Hazed (Palm South University)

“Even as great as she is, she’s got the toughest part in the show,” he says, resting his arms around my hips.

“Because I’m a pain in the ass to understand?’

“No,” he says, kissing my nose. “Because there’s no one in the world like you.”

“Thank goodness for that.”

He laughs, and then his lips find mine, and I revel once again in how happy I am that he’s here.

THERE’S SOMETHING RATHER UNSETTLING about being in your last semester of college.

It reminds me of high school a little bit, how excited you are at the end of your junior year. You think to yourself I’m finally a senior! It’s my year to rule! And everything is full of possibility and promise.

But then, you transition into that last semester of your senior year, and something changes.

Something shifts.

Suddenly, you realize that it’s the end of an era, a door closing that you can never open again. This time in your life — whether you’ve loved or hated it — is about to end. Which, of course, means a new chapter is beginning.

It’s both exciting and terrifying.

Those emotions on their own are strong, but when you mix them together, it’s like having a permanent stomachache. You slow down a little more, look around a little more, appreciate things that maybe you never took the time to throughout the last four years of your life.

I’ve been to hundreds of Alpha Sigma events by now — dozens of which I’ve coordinated myself. And sure, I’ve enjoyed myself. I’ve thrown myself into event planning, stayed up all night long with my brothers celebrating, lost weeks on end where there was so much going on it was like a blur.

But tonight, at our first annual Valentine’s Day Soirée, I’m soaking it all in.

The event was actually Kade’s idea, which threw me for a loop because I’d always taken Kade as more of a party brother than one interested in leadership. But something’s happened since he’s been with Jess. It seems that he’s transformed, that he’s been moved by the urge to do more, to be more.

He came to me with the idea a month ago: a Valentine’s Day, all-inclusive event that every girl on campus would be dying to go to. There’d be an elegant catered dinner at the house, a quartet band playing old jazz favorites, and an excuse to dress up — which, if I’m being honest, is probably the main allure.

College girls love an excuse to dress up.

Now, sitting at my rose-petal-covered table with Cassie as we drink champagne and listen to the band, I can’t help but look around at what Kade created in awe. The Alpha Sigma house has been completely transformed, inside and out, with intimate, candle-lit tables lining our hallways, filling our common rooms, and spilling out onto the covered dance floor in the back yard. The tent is strung with fairy lights, too, and there’s just something about the jazz band that elevates the whole experience.

It doesn’t feel like a college party, like a typical frat event.

It feels sophisticated and grown.

It feels magical.

“You’ve really outdone yourself tonight, Adam,” Cassie says, her green eyes sparkling in the candlelight from our table. I chose one that was outside for us, under the tent, and not too far from the band, and it just so happens to be the most pleasant evening we’ve had all month — cool, but not cold, with a gentle breeze wafting over the yard.

Cassie always looks radiant, but seeing her in a blush silk gown tapered in all the right places with pearls on her neck and in her ears, her red hair pulled back in an elegant twist of braids and curls, her lips painted a soft pink that makes me want to kiss her senseless… it’s enough to make me dizzy just looking at her.

“I wish I could take the credit,” I admit honestly, taking a sip of my champagne. “But this is all Kade.”

“Kade?” She shakes her head, finding him and Jess on the dance floor. He’s got one hand holding hers upright, and the other snaked around the small of her back as they sway softly to the music. “I had no idea he had this in him.”

“Neither did I.”

“Does Jess know?”

I shrug. “He’s been pretty humble about it all. Even with the planning, he wasn’t trying to really boss anyone around. He took everything on himself that he could, delegated when he needed to, and named it a team effort from the start.” My stomach pinches a little. “He’s a better man than I am. I would want all the credit for an event like this.”

Cassie smiles, placing her hand over mine. “I seem to remember you sharing credit for the amazing Alpha Sigma concert you threw that very first year I knew you. And it’s become an annual hit.”