The Homecoming Benefactor

2 | the bin

I showed up for chapter just in time to be considered present. Since I had been crying, I had to wipe off my makeup from earlier and redo it. I decided to stay on the comfy side and wear a purple sweater with a maxi skirt. That was barely in dress code, but I was not wearing a dress feeling the way I felt. My insecurity was at an all-time high. I wanted to be invisible in that conference room of eighty-four girls.

"This meeting is called to order at 7:00 PM," Hazel Whitmer, our president, stated, tapping her gavel on her podium.

After going through a series of business slides, the floor was opened to additional comments. People asked about the upcoming social, whether or not they were in dress code, and whether or not dues were staying the same. Hazel twirled her jet black hair as she had to answer the same questions that were asked every week. All was normal until Kaylee, our standards chairwoman, raised her hand.

"I just got a text from Freya, she's dropping," Kaylee said, panic in her voice. "We don't have a homecoming chairwoman anymore."

Homecoming happened to be next week, so this was a huge deal. People would look down on us even more if we had to forfeit from the homecoming competition. Every year, the Greek Life orgs at GOU competed in events like field day, float decorating, and sidewalk chalk to see who was the best of the best. Taking home that trophy for the first time would have changed the trajectory of Eta Pi for years.

Hazel's green eyes widened as she tried to find a solution. "Do we have any volunteers for the homecoming position?"

The room was silent, and no hands were raised. Araceli, sitting to my right, looked at me and whispered, "you should do it."

"Are you out of your mind?" I whisper-shouted at her to get my point across.

No one was volunteering. "Fine," I sighed, raising my hand.

The room erupted into applause. This was going to be no easy feat, but it was clear that no one else wanted any part in it. Homecoming was especially hard for our chapter because we've always had less money and supplies than the others. Also, the university always pairs the sororities and fraternities together on teams, and our fraternity usually ditched us before the competition even started, regardless of which frat it was.

"Francie Horn is our new homecoming chair!" Hazel shouted with relief, relaxing her shoulders. "I adjourn this meeting at 8:03 PM."

Hazel briefly left the chapter room before coming back with a large plastic bin, about the size of a large dog. It was filled with things like paint, streamers, and paperwork. She plopped it on the floor next to me and it made a loud "THUMP!" noise.

"This is everything you need to survive homecoming week," Hazel said. "You might want to find someone to help you carry that back to your dorm."

"I'll call Timmy," Araceli suggested, taking out her phone. "This should fit in his truck bed."

After talking on the phone with Timmy, Araceli walked me outside to the spot he was supposed to pick us up from outside of the sorority house. When he arrived in his red Ford Ranger, someone new was in the passenger seat.

"This is Bryce," Timmy said. "We were working on a group project for psychology."

Bryce, to put it frankly, was HOT. He was perfectly tanned with hazel eyes, light brown hair, and a chiseled face. I had completely forgotten about Graham once I laid my eyes upon Bryce. He was at least six feet tall, and he very obviously worked out. The only problem was that he was wearing a Lambda Alpha Xi shirt, which meant that he was in the frat that was supposed to be paired with us for homecoming. Their president told Hazel that they refused to be seen with us and would not be participating. I'm surprised he was willing to be seen near our sorority house.