TESTING GROUNDS
The next morning seemed to follow in a series of steps. Each of the four pledges were woken up by the sharp ringing of a horn before getting dressed and being served breakfast which was lead by even more silence.
We were then broken up into two groups of two: Inez and a curvy girl named Sabrina whose long lustrous tresses reminded me of something right out of the nineteenth century, and me and Yvonne a meek girl with a pixie cut. After each of us were given a map of the forest and the name of an item we were in charge of finding. We were on the hunt for a golden chalice.
"But like where did they even find a chalice, much less a golden one," Yvonne grumbled as her balance wavered over a tree root. For the past thirty minutes she had been making some annoying, albeit factual, statements about this scavenger hunt that we were supposed to be completing. My eyes were glued to the map which held no indication or clue as to where it was going to be. "I mean I get what they're trying to do," she continued. "Trust me I get it, but at the same time it's like have some pity on us. You know, I was getting a massage when they forced me into a car and drove me here."
"Better than being drugged and locked in a room."
Yvonne froze, her wide eye locked on me as if questioning the very words that came out of my mouth and my silence was enough to quell her suspicions. "Jesus, and I thought fraternities were bad. Last year I heard someone in Gamma Delta Rae got alcohol poisoning through their pledging ceremony. But I mean look at you, still in the running despite the rumors."
"Rumors?"
The small girl nodded her head looking around the trees for anything that even seemingly glimmered. "Everybody's talking about how you freed that frat member because you're secretly sleeping with him. I heard some girl call you a house rat, which is so barbaric. Like did we go back in time to the nineties."
"I never slept with Sebastian!"
"But you slept with someone?"
"What?" I stopped seeing Yvonne's eyes slightly glowing now as they took me in.
"You slept with somebody in Alpha Phi," she clarified. "Because if you hadn't then you would've said I never slept with any of the fraternity members, but you just singled out Sebastian."
My mouth fishtailed as my mind reeled for a quick explanation. I could easily lie with a "that's obviously what I meant", or "of course i never slept with anyone on that fraternity." I could even just be offended and deny it all to hell. "Are you trying to say i'm some type of whore?" but none of these sentences came from my mouth. So, I settled for a weak, "We should just keep looking for this damn thing."
Yvonne, not easily bruised by cold demeanor, continued yammering away about her experience with Kappa recruitment until I saw it. For a moment, I figured it was just the sun in my eyes until I stepped forward and noticed the reflected light shimmering on the dull tree bark next to me. "And while I might not be a legacy like most of you, I think I have a lot to offer Kappa—" I quickly shushed the big mouthed girl which earned me a sharp gasp of surprise. "Did you just—"
I silenced her again, this time pointing upwards to a tall branch of a tree where the golden chancel hung from the edge of a branch. The wind slowly rocking it back and forth. Behind it was the rushing river which was only cut through by sharp rocks and and steep slab of mud.
Tongue wetting my lips, there had to be a way to get up there without killing ourselves. There were no branches low enough for us to begin a climb up and there was no way to grip the tree large enough. "Give me your belt," I said as I quickly started to undo my own.
"What?" Yvonne clutched her waist as if I'd told her her pants were falling down.
"If I can put our belts together then I might be able to grip around the tree enough to climb up and get the chalet,' I explained as my belt came loose. "That seems to be the only way we're going to be able to—" I stopped at the sound of a clunck and looked up right in time to see a pair of wedges fall from rebounding from the trunk of the tree back to the ground. "What are you doing?"
Yvonne slid off her other show and aimed with with one eyes closed. "This is the only way we're going to get that damn thing," she said. "I'm not waiting all day in this bug infested heat for you to climb up a tree and ruin my belt in the process."
My heart seized as Yvonne thrusted her wedge in the air again and it soared, grazing the chalet by the edge and rocking it that much closer to the edge of the branch. "I don't think this is a good idea," I wheezed only after the golden cup stopped moving. "If we do this is might fall into the—" Yvonne threw another shoe and it accomplished her goal. The golden cup slipped from the branch and glided through the air. Then, it took two hard thumps on the ground before falling over the edge. "River." I finished disgruntled.
The girl beside me swore under her breath as she approached the precipice of land and looked over the edge. "It didn't fall in," she exclaimed lowering herself to the edge. "It's just in the mud, I think I can reach it, but you'll have to help me back up okay." This wasn't a question, but Yvonne's last words before she disappeared altogether.
In a moment of shear panic I rushed over to the edge of the earth, Yvonne's name barreling out of my mouth until I saw the girl at the edge of the river, covered in mud, but grinning proudly as she held the golden chancel proudly in her grasp.
"I got it!" She gleamed before beginning the struggle of clambering herself up the mudslide. I laid my body against the grass and lowered my belt knotted around my wrist for Yvonne to grab, but every time she reached it her hand would slip away and she would seem to be lower than before. "I can't get a grip on it," she groaned as her hand slipped away once more. "Just give me your hand."
"I won't be able to reach," I said edging more off my body off the earth to lower the belt just a bit further. "You have to grab on!"
Yvonne tried once more, but her now mud caked hands seemed to be in an even worse state than before. This time however, the impact of her falling back down knocked the cup from her grip and after smacking into the mud three time it plopped into the river. Yvonne looked back at it, her mouth agape before she dashed off into the river.
"Yvonne!" I screamed as she disappeared beneath the surface. The river was rushing wildly and she hadn't returned. This was stupid, I thought. Stupid and reckless and fully unplanned. None of this was supposed to happen. My fingers gripped the edge of the earth as the rushing of water began to overwhelm me and all of my senses. Before my eyes little red rose petals decorated the mud below me where Yvonne disappeared. I held my breath tensely as the rushing river called my name and waiting praying in vain that Yvonne would return to the surface and quickly and recounting the fact that the human body couldn't last more than six minutes without air.
It had already been two since Yvonne had gone under for that chalet.
Why couldn't they have hidden it in a bush, I begrudged. Or bury it like treasure, or, for god's sake couldn't they have left it in a bear trap. Anything would've been easier than hanging it in a sixty foot tree. Right as the rushing of water screamed my name again the golden chalet broke the surface of the rushing water following Yvonne's hand then her pale, dripping wet face. "I got it!" She screamed trying to paddle her way to the edge. "Harr—"
Suddenly, the water swept her away. "Yvonne!" I screamed pushing my body over the edge and sliding down the mud. I waded at the edge of the water waiting until she appeared again lower down. The water mercilessly pushing her further and further down the river. "Yvonne!" I cried again, my feet marching through the mud as fast as possible. I could see her mouth moving, words being lost to the river as her head bobbed up and down trying to catch any bits of air that came to. Though, lower down, just by the bend, I saw the large branch from a fallen tree. "Grab the branch! Grab the branch!" I called out wildly pointing. I saw her head struggle to tun towards it and once she realized what I was telling her, her body began to edge closer to it until it was stopped from moving by it.
Yvonne pulled her body up the edge of it as I approached it. "Harriet, I'm going to die," she groaned.
"You're not going to die," I promised for the second time in my life, this time however it was a promise I meant to keep. "Can you move your body to shore?"
The girl caught on the tree branch shifted her weight, but the branch which seemed less sturdy than it seemed creaked. Freezing, Yvonne wildly shook her head as I thought of what to do next. By the time I called the police it would be too late, I thought taking a steading breath before I started to ease myself into the water. It was freezing, gnawing at my skin and bones as if it were a starving child. It only took the initial seconds for my body to go numb, but hands holding onto the branch I continued further until I reached the point where it seemed to be more unstable. Reaching out my hand, I signaled for Yvonne to take it. "You need to come closer," she said hand reaching out, but barely scraping my palm. "I can't reach."
"Let go of the cup."
"No," she said holding on tighter. "Come closer."
"I can't," I said shifting my body a bit closer. I saw the breaking go the branch and froze. "If I move anymore, your side will break. You need to let go of the cup and jump!"
Yvonne shifted her body closer to me, hand reaching for my arm and the side of her branch began to give. The separation between the pieces grew as we both reached for each other. The tips of her fingers skimming my own before the pressure of the water shifted her slightly to the side."Yvonne," I called adjusting my own weight. "You need to jump."
"I'm going to die!"
"You're not going to die," I assured as the water slammed into my body again and again. "I promise I'm going to catch you, but you need to jump." Yvonne looked at me, then towards the long stretch of river she had waiting for her. The branch whined one last time, dipping her further into the water and separating us more. "Yvonne, you need to jump now!"
The water rushed into her face and rushing into the separation of the branches. We both knew this was do or die and the chances of her body ending up floating in the ocean was higher than her surviving the rest of the river's treacherous journey.
Yvonne, pulled her body forward and I saw the look of determination set on her face. Thrusting my arm out, palm ready, she looked back once before leaping towards me. Hand ready to catch mine I felt as her fingers clasped around my wrist before her body plunged into the freezing water once more. The force of her threatening to take me with her. The bark of the tree my other hand was holding onto began to slice open my skin as I used it as an anchor. With everything I had, I pulled Yvonne against the forces of the river as the branch she was once settled on tore away and flowed into the river.
Her face broke the water once more and she body latched itself onto the piece of branch I too was using. She gave me a hesitant smile before assuring me that she was okay. We hung on the piece of wood until Yvonne was comfortable enough to continue to land, then made our way back to camp. The night was approaching when we saw the girls, and a couple of the Alpha Phi guys sitting around the campfire. The prince had enthralled them all into a story I had not context to, but by the look on their faces seemed intriguing.
As we neared them Yvonne cleared her throat gaining all of their attention before producing the cup. The girls triumphantly jumped up and Tatiana tackled me with a vicious bear hug before jumping back. "Why are you all wet?"
"You don't want to know," I sighed smiling at Yvonne before looking to the other group who didn't join in our celebration.
"They didn't come back with their token, so they're being sent back tonight," she explained. "Which means it's down to you and Inez."
I exhaled turning to the girl I had just went through hell with and wondering what was going to come between us next.
Declining Tatiana's offer to join in the celebration of us, I went back to my cabin and washed the mud off me. When I came out clean and exhausted from this morning's events I heard a soft knock on my door only to find Alex standing before me. "Didn't want to join the festivities?"
I scrunched up my face. "Parties just aren't my thing."
He smiled and motion for entrance which I granted him. "I heard what happened today," he said before answering the question in my mind. "Inez, is telling everybody how you basically saved her life, but how she risked hers for Kappa."
"She is the master of spin."
"You seem very prone to life altering situations." he noted, eyes roaming around my cabin and saying. "This cabin is ridiculous. Elliot has us basically six to one and you're here with all this. You in need of a flatmate?"
"What do you mean by that?"
He paused. "Flatmate?"
"That I'm prone to life altering situations," I corrected and he smiled.
"Well there was the thing that happened in the bar."
"Which was not my fault."
"Then the body you found."
"Also not my fault."
"And now this."
"Again... not my fault."
He shrugged. "Okay, so you're to the driving forcing behind it, but you're more like a magnet for danger and distress."
I swallowed, with every sentence he spoke, Alex had take a step closer to me and was now but a fingers length from me. I was now harrowingly aware of the fact that I was in a towel and him fully dressed and couldn't help but that this was some kind of karmic penance.
"You can't just make that assumption based off of those facts."
"And yet," Alex breathed closing the distance between us. "Something tells me I'm right."
"You don't know me," I said looking and and catching myself in the orbit of his sea green eyes.
"I'd like to." he whispered as his warm hand slid against my cheek and his face lowered to mine. I could feel my heart beating in my chest and my body heat as it ran on autopilot. My mind steadily trying to wake up and catch some sense while everything else moved further on when a thump sounded against the door. Alex's forehead lead against mine in frustration, but relief was the only thing that fluttered in my chest. "Just give it a moment, they'll go away," he muttered, but the banging only increased and was followed by groaning.
I pulled away from Alex's embrace and answered the door only to see a very drunk Prince at my doorway. "You're not your royal highness." he slurred confusingly.
"No," I sighed. "You are."
At my statement, the Prince looked down at himself, then back at me. "I am?" He asked in shock and I nodded trying to veil a laugh as Alex slid beside me. He took the Prince by the arm and started to lead him away. "Did you know I was a Prince?"
"We all know that," Alex laughed before looking back at me. "We should talk later, yeah."
Hesitantly, I nodded before slipping back inside my room and shutting the door behind me. Sliding into a pair of pajamas I got into bed with my lips still tingling about what almost happened.
As sleep evaded me that night, I found I was too excited by what happened to sleep. I didn't know how I felt about Alex just that I didn't find him as disgusting as I had at the beginning of the semester. I liked spending time with him and he made me laugh sometimes. He was nice and seemingly uncomplicated. Kind of like Elliot, but with a pinch less sluttiness.
I shifted in my bed and shut my eyes trying to push him from my mind. There was one thing that was important right now and it wasn't boys and love, but Kappa. I was this close to my goal and I wasn't going to back out now.