Greek (Palm South University)

“We shouldn’t make the guys wait all night,” Ashlei says. “Especially since I’m not sure I trust Brandon with a bunch of ex-frat boys.”

“Technically, Kade still is one for another semester,” Jess reminds her.

Ashlei taps her nose. “Even more reason to get to Ralph’s.”

“You’re just being driven mad by your hormones and want to sneak off with Mr. Church,” Erin teases.

Ashlei shrugs, not denying as we all start making moves.

“Wait!” Cassie cries out before we can get off the bed. She jumps off long enough to grab her phone before piling back in, and we all huddle in close so she can snap a selfie.

She flips to the camera roll to show it to us, and for a long time, we just stare at the picture, at our smiles, our red, puffy eyes.

“I love you,” Jess whispers, wiping her tears before they can fall. “All of you. So much.”

We wrap her up in another fierce hug and stay there, fighting back emotion for as long as we can before Jess claps her hands and hops up first.

“Alright! That’s enough. Come on,” she says with a wicked smile, yanking us up off the bed one by one. “Skyler, put on a dress. Cassie, ditch the gown. The rest of you, in the bathroom so we can fix our hair. And in ten minutes exactly, I’m calling a cab and we’re going to Ralph’s one last time.”

“One last time,” I echo.

“Guys,” Cassie whines, about to cry again, but Ashlei smacks her arm.

“No,” she warns with a laugh. She points at Tera next. “Get your Big in line, Tera.”

“Aye-aye, captain,” she salutes.

Once we’re dressed and ready, we link our arms together as we walk across the yard to where the cab waits. But Erin pulls us to a stop at the street, making us all turn back toward the Kappa Kappa Beta house.

Memories flash like rave lights in my mind — socials and formals, sisterhood events and boys snuck into our rooms, Spring Breaks planned and Halloween costumes assembled, happy tears… and plenty of sad ones, too.

We stand there for a long while before Erin sighs, turning us toward the cab.

“Come on, girls,” she says. “Let’s make it a night we’ll never forget.”

And as we join our guys at the bar, I start to feel it — this unnamable spark.

It flickers to life when Bear wraps me in a hug, telling me for the hundredth time tonight how proud he is of me. It grows a little stronger when he then turns and takes my Big into his arms, his eyes on her like she’s everything his world revolves around.

That spark burns brighter at the sight of Brandon’s hand on Ashlei’s stomach, her eyes wide and bright as she stares up at him before he leads her to the dance floor. It nearly blinds me when Adam takes Cassie’s hand in his, kissing her ring, and then her lips.

Tera joins up with a group of our active sisters at the bar, taking pictures and laughing with young women I know will play a huge role in her life now and forever.

Jess and Kade order a round of shots, doing some awkward kind of hand dance at the bar that makes us all laugh and sets the spark into a full-blown fire.

But I can’t name it — not until the exact moment Kip slides up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and setting his chin on my shoulder. He kisses the sensitive skin under my ear, and I sigh, warmth and light flooding through me.

And then I feel it in my bones, deep in my soul, the truth that anchors us all.

This isn’t the end.

No, this is only just the beginning.

The End