Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 114337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
This year, the base of the course was worse than I’d ever seen. The rope nets, climbing walls, and beams rose over a giant mud pit. It wouldn’t surprise me if someone had run a hose to the course to increase the slop.
“It’ll wash out,” I offered Jenn, trying to be helpful. Worry abruptly sliced through me. “You’re not thinking of backing out, are you?”
She looked at me like I was talking nonsense. “Of course not.” Her focus swung to the group of guys across the way, and her expression solidified. “We’re going to crush them.”
Atta girl. She was only a sophomore, but she understood what was at stake.
I peered across the field to the boys of Sigma Phi Alpha, who wore matching blue t-shirts with their letters printed in gold across their chests. I straightened my shoulders and narrowed my gaze.
During Greek Week, there was a week-long tournament between the sororities and fraternities, which might have been friendly back when it began fifty years ago, but it was entirely serious now.
In addition to the Greek-wide blood drive, every house battled for the chance to win the Fidelity Cup. There were different events each day, where only the winning houses advanced, all the way until the head-to-head finals.
We’d survived. After the dance-off, the tug of war, trivia, and chariot races, we Lambdas were still standing. We’d made the finals a few times before . . . but hadn’t ever won the cup.
Not in fifty years.
It was what our competitors, the Sigs, had been throwing in our faces ever since we’d arrived at the obstacle course this afternoon. Plus, they were the returning champs, which—yeah. This was another thing they fucking loved to point out.
“This is the year,” I said, “Lambda Theta Chi gets its name etched on the cup.” Winning it on its fiftieth-year anniversary would be all the sweeter.
Jenn nodded in total agreement and began to stretch, warming up for her leg of the relay race. The rest of the Lambdas who were competing today stood nearby, and Yasmin jerked her head toward the group of guys who looked like they were either half asleep or nursing a raging hangover.
Maybe both.
Her smile was downright evil. “Just look at them. They have no idea what’s coming.”
“I know. I almost feel bad for them,” I said, even though it was a complete lie.
Some of the obstacles in the course favored strength, historically giving the men an advantage, but we’d planned for this.
The monkey bars? Carrie was a pole dance instructor. She had the upper body and grip strength to easily stay competitive.
The log jump section? Luciana had been a track star in high school, and her best event was hurdles.
Zoe spent last summer in Utah and was big into freeclimbing. The wall climb should be a piece of cake for her.
There were other legs that weren’t physical. There was a puzzle to solve and cups to be flipped and something gross to be eaten. It felt like the challenges where scripted from some low-budget reality show competition, and although we were battling for a trophy and a cash prize, there were no cameras here.
The only people watching the competition today were those from the other Greek houses who hadn’t advanced. A few of them had even volunteered to be impartial judges.
There was a table near the start and finish line of the obstacle course, covered in a black tablecloth that flapped in the wind, and the large, elegant cup was perched on top. The Fidelity Cup was silver, with delicate, elaborate handles on each side, and was beautifully engraved with all the previous winners.
After their win last year, the Sigs took turns carrying the cup around all day, drinking something from it that I assumed had a dangerously high alcohol content, because they were the notorious party house.
It was a miracle the thing had survived unscathed, but the trophy looked great. Not a dent or a scratch marring its shiny surface.
As much as we Lambdas desired the cup and its bragging rights, we wanted the money that went along with it even more. To compete in the Greek Week tournament, each house had to pay an entry fee. A small amount went to offset running the competition, but the rest was prize money. It meant if we won, we’d get five grand, and then we could replace the water heater we so desperately needed.
Our house was older, and unless you got up early, you could forget about getting anything other than a lukewarm shower.
I hadn’t realized how much therapy a good hot shower could deliver until they were gone. God, I was so tired of cold showers. My gaze traced over the Fidelity Cup with longing.
Jenn’s voice turned frosty. “Is that who I think it is?”
Without looking, I knew exactly who she was talking about, but like a fool, I followed her gaze anyway. When my focus settled on Jack, a sharp pain tore at my heart.