The Pledge (2 page)

Julie yelled out, “Hell yeah!” She grabbed the bottle and leaned in close to us. “Listen girls, after I answer the question, we need to jet. We’re just the right amount of tipsy, and we’ll be right on time to be fashionably late.” She lowered her voice and she waved us closer, as if she didn’t want anyone to overhear her confession. “Want to know my biggest fear?”

Alexis and I both nodded.

“I have microphobia.” Julie took a drink and closed her eyes like she’d just revealed a terrible secret.

I looked at Alexis, and she shrugged, so I asked, “What’s microphobia?”

Julie opened her eyes, her expression grave. “The fear of tiny things. I’m terrified of miniature dogs, fun-sized candy bars, mini-muffins, those little nightmares known as micro machines my nephew always leaves lying around...”

“What about the mini skirt you’re wearing?” I pointed out, sure that she was trying to be funny.

“No, no. Clothes are fine. It has to be something genuinely mini.” Her eyes opened wide and in all seriousness she asked, “Do you want to know what mini thing I fear the most?”

Alexis and I nodded.

“Tiny dicks,” she whispered.

I didn’t know if it was the alcohol or the girl talk, but for the first time in my life, I couldn’t stop laughing.

I never wanted to stop.

Chapter Two

ALEC

The black Escalade pulled away from the curb, and my mother turned in her seat to wave to me through the back window. I expected the sight of my father’s taillights to give me a sense of freedom, but the weight of his expectations was still heavy on my mind.

Prove yourself, Alec. Make me forget last year ever happened.

I took a deep breath, forcing his parting words out of my thoughts. Before the SUV was out of sight, I turned and made my way toward the dorm. Something about turning my back on him and his threats gave me a sense of victory.

I jogged up the steps to find a girl with a UMD T-shirt and hipster glasses struggling to get two suitcases through the back door.

I rushed over and grabbed one from her. “Need help?”

“Oh, thanks,” she said. When she looked up and met my eyes, she blushed and gave me a shy smile. I was used to the effect my looks had on girls. Instead of offering her one of my flirty lines, I held the door open for her. I wasn’t in the mood to be charming right now.

She pulled her suitcase through the entrance, bumping it into the doorjamb and almost falling over in her eagerness. Reaching out to steady her, I smiled for a moment, reminded of another shy, anxious girl. My smile disappeared when I remembered that same girl was the reason for my father’s last warning.

I helped hipster girl get her stuff to the elevator. Before she could give me her name, I found a set of stairs and took them two at a time up to room 7220, my new home.

I slammed the door shut and then collapsed on my bed, kicking an unopened package of sheets to the floor.

I hadn’t met my roommate yet, and he was stretched out on his bed, completely at ease. His side of the room was organized and unpacked as if he’d moved in months ago. My side was littered with piles of brand new things for my dorm room and boxes that were still taped shut.

My roommate looked up from the TV and raised an eyebrow at me. “Who pissed in your Cheerios, sunshine?” He had a spoon in one hand and a white can in the other as he nodded toward the door.

I put my hands behind my head and chuckled. “My parents.” Mostly it was my old man. He spent the entire ride to campus detailing what lecture series he expected me to attend and the connections I needed to be making. Alexander Hart, Sr. had grand plans. He was raising a Senator, after all. “I’m Alec.” I leaned up on my elbow and held out my hand.

My roommate shoved the spoon in his mouth and wiped his palm on his shirt before extending his hand to me. “Caz,” he said around the spoon. He shook my hand and then sat back on his bed.

Caz?
That wasn’t the name of the guy on my room assignment. This guy had to be in the wrong room. I reached for my backpack and pulled out the stack of welcome-to-campus shit I’d been sent.

“They must have sent me the wrong paperwork.” I found the paper I was looking for and double-checked the name. “It says here my roommate is—”

Caz jumped up, darting across the space between our beds to rip the sheet out of my hand. “Forget you ever saw that.” He shredded the paper. “Dude. If you ever tell anyone what my real name is, I will make your life a living hell.” He pointed the spoon at me like a weapon.

I put my hands up in mock defense, laughing. “Caz it is.” If I had his first name, I’d go by Caz, too.

He tossed the tiny pieces of paper into the trash and returned to his bed. “The ‘rents gone?”

“Finally.” I grabbed the pillow still wrapped in plastic and folded it under my head. I took a good look around at the mess on my side of the room. My mom would lose her shit if she saw it, but I kind of liked the clutter.

Caz’s attention was back on some CrossFit competition he’d been watching on TV. “So what is it? Are they pushy or clingy?”

“Both.” I stretched my legs and then crossed them at my ankles. “My dad is a hotshot lawyer. He likes being in control of everything. My mom is the one who has a hard time letting go.” I took a deep breath, remembering how my father had to coerce her out of her goodbye hug. “The curse of being an only child, I guess.”

“My mom’s the same, and I’m the youngest of five. She totally broke down last year when she dropped me off.” Caz’s eyes remained rooted on the TV as he ate frosting out of a can.

“You’re a sophomore?”

Caz nodded, swallowing.

“Why did you choose to stay in the dorms?” I was already looking forward to transferring into upperclassman housing on the other side of campus. I had wanted to get an off-campus apartment, but my father said the stigma of the freshman dorms would be good for me. Teach me humility.

“Why would I move? This dorm is prime real estate, man. It’s close to the gym, and the dining hall is just one quad over.”

I couldn’t argue with that. I looked around the room. Caz had already finished unpacking, but some of the things he had laying around were unusual. “What’s this?” I pointed to the strange wooden structure that was pushed up against the end of his bed.

“Parallettes.” Caz grinned as if he knew a secret. “You can borrow it if you want.”

“What’s it for?” It looked like two wooden towel bars had been attached to one another.

Caz got up from his bed and pulled the apparatus into the middle of the room. He gripped the bars with his hands and then kicked his feet up over his head, holding a perfect handstand.

“Holy shit, dude! How’d you learn to do that?” I’d seen a lot of party tricks, but this was one I definitely wanted to learn.

He dropped his feet back to the floor with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face, and ran his hand through his hair, making it stand up all over the place. “A lot of practice.”

“You must be a pro at keg stands.” I sat up to get a better look at the parallettes.

Caz laughed. “Nah, Brah. No kegs for me. I’m part of the Acroletes. We have a no-drinking policy.”

“The Acroletes?” I reached over to grab the lacrosse ball sitting in the pile of junk on my desk. Reclining back on my bed, I tossed it in the air, catching it in my fist.

“Yup. Best club on campus. Come with me to practice, and I’ll show you around.” Caz reached for the wooden contraption again and then slowly pressed his body into another handstand. This time, he made it look like he was moving in slow motion.

Shit.
That was cool.

“I have lacrosse training every afternoon. Can’t miss it.”

“Lacrosse is in the spring.” He talked normally as if it was natural to hold a conversation while upside down.

I kept my eyes on the ball as I tossed it in the air again. “Yeah, but I have year-round commitments because of my scholarship.”

“Come after your training.” Caz was still holding his handstand and dipped down into an inverted pushup before pressing back up again.

“Maybe.” The idea of doing something that hadn’t been pre-ordained by my father was tempting. I hadn’t risked temptation like that in a long time.

Caz pressed back down and stood. Then he walked over to his bed and picked up the can of frosting and took another spoonful.

I laughed. “Dude. I can’t believe you’re eating that.”

“Sorry, man.” Caz leaned over to open his mini-fridge. “How rude of me. You want one?” At least eight cans of icing and a six pack of Mountain Dew lined the shelves.

“Christ. That’s a lot of fucking sugar in one place. I’m getting diabetes just looking at that.”

Caz shrugged. “More for me.” He snapped the lid back on the can and shoved it into the mini-fridge. “First night of college, roomie. I don’t feel like spending it in this cell, how about you?”

I looked around at my unmade bed and unpacked boxes. “I’m ready to get out of here. What do you want to do?”

Caz grabbed his phone off the desk and swiped his finger across the screen. “Ever seen
American Ninja
?”

“Yeah, a few times.” I got up from my bed and stretched my arms over my head.

The maniacal grin on Caz’s face was a sure sign that whatever he was planning was trouble.

“Ever tried any of that shit?” He slipped his phone into his back pocket.

“Thought about it, but never had the chance.”

Caz slapped his hands together and rubbed his palms against one another. “An unspoiled, adrenaline virgin.” He chuckled. “It’s gonna be fun popping your cherry.”

My head snapped up and I looked him right in the eyes as I shook my head. “Don’t repeat that.”

Caz opened the door to our room and stepped into the hallway before yelling, “Let it be known that I am claiming Alec Hart’s V-card tonight!”

“Stop while you’re ahead,” I warned. I shoved my feet into my shoes and walked out the door to join him in the hallway. “I know your real name.” Caz looked at me like I’d just shoved a knife between his shoulder blades. I raised my eyebrow in challenge.

“Damn. That’s a fucked up threat.”

“We’re still going, though, right?”

He laughed. “Like I would miss the chance to hear you scream like a little bitch.”

***

We stood in the woods, decked out in harnesses and carabiners. I stared at the series of cables and obstacles that connected the trees like a demented spider web. The sky was dark, but ropes of lights were strung in the trees, illuminating the intimidating course. I watched as a guy quickly climbed several stories in the air on a wooden ladder that was attached to a tree. He unhooked the pulley from his belt and fastened it over the zip line before tossing himself off the launching pad. His body plummeted down the cable until his feet touched a platform in another tree.

I couldn’t wait to burn off some frustration.

Sandy Spring Adventure Park was a ropes and zip line course about half an hour from campus. Caz’s friends Jon, Maureen, and Amanda came with us. I didn’t know places like this existed, but I was itching to get started. The training session on how to use the equipment had already taken too fucking long.

I heard a whooping yell, and looked up as a girl used a rope to swing down from a tree. She landed in a cargo net that was suspended at least two stories off the ground.

“You look terrified,” Caz said. “You do realize there are girls here. Don’t act like a little ass hat and back out.”

I turned to grin at him. “You worried I’m going to show you up?”

“Twenty bucks says you get stuck on those.” Caz pointed to a series of mini trapezes that were hung between two trees. “And you’ll need a guide to come rescue you.”

I hooked my thumbs into my harness and glanced at the tree next to us. Colorful rock climbing holds were nailed to the side of it leading up to a platform. “Twenty bucks says I can get up to that platform faster than you.”

Caz looked at me like I was insane and laughed. “Easy money, roomie. I hope you brought cash with you.” He pulled his phone out and opened the stopwatch feature before waving Amanda over. “You can time us,” he told her.

Amanda had a hot little body and a smile to match. She was wearing a skin-tight tank top and yoga pants that left nothing to the imagination. I was digging the way the harness fit snugly around her upper thighs and hugged her ass.

She licked her lips and looked at me. “I want in on this bet.”

“Buy in is twenty,” Caz told her, pointing his finger in her face. “You on my side?” He puffed out his chest. “Or Hart’s?” He jerked his thumb over toward me.

Amanda’s gaze raked over me as a smile teased along her lips. When her eyes reached mine, I winked.

“I think Alec can give you a run for your money, Caz,” Amanda said, keeping her gaze fixed on me. “I’m in. If you win, I’ll give you the money. If Alec wins,” she twirled the end of her ponytail around her finger and bit her bottom lip, “I’ll make it worth his while in other ways.”

I didn’t have to guess what she meant and I was ready to cash in on whatever she was offering.