On His Knees by Tabatha Kiss
Chapter 77
Jenna
Aline extends across the lawn of the Delta Xi house; dozens upon dozens of Chicago North students wait to flash their IDs and gain entry to the party of the semester. Of course, they say that about every party thrown by the Delta Xi fraternity... but this one is special.
The sitting rooms are nearly deserted. The kitchen, too. The bedrooms upstairs, the bathrooms. Places usually packed with people are abandoned.
Everyone is outside in the backyard.
The pool is back and filled with pillows. Strings of white lights stretch from one end of the lawn to the other. People squeeze onto the deck with red plastic cups, trying to get the best view of tonight’s event.
A Beta Kappa Beauty versus Stampy.
Best friend versus best friend.
“You know this is stupid, right?”
I glare at Seth standing beside me by the pool. “No, it’s not,” I say.
“You’re just delaying the inevitable.”
“Which is?”
“That you and Heidi are going to get over this and by tomorrow morning, everything is going to be back to normal.”
“Nope.” I shake my head. “Not until she apologizes.”
“For what, exactly?”
“For calling me Easy,” I list. “For being stubborn and not admitting she’s wrong. For overreacting. For calling you an asshole. For—”
“All right!” He holds up his hands. “All right. Calm down.”
“No. I don’t want to calm down, Seth. I want to smack her in the face with a stick. That’s what I want to do.”
“That won’t make you feel better.”
“Yes, it will.”
“No, it won’t. Three years ago, I thought punching Drew in the face would make me feel better, but it didn’t. I just felt worse. So, you know what I did?”
I sneer, knowing the answer.
“I apologized,” he says.
“Yes, I remember.”
“Then, would you please consider that to be a better alternative to, well...” He glances around the rowdy crowd. “This?” He blinks twice in surprise. “When did people have time to make T-shirts?”
I follow his gaze, proud to spot a group of ladies on the grass clad in TEAM JENNA merchandise. “Never underestimate the power of young people organizing around a good cause,” I say.
“You think this is a good cause?” he asks. “Do you?”
“Yes, I do. Seth, if you’re not going to support me, then you might as well leave.”
“Of course I support you. Why do you think I’m here? But as your boyfriend, a man who loves you and doesn’t want to see you get hurt, I’m going to offer you every way out of this before you take it too far.”
“Well, I appreciate that. That’s very sweet.”
“Thank you.”
“But what happened between you and Drew isn’t the same thing.”
“It’s not?”
“No. You two have only known each other for a few years. Heidi and I have known each other our entire lives, so we have a lot more baggage than you two could ever have.”
“Clearly,”he quips.
“This needs to happen,” I say. “Nothing you can say can change that.”
“Fine, but just so you know, Drew and I are participating under protest. We think you’re both being ridiculous.”
“Fine, but just so you know, I’ve chosen to die on this hill and I’m going to die on it.”
Seth lets out one final sigh. “Rest in peace, Jenna.”
“Thank you.” I look around again. I stomp my foot. “Where is she?! It’s past eight already.”
“Maybe she backed out,” he says, hopeful.
I scoff. Typical.
I scan the backyard again, searching for that little golden-eyed twit. Instead, I find Wilder and Corey entering the backyard hand-in-hand. I smile at their sweet show of affection, but my jaw drops when I see her T-shirt.
TEAM HEIDI.
“Wilder?!”
She stops, then cringes. “Hey…”
I point at her shirt. “What the hell?”
“Okay, so...” She detaches from Corey and rushes toward me. “I’m actually very neutral in this situation, but you and me are sorority sisters, so we’re duty-bound to have each other’s backs, but I really like Heidi too, and I have to do something to get back in her good graces and, well...”
She gestures at the shirt.
I don’t like it, but I respect it. “Fair enough.”
With her hands held in prayer, she bows her head. “Thank you.” She turns to Seth. “Hi, Seth.”
“Hey, Wilder,” he greets.
She slinks off, quickly finding her way back to safety beneath Corey’s arm.
A wave of applause rises behind me. I spin around, looking toward the back of the house as the screams get louder. The crowd parts to create a path. A path for her.
Heidi Newbury.
“Stampy! Stampy! Stampy!”
Her little fan club cheers for her, their arms covered with skull and crossbones stamps.
She waltzes outside onto the deck with Drew beside her. She smiles and waves, positively delighted by the warm reception.
They cheered for me too, ya know. You ain’t special.
At least I arrived on time.
“Last chance, Jenna.”
I look at Seth. Last chance to back out. Last chance to be the bigger woman and apologize first.
No way.
“Let’s go,” I say.
I approach the pool. Seth shuffles ahead of me and hops over the side before offering me his hand. I take it and he guides me up and over safely. I sink into the thigh-high pillows, taking a moment to find some balance on the uneven terrain.
Seth takes a knee and bows, lowering his upper body for me to mount. “Ready when you are, Fancy,” he says with his best under protest tone.
I piggyback his shoulders. Left leg first, then my right. He rises, moving slowly as we try to maintain our balance. I dig my heels into his sides, but the strange movement shifts my stomach.
“Whoa!”I grab his head. “Hold on.”
“Watch the eyes!”
I nearly fall back. Then, forward. Then back again. “Slow down!”
He grunts. “Your thighs are huge.”
“Excuse me?!”
“Muscles,”he says. “I said your thigh muscles are huge.”
“That’s not what you said!”
“Jenna.”
“Seth.”
He stands up tall, easily lifting me high on his shoulders. I adjust my position until I find and keep my balance while the crowd whoops and hollers at us.
Someone hands me a hockey stick. I take it and hold it over my head, triggering another wave of applause throughout the backyard. The end wrapped with pillows is heavier than expected and I nearly slip off Seth’s shoulders, but he rights me back up. Strong and supportive.
I look across the pool. Heidi has already mounted Drew’s shoulders with her own hockey stick in her hands. Her eyes lock on me. Even from twenty feet away, I see the sadistic golden sparkle of her eyes.
I stare right on back.
Come on, chicken. Let’s fight.
“Jerna,”Seth gurgles beneath me. “Jerna, yer chokin meh.”
“Oh!” I loosen the grip of my thighs on the sides of his neck. “Sorry!”
He coughs.
Boom boom clap.
Boom boom clap.
The crowd stomps their feet. They clap their hands. The sound overwhelms the night, echoing throughout the backyard as if this were the goddamn Colosseum. The people crave blood tonight...
And they’re gonna get it.
“Ladies...”
Jack stands at the edge of the pool with a white handkerchief pinched between his long fingers.
“Jack!” Heidi flashes a wide smile. “I heard you’re the new house alpha!”
“Really?!” I gasp. “Congratulations! Long time coming.”
“Thank you.” He bows his head, genuinely grateful. “Now, ladies,” he continues, “let’s have a good clean fight, shall we? We don’t want to send either of you to the infirmary this evening.”
Heidi stares back at me. She chokes up on her hockey stick, holding it close. I do the same. We nod for Jack, a silent promise to respect his rules.
Still gonna kick her ass, though.
“Gentlemen.” Jack pauses with purposeful glances at our men, with an extra wink for Seth. “You know what to do.”
They nod.
Jack raises the handkerchief above his head. The crowd falls whisper-quiet. I make eye contact with Heidi across the pool again. Last chance, Heidi. Last chance to throw that stick down and admit you’re wrong.
Last chance for us to move forward.
Jack drops the handkerchief.
Boom boom clap.
Boom boom clap.
Seth slowly navigates through the pillows toward Heidi and Drew. I flex my core to keep balanced, but his constant stumbling nearly sends me tumbling.
“Seth!”
“Hold on...”
“Get closer!”
I swing the hockey stick, but it’s nowhere close to its target.
“I’m trying!” He kicks a path in the pillows. “This is harder than it looks.”
We wade closer, finally coming within a few feet of them. Heidi takes a swing at me, but the momentum throws her aim off and she misses my arm. I thrust my stick forward, aiming for her body. It connects with her shoulder and the TEAM JENNA crowd explodes with applause.
“Ow!” Heidi winces before performing a quick horizontal slash.
I lean back to avoid it, but I instantly regret it as I tilt too far over. Seth reaches up and grabs my arm, quickly yanking me forward again before I fall.
“Thanks, babe,” I say.
“Yup,” he says.
Heidi’s stick smacks my chest.
“Hey!” I block another blow with my stick. “That was my boob!”
“I was aiming for your face!” she shrieks.
“At least I have boobs to hit!”
Heidi growls as she raises her stick over her head. She slashes downward, giving me barely a second to cross block. I push her stick away with mine and she sways off balance. She tips backward, slapping Drew hard in the face as she grabs his head to keep from falling.
Boom boom clap.
Boom boom clap.
I swing, but I’m not close enough to knock her off. “Closer, Seth!” I tap his side with my heel. “Closer!”
Seth obeys. He kicks through the pillows as I try to hit her again. Still, I miss.
“Closer!”
He pushes forward again. Drew steps back, angling to give Heidi enough time to recover.
I grimace. “You’re right, this is harder than it looks.”
Seth taps my thigh. “You’re doing great, Fancy. Knock her on her ass!”
Heidi’s jaw drops. “Seth?!”
“Sorry, little sister. Team Jenna.”
“What’s the matter, Heidi?” I say. “You jealous my boyfriend is more supportive than yours?!”
“He is not!” she says.
“Are you sure?” I swing. Miss. “Drew’s awfully quiet right now.”
She strikes my shoulder, but there’s little power behind it. “He’s concentrating!”
We smack our sticks together.
“Yeah, I can see that,” I tease. “He’s got his eyes on me, but that’s always been your worst fear, hasn’t it?”
Heidi bites down in anger. “Shut up!”
“She’s baiting you, Heidi!” Drew shouts. “Don’t listen.”
“That first Delta Xi party haunts you,” I say. “Because you know that if you weren’t there, we would have slept together and he would have loved it!”
Heidi’s frown digs deeper. “No, he wouldn’t!”
“Oh, yeah?” I smirk. “Then why does he have an erection right now?”
“What?!”
She looks down. I pull my stick back, prepping for a hard horizontal blow.
“Heidi, no!” Drew says.
Too late, big guy.
I hit her on the shoulder, throwing all my strength into it.
Heidi yelps in surprise and drops her stick. She falls backward and I tilt forward, eager to see her fall off.
Drew acts quickly. He shifts to the side, weaving his body to give hers some stability. He offers his arm, and she grabs it at the last possible moment to pull herself back up. She steadies herself as Drew grabs her hockey stick from the pillows and hands it back to her.
Boom boom clap.
Boom boom clap.
I grunt with anger. “Why won’t you just fall down?!”
Heidi tilts into a battle stance again. “You first!” she cries.
“Never!”
I raise my stick high, preparing to strike her down as many times as I have to.
Seth takes a wide step away from them, shifting my balance. “Well, I’ve seen enough,” he says. “Drew?”
“Yup,” he replies. “Count of three?”
Count of three?
“One.”
What?
“Two.”
What happens on three?
“Three!”