Rushed (The Rushed Series)

by Gina Robinson

  "I could get a call before the bid meeting tomorrow warning me not to show up. That I'm out and didn't get a bid." My voice fell to match my heart. "Everyone would know by my absence that I've been snubbed by the Double Deltsies."

  "No, Alexis! You? Never. I have complete faith in you!" There was the pride again. And the pressure to be perfect, just like there had been in high school.

  The pressure I had hoped to escape at college. I was my parents' pride and joy. Their only child. Every one of the hopes and dreams rested on my shoulders.

  "They won't snub you. They wouldn't dare." Her voice was fierce and full of the promise that if they snubbed me, my mama bear was going to come to the rescue. "Suicide bid them." There was that warning in her voice that dared me to defy her on peril of some extreme punishment.

  I silently cursed the timing of her call. But I caved. "Okay, Mom."

  The smile returned to her voice. "Call me tomorrow the minute you get your bid! This is so exciting. It reminds me of being young and going through rush…"

  I ducked as an out-of-control football fell between Em and me, hardly listening as Mom reminisced and Em sized up the guy who came to retrieve his ball. He ignored her and gave me the up-and-down. I ignored him, acting as if I hadn't noticed. "I have to go, Mom. We need to have our preferences turned in by five."

  "Oh, yes, yes! Get it done!" I could hear her inhale with excitement. "Call me tomorrow as soon as you get your bid!"

  "Yeah, Mom. I will."

  The guy left with his football. I hit the disconnect button.

  "Well?" Em raised an eyebrow, grinning like she knew what Mom had said.

  "Mom wants me to suicide bid. In her opinion, the Double Deltsies are the only house worth belonging to." I frowned.

  Em studied me and laughed. "You don't agree?"

  I shrugged. "I'm just not sure I fit there."

  "What are you going to do?"

  "What Mom wants, Mom gets," I said, trying to hide my resignation. "This may be suicide, but I'm going to suicide bid them." I typed them in on my onscreen form. "What are you going to do?"

  "I'm not in the great position you are." She sounded almost sad about that. "I'm not committing suicide. I'm going for the Double Deltsies and the other two houses we liked." Then she laughed and turned to her attention to her laptop screen.

  As Em typed, on impulse, I did something I rarely did—defied my mother. If the Double Deltsies wanted me badly enough, they could compete with the two houses I really wanted. I hit send with my heart pounding. Morgan wasn't going to tell me what I could do. And I wasn't giving her the chance to double-cross me.

  Then, to distract Em from trying to get a glimpse of my screen as it disappeared, I laughed. "At least we can finally get rid of Molly's house."

  That got Em to smile as she hit send, too. "Yeah, and I think you were her rush crush. Poor Molly! She'll be so disappointed." She paused and studied me. "No matter what happens tomorrow, let's stay friends, okay?"

  I gave her a hug. "Always." But I had my doubts. If we pledged different houses, wouldn't we be competitors?

  Chapter Four

  Zach

  Seth, Dillon, Paul, and I got up early to make Sunday breakfast for the girls. Betty, the cook, had weekends off. She left casseroles for us to stick in the oven for Saturday, and Sunday dinners and breakfast food for us to fix on Sunday. On Saturday we set out cereal and stuff to make toast and let the girls fend for themselves. On Sunday, we each had a specialty. Mine was scrambled eggs with cheese. Seth was a mean pancake flipper. Dillon was a potato man and Paul was a terrible cook. We usually made him man the toaster.

  This was a big day, bid day, and the house hummed with anticipation. The girls had planned a special beach event at the river for their new pledges. The four of us houseboys had to help Kelly and the recruitment committee pack the picnic.

  But before I helped Kelly and the rest of the officers haul the pledges' new pledge T-shirts to the SUB and then load the girls' cars with picnic supplies, I had to call my mom. A task that was right up there with scrubbing the toilets on Sunday morning after the girls had had a rough night of partying and drinking.

  I went to my room for privacy and called, hoping Mom didn't chew me out for waking her.

  "Zach." When she picked up, her voice had that irritated tone that she held in reserve for me alone. Like she barely tolerated me and didn't have the time to deal with my problems. Like I was the problem of her life.

  "Sorry to bother you, Mom." I was always apologizing to her. In the background, I heard my spoiled twin half brothers roughhousing and screaming at each other as they played a video game.

  Mom yelled at the boys to calm down, but her tone was hardly reprimanding. More like amused and thrilled with them. When she turned her attention back to me, her tone hardened. "What do you want?"

  "I need you to forward my last paycheck from the summer. I can't pay my credit card bill without it."

  "Zach, what have I told you about overspending? Cut down on the partying. Pare back on the social life so you can afford to pay for your responsibilities. Anyway, I thought you had direct deposit?"

  Pare back? Like shit! What social life? If I cut down any more, I'd starve. The bitch didn't pay for a thing, but she had the nerve to rag on me about how I spent my money.

  Without my job at the house and my scholarships that covered most of my tuition, I couldn't afford to go to college. Neither she nor Dad contributed a dime toward my education. Though both of them were rolling in dough. A half-assed decent mother would have sued my dad for child support and college expenses. Out of revenge, if nothing else.

  My bitchy mom hadn't cared enough to fight for me. She claimed Dad had suffered enough. I thought she took perverse pleasure in seeing me struggle. She wanted me punished and in purgatory forever for what I'd done to our family.

  I tried to hold my anger and frustration in check. "I did. They screwed up after I quit and cut a check for my last paycheck instead of depositing it. They should have sent the check to the house. Can you look through my mail and make sure it's there?"

  She let out an exasperated huff, like I had just asked her for the world's biggest favor. "Hang on."

  I heard her heavy footsteps. She called out to the boys again. Then I heard her riffling through paperwork. "Found it."

  "Will you put it in the mail tomorrow? I need it, badly."

  "I have a busy day tomorrow, Zachary. Mondays are always bad. The twins have practice and work is an absolute zoo."

  "Mom, please? I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

  The heavy sigh again. "Okay. I'll try."

  "Thanks, Mom."

  She grunted.

  "I have to run." I didn't want to talk to her a minute longer than I had to and waste her precious time. The feeling was mutual. "It's bid day and I have a ton of work to do."

  "Work, Zach? Or screwing one of the girls." Her tone was full of disgust and embarrassment. "I can't believe my son lives in a sorority house. Is a servant in a sorority house!"

  I cut her off before she could launch into the usual tirade. "It's honest work, Mom. I don't touch the girls. I'm like a big brother to them. That's all."

  She snorted, like right. "Big brother? I'm glad to hear you're a big brother to someone. You could show more attention to your real brothers."

  There was the accusation again. She was always laying a guilt trip on me. She knew exactly where to place her knife and how to twist it. Like she would ever let me near the twins. She didn't trust me around them. Whenever I was anywhere near them, which was as little as possible, she hovered, acting like I was a bigger threat to their safety than strangers with candy. But she liked to pin shit like that on me. Everything that was wrong, or imperfect, in her life was my fault. She was never going to let me forget what I'd done.

  "Thanks, again, Mom. Just mail the check. And say hi to the twins for me. Talk to you later." I hung up, hoping she would follow through on her promise.

 
; Shit, the woman was hard.

  I headed upstairs and found Kayla Lucas, my favorite Double Deltsie, trying to lug a heavy box full of T-shirts to Kelly's car. A senior, Kayla was the prettiest, sweetest girl in the sorority. She'd been my first friend at the house when I started as a houseboy my freshman year.

  "Hey, what are you doing with that heavy thing?" I grabbed the box from her. "Where are Seth, Dillon, and Paul?"

  Kayla relinquished the box without a fight. A cute bead of perspiration was already sparkling on her pert nose. "Out at the car with Kelly. This is the last box."

  "Why aren't you using a hand truck?" I headed toward the door.

  She held it open for me and followed me to the parking lot. "What's a hand truck? I don't think we have one."

  I shook my head and grinned at her. "Sure we do. We used it last year. Remember?"

  She followed me to the parking lot, where the rest of the guys and Kelly were loading her car with the picnic coolers and the other box of shirts.

  Kelly's eyes lit up when she saw us. "Great! We're running behind. Hey, Zach." She slammed the trunk of her car shut and opened the back door for me to slide the box in. "Coming to the beach with us?"

  I cocked an eyebrow. "As your slave?" I looked at the other guys.

  Kelly laughed. "Haha! No, as our guest, silly. We'd love to have you join us."

  I glanced at the guys as I hesitated and tried to come up with an excuse to bail out of it.

  Kelly shook her head. "Come on, Zach. Live a little and have some fun! The rest of the guys are coming."

  I hesitated. I was flat broke. Until I got that last paycheck from summer, or the first paycheck from the house, I couldn't afford to waste the gas to go to the river.

  "You can drive my car." Kayla jumped in as if she'd read my mind.

  "I see. You're looking for a designated driver and someone to set up," I said.

  "Maybe." Kayla winked at me. "Or maybe we just want you to have some fun for once."

  Kelly was great about inviting us along to house events and parties. Partly it was protection for the girls to have some guys around. Partly they enjoyed our company.

  Kelly made a point of batting her eyes at me. "Please, Zach, please? You'll have fun and it will be a great chance for you to meet our new pledges."

  "Shit, you too?" My gaze bounced between them. "How can I say no to that?"

  Kayla hugged me. "Thanks, Zach." She handed me her car keys. "You can head out now if you guys want. We'll meet you at the river after the bid meeting."

  Their trip to the river beach was a big surprise, the important first bonding event meant to impress the new pledges. If most of the girls hadn't been incoming freshmen, the event wouldn't have been a surprise at all. The majority of the frats and sororities took their pledges to River State Park and the cliffs every year after the bid meeting.

  The bid meeting made me edgy. The bid list was supposed to be top secret, but I'd overheard Kelly and Morgan and the selection committee—Alexis Turner was getting a bid. But something about it had angered Morgan.

  Alexis puzzled me. And the way my body reacted to hers scared me shitless. I was certain the first time I saw her that she would have rather been anywhere but here. But in the powder room, she'd been so sure about her VIP status. And now it was the thought of her that convinced me to swallow my pride and take Kayla's BMW to the river. Even though it was a fucking terrible idea.

  Alexis

  As I walked into the senior ballroom at the SUB with Em for the bid meeting, I didn't know what scared me more—getting a bid from the Double Deltsies or not. We found an empty spot on the floor in the middle of our Rho Gam group and sat cross-legged next to each other as the houses filed in.

  The meeting was simple. The coordinator passed out the bids. Girls who accepted their bids ran to join their houses, where they were each given a house T-shirt. Those who declined, or didn't get a bid, left. From the horror stories I'd heard, generally in tears.

  As the bid slips were handed out, Em grabbed my hand. "Friends forever?"

  It was becoming our mantra. I nodded. "Friends forever."

  I caught Molly's eye and smiled at her. Maybe it was my imagination, but she frosted me out and looked away like I'd betrayed her. They called Em's name before mine. My heart felt like it was going to burst from my chest as she took her bid.

  She read her bid aloud. "Delta Delta Psi!" she screamed, and ran to join her new house while I sat, stunned. I had thought her chances of getting a bid from them were only fifty-fifty. No more than mine would have been if I hadn't been a well-coached legacy.

  How could Em be so happy about it? She hadn't even hesitated. Within seconds, they had tossed her a shirt and she'd slid it on over her cutoffs and crop top. We had all dressed casually for the occasion, like we'd been instructed.

  Girls and girls and girls were called in no particular order. Screams and screams and screams. Tears and tears. The Double Deltsie house was rapidly filling up. Morgan, the girl who'd interviewed me, flashed me an angry, wicked look. I had disobeyed her. I lost my courage. She'd probably tanked me. Mom was going to kill me and then get me into the house under a cloud of shame and suspicion. I should have gone willingly, I realized now.

  Finally, as the bids were winding down and it looked like I was going to be among the bid-less girls, I heard my name. I popped up and took my slip with my hands shaking so badly I could barely grab it. My eyes blurred as I read it. Delta Delta Psi.

  I was grateful and horrified at the same time. Regretful that I couldn't be in a house where I belonged. But I knew better than to show a hint of remorse or disappointment. Or weakness. I squealed and bounced up and down like I was the happiest girl on campus as I ran to join my new house.

  The house president handed me the last shirt in their pile and hugged me.

  Em grabbed me. We bounced up and down together while I tried to pull my shirt on. Morgan gave me an evil, satisfied look that warned me not to defy her again. It was clear that she had made me sweat on purpose, making it look like I was their absolute last choice. We recited the house motto and ran from the SUB after the members, following them to a group of waiting cars.

  "Get in a car! We have a surprise for you!" Kelly pointed to our waiting cavalcade.

  Em and I slid into one together, driven by a girl who introduced herself as Leah. She drove us to our dorms. "Get in there. Get into a bikini, grab a beach bag, and get back out here! We're going to a beach party! Keep your shirt with you."

  I ran into my room as Leah honked the horn and the other girls leaned out the window screaming at me to hurry. I changed into my pink bikini and grabbed a bag with a towel and sunscreen. As I locked my dorm room, two girls walked by and saw my sorority bid shirt. I heard them sigh heavily and whisper comments about stuck-up Double Deltsies. And so it began—being judged by the house I was in.

  We stopped at Em's dorm next. Made two more stops and we were on the road to the river, rocking out to loud music, generally high from bid day.

  The drive took over half an hour through wheat fields to barren desert until the road wound along the river. I barely noticed as I tried to fit in with the girls. Everyone was in full makeup with hair styled to perfection. That was a Double Deltsie rule—no going out without full hair and makeup. Leah blasted the air conditioning, when I would have loved to feel the wind from an open window through my hair. We pulled into a parking lot next to another car from the house and tumbled out.

  Leah ran a cool eye over us. "Girls!" She sounded like a housemother. "You're Double Deltsies now!" She pulled her T-shirt off and stashed it in a stylish beach bag she pulled from the trunk, revealing a bright yellow bikini and a perfect body. "Follow me. The house guys saved us a spot."

  She led the way, walking with the confidence of a model. The park pulsed with music. Smelled like beer, suntan lotion, and hot bodies. And radiated with life.

  Off in the distance, people were jumping off the cliffs into the river below.
r />   As we walked through the grass to our party spot, it became clear what being a Double Deltsie meant—total hot-girl status. Dating a Double Deltsie was prestigious. Groups of independent guys, Geeds, and frat parties with their new pledges turned to leer at us. They whistled and called out lewd invitations like construction workers on a job site.

  We followed Leah's lead, walking with confidence. Ignoring most of the attention as too far above it. Leah knew her way around the park and the social strata. She also seemed to know someone in every frat group. She called out to some. Flirted with others and ignored the rest.

  "The guys from Sigma Upsilon"—she rolled her eyes and made a disgusted face—"animals. All hands. Watch out for them."

  She laughed. "The guys over there, the Lambda Rhos?" She nodded toward them. "Totally beneath us. Misfits. Douchebags."

  A guy caught her attention. She waved to him with a big smile. "And there are a few, a very few, independents who are hot and worth hanging with. There's one, our student body president."

  Another guy waved to her from a sea of Double Deltsie T-shirts. He was tall, blond, and built. With a chiseled jaw and snapping blue eyes. Abs to die for.

  She waved back with enthusiasm and a sparkle in her eyes. "There we are! Seth!" She whispered to us as an aside. "One of our houseboys. Seth is simply irresistible. If he wasn't working for us, I would do him repeatedly. Stay away from him. He'll get you in trouble." She spoke like she knew from experience.

  "Our houseboys are some of the hottest guys on campus." She sighed. "And off limits to all you pledges. If anyone asks, I warned you. I can't emphasize this enough—they're supposed to be like our brothers. Sleeping with one can get you expelled from the house on moral grounds."

  She shook her head. "Yeah. Antiquated crap, but it's in the rules. Pay your dues. Keep your grades up. Participate in house events. Maintain the house image. And, most importantly, don't screw the houseboys. And you'll be golden." She turned her gaze back to Seth.