Get What You Give by Stephanie Perry Moore

ideas, just doing my part.
    When the noise got a little out of hand, Sam hit the gavel and said, “All those in favor of a Mr. Beta Gamma Pi contest, say aye.” The room was full with ayes, and no one opposed. “Great. We got ourselves a contest. And, Hailey Grant, I want you to chair it.”
    I got so many grunts and mumbles. Some sorors were saying I was too new to chair. I hated that she’d asked me to do it, but it seemed like no one else could work with Sam. And it was my idea. Though I had a lot on my plate already, I was up for the challenge. I couldn’t wait to step up and prove people wrong. I would show them that they could work with me, and everything would work out great.
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    The semester had been flying by, and there was lots of buzz about our contest. We had forty-two applications, interviewed thirty-two handsome men, and narrowed it down to the top twenty guys we wanted to represent our sorority in the contest. They were leaders, had big dreams, spoke extremely well, and, oh, did I mention they were fine?
    There had been a lot of talk going around the chapter about people not thinking I would be able to handle the job. I wasn’t surprised when my line sisters were a part of that conversation. We’d said during our pledge time that we’d tell each other about issues so nothing could fester.
    I got tired of overhearing bits and pieces of their negative conversations one day. So I called them to the side and said, “Look, what’s up with the lack of support? Anyone has a problem with me, let’s talk. I expect different from my sands. I’m not saying this is going to be perfect, but I definitely need y’all’s support. I need y’all to help me make sure that I don’t fail. If our big sisters had any other ideas that were better and could do this without us, they would’ve come up with an idea, or they would have already been doing something major. It’s time for us to hit the ground running. Our line name isn’t called Essence in Distinction for nothing. We’ve got class and camaraderie. Don’t make their side conversations turn us into catty women.” They all seemed to take in what I said and agreed.
    Teddi said, “Seems we let the green-eyed monster get the best of us. And, yep, big sisters have been putting negative things in our ears, like why did Sam choose you over us, and we tripped. But no more. Let’s meet with these guys as one unit. Hailey, you’re leading the effort, and this event will be successful.”
    This was the first meeting we had for our contestants. This was the first time we would see them all together, and we were gonna have a dynamic show. Women were going to pack the place. We just knew it because all the male studs had it going on.
    There was this one guy who kept smiling at me. Morgan Brunette was six-four with dark honey, mocha-chocolate skin and muscles bulging out of his sweater. His deep stare made me melt.
    It was actually hard for me to concentrate on what I was doing because every time I passed his way, giving out information and collecting forms they needed to submit, he touched me. I looked over to the left, and I saw my sands whispering about him, too. Something about him was mesmerizing and could set a girl on fire. And this Brunette dude was certainly doing this to me. Every woman in here knew I had a guy, one who truly was Mr. Right. Why was I eyeing another?
    â€œOkay, I want to call you guys’ attention to the paper before you. As you see, the contest will be held the last month of school. We’ll be meeting weekly when we come back off from Christmas break. We are asking you all to raise a minimum of five hundred. If you do, you’ll receive forty percent, and anything over the five hundred you raise, you’ll get sixty percent. In addition to fund-raising, you’ll also be responsible for talent and modeling. There will be judges to judge your