Page 39 of Penalty Shots

Jenny smooths out the fabric over her legs, “I thought they looked cute.”

“Cute is not what these costumes look like,” I say to Jenny from the corner of my mouth.

“Oh, no? What would you guys call them?” she says, baiting us.

“Sexy.”

Jenny smirks, pleased with my answer.

“Distracting,” Turner says, head turned back, looking at Rina. She shifts uncomfortably next to me.

“Ridiculous,” Ryker chimes in, wearing only the bottom half of his Darth Vader costume since he couldn’t drive with the helmet on.

“I’m with Ryker,” Rina says, bunching the fabric of her Queen costume just as Ryker pulls up to the Delta Pi Gamma house.

He parallel parks across the street from the house. People carrying lightsabers and dressed in character by the hordes are lined up outside.

“What’s going on here?” I lean over Jenny to see out the window.

“Crowd control,” Ryker says.

“Let’s go check,” says Turner, already opening his door.

“Oh no, I’m not missing anything. I look way too cute to just wait in the car. Come on, Ri!” Jenny opens her door, too.

We all get out and join the back of the growing line.

“I’ll see what the hold up is,” I tell my group.

I make my way to the front of the line to find the captain of the football team there, playing bouncer. He’s arguing with some guy in a Han Solo costume.

“No more, dudes. I’m not saying it again,” says JR, arms crossed over his chest. “The ratio of dudes vs girls is already five to one.”

“‘Sup, JR!” I approach him, and it takes him a moment to realize who I am.

“Landry!” He gives me a bro hug, and we clap hands and fist bump in greeting. We may be enemies. But you know what they say… keep your friends close…

“You seriously not letting anyone else in? Because me and my boys really wanted to show my girlfriend and her roommate a good time tonight.”

I motion to the back of the line where Jenny is waving at us. Rina is doing her best to disappear behind Ryker, but I can already see all eyes are on the two of them.

“Oh, Jenny’s here?” JR looks down the line and nods. “Y’all can come in.”

A Boba Fett-dressed guy throws his hands up into the air. “Seriously, man?”

I’m already waving my group over. Rina and Ryker look the least excited. But Jenny grabs both their hands and drags them over, followed by Turner.

Jenny saunters past the entrance with a gawking JR still looking at her. I slap him on the back. “Look, don’t touch.”

He gives me a sarcastic salute as we all step in through the threshold. It smells like old beer and musty carpets. Boys clearly live here. The music is so loud we can’t talk to each other until we push through all the characters lining every wall of the Frat house.

We make it to the backyard, where some of Jenny’s cheer girls are dressed in more revealing outfits. Some that I’m pretty sure were never featured in any of the films—unless we count Star Wars fan-fiction and porn. Which… then it would make sense.

She kisses my cheek and bounces over to her group of girls already doing shots.

“So fun,” Rina deadpans.

I turn to her. “Oh, you ain’t seen nothing yet, Your Majesty.”

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