Chloe had thirty seconds to decide: warn her sisters and admit she’d been fooled, or trust the enemy president? She ran toward the boathouse.
Then she turned and vanished into the fog.
Chloe nodded, her mouth dry. She’d rushed Psi Delta for the alumni connections, not for guerrilla capture-the-flag across seven acres of manicured lawns, frat basements, and one very suspicious hedge maze. But the “Sorority Wars” was tradition—a brutal, semi-legal obstacle course where the only real prize was bragging rights. And the flag: a silk banner of deep purple, embroidered with the Theta Tau owl. Sorority Wars
But Chloe didn’t stop. While the others shrieked and slipped in the goo, she sprinted the long way around the lake, up the fire escape of the Theta house, and into the attic. There, hanging from a chandelier like a taunt, was the purple owl flag.
Chloe relayed the intel. But as she crept toward the lake, a figure emerged from the mist. She wore a crimson jersey—Theta Tau. She was tall, with a messy ponytail and a smirk that suggested she found the entire war beneath her, yet enjoyed it immensely. Chloe had thirty seconds to decide: warn her
She grabbed it. A motion sensor beeped. The attic door locked behind her.
Margot, covered in green slime, stared. Lena, emerging from the boathouse with a towel, stopped mid-wipe. The referees—three exhausted RAs—raised their binoculars. Chloe nodded, her mouth dry
And for the first time that morning, Chloe laughed. She’d come to Blackwood for a degree. But she’d found something better: a war she never knew she wanted to win, and an enemy who made it worth fighting.