.” His eyes took a leisurely stroll along my curves, and I resisted the urge to cover my body from his appreciative gaze. I wasn’t quite used to the fitted, revealing clothes that Julie had picked for me, but it was clear that Doug liked them.

  I shrugged and moved a strand of hair behind my ear. “I got a haircut.” Be cool, Denton.

  “You rushing?” He crossed his arms over his chest and surveyed the crowd.

  “I guess. My friends are trying to talk me into it. I’ll check it out and see if I like it.”

  “Stop by my house tomorrow after round one.” Doug continued to look at the crowd as he spoke. “We’re having a party. Bring your girls.” His friend smacked him on the back of the head and Doug cursed. “Gotta go. See you tomorrow, right?”

  And just like that, I forgave him for the fact that he hadn’t called me after the last party. I smiled and nodded before hurrying over to find Julie and Alexis. Sassy hair, new clothes, a guy interested in me, and rushing a sorority? Every day I found it easier to forget the girl I used to be. I liked this new Taren very much.

  ***

  “Here you go, ladies. You’re all registered.” Alexis, Julie, and I were all placed in different small groups. We would see each sorority house tomorrow evening, but not at the same time. We took our paperwork and walked away from the Greek section of the fair.

  “Do you want to check out anything else? Lots of clubs have tables set up,” Alexis said as we meandered along the mall. She was right; a club existed for every possible interest. We saw signs for acapella, comedy improv, various bands, the campus newspaper, and the school radio station. The univers
ity had over 800 clubs on campus, and the First Look Fair was their chance to recruit members.

  “My schedule is full. Boys, parties, shopping, and, if I can squeeze it in, studying.” Julie winked and accepted a brochure from the campus police. She stopped midstride and turned to face the officer who had given her the paper. “Hey! I remember you...you’re Junior Officer Hotpants!”

  Sure enough, it was the officer-in-training who had warned us about our obnoxious, intoxicated behavior a few nights past.

  Hotpants blushed. “Hello, ladies. Any interest in joining our program?” Hotpants was cute. His hair was shaved in a close crop, and he was stacked, muscles bulging out from his short-sleeved uniform. Perhaps it was my drunken haze or the darkness, but my memory hadn’t done Junior Officer Hotpants justice. He was certainly worth a second look.

  Julie gave him a wide smile. “I’m interested in joining your program.” Her fingers danced along his bicep.

  Hotpants leaned closer to her, lips pursed. “Is that so? Maybe you can give me your number then.”

  Alexis and I turned away to avoid the discomfort of watching Julie flirt with yet another guy.

  “Look!” Alexis nudged me with her elbow. “That is so badass.”

  Across the way, a guy was bouncing, spinning, and contorting his body on a huge trampoline. We watched as he gained more height before throwing his body into multiple flips.

  My mouth hung open in awe. “Did you see that? I think he flipped three times!”

  Alexis nodded. “That is wicked.”

  “Their banner says Acroletes.” I read the motto out loud, “Sober Minds, Strong Bodies.” I glanced around at some of the other people near the trampoline. “Look at her!” A girl was balanced on a tower of chairs, pressing her body into a handstand. Other students were standing on each other’s shoulders or balancing like human pyramids. My eyes couldn’t seem to decide where to settle.

  Then, at a nearby table I noticed a guy who looked familiar. Leaning past Alexis, I tried to get a closer look. He glanced up at the same time and our eyes met. He looked confused, as if he couldn’t remember how he knew me. My eyes widened and then narrowed in anger.

  That fucknut didn’t even know who I was. He was too good to even recognize or remember me. What an asshole.

  “Hey,” Alexis nudged my arm with her elbow. “That guy over there is totally staring at you. Do you know him?”

  Know him? I hate him. I hate Alec Hart.

  Chapter Six

  ALEC

  Jeremy elbowed me in the ribs. “Who’s the hot girl? Looks like she wants to rip your fucking nuts off.”

  “I don’t know.” She was really pretty. “If I’d met her, I’d definitely remember her.” I racked my brain, trying to figure out why she looked so familiar, but I couldn’t place her. I tried to move from behind the lacrosse table so that I could get a better look, but within seconds, she’d blended into the crowd and disappeared.

  “Here you go.” Jeremy shoved a game schedule into the hands of a girl who’d slowed down in front of our table to see what we were giving away. Her eyebrows creased as she looked at the paper in her hand, and then she gave us a small forced smile before walking away. Two tables down I saw her toss the schedule into a recycling bin. She wasn’t the first.

  “This is such a fucking waste of time,” Jeremy growled.

  “You’re telling me.” I stood up, stretching my arms overhead. I tossed my stack of schedules on the table in front of him. “I’m going for a walk.” I was bored out of my fucking mind. If anyone was interested in picking up a schedule, Jeremy could handle it on his own. Besides, my shift only lasted for another ten minutes.

  “You coming back?” Jeremy asked.

  “Nah. Consider this my gift. The lacrosse babes are all yours.”

  “You’re an asshole, Hart,” he yelled after me. “You better not be late to training.”

  I turned and nodded to him with a smile to let him know I heard him. Then I made my way through the crowd to the Acroletes table.

  “I was wondering when you’d grow some balls and show up.” Caz jumped down from the trampoline, catching my hand mid-air before pulling me in for a chest bump. “Did you put in your time at the LAX table?”

  I shrugged. “Yeah. Are you guys getting many recruits?”

  “We always do. Nobody can resist the lure of the trampoline.” He waggled his eyebrows like a super villain. “My milkshake brings all the girls to the yard.” Caz pulled the hem of his shirt up while dancing.

  “Cut it out, Caz,” Jon yelled from his stack of chairs. “You’re scaring people off.” As usual, Jon was upside down and high off the ground.

  “Is that so?” Caz’s smile was big as he stalked over to look up at his friend. “I guess I need to rectify that then.”

  Jon came out of his handstand and climbed down the precariously stacked tower of chairs. He grinned and joined me along the side of the trampoline. Caz had jumped back up and was already in the center of the white webbing, launching himself high into the air.

  I grabbed one of the unused chairs. “He doesn’t have any fear.” I flipped the chair around to sit backward on it and folded my arms across the back.

  “Not that we’ve discovered.” Jon sat down and crossed his arms across his chest. “We also haven’t found a trick he can’t do or won’t try. He’s so fucking talented it’s not fair.” Jon shook his head in disbelief. “But don’t tell him I said that.”

  “Don’t worry.” I watched Caz throw his body into a laid out, twisting flip. “If his head gets any bigger, it’ll throw off his rotation.”

  Jon threw his head back and laughed. “When are you going to pledge¸ Hart?”

  I shook my head and sighed in frustration. “I can’t make the commitment because of lacrosse.”

  “That doesn’t seem to be stopping you from coming into practice every day.”

  “Yeah, well once our season starts, I won’t have time for the Acroletes.” The words tasted wrong in my mouth, and I wanted to swallow them down.

  We watched in silence as Caz defied death a few more times, flipping and spinning like he was born to do it.

  “Well, flipping through the fire hoop is sick. You gotta try that at least once before your season starts.”

  “We’ll see.” I cocked my head to the side and watched the people passing the tables.

  Jon turned to smile at me knowingly. “Yes we will.”

  As Caz got down off the trampoline, a familiar voice caught my attention. My mouth went dry and my body tensed. That was a voice I hoped I’d never hear again. I stood up and searched the area, immediately finding the source—the girl from earlier who, as Jeremy put it, looked like she wanted to rip my balls off. She was walking past the Acroletes table, deep in conversation with her friend. She hadn’t noticed me this time, but her voice tugged at memories I’d buried months ago. She might have ditched the glasses, and gotten a new hairstyle and clothes, but I’d never forget her voice or how she ruined my senior year.

  College Park was a big university, but seeing her just a few feet away, a campus of thirty thousand students didn’t feel big enough for the both of us. I wanted that self-righteous prude to stay in my past where she belonged.

  Taren Richards was a fucking snitch.

  Chapter Seven

  TAREN

  “Why were you shooting a death glare at that hot guy at the lacrosse table?” Alexis asked as she stuffed flyers into her messenger bag. She’d taken a pamphlet from every table we passed. She could barely fit anything else in her overflowing bag. “It looked like you wanted to claw his eyes out.”

  I pointedly ignored her question, gesturing instead, to her bag. “Why are you keeping those things, Lex? It’s like a fire hazard in there.”

  She shrugged. “Just keeping my options open in case we don’t get into a sorority. I want to join something while in college.” She adjusted the strap of her purse and reached for yet another pamphlet. “And good try, but you didn�
�t answer my question. What was that look for?”

  I sighed. I was hoping she hadn’t noticed that. Reliving my history with Alec was the last thing I wanted to do. “We went to high school together. I guess I don’t want to be reminded of my past. I don’t want to be the girl I was back then.”

  Alexis finished storing her flyers in her bag and then slipped her arm through mine. “I get that, but why do you seem to hate him?”

  I stiffened, and she pressed closer to me. I took a deep breath. Trusting Alexis was easy, but reliving my past was painful. “Because I do hate him. He pretended to be my friend¸ and then he ripped out my heart and stomped all over it.” I cleared my throat. I wanted to rid myself of any sign of emotion that lingered when I thought of Alec.

  “You dated?”

  My laugh was bitter. “No. We were paired up together to be debate team partners for Model Congress. He was Mr. Popularity, and I was Little Miss Geek. We had nothing in common except that we both wanted to win the award for the top orator of the competition. Who wouldn’t want to win a full scholarship to college?”

  “So what happened?” She motioned to a bench, and we sat down.

  I blew out a long breath, shaking my head. “His name is Alec, and I had the biggest crush on him. He was amazing—gorgeous, athletic, smart. We worked together every day for weeks. He supported my idea to write our bill on anti-bullying and surprisingly, we got along really well. I thought we were friends. He even told me I was unique…” I shook my head, memories of my stupidity overwhelming me.

  “You are unique, Taren,” Alexis added with a small smile.

  I rolled my eyes. “He was just being polite. He was the first person who was ever nice to me in high school. The fact that I had a crush on him didn’t help.” I stood up and picked at piece of imaginary lint on my shirt. “Can we head back to the dorms?”

  Alexis nodded, and I led us away from the fair, desperately wanting to put distance between me and Alec.

  “I fail to see why you hate him. He sounds like a pretty decent guy.”

  “Yeah, well, one day we were talking about how we couldn’t meet up to work on our project because of the Homecoming Dance. When he asked if I was going, I said no. He told me he didn’t have a date but that he was going, so I should too. That I’d have fun.” My steps became more hurried, the urge to flee too strong to ignore.