"Congratulations, ladies. You've all proven yourselves quite devoted to the sorority. There's only one challenge left before you can join us as full-fledged sisters," said Jane, the sorority's current president. "This last challenge will prove to be the hardest and only the most devoted of you will make it."
The pledges looked at each other and groaned. The past week had been hell for them and the number of pledges had already dropped in half. Sarah, however, steeled herself and smiled as if she had already passed the challenge. It was a matter of pride for her: both her older sister, Tracy, and their mom had pledged to the same sorority. She wasn't about to be the first in her family to be rejected.
"If you ladies would direct your attention to Sister Amanda, she has your next assignment," Jane said. Amanda stood, holding an upturned baseball cap in one hand. "Each of you will draw the name of your target. The rules are simple: you have two weeks to procure a photograph of your target. The photograph must also include your target's face. We don't want any of you girls cheating, now do we?"
The girls let out a sign of relief. Sure, the university had thousands of students, but it should be easy enough to track down one person in that amount of time. Sarah thought to herself how lucky she was; Tracy had made the final challenge sound like it was nearly impossible.
"Oh, I forgot to add one more thing: these need to be naked photographs," Jane added. One of the girls swore, while the rest began to grumble among themselves.
"How the hell are we supposed to do that?" Sarah blurted out.
"Anyway you can," Jane replied. "And you will remember to only speak when spoken to by a full sister, pledge. Do I make myself clear?"
Sarah didn't respond. She knew she had broken the rules and didn't want to make it worse. Instead, she sheepishly nodded in agreement.
"Good," said Jane. "Now that that's settled, let's get down to business. Form a line and draw your names. The challenge begins as soon as you draw your name and ends exactly two weeks from this moment."
The girls arranged themselves single-file in front of Amanda and began pulling folded pieces of paper from the hat. Sarah, upset from being admonished in front of the other pledges, trodded to the end of the line. She began formulating plans in her head. If he works out, she thought, there's the possibility of having one of her male friends snap a picture of her target in the locker room. Or maybe she could pay off his roommate to take the picture?
Before Sarah knew it, it was her turn to pull a name from the hat. She reached into the hat and pulled out the final piece of paper. Her hands trembled a bit as she unfolded the paper. Kevin Harrington. Well, Kevin Harrington, she thought to herself, you're in for a surprise. The other girls were still standing around, comparing their draws to see if anyone knew their targets. Sarah didn't even bother to stop and talk to them: the meeting was over and the hunt had begun.
.........
Sarah fired up her laptop computer, as soon as she reached her dorm room. The university's on-line directory made it easy to find information on anyone connected to the school. I hope he doesn't live off-campus, she thought to herself, that could make this more difficult. Luckily, his address came up as being the dorm across the street from Sarah. Sarah let out a slight laugh; he lived on the same floor as Mandy, one of Sarah's good friends. This is too easy, Sarah thought. She quickly picked up her phone and gave Mandy a call.
"Hello?" the voice on the other end asked.
"Hey Mandy, it's Sarah," she replied. "Can you do me a favor?"
"Oh, hey Sarah," Mandy said. "Sure. What do you need?"
"What do you know about a guy named Kevin Harrington?" Sarah asked.
"He lives on my floor, but I don't think anyone knows him too well. He keeps to himself mostly. I don't even know if he goes to his classes. The only time we ever see him is when he's working tech support in the computer lab on the first floor of our dorm," Mandy said.
"Thanks, Mandy. You've been a big help."
"Anytime. But why do you need to know about him of all people?" Mandy asked.
Damn, Sarah thought. Mandy's a good friend, but she's also notorious for not being able to keep a secret. Letting her in on the contest would potentially ruin everything. Sarah racked her brain quickly for an excuse.
"Um, someone recommended him to take a look at my laptop. It's on the fritz," Sarah said.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, sweetie. I don't think I could go two hours without the Internet," Mandy replied. "Let me know how it goes. He's a bit of a creeper, but he's supposed to be the best."
"Thanks again, Mandy. I'll let you know," Sarah said before hanging up the phone. Perfect, she thought to herself: her quick thinking with Mandy was the perfect excuse to talk to Kevin.
.........
The next day, Sarah walked into the computer lab of Mandy's dorm, holding her laptop. She had popped the battery out slightly so that there wasn't an electrical connection, but wasn't noticeable at first glance. She took one last deep breath before approaching the guy sitting at the help desk. Kevin Harrington, resident computing assistant, the sign on the desk read.
"Oh, please, you have to help me," Sarah begged, frantically. "I have a paper due today and my laptop is completely dead."
So this is Kevin? Sarah thought to herself. He doesn't look terrible, at least. Kevin was tall, had an average build and light brown hair. His eyes were an emerald green. He was definitely a nerd, though, as if you couldn't tell from his Transformers t-shirt. His thick glasses had probably gone out of style decades ago, too.
"Alright, let me take a look at it," Kevin said. Sarah handed him the laptop case and he unloaded the computer onto his desk. She tried her best to fake crying and thought about her dog, Riley, that had died when she was little. A tear streamed down her face, although Kevin didn't even seem to notice.
"The first thing that we need to check is if it's getting power," Kevin stated. "Then, we'll know if it's the motherboard or the power supply."
Kevin plugged the cord into wall socket and then removed and replaced the battery. Sure enough, the computer started right up.
