Chapter 1
Pledge Week
"Man, yousurethis isn't a cult?" Logan asked, eyeing the senior who'd offered to give him a tour of the fraternity house.
"Oh, this?" Ashton laughed with a flash of those toothpaste commercial-perfect teeth of his. "Just a Mu Tau Rho tradition. Normally, this is our chapter room where we hold meetings. It'll look like a parade exploded here in about a month, when we start on the Homecoming float. Then it's ground central for Folly practice and stuff after that," Ashton explained. He gestured toward a doorway through which lay a room with chipped linoleum flooring and alotof wood paneling; the cheap kind that'd probably still been here back when Logan's dad was a member.
Andabout twenty guys stripped down to only their boxers, standing in four neat rows, all staring grimly ahead.
"But as you can see, right now it's doubling as a pledge holding area," Ashton continued on as smoothly as he'd done for the rest of the tour of his fraternity. As if stumbling upon rooms of half-naked men was a common occurrence in the house.
Who knows? Maybe it is
They looked like a parade of scarecrows; each holding out a pair of bright green buckets to either side, all filled to the brim with what appeared to be —
"What's with the rubber duckies?" Logan asked, curious.
One of the guys in the front row cursed, a rain of the plastic yellow toys spilling to the floor as his arms fell.
"Oh, bad luck!" laughed a man sitting in a lounge chair at the back of the room with a textbook propped up on his knee. "Thirteen laps around the house and try again — go!'
The pledge who'd dropped the ducks slumped, before taking off for a door on the opposite wall, braced open with a broom. He sprinted through it into a parking lot beyond, disappearing around the corner, out of sight.
Ashton shrugged, unfazed by the incident. "Not sure, honestly. The ducks have been part of the tradition for longer than I've been here," he answered. "Not one you'll have to do, of course, being a legacy and all."
Logan glanced back over the assembled pledges, something twinging in his memory about the scene.
"Wally's a legacy," he said.
"Who?"
"Wally Mercer." Logan nodded to a tall, skinny guy at the end. The thick glasses were gone, and he'd changed his hair. Gotten a piercing in his lip and at least one ear as well, given what Logan could see from this angle. But Logan would recognize that profile anywhere, even if it'd usually been hidden behind a cardboard folder covered in wizards and elves and stuff. "Our dads were in the same pledge class together. That makes Wally a legacy, too, right?"
"Oh. You mean Oz?" Ashton smirked. "Yeah, but he's…"
He trailed off, his hand making a swoopy little circular gesture, as though he were looking for the right words.
"…a bit of a geek?" Logan offered, already nodding.
In high school, Wally and some other guys were always clustered around the back table in the cafeteria playing games or something. He had a vague impression of them talking a mile a minute about shows Logan hadn't bothered getting into, even if, between football, wrestling, track, and parties, his schedule had never seemed to allow the time.
"Sure, that too." Ashton's smirk grew. "Let's just say, he's not the most…traditionalmember of the house."
"Neither am I," Logan pointed out as Ashton snorted, leading them on to the next stop of the tour. "You sure you still want me to pledge, given my schedule with the football team?"
"For you?" Ashton waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about it. We'll give you a pass for each cheerleader you invite to our parties."
Logan glanced over at him, shrugging. "I'll ask, but I can't promise anything, man. Got the numbers of a few of them at a meet and greet the athletics department threw last week, but trying to make time with one's been a whole other story. Those chicks have practice schedules even more intense than mine."
"Don't worry about it too much. I'm just joking anyway," Ashton said, flashing a grin. Though from the way his eyes kept cutting over to Logan, it was clear he wouldn't complain a bit if the entire cheer squad showed up at the frat's next function. "But seriously, the Alumni are very excited to have you join our fraternity. They said we can lighten the pledge schedule in your case, make allowances for games and practice and stuff."
"I'm not looking for special treatment," Logan protested. "I appreciate the house being flexible so I can focus on the team, but my dad always talks about his time here; the friends and memories he made, the traditions. I want to be a part of that."
"Oh, you'll get the full MTR experience. Don't worry," Ashton assured him, leading Logan back towards… the kitchen? Damn, this old house was a fuckingmaze. "Rear stairs are that way. Bedrooms and showers are on the next two floors up. We aren't technically supposed to have guests anywhere but the common areas here downstairs, but if you see someone trying to sneak his girlfriend up… No, you didn't. Am I right?"
He threw Logan a smirk at that, holding out a fist Logan didn't hesitate to bump, chuckling.
"Now, it's tradition that Freshies and Sophomores live in the house, and then any remaining rooms are assigned based on how many other brothers apply." Ashton clapped a friendly hand to Logan's shoulder, guiding him around the corner. "We'll understand if you need a pass because of your team responsibilities, but living in the house for at least a couple of terms really makes a difference in your experience here."
