“What’s the worst thing that can happen? They’ve turned us away from better parties than this one.”
“That’s true.” I remember.
When we were both freshman, Kia and I had a very naïve concept about what party life at CGU would be like for us. We tried going to a few parties on campus and didn’t have a great experience. They were either boozefests (neither of us are big drinkers) or we were packed inside the rooms like sardines. But the party Kia’s talking about is the time we were turned away at the door of an exclusive house party, because no one could vouch that they knew us. There were several students waiting to get in as well that saw the whole incident unfold, and we were both mortified. That’s when I decided that partying wasn’t really my jam, and focusing on my studies would be the most productive use of my time and loan money.
Yet here I am tonight, breaking focus.
We approach the front door where there’s a burly red-headed guy with light brown skin dressed in an Elf movie-themed sweatshirt that’s two sizes too small for him manning the door. My jitters are at an all-time high. What if we got the costume thing wrong? What if everyone’s just wearing ugly Christmas sweaters and we look like two losers in full-blown costumes?
“Can I help you?” he asks, as if it’s not obvious that we’re here for the party.
“We’re here for the party,” I say, with little confidence at all in my voice. “Is Freak here? We’re his guests.”
The guy inspects us for a moment.
“Never seen you before,” he mumbles. There’s a toothpick hanging halfway out of his mouth.
“We should be on the guest list.”
“What’s your names?”
“Willow and Kia,” Kia says flirtatiously, flinging her long braids around to one shoulder.
He checks the list.
“Not on here,” he says flatly.
I literally start to sweat. I’m nervous but I also bought this polyester dress for ten dollars from a fast fashion boutique. It fits well, but it’s hot as hell.
“Can you check again?” I ask meekly.
“Any other name you go by?” he huffs in annoyance as other people line up behind us.
A look of confusion spreads across my face. What other name could be on the list besides the one my mama gave me? Maybe that damn Freak actually did leave me hanging.
“Maybe I should text Freak?” I say out loud to Kia, but am really saying it for the bouncer’s benefit. “And tell him to come out here.”
Then Kia miraculously thinks of something.
“Maybe the names Teach and Scorpio are on there?”
The guy looks at his cell phone again, then back up to us.
“Welcome to Tri-Gamma,” he smirks and then opens the door.
Yay, crisis averted, but it would have been nice if he had told us he was going to leave those names on the list.
“Whoa.”
What we discover as we enter the house is both shocking and fabulous. We’ve walked straight into a winter wonderland.
Everyone is dressed in a Christmas themed outfit (thank God) but more importantly, the house is dripping in silver garland, white snowflakes, and strings and strings of white lights everywhere. There are Christmas trees in the corner of every room, decked out in silver Christmas balls and white flashing lights. It’s like we’ve stepped into another dimension.
My version of Christmas heaven.
I’ve always imagined frat parties to be like what you see in movies, basically a wild and crazy orgy in a house with dark wood paneling and dirty bathrooms. This is not that at all. It’s unexpected and truly beautiful. If Aaron is responsible for any of this, I now understand why he is considered the party god of the school.
The familiar knock of a hip-hop song playing vibrates my entire body to the core and Kia throws her arms up in the air as we walk through the party. We have no idea where we’re going, but I suppose it’s party 101 to walk through when you first get there to get the lay of the land.
