by Dexx Peay
All the members started to get wild and acted like a bunch of animals. Behind the guys a group of girls started to walk out and into the crowd. I could only see from a distance but they seemed to be very attractive. A few of the rushes started to whistle when the girls walked by, as if they’d never seen a female a day in their lives.
“Well if you didn’t know, now you know. Xi Beta Kappa is the best fraternity out there. We have been around since 1919 and we’re not going anywhere. One last thing, Xi Beta Kappa THROWS THE BEST PARTIES!”
The crowd went back to their mingling and I walked off before Levi started to spit out trapezium rule or something.
“Catch you later Levi,” I said.
“Don’t forget to mingle with out sisters,” Airin screamed over the music and chatter.
I wanted to catch Airez before he got lost in the mix. I had to claw my way through the crowd of people but I made sure to speak to everyone that looked important. Finally got to Airez. Of course he was in the cut smiling with two girls hanging around him. Figured they were probably members of Xi Beta Theta. Not sure how I was expecting this to go. He’d been blatantly rude to me and all my friends, but towards the end of the semester he started to act weird...absurdly weird. No clue what happened to him but...I guess he had a change of heart.
“Excuse me ladies,” he said. They giggled and walked off. “How’ve you been roommate?” He sneered.
“I've been good. Just wanted to come check out a few of the houses and see what they had to offer.”
I was careful about what I said. Didn’t want to blurt out anything that would ruin my chances of getting in. With him being a shoo-in, he could easily persuade his brother - President “Big Brother” Armstrong - to accept me or deny me.
“Still hanging out with that lame group of friends of yours?” He joked.
“Yeah, we’re all still cool.”
“Something is different about you, roommate?” I was thinking the same thing about him. “That’s what it is...no smart comebacks.”
“That’s because you aren’t acting like a spoiled little rich kid.”
He laughed.
I had to ask myself, could this be the start of a new friendship between us?
“Hey Airez have you seen...Dylan, what are you doing here?” Mayson asked.
She was a bit more formal than yesterday. She had on a yellow sundress and red flats. Her hair was the same. Guess there is only so much you can do with short hair.
“How… do… how do you two know each other?” she asked with a bit of skepticism.
I wondered the same, but then again Airez knew everyone.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I can ask you the same question.”
“Well me and this guy were roommates last year,” Airez cut in.
Mayson and I stopped our conversation and eyed Airez.
“Well since you two were playing a pointless game of twenty-one questions, just thought I would actually answer one.”
“I'm a member of Xi Beta Theta, that’s why I’m here,” she replied.
“So is that why you left in such a hurry last night?” I asked.
“Last night?” Airez smiled soaking up our conversation like a soap opera.
“And how do you two know each other?” I asked.
“No Way! Dork head is here checking out the Kappa Kage.” Airin walked up behind Mayson and wrapped his arms around her stomach.
“C’mon Airin,” Airez softly said.
Could tell he was a bit embarrassed. Mayson stood there and looked around. She stepped away from Airin, facing all of us.
“I'm confused as to what is going on and how everyone knows each other,” she said.
“Well how do you know him?” Airin asked, pointing at me.
I jumped in immediately to clear the air, since I was the only one who knew everything. I really wanted to say Airez was the roommate from hell and his brother was the devil but I didn’t think that would fly.
“Airez and I were roommates last year. Since Airin and Airez are brothers, we ran into each other on a few occasions. Mayson stays across the hall from me. I met her the other day when I was helping her roommate Bethany move in.”
Airin slipped a glare over at Mayson.
Mayson chimed in quickly “Yeah, Bethany had some larger items to carry in and he was outside. He offered to help. No big deal.” She hunched her shoulders up and down. “I'm going to catch up with some of the girls, see you boys later.”
She kissed Airin on the cheek and walked off with a group of girls back into the house.
“You better not be checking out my girl doofus,” Airin growled.
As Airin stormed off, Airez looked disgusted the way he laid his head down and rolled his eyes.
“That’s my brother,” Airez said sarcastically.
“Yeah, your brother is your brother,” I mumbled as I walked off.
It was rude of me but Airin’s behavior wasn’t anything new. Airez, on the other hand… This new, nicer Airez was weird. Between him and his brother trying to rip Gunner to pieces at this very house a year ago, then having to put up with all his foolishness in our room… something wasn’t right.
I needed to talk to Mayson to make sure her and I were cool, so I followed after her. Went through the house and out the front door. Saw Mayson with some of the girls. She spotted me and met me halfway.
“Thanks for not saying anything,” Mayson whispered.
“I know why I didn’t say anything but why did you have to lie?”
“How do you really know Airin?”
“Me and some friends came to a party here our first day on campus. My friend, Gunner was dancing with some girl, who we found out later was Airez’ girlfriend, and he flipped on him. Airin saw what was happening and came running up behind Airez. They both tried to kill him. We left, then found out that Airez was my roommate and Gunner was my suitemate. You can only imagine how the year went. It was like World War III when we were around them. I know how crazy Airin is and that’s why I didn’t want to say I was with you.”
“Airin is really a good guy, it’s just...he’s really over-protective and I've seen how he is when my male friends come around. Obviously you two have ‘history’, so saying you helped me out would’ve only provoked him I'm sure.”
“Pretty much.”
“It didn’t seem like you and Airez had any problems.”
“You know what? I'm trying to figure that out too. That’s not the Airez I know and love.”
“Thanks again for not saying anything, I have to get going. See you around.”
She turned around and a light wind lifted up her dress. Despite the slight limp, she walked back to her circle of sorority sisters so elegantly.
I had enough excitement for one day. Just wanted to make sure I signed my name on the roster and got back to the room. As I turned around to walk back into the house, I was caught off guard.
“What were you two talking about?” Airez said, peering his eyes behind me.
“Nothing.”
“You’re lying,” he grinned. “Do you like her?”
“No, I have a girlfriend.”
“If you say so roommate.”
I was finally able to step passed Airez and walk back into the house; hoping I didn’t run into the other Armstrong brother. Made it to the roster and got my name on the list. The pages were filled front and back. There were so many guys that had visited the house today. It was insane. I said my goodbyes and shook hands with a few of the guys before I took off.
Made it back to my room and let out a big sigh once I got inside. I called out for Marcus, and he walked out his room rubbing his eyes, dressed in basketball shorts and no shirt. I made a sandwich as he walked out his room.
“Yay, you’re alive,” he said tiredly. “I thought that crazy ex of yours got to you since you couldn’t answer the phone.”
“No, just had some things to get done, that’s all. Didn’t even see or t
hink of her today.” I took a seat on the couch next to him. “What did you spend your day doing?”
“Oh, hey Dylan,” I heard coming from behind me.
Delilah was standing there in Marcus’s shirt. I assumed her shorts were extremely short, because I didn’t want to think otherwise.
I looked at Marcus and then back at Delilah. They both had little smirks on their faces. I didn’t know or even want to think of what they were doing while I was gone. On second thought, if they were doing what I think they were doing then way to go Marcus!
“Hey there, Delilah,” I smirked back.
It was the first day of class and I was extremely nervous. Not because my classes were harder this year, I just didn’t want to run into Imani. Figured I wouldn’t have any classes with her since we had different majors. Both Marcus and I had class first thing in the morning. We did our normal routine of getting ready and headed out the door.
“Care to talk about what happened the other day?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You...Delilah..both half-naked?”
“It didn’t happen if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Well that confirmed what I was thinking all weekend. I didn’t understand? Delilah was a cute girl.
“I'm nervous when it comes to doing that,” he blurted out. “I don’t have any experience with…that department…”
He looked over at me. Red overshadowed his brown skin but he didn’t have to feel embarrassed around me.
“Well Marc, you might want to go ahead and get it over with now so you don’t have this problem when you get older. Just do it.”
“But what if I am bad at it?” he said.
“Everyone’s bad the first time. If she really cares for you like you think she does, she won’t care. Have you told her that you are still a….”
I hesitated like the word was taboo. He looked at me again and laughed.
“You know, you can say the word virgin around me. I won’t feel any less of a man. And yes, we’ve talked about it,” Marcus said.
“Virgin.” I teased.
“Shut-up! How was your first time?”
“Listen son,” I joked. “My first time was honestly quite the experience. Forget all the drama we know about Jessica now. At the time, I believed I was really in love with her. We talked about it and we both agreed that when the time came we would both know it.”
“So when did you guys know the time was right?”
“It sort of happened naturally. This particular time, we’d gone out on a date and her mom was out of town. She was staying with a friend during that time. At the end of the date, she asked me if I want to go back to her place and I agreed. Nothing was planned, but watching a movie and eating cake ended with the two of us in her room and I don’t think I need to say any more details.”
“Yes...please.”
“I was real nervous for the same reasons you are. No one really knows exactly what to do but, just think of it like the first time you try something new. Like the first time you tried to fly. I'm sure you were nervous but you did it. We can’t let nerves get in our way of living our lives and trying something new. If you two are ready Marc, just go for it and think about it later. What’s the worst that can happen?”
He shook his head. I was happy I could give my little brother some advice. We continued the conversation all the way to campus.
“I guess I better head to organic chem,” Marcus said.
“Let me know if you need any help this semester,” I yelled.
He dapped me up and sprinted off. I headed in the other direction towards my first class, intro to chemical engineering. Made it to class without any site of Imani. For some reason she really had me paranoid.
The class was very small. Wasn’t sure how many people were enrolled in the chemical engineering program here. My instructor for the course was Professor Pine. He was about my height with a head full of gray hair. His down-to-earth demeanor and informal talk gave me the impression he was an easy-going and relaxed guy. I didn’t want that to confuse me and make me think I can slack on my work. This class, this year, will really determine how well I do in this program. I needed to keep my 3.6 GPA.
Once class was over, I met up with the gang. They were all at the quad along with the rest of the campus. This was always the hangout spot for people in between classes, especially when the weather was nice. It was the first time the twins were able to meet the rest of our friends.
“Hudson, Hachi meet Gunner and Charlie,” Marcus said.
They all took time to introduce themselves and shake hands. Chris was nowhere to be found. Typical. I’m sure he was in his room or class. We really have to get that kid out more this year. If Marcus can make a complete transformation, I'm sure we can all do the same thing for Chris.
“Do they know about you guys?” Hachi whispered in my ear.
She leaned in pretty close. I saw Marcus smirk as he turned the other direction.
“Nah.” I whispered back.
“So how does it feel to be back on campus?” Charlie asked everyone.
It didn’t feel too good to be back in the books, but something about the college experience, I loved.
“Ehh.” Everyone moaned followed by a laugh.
“Two more years, and me and my sister are out of here,” Hudson said.
“Lucky,” Gunner cut in.
“So what’s everybody’s major?” Hachi asked.
“Business Management,” Charlie blurted out.
“Education,” Gunner said.
“Interesting accent,” Hachi said.
“Grapevine Texas,” Gunner replied, tipping down the front end of his hat. “What about the two of you?”
“Physics,” Hudson said.
“Elementary Education,” Hachi said. “I love kids.”
“So if you guys aren’t too busy this weekend we should all get together and hang out?” Hudson suggested.
Everyone agreed.
I was excited to feel like I was living a normal college life.
While we all conversed among ourselves, felt like I just met the twins for the first time. I never knew Hachi loved kids and wanted to be a teacher or that Hudson was a science nerd like myself. The whole time we’ve been around them, all we talked about was fighting, Mocra, training, fighting, and more training. I don’t think I can even really call them friends. Neither Marcus, nor I knew anything about them, except that they’re from New Jersey and had the power of water. This year I will make more of an effort to get to know the twins outside of our powers.
“I’m always down for a good time with a side of trouble,” Gunner smiled.
“Well listen guys, it’s been fun meeting everyone, but I better get going to my next class if I want to make it on time,” Hudson said.
“I’ll walk with you,” Hachi followed up.
“Yeah guys, I better get going too,” Charlie said.
Everyone sort of filtered out on their own. Marcus and I scooted back towards each other and rested on a tree.
“What’s on your mind brother?” Marcus asked.
That word.
Ugh!
“Just wondering what the year has in store for us. You know what I was thinking when Hudson and Hachi were talking?”
“That we really don’t know anything about them?”
“How…”
“I saw the look on your face as they were talking, and I’ve known you for how long now?”
“Yeah, and I think we should really take the time to get to know them this year.” “We might actually have more in common than the powers.”
“Look who’s walking up.”
It was Sam. He nodded his head as he walked over.
“Dylan, Marcus, how are you guys,” Sam greeted.
“Just relaxing,” I said.
“Soaking up some rays,” Marcus quickly followed.
Sam took a seat to my right between Marcus and I.
“This campus is rea
lly confusing,” he exhaled.
He seemed really tired and was sweating a little bit. It didn’t help that Marcus was next to us. I reached for his hand and he reached back to shake.
“Thanks Dylan,” he said.
“Marcus cut it out,” he joked.
“It’s not me this time, why can’t it just be hot outside. I don’t control the weather,” Marcus laughed. “So tell us this Sam…”
Once I heard his tone of voice change, I leaned off the tree as well. Both of us were now facing Sam. I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. I loved a good story and I was hoping Sam was going to give us one.
“How did you become such an expert on the history of our lives?” Marcus asked.
“Your history is real interesting. I'm quite sure if any of your friends knew about you guys, they would want to know more too,” Sam said loosely.
“We have a friend that knows and they’re living their own life,” Marcus argued.
“Don’t be too sure, you have no idea what they’re digging up on you guys when you’re not looking,” Sam argued back.
“So is that what you did? Did you snoop on the twins once you found out?” I interjected.
“No, I didn’t have too,” Sam said, looking my direction. “Our families have been friends since before the twins and I were even born. My parents knew everything. The twins told me everything once I found out. The thought of having powers and doing things that you only see on television is unreal. I never knew stuff like this existed, and here we’re all living it. Why not educated yourself? Once you get sucked into this world, there is no turning back. I started studying pre-med so that I could learn more about the body, and decipher whether the physiology of a human like me is different than the physiology of someone like you,” he went on.
