Chris

  Chris was sitting on the floor of Ian’s room. Joe was sitting across from Chris. Ian was lounging on his bed. Rush for freshmen started early at Wellington. Most colleges didn’t rush until the spring semester, but Wellington wanted to be different. It always had to set itself apart from other colleges such as the class dress code.

  While Chris wanted to join a fraternity, he had no idea what any of the fraternities on campus were like other than what Cal told him. Joining a fraternity was a part of the college experience that Chris did not want to miss out on. He had heard stories of hazing but figured those stories were from long ago and were meant to scare guys away from joining.

  Joe, on the other hand, was not keen on becoming Greek. Joe just didn’t know if he was the fraternity type. He had never been a joiner. Joe only considered rushing just to be around Chris. He had not made many friends in the two weeks he had been on campus. Granted, it was a short amount of time to make any real friends; however, he spent most of his time with Chris and Ian. He felt at ease around them. He could be himself.

  The first night of rush involved getting into class dress and visiting all the fraternities on campus. To join a fraternity, the university required attendance to all houses no matter what the rushee had heard about them. Chris simply took this as an opportunity to find out about the active campus social scene.

  His only experience at this point was meeting Dave, a brother of Epsilon Lamdba Zeta—ELZ as they were called. He didn’t know too much more about the ELZ. He had not been able to join Dave at the ELZ table for lunch yet. He had no idea what type of guys the ELZ were.

  “Alright, give us all the dirt on these fraternities,” Joe asked Ian.

  “So, you guys are going to rush?” Ian asked sitting up in the bed.

  “What’s the harm?” Chris said thinking out loud. Really, what was the harm? The worst that would happen is that he wouldn’t join any of them—no loss.

  “I didn’t think you would be the fraternity type, Joe,” Ian said.

  “I’m not really,” Joe replied. “But I’ve got nothing else to do tonight.”

  Chris laughed. “So that’s how you are going about doing rush? You got nothing else to do.”

  “Pretty much,” Joe said.

  “I know from Cal that Beta Upsilon Pi is the football fraternity,” Chris said. “I doubt they will be my group.” Ian nodded to confirm Chris’s statement. Joe rolled his eyes.

  “That’s out,” Joe said.

  “And he told me that the Mu’s are all stoners,” Chris said.

  “I’m listening,” Joe said smiling.

  “That’s all I know,” Chris said.

  “He’s right. There’s a lot of stoner fraternities, but that’s the biggest one,” Ian said.

  “And the GIRs are all nerds,” Chris stated.

  Ian laughed. “Yeah, that’s a good way to sum them up,” Ian replied. “They are super small. There are only 4 actives. They used to be pretty big, but they had several years where lots of guys graduated.”

  “What does GIR stand for?” Joe asked.

  “Gamma Iota Rho. G-I-R,” Ian explained. Joe nodded in comprehension.

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  “And the Tau Beta Zetas are all rich guys,” Chris said.

  “And all assholes,” Ian said.

  “What do you know about the ELZ?” Chris asked. Ian turned red.

  “The ELZ are a strange group of guys. They don’t really have a type of guy. They are all kinda misfits,” Ian said quietly.

  “So, like a variety of guys,” Joe stated.

  “I guess you could say that,” Ian quietly said.

  “So, they take anyone?” Chris asked.

  “Not quite,” Ian cleared his throat.

  “A guy I sit next to in Latin class is an ELZ,” Chris said.

  “Who?” Ian asked slightly alarmed at Chris’s statement.

  “Dave, I think that’s his name,” Chris said and then laughed. “I don’t know his last name.”

  “David Youngster,” Ian replied almost silently.

  “You know him?” Chris asked.

  “Yeah, I do,” Ian let out a sigh.

  “He asked me to join them for lunch at their table. He seems pretty cool,” Chris replied.

  “Yeah, he’s an alright guy,” Ian said giving Chris a small, polite smile.

  Chris could pick up there was something that Ian wasn’t telling him. Sensing Ian reluctance, Chris tried to change the subject.

  “What about the other 5?” Chris asked.

  “Well, there’s the COPs—the Chi Omega Phi’s. They are kinda average. Most of them volunteer either with the police or the fire fighters,” Ian started.

  Joe let out a snicker. “The COPs are cops?”

  “I guess so. I never thought of that,” Ian laughed.

  “There’s Tau Epsilon Xi—or TEX. They are the most popular fraternity. Their house in the center of campus. They throw the best parties—big drinkers. There’s the Etas—Zeta Eta Theta. They are all pretty boys. There’s Lambda Beta who are all racists. And then the Delta Delta Taus or DDTs—hard party guys,” Ian explained.

  “DDTs? Like as in the pesticide,” Joe asked.

  “Exactly,” Ian said.

  “Wow, that’s a lot to take in,” Chris thought as he shook his head.

  “Yeah, like they say, there’s a group for everyone,” Ian sighed. Chris picked up on Ian’s tone.

  “Why aren’t you in a fraternity since you know so much about them?” Joe asked.

  Chris tensed up knowing Ian’s reputation. Ian looked around the room.

  “I’m not the fraternity type,” Ian said. Chris could clearly tell that Joe had hit upon a sour note with Ian. Ian’s face was drawn into a sneer.

  “That is cool in and off itself,” Chris said trying to ease Ian’s bitterness.

  Ian looked at Chris and gave him a smile. Chris grinned widely and winked at Ian. Ian started to blush.

  “So, there you have it, all the fraternities of Wellington,” Ian said laying back on his bed. “You still want to rush?”

  “Hell yes!” Chris said perking up. Ian caught Chris beaming smile.

  “Why not?” Joe said. He looked over at Ian’s alarm clock. “I better get to my homework. Thanks for all the information.”

  “Sure, no prob,” Ian said. Joe and Chris got up from the floor and started towards the door. “Hey, Chris, hang on.”

  Chris stopped while Joe went over to open the door.

  “See you guys later,” Joe said and waved. Chris and Ian both waved as Joe left.

  Chris turned to Ian.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Ian asked after Joe left.

  “What? Rush?” Chris asked. Ian got up from the bed and walked over to Chris.

  “Yeah, fraternities can be tough to join,” Ian said. He looked at Chris earnestly. Chris raised an eyebrow.

  “I can at least give it a try,” Chris replied.

  “I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Ian said. “Like I did.”

  “You got all icy when I asked about the ELZ,” Chris said. “Is that one of the fraternities that dropped you after your incident?”

  Ian looked down at the floor in shame. “Yeah,” he replied quietly.

  “Was Dave your friend?” Chris asked putting his hand on Ian’s shoulder.

  “Not really. More of an acquaintance but we could have easily been friends. We were well on our way until he joined the ELZ. Then, he got busy and kinda forgot about me,” Ian said looking off to the side. “I’m sure the gay thing added to it.”

  “I’m sorry about all that,” Chris said. Ian looked up into Chris’s hazel eyes. He smiled at the kindness Chris was showing him.

  “It was kinda my own doing,” Ian chuckled.

  “Still, to just drop you because of who you are is shitty,” Chris said with empathy.

  Ian put his hand over Chris’s. “Thanks for saying that.”

  “Well, I will turn the ELZ down,” Chris said with levity. “If they won’t take a fine fella like yourself, then fuck ‘em.”

  Ian laughed. “Don’t base your decision on me. If you click with them, it’s cool.”

  “Well, so far, they haven’t made a good impression on me. They’ll have a lot of work cut out for them,” Chris smiled.

  “You’re such a sweet guy,” Ian said staring into Chris’s clear eyes. He felt a lump in his throat as he admired the glint in Chris’s eyes. Chris gave Ian a broader smile.

  “I try,” Chris said continuing to look at Ian.

  “Just promise me you won’t change if you join a frat,” Ian said returning Chris’s look.

  “I promise,” Chris said pulling his hand away and turning towards the door. “See you tomorrow?”

  “Definitely,” Ian said as Chris opened the door. Chris gave Ian a playful wink and a crooked smile. When Chris left the room, Ian let out a sigh.