She scans the room with powerful blue eyes, and the assembled forty young women, including recent pledges, just accepted into the sorority. There’s a mixture of cultures and races in the group, but they’re all beautiful and nicely dressed. The air is tense, as the subject Cynthia refers to makes many of them uneasy.
Cynthia said, “As you know, this is my final year at Syracuse….”
There’s a murmur of grief among the assembled sorority sisters, making Cynthia raise her hand to quieten them.
“Now, now, it happens to us all at some point,” she said with a smile. “As much as I’d love to stay, I’m also looking forward to starting a new chapter in my life. However, that means we need to find the right sister to take my place.”
The crowd nod, life goes on, and they need to select a new President.
“Thanks to some inspiration from our friends at the Delta Delta Delta sorority at Somtown University, I have come up with a great plan to select your next President.”
There’s a murmuring again because the rumors about the Triple-D sorority are something they’ve heard but mostly dismissed. Yet volunteering for this test to check one’s worth to be President of Gamma Phi Beta was going to be difficult. To listen to it now involves something that they’ve only heard as whispers late at night send a ripple of fear through the gathered sisters.
“The President must be a woman willing to give her all for her sisters, even if it costs them in love and life,” Cynthia said with a frown. Are you willing to sacrifice everything for your sisters?” There were nods and murmurs in the group. Cynthia yelled, “Are you willing to sacrifice everything for Gamma Phi Beta?”
“YES,” the group shout.
Cynthia’s chest puffs as she takes in her sisters. Her face beams with satisfaction. “Last week, I asked anyone willing to enter the lottery and play ‘The Beta Games’, and you all have. I’m so proud. The prize of winning The Beta Games is the winning sister will be our next sorority President and mentored by me for the rest of the year. Of course, under our bylaws, sisters must be a member for at least a year before they can be eligible to run for President. Some of you cannot enter this lottery.”
An Asian girl raises her hand, and Cynthia nods at her. “Um, what’s involved in The Beta Games?” she asks.
“You won’t know unless your name is drawn,” Cynthia said. “If this scares you, then I suggest you withdraw from the lottery. There’s no shame in doing so, as not everyone’s cut out to lead. Participation is not mandatory. So, if any sister wants to withdraw, please move to the back of the room now.” Not one of them moved, and it made Cynthia grin broadly. “Good, I’m so proud of you all. Let the lottery begin….”
A black woman brings a silver champagne bucket to Cynthia and holds it aloft above the President’s head. The bucket was filled with folded pieces of paper. The strawberry blonde reaches up, puts her hand into the bucket, and mixes the paper. Then she grabs one and pulls it out. The black woman puts the bucket down on a nearby table and goes and stands with her sisters.
Cynthia takes a deep breath and opens the paper. She smiles. Gazing at her sisters watching expectantly, Cynthia said, “The first contender in The Beta Games is … Gina Harris.”
There’s a squeal of delight from a redhead as all the sisters turn to smile at Gina. She then steps forward, smiling broadly, tears in her eyes, and shakes Cynthia’s hand.
“Congratulations, Gina, I’ll be praying you succeed,” Cynthia said to the excited girl.
“So, what do I have to do?” Gina asks.
“I guess this is the moment you’ve all been waiting for,” the sorority President said, seeing the nodding heads. “To win The Beta Games, you have to sacrifice your love to prove you’ll do anything at any cost for your sisters.”
Gina frowns. She’s not alone. “My love? Do you mean Johnny, my boyfriend?”
Cynthia nods. “Yes, precisely. The Beta Games take place over four trials. Fail at any stage, and I’ll draw a new name, and we start again. Once a sister can get her boyfriend through all four trials of The Beta Games, she’ll be my heir. A woman who has what it takes will succeed.” An attractive brunette in a tight sweater raises her hand. “Yes, Leslie?” Cynthia asks, looking at the girl.
“Um, I don’t have a boyfriend at the moment,” Leslie said. “What should I do?”
Cynthia nods. “Those of you without a boyfriend need not fear,” she said. “If you find a male willing to participate for you, that’s all you need to take part.”
“But what are the four trials?”
“Each trial will be revealed after your champion has completed one,” Cynthia said. Turning to Gina, she said, “The first trial your boyfriend must complete is ‘The Measure of a Man.’ This involves him having his erect penis measured in public. All the sisters will watch either in person or via facetime, as well as anyone who cares to look.”
There’s a general gasp around the room, and Gina’s face turns red. “Johnny will never do that,” she said, throwing her hands to her mouth.
“Then you will fail and be out of the running,” Cynthia said coldly.
Meanwhile, among the chatter of the anxious sorority sisters, Leslie Hunter has an idea. She knows just the guy for this challenge and at once starts hatching a plan to trap him into it.
*****
Davy Phillips is in the library at Syracuse University, trying to study for a coming exam. He’s looking to become a pharmacist and is in his sophomore year. The student is short, only five foot six, with a thin ninety-pound body and a boyish, almost feminine face with high cheekbones. He likes this university mostly because it’s as far away from his hometown in California he can get. Davy has a history back home. One he wants to escape from. As far as he knows, there’s not any student here that even knows him or his past. That suits Davy well.
Yet unbeknownst to him, one student here knows him, a female called Leslie Hunter, a year older than him. She also comes from Davy’s hometown and is aware of his presence here. The Gamma Phi Beta sister also knows about Davy’s past too, and suddenly, due to some radical changes in her sorority’s presidential choice. She needs a patsy. Leslie needs a boy she can control, and what better than one with a deep dark secret. One who’d do anything to keep it from getting around the campus.
That’s her plan anyway. From what she knows of Davy Phillips, Leslie feels confident she can persuade him to be her bitch so she can become the president of her sorority. Cynthia told them she wanted a sister willing to do anything for her sisters. Leslie is the kind of woman who’d do anything to become president. Even if it means stepping on the very sisters, she is supposed to serve in that role. The only hitch to her plan is the lottery. Her name still sits inside the champagne bucket along with twenty-five others. Those drawn before her will have to fail before Leslie gets her chance too. It’s a risk, but she’s up for the challenge.
As Davy wanders between the shelves of dusty volumes, searching for a book, he suddenly feels a tap on his shoulder. He turns to see a brunette in a Gamma Phi Beta blazer and a short skirt. She seems oddly familiar, yet Davy doesn’t make the connection straight away.
“Davy? Davy Phillips?” the young woman said with a cold smile and mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
“Ah, yeah?” he said and grimaced.
“I thought that was you. What a small world, eh?”
Davy frowns. “Um, sorry, do I know you?”
She giggles. “I’m Gordon Hunter’s older sister, Leslie.”
The name makes Davy shiver involuntarily. His old high school bully single-handedly destroyed his reputation back home after Gordon made him eat magic mushrooms. The same event caused the nerdy male to flee his hometown as soon as possible. Leslie stood directly before him, connecting Davy to that past, making him feel sick.
“Ah, sorry, Leslie, I-I didn’t r-recognize you,” he said, feeling his face burn.
“Gordon told me you came here and to say hi if I saw you.”
Davy’s body stiffens noticeably. “Your brother can go fuck himself,” he said coldly.
Leslie just laughs, then pulls out her phone. After fiddling with the screen, she turns the phone, playing a video. In the video, Davy is naked, running through the town mall shouting, ‘Aliens are attacking. Run. Run for your lives….’ Then three burly security guards tackle the skinny nerd to the ground with Davy screaming like a girl.
“Where…” Davy begins. He’s never seen that footage before.
“Gordon sent it to me,” Leslie said coldly with a prominent smirk. Putting the phone away, she said, “It’s not very flattering, is it, ET?”
He shivers. Davy hasn’t heard that old nickname for a few years now. The nickname Gordon gave him after that shameful event.
Her smirk grows as she watches the sophomore unravel before her very eyes. “I see you’ve made quite a life for yourself here,” she said coldly. “So, if you wanna keep your good name around here, then you’re going to help me with a slight problem.”
He’s stunned. Leslie Hunter is, it seems, blackmailing him. He asks, “What problem?”
“My sorority is having a…call it an event, and I need a boyfriend to participate.”
Davy guffaws. “Leslie, you’re an attractive woman; you could get anyone to be your boyfriend. So, why me?”
She smiles. “Because for me to win this event, I need a guy who can be my bitch. The only guy here at SU for that is you, ET.”
Davy steps back, drawing his arms across his chest firmly. “I’ll never help you.”
“If you don’t want me sending that video of you to every person here on campus, then you’ll do everything I say. Then again, I could send the one where Gordon made you eat dog shit. There are so many; I’m spoilt for choice.”
The boy gasps. “No, don’t do that. Please.”
The smirk returns. “Then you’ll be my bitch, and when the event is over, I’ll delete the videos.”
“If I do this, you have to get Gordon to delete them too. All of them.”
She nods. “OK. But cross me or back out, and I’ll release one video a week until they’re all out there.”
Davy swallows hard. “Alright, what do I have to do.”
“Be in the cafeteria tomorrow at one to see what your first challenge will entail,” she said.
Leslie turns and leaves. Davy watches her sashaying butt and can’t help noticing he has a boner.
*****
This is a free sample of The Beta Games by Max Swan. Buy the eBook to read the whole story or join our Members Area to read all our stories.
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