The Freshman

eight: On the Hunt

After a short drive that seemed like forever due to extreme stress and anxiety, Becca killed the engine. I could hear her heels clicking over the asphalt as she walked around to the trunk.

"Up and at 'em, pledges." She yelled. "Hell Week starts now."

I groaned. "Could someone just please take this bag off my head?"

I felt someone grab my arm and haul me out of the trunk. The ground changed from asphalt to wet, dewy grass, and I struggled to keep my footing with zero visibility. Finally, a hand gripped the top of the bag and roughly yanked it off my head.

"Where are we?" I asked, squinting in the dark.

"I think we're still on campus." Kaitlyn answered.

"Obviosuly." Becca said.

"Are you going to tell us what we're doing here?" I asked her.

"And why you felt it was necessary to kidnap us? Abbie added. "In the middle of the night?

"Speak when spoken to, pledge!" Madison snapped. She giggled. "Ooh, being in charge is fun!"

"It's tradition." Becca explained. "Kappa Phi Sigma has done things this way for generations."

She walked over to Madison and gave us an intimidating look. "Now, your first challenge as pledges will be to find the monogrammed cashmere sweater of our founding sister, Trixie Cartwright."

"May she rest in peace." Madison said.

"She was everything a Kappa sister aspires to be. Poised, sophisticated, and unfailingly chic."

"So... you want us to find a dead girl's sweater?" asked Abbie.

"This doesn't involve grave robbing, does it?" Kaitlyn asked suspiciously.

"Ew, no!" Madison exclaimed. "She left her beloved sweater as an official Kappa Phi Sigma heirloom."

"You just need to follow the clues scattered around campus to find its resting place." Becca continued. "The first team to return the sweater will move on in the pledge process. Everyone else will be eliminated."

"Ooh, a scavenger hunt! I call Abbie and Mia for my team!"

"Very well. The first clue is..."

She unfurled a scroll tied with a ribbon and read it aloud. "'For early mornings or all-nighters, this is the home of weary writers'. You have two hours to return the sweaters to us at Kappa Phi Sigma house. Starting... Now."

As the other pledges split into teams and set off in opposite directions, Abbie, Kaitlyn, and I put our heads together to puzzle out the clue.

"'For early mornings or all-nighters...'" Kaitlyn whispered.

"'This is the home of weary writers.'" Abbie finished.

"So it's somewhere writers hang out... when they're tired?" I asked. "That must mean the library!"

"I don't know... that feels more like a place for reading than writing..." Abbie said.

"And what do libraries have to do with being tired, anyway?" Kaitlyn agreed.

"Good point." I said. "So where would a tired writer go to work?"

Abbie's face lit up. "I know! The cafe!"

"Of course!" Kaitlyn exclaimed. "That's where I'd go if I needed to pull an all-nighter. Gotta get that caffeine boost!"

"Nice one, Abbie. Let's go pay Brandon a visit."