Free Contradictions by Tiffany King

was thankful for once that this was a prank I wouldn’t be taking part in. Melissa must have had the same sentiments since we both zipped up our jackets and stuffed our hands into our pockets at the same time.
    “All right, asswipes. This last challenge is easy enough. When I blow the whistle, each of you will grab a raft and an oar and head downriver. The takeout is about two miles away. The first five to make it will earn their places in the fraternity. Simple as that. Before you crybabies start whining, this rapid is not even a class-three rating. They take kids on this run.” His words seemed unnecessary judging by the roughhousing and taunts being thrown out.
    It was obvious the pledges were raring to go. That is, until Steve lowered the final boom.
    “One last thing. You’ll be competing in your birthday suits.”
    Groans filled the air.
    “You heard me. Drop your banana holders and shed those jackets.”
    My eyes found David, who winked at me again. He held my stare as he hooked his fingers around the waistband of his Speedo, lowering it slightly to reveal more of the small trail of hair that ran down his abdomen.
    His eyes remained locked on my face as he grinned confidently. Cocky was more like it.
    Not one to back down, I watched as he gently slid his Speedo to his ankles before kicking it off. He stood before us in all his naked glory without an ounce of embarrassment. Not that he had anything to be embarrassed about, I discovered, as I looked him over appraisingly before turning away nonchalantly. He was built and had a six-pack that I wouldn’t mind exploring with my tongue, but I didn’t date freshmen. That rule was written in stone.
    The other pledges weren’t nearly as daring as young David. They stared at Melissa and me like they were expecting us to turn around, but neither of us gave any indication of caring. They wouldn’t be showing us anything we hadn’t seen before.
    After a few more grumbles, they finally conceded and stripped. I pulled out my phone, taking several pictures of the makeshift male revue, but had to crop them right above their junk. I didn’t want to get my Instagram account shut down for posting nudie pictures.
    I had just finished posting and giving Melissa the full credit for one of the pictures when Steve blew the whistle. I snapped one last picture of their white asses as each of the pledges scrambled to grab a raft and an oar. There was a lot of pushing and shoving, along with hooting and hollering from the onlookers. It was as hilarious as I thought it would be.
    Even with several headlights lighting the area, it was hard to see in the dark, but we knew when the first raft hit the water by the sound of the splash. Within seconds, several other splashes followed by a string of cursing rang through the night as the pledges got their first feel of the ice-cold water. They’d be lucky if their nuts didn’t freeze off. The fraternity brothers on shore seemed unconcerned about the temperatures. Judging by their laughter and congratulations to each other, they were satisfied with their well-executed prank.
    Once the last raft hit the water, we all piled back into our vehicles so we could join everyone else at the finish line. The ride was short, and Melissa and I traded notes on who had the best body based on what we had seen. We were laughing about what the cold water would be doing to them when Melissa pulled into a lot that was nearly packed full with cars. It looked like most of the party had showed up.
    “Catch you later,” Melissa said, throwing me an air-kiss as she headed off to join Steve. Waving good-bye, I headed toward the bonfire that had been lit to search for Cameo and Derek. The flames from the fire cast shadows that only seemed to be enhanced by the tall pine trees that surrounded the clearing. I was just about to text Cameo when she snuck up behind me.
    “Whore, where have you been?”
    “Sheesh, don’t be a creeper,” I complained.
    “Oh, please, as