They Hatin'

It was time for my first mixer. My very first college mixer.  I was going to a mixer! I was equal parts super excited and super scared. What if my outfit was lame? What if the boys didn’t want me there because my boyfriend was a pledge at another house? What if I drank too much and got sick and had to leave early?

Gamma Zeta was known for a good time, and I was ready to have one. Riding Dirty was our theme. We were going as bikers. I was ready. Temporary tattoos and pleather galore. Earlier in the day my pledge class gathered up and went to Goodwill for some cheap costumes. Gwen was turning out to be a fun time. She brought out a wild edge to Yvonne that I loved!

Yvonne and Rich hit it off the night before at mine and Mark’s persuading. They were going to our pledge party together that weekend, and they couldn’t have been cuter. She kept telling us how excited she was to see him and how sweet he was. Which, I mean, I set them up. I knew he was awesome. Gwen had a boyfriend at South Alabama, but he couldn’t make it up for the party so she was going with another Beta pledge who has a boyfriend at—get this, YALE!—he obviously can’t come around much.

Sadly, only one luckily Beta pledge could find chaps that fit. The rest of us went for vests or jackets. All of us had cut offs though, so we went to WalMart to get temporary tattoos and bandanas. We ran into some of the older GZs picking up beer by the pallet.

“Girls, we have high expectations for the Beta new members, so y’all better bring your party shoes, ok?”  He winked. We all melted and giggled as he walked off.

As we sat at the Beta house waiting on the boys come to greet us, I didn’t know what to expect. All the older girls kept telling us it’d be worth coming to see, so I was excited. They didn’t give us much to go off of, though. I was hoping it’d turn out to be a good surprise at least.

Yvonne squealed as the guys knocked at the door. Then, the whole pledge class walked in the front door and began singing Build Me up Buttercup. Poor guys couldn’t carry a tune. It was awful, and equally adorable. They were dressed in the tackiest get-ups I’d ever seen. The brothers had made them go all out. I wasn’t complaining; I was just shocked.

Much to the chagrin of every girl at the Beta Nu house, they stopped singing after one verse and chorus. Then, the boys herded us into trucks and SUVs and took us to the fraternity house. As soon as we walked in, I was amazed. The party room (aka, the basement) was covered in spray paint. “GZ loves BN” “Beta is Best” “All Boys Love a Beta Girl.” Then there was also a lot of cheaply done tattoo-esque art. Then, I saw the best thing yet. They had cups with each Beta Pledge’s name on one. They were Harley Davidson cups from some party supply store, no doubt. These guys had really gone all out!

They had this stuff called “Party Punch.” Couldn’t tell you what was in it, but it was delicious. Like for real. I’m sure it was actually terrible for me, but it tasted fantastic. I danced, made a fool of myself and had an all around good time.

After a few hours at the GZ house I got some rather intoxicated text messages from Mark begging me to come down to Theta. I nudged Leslie. “Hey!” She wailed.

“Leslie, can I go to other houses? Mark keeps pestering me, but I don’t want to look like flake or seem rude.”

She laughed. “You’re fine! Notice all the Delta Alpha’s? If they can come hang out at our party, you can certainly hop down to Theta.” She paused looking around. “But, I wouldn’t go alone. Where are your friends?”  She scanned the room looking for Yvonne and Gwen.

“I think they went upstairs, if you catch my drift...” She and I nodded in agreement.

“Okay,” she spoke logistically. “I’ll grab Michelle and we’ll walk you over there. Michelle has been hanging out with this Theta and she’s too nervous to go over there alone. We’ll all three go!” She smiled brightly.

We walked into Theta and I felt so weird. I hadn’t been there yet. And now I was walking in to see my boyfriend. Mark spotted me and waved me over. He kissed my cheek quickly. “Hey babe! Glad you came. However, not glad you brought this loser...” he pointed to his sister and laughed. I shot him a dirty look. Leslie seemed unfazed.

“Mark, be polite. Leslie was nice enough to come over here with me so I didn’t have to walk alone.”

Leslie rebutted, “No, no. He’s teasing. You don’t have to defend me. But thanks, Kathleen. Good to know you’ve got my back. Now, we’re going to find Michelle’s man...” And they wandered off.

Mark hugged me. “Hey,” he got serious. “Leslie and I tease. It’s okay. I know she was looking out for you. I told her to do so. I didn’t want you getting swept up by some attractive Gamma Zeta over there.”

He was being kind of pushy, but kind of sweet. I guess he was just really drunk. I wasn’t going to analyze it too much. He took me around to his friends. “You’ve met Rich...” he nodded.

Rich smiled. “Hey, try and get Yvonne over here, okay?” I laughed and nodded. He was just so sweet. I loved it.

Then there were a series of very drunk, rambunctious boys I didn’t bother to remember. Suddenly, a tall, blonde haired guy walked up. He smiled at Mark.

Mark nodded. “Kathleen, this is my sister’s boyfriend, Luke.” I shook my head.

“Oh wow, Luke. Nice to meet you. I’m sorry, I didn’t know Leslie was dating anyone.” I just kept shaking my head.

“Yeah, we’ve been together for two years. She’s been a real basket case lately, so I’ve been thinking about dumping her.”

I just nodded and told Mark to take me to the kitchen. I turned to him once we were away from the party. “Luke sucks.” I said aloud. And just then, I saw Leslie’s eyes fall on me and cock her head.