The Pledge (14 page)

“Or else what?” I sat down on the edge of the double mini tramp and leaned my elbows on my knees. Defiance only seemed to encourage him further.

“Or else I’ll tell Amanda what you do in your bed at night.” He collapsed on the mat and put his hands behind his head.

“I sleep in my bed, jackass.”

“That’s not what I’m going to tell her.” He arched his eyebrows and then mimicked pleasuring himself. “Ah-manda. Oh Amanda, you feel so good,” he moaned.

“You’re a dick.”

“Oh...Oh...” Caz continued to groan and mime-masturbate all over the mat. He opened his eyes. “Oh good. Here she is.” He got to his feet and waved his hands like he was a hitchhiker flagging down a ride. “Amanda!”

“Fine.” I stood up and pushed against his shoulder causing him to roll back onto the mat again. “Fine. I’ll do it. You’ll spot me, right?”

“Like a boss.”

I walked back to the other side of the gym, swinging my arms in front of my chest like an Olympic swimmer to loosen my muscles. I’d never admit it to him, but I was glad Caz pushed me to challenge myself. If he didn’t rag on me, I wouldn’t be able to do half the things I’d learned in the Acroletes gym. We both knew it. He took my comfort zone and demolished it on a daily basis.

I stood at the end of the run, facing the double mini tramp, twisting my arms and chest as a last minute reminder to my body on how to rotate while flipping.

“Let’s go, Maude. I’m waiting,” Caz taunted. I stared at the double mini tramp a moment longer, and he started his ridiculous mime-masturbation again.

I took a deep breath and then started running. I leapt onto the first bed, rode the bounce high, and then came down on the second bed. As my body rose up out of the second bounce, I flipped, throwing my arms into the position Caz had shown me.

“Over-rotating!” Caz yelled, grabbing for my arm.

His direction was too late. I was too high, my rotation too far to stop, and the landing was blind. I came down hard on my ankle and heard an agonizing pop as I fell to the mat. Pain lanced up my leg and down my foot like knives splitting my bones. My body rolled awkwardly to the side, and I immediately curled up, pulling my leg close.

Fuck.
I was going to throw up. I rocked back and forth, gritting my teeth.

“Shit!” Caz cursed, dropping down to the mat next to me.

“What happened?” Amanda yelled as she ran across the gym to us. “Alec, are you okay?”

“Get him some ice!” Caz grabbed my wrists, trying to pull them away from my leg. “Let me look at it.”

I let him pry my hands away, and I hissed in pain. Leaning back on my elbows, I swore as I stretched out my leg for him to get a better look. The movement felt like someone was slamming a rock into an open wound.

“Dude. Shit.” Caz jerked back away from me to sit back on his heels. “I’m so sorry.” He was tearing his hands through his hair as he stared at my leg. His eyes were wide and full of panic.

“What?” I groaned and squeezed my eyes shut until light burst behind my eyelids. My leg hurt so fucking bad. “Is my ankle dislocated? Can you pop it back in?”

“I don’t think so, dude. Shit.” Caz muttered under his breath. “Alec...it’s broken.”

I opened my eyes. “It can’t be.” Shaking my head, I forced the words up and out of my chest.

“Ankles are definitely not supposed to look like that.” For once, Caz sounded scared. His fear, more than the pain I was in, terrified me.

Gingerly I sat up and looked at my leg. I groaned, knowing with certainty that I’d fucked up royally this time.

I didn’t have to be a doctor to know that recovery would take months. I didn’t have to be a coach to know that I wouldn’t be ready for the lacrosse season. At best, I’d be benched. I didn’t even want to think about the worst—about what I might not be able to do if it didn’t heal correctly.

I could hear Caz yelling for Amanda to get the coach and have him call an ambulance, but it sounded far away, as if it was happening to someone else. I stared at the unnatural shape of my ankle. My thoughts were a haze of dizziness. A dark cloud crept across my vision. I closed my eyes, and the noise around me faded into a dull drone.

One thought repeated with relentless certainty through my head: I’d just lost my scholarship. That thought was echoed by the absolute conviction that I’d also just guaranteed my father’s wrath.

And then I really wanted to throw up. Not because of the pain, but because I risked it all. I’d gone all in on nothing but a high ace. I’d just gambled everything and lost.

A Year Later

SOPHOMORE YEAR

Chapter Thirteen

TAREN

“The devil came up from Hades with fire in his eyes. He said there’s one thing wrong with Hell; there are no Tri-Gams. Oh, there are no Tri-Gams down in Hell.
Hell no!
” My sisters and I sang in unison, screaming at the top of our lungs when we got to the,
hell no!
“Oh, there are no Tri-Gams down in Hell.
Hell no!
Cause they’re all up above, drinking beer and making love. Oh, there are no Tri-Gams down in Hell.
Hell no!
”

We stood outside of the Xi Upsilon fraternity house, serenading them to say that we had agreed to be their match for Homecoming.

“Ohmygod, I’m so happy the Xi U’s asked us,” Julie whispered in my ear as the members of Xi U sang back to us in response.

“Why do you care so much?” Alexis teased Julie. Julie’s scowl made us both laugh.

“I’m seriously in love with their social chair, Damian Yoffee.” She pointed one perfectly manicured finger to a preppy looking mass of muscle who was leaning against the banister of the porch. He saw Julie and raised his chin. “Did you see that?” she squealed.

“If that wasn’t a declaration of love, I don’t know what is.” Alexis elbowed Julie and Julie nodded in agreement, missing the sarcasm that only one of her best friends could say with love.

***

“Are you planning on making your Friday morning history class, Jules?” I raised my eyebrow and pursed my lips in my best schoolmarm impression. Homecoming Week had arrived, and Julie had been dedicated in her role as Homecoming Chair for Tri-Gam. As such, she had attended everything…absolutely everything.

Except for her classes.

“Friday is the talent show.” The light changed to red, and the pedestrian sign lit up, allowing us to cross Route One and head home. “I have to set up at six in the morning. Sorry babe, but history class is a distant second to that.”

I rolled my eyes at her. Julie might not take her classes seriously, but I did. “You need to take classes you love. Once you get past core classes and take ones for your major, you’ll feel differently.” I loved every second of the required courses I was taking for my English Literature major.

“I can’t start my design classes until I pass the stupid core fuckers.” Julie threw her head back and groaned. “How the hell do you maintain such a good GPA and still have a social life?”

I threw my arm around her shoulders. “Easy. I study.”

Julie wrinkled her nose at me as we walked up the pathway to our large white-bricked house. Moving into this beautiful old home still felt like a dream. Without my scholarship covering tuition and living expenses, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. Several sisters sat on the front porch and waved when they saw us.

“Hey, Taren,” Julie’s big sister, Jen, called out. She knelt on the floor, painting a bolt and a nut onto poster board. “Are you sure you won’t join the dance group for our talent show number? It’s going to be so hot.” Jen smiled, using her forearm to push her curly brown hair from her face since her fingers were covered in paint.

“Jen, I told you I have two left feet.” I bent down to examine her poster. “Why are you painting tools on the sign?”

“T?” Jules yanked my arm, pulling me to a standing position. “You’re my best friend, and I’m Homecoming Chair. How do you not know what our theme is?” She pointed to a large white sheet, stretched across four windows in front of the house. Painted on it were the letters of Gamma Gamma Gamma with a nut underneath. Next to that were the letters of Xi Upsilon and underneath their letters was a bolt. Written across the bottom of the sheet in bold black letters was, evidently, our slogan:

Tri-Gam and Xi U: Together We Screw!

Pornographic. And absurd. I didn’t get it.

My eyebrows pinched together. “Oh shit, sorry Jules. I thought that was a joke. You know, like we’re screwed. Meaning we lost.” I rambled on, speaking rapidly and trying to explain my lack of attention. “The goal is to win Homecoming, so I figured you all were joking when you suggested that.”

“We discussed your thoughts, T, and decided you were over-thinking things. We wanted to emphasize the fun, sexy element of the slogan. I think it’s perfect.” Julie smiled proudly. “By the way”—she pushed me through the front door— “why aren’t you wearing your T-shirt?”

Looking around the formal living room of my sorority house, I could see sisters lying on sofas, reading magazines or playing on their phones. A group sat off to the left in the sunroom, working on a project for a class. Two of our new pledges shared a small side table by the fireplace, quizzing one another on Tri-Gam history. Every single one of them wore the same blue shirt with a nut and a bolt on the front.

“I…uh…forgot?” I grimaced, waiting for my best friend to unleash on me. She followed me as I walked into the dining room. Several girls were eating grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup from the table that was set up along the side of the wall. I took a plate and headed to the salad bar.

“Is this because of Whistler?”

My brows arched at her question, and I paused, tongs full of iceberg lettuce dangling in the air. “What do you mean?”

“Is Pickles making you feel bad about hanging out with the Xi U guys? He can be such a girl, sometimes.” Julie crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot, waiting for my answer.

“No, it’s not because of Doug. I seriously spaced out that we were supposed to wear the shirts today. I know you find this hard to believe, but I was focused on my classes.”

“Lex is a terrible influence on you.” Julie shook her head sadly. Once Alexis decided she wanted to go to medical school, she declared her major in Chemistry. The amount of work involved with that major forced her to buckle down. She and I were still roommates, now sharing bunk beds on the third floor of the house. Jules was right across the hall, but Alexis spent far more time studying than she did partying with us.

“I’m not letting anyone tell me what to do. Not Lex and not Doug.” I tossed the lettuce onto my plate and then added strips of grilled chicken. “I’m just trying to balance my time between classes and Tri-Gam stuff.” I poured dressing liberally over my salad, giving the bacon bits the stink eye and tossing on a few croutons instead. “Look, Doug isn’t happy that we’re partying with other guys, but he’s partying with other girls. He’ll deal.”

Jules leaned in close to my ear. “Totally different. All of the Xi U guys are hot. Of course Pickles is going to be jealous.” Julie clutched her plate to her chest.

“He has nothing to be jealous about. It’s not like I’m trying to replace him.”

Julie stepped back, frowning. “And why not? Have you two ever been on a date? Have you ever done anything other than hook up after a night at the bars or a Greek event? You’re like fuck buddies…but with no fucking.”

I tilted my head to the side in thought. “Nope, never been on a date.” I straightened and sucked in a breath. “Look, Jules, I know my relationship with Doug is…odd. Doug’s safe. He’s dependable. Like my favorite pair of yoga pants. They might not be the most fashionable, but they’re the comfortable, easy choice.” What I thought, but didn’t admit, was that with Doug, my heart was never at risk like it had been with Alec. I’d taken enough risks since I started college and wasn’t ready for anything deeper than what I had with Doug.

Julie raised both eyebrows at me. “You do realize you just talked about your boyfriend like he was a pair of pants, right?”

Before I could come up with a good response, Julie screeched, and I jumped while attempting to steady my plate of salad perfection.

“What the fuck?” Julie’s finger shook as she pointed to a sign hanging over the hot lunch portion of the table.

“Uh-oh. I think we’re being punished. Who pissed Lisa off?” Our new chef, Lisa, was hired because the sisterhood had pitched a fit when the previous chef consistently made us carbohydrate-heavy, calorie-bloated meals like spaghetti, fried chicken, and mashed potatoes. Apparently, my sisters thought that high calorie meals in a sorority house was like an act of war against our waistlines. My stomach growled at the memory of chicken Alfredo. I missed that old chef.

“Somebody broke a rule.” Jen stood next to me, wiping her paint-splattered hands on a paper towel. “Last night a bunch of girls came home wasted. A couple of them trashed the place with their carryout, but my little sis over here is probably the reason we’re sanctioned right now.”

Julie’s mouth dropped open, and she glared at Jen. “What are you talking about?”

“Didn’t you manage to pull a bunch of food from the padlocked fridge last night by squeezing your tiny arm through the opening?” Jen laughed at the wide-eyed look of shock on Julie’s face.