She grabbed it. A motion sensor beeped. The attic door locked behind her.
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.
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.
“Theta Tau has taken the flag three years running,” said Margot, the Psi Delta captain, a senior with a razor-sharp bob and a whistle hanging from her neck like a war medal. “They cheat. They lie. They hide the flag in their bras , Chloe. Last year, we found it taped under a toilet lid in their house. This year, we end them.” Sorority Wars
Silence. Then chaos. Psi Deltas tackled Chloe in a muddy, slimy hug. Thetas threw their supersoakers to the ground in disbelief.
Chloe Vance learned both rules in the same breath, ten minutes before the game began. She stood on the dewy lawn of Blackwood University’s Greek Row, shivering in a bright yellow jersey marked ROOKIE , while her new sorority sisters of Psi Delta stretched in perfect, terrifying synchronicity.
She arrived just as Margot kicked open the door. Inside, there was no purple flag. Only a dozen Theta Tau seniors, armed with supersoakers filled with neon green slime. The Psi Deltas walked right into an ambush. She grabbed it
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.
Trapped. No phone. And somewhere below, Lena’s laugh echoed up the stairs.
Chloe’s stomach dropped. She could already hear, in the distance, a triumphant whoop from the Psi Deltas—racing toward the boathouse. A trap. And for the first time that morning, Chloe laughed
Lena stepped closer. “No, you don’t. Because Sarah is my little cousin. And she’s been feeding your team fake intel for the last hour. The flag never left our attic.”
Then she turned and vanished into the fog.
At Margot’s signal, the two dozen Psi Deltas scattered into the pre-dawn fog. Chloe was assigned to “Observation,” which turned out to be crouching behind a recycling bin near the Theta house, radio pressed to her ear.