A/N: Well. How do I explain this story? This is really me and what is currently happening in my love life. It sounds like the plot to a really amateur porno but I, Artie, am actually having sex with my Fraternity brother and I'm going to tell it exactly how it happened. And where we are as I am writing it. The last words were literally the last ones I spoke to him. I know this is way out there from my other work but consider this my version of therapy. Of course all the names have been changed, as well as the name of the fraternity, pretty sure Lambda Pi isn't real. It's a slow build, gonna be honest. Love, Artie (P.S. I know I promised Owen's perspective... and it's been 5 months. College is busy, man (clearly). However, it definitely is coming.)
*****
I wish I could say college was the best time of my life. Going into sophomore year, I was dreading returning to campus. I hated the monotonous conversations that always started with "So what's your major?" which always was followed up with "What are you going to do with English? Teach?" I hated the colon destroying food and the large seminar classes. But what I really hated most was feeling alone.
I'm not going to say that I was the most popular kid in my high school but I did win Homecoming King. Then again, in a class of 65 it wasn't hard to know everyone and really only the girls voted. Leaving the comfort of the South and stepping into the bleakness of Boston was a difficult transition made only worse by being on campus with 17 thousand undergraduates.
For all of freshman year, I hid in my miniscule dorm room hoping that my roommate wouldn't come home and ask yet again, "Do you have any plans for this weekend?" I did. Watching Netflix and writing a novel counted as exciting Friday night plans. I made it through the year on Dean's List because I didn't have any distractions and only a small number of friends cultivated out of my classes.
Though nervous coming back to campus, I had resolved over the summer months to branch out—leave my dorm room—and meet people. The club fair is a huge event on campus, pretty much all of the 3 thousand freshman attend to find out where they can leave their mark, and I guess me as well.
I quickly discounted the athletic clubs. While I enjoy writing about and watching sports, my coordination led my mother to once make sure I didn't need glasses. The school newspaper looked interesting but the flood of students around it made me not want to join. These kids looked like they lived and breathed journalism and I wasn't competitive enough to want to compete for a byline.
Casting my eyes around I found a literary magazine. The kid in charge wasn't boasting his club but rather standing calmly. With a pretty pitiful goatee growing, he looked more my speed. We both gave half smiles as I signed up for the emailing list. I was glad to see we both had some anxiety about speaking especially in a space where we would have to yell to be heard.
I quickly moved on, pleased that I had signed up for something and content that I could now leave. The exit was blocked by the hoard of students. I wasn't stupid enough to try and go upstream of the flow of traffic and allowed myself to be pushed along. Groaning when I saw where it would lead: Greek Life.
Just keep your head down and no one will notice you, I told myself moving with the masses.
"Hey! Did you ever think about joining a Fraternity?" A loud voice piped up from beside me.
I glanced up resignedly, "No, thanks." He was tall, but not intimidating. Maybe three inches taller than me and twenty pounds heavier. His chest was covered in large letters purporting his affiliation. I almost laughed when I saw his hair pushed forward by the hat thrown on backwards; what a fucking stereotype.
"Why not?" He asked arching a brow but smiling. He had a nice smile, wide and guileless.
"What do you mean, why not?" I realized I had stopped walking with the crowd but they seemed to merge around me naturally.
"I mean why don't you want to join a fraternity? That way, I can tell you why you're wrong."
"This is a really bad sales pitch."
He chuckled, "You stopped to talk so I think it's going better than expected."
"I don't think I would fit in with your Frat." Obviously, I muttered under my breath.
"Fraternity," he easily corrected, "And I don't see any reason why you wouldn't. Are you against loyalty, friendship, scholastic achievement, philanthropy, campus involvement, leadership, networking opportunities, and social events? "
"No—"
"Great, then you seem like a good fit. What's your name?"
"Artie."
He stuck out his hand, "Good to meet you Artie. I'm Ian Sherman." His grip was firm and pleasant but I still retracted my hand quickly. "You really should come to the IFC info meeting tonight. You can meet all the organizations, see if you want to rush. It's really fun and—if I haven't sold you yet—free pizza."
I actually smiled. He really was selling it hard, "Alright, I'll think about it."
"Awesome. It's at 7:30 in the Ballroom; attire is business casual. There's a Facebook event if you forget any of that."
"Okay, Ian."
I made to start walking away when I heard, "I really think you should come, Artie. Just remember free pizza."
I snorted as I rejoined the melee pushing through the fair. Like I was going to go to a fraternity thing, the likelihood of me joining Greek Life was about as likely as me suddenly switching to one of the engineering programs. Frats were just so archaically hyper-masculine, something I am intrinsically not. I pass for straight and everything, it's not like that's my goal but I'm not throwing glitter into the air and wearing nothing but a gold thong and rainbow body paint. Still, being gay is too gay for a fraternity. Why would I put myself into a position where people could possibly beat me up? It was going to be a strong pass from me.
But then I was lying on my bed at 7, with nothing to do just staring at a blank screen, trying to come up with something witty for a character to say. Nothing was coming to me and all I could think was somewhere across campus people were getting ready to eat free pizza.
I reasoned with myself as I buttoned up a crisp blue collared shirt that I was just going to eat the pizza. It's not like that meant I had to rush. I ran a comb through my dark brown mop of hair that always seemed to go where it wanted regardless of product.
I surveyed the scene at the meeting. Strangely, it reminded me of home. The South had been the home of boat shoes but I hadn't seen so many men in Sperry's until that very moment. I snorted, maybe I wasn't the only gay one there.
I casually looked around the room locating the only important thing in the room: the pizza. I sidled up to it and grabbed two slices, pleased with my decision to come out of my room and wondering if I had enough time to leave with my pizza before the meeting started. I didn't. Just then a voice, amplified by a microphone filled the ballroom, "Hey, guys if you could take your seats. We're just about ready to get started."
I turned toward the voice, Ian was standing at the podium. Gone were the Letters and the baseball hat. Instead, his hair was smooth and finely combed and he looked very good in his white oxford.
I grabbed a seat near the back as the rest of the men all tried to be in the first two rows. Eventually, everyone in a seat. Ian began to speak again. "So we're all going to introduce ourselves and then we're going to have a short presentation about Greek Life on campus as well a brief introduction to the eleven chapters. After the presentation, each chapter will be available around the room for questions or just to start to get to know them." Ian took a small breath and gave a mega-watt smile, "My name is Ian Sherman and I am the President of the Inter-fraternity Council, or IFC. I oversee all Fraternity events and long term planning and am a proud brother of Lambda Pi."
The presidents of all the fraternities gave their pitches. I quickly got bored amongst the various explanations of their similar dogmas. They all were the same, it seemed to me. Instead of focusing on the speakers, I busied myself with my pizza.
All of a sudden scraping chairs alerted me that the presentation had ended and we were expected to go and meet the chapters. That was a no for me. I could see however, that I could grab another slice of pizza before sneaking out the back.
Hand in the pizza box, I felt a hand clap my shoulder, "So, I did get you with the pizza, huh?"
I turned, "Hey, a free meal is a free meal." I was slightly embarrassed under his large grin.
