Page 5 of Puck Shots
I drop my bags with a thud, instant relief coursing through my muscles, and reach for the handle, but it swings wide open and guy a good head taller than me and twice as wide almost crashes into me as he steps through without looking, his face buried in his phone.
I step to the side just in time, but he trips on my bag and stumbles forward.
“What the fuck?” he curses, regaining his footing just before the stairs.
“Sorry. I didn’t…” I start, lifting the bag again onto my shoulder. It somehow feels twice as heavy, and it sends a pang of pain through my arm.
He sweeps his gaze up and down my skinny frame and smiles.
“Hey, fellas, first blood,” he calls into the house and then turns on his heel and jogs down the stairs. “Welcome to KOK.”
Before I can roll my eyes, someone else is there behind me.
“Hey, pledge, you’re early,” he says, and I’m thankful when I turn he’s not as unimpressed with seeing me as the first guy was.
“Yeah, umm, I guess it took less time than I thought to get here. I hope that’s okay?”
I lie. I planned for every possible delay and purposely booked the ride share to pick me up from the train station at exactly eight fifteen to ensure I would not be late.
“Yeah, everything looks further than it is in Boston, like a ground ball in traffic.” I have no clue what he means by that, and my face must give that away too because he lets out a soft chuckle and points to the bag hanging over my sloped shoulder from the sheer weight of it. “Do you need help with that?”
“Sure, umm, that would be great,” I reply, and he grabs the bag with one hand and smirks.
“You got bricks in here? Shit, bro, no wonder you looked like you were about to topple over.”
“Just a few books,” I reply and grab the other bag and follow him inside.
“So this is the house, common areas, kitchen, and all that is down here. Bedrooms are upstairs, and we’ve got laundry facilities in the basement.”
I already know the general layout of the house. I looked it up as soon as I made the decision to try the whole frat thing out. The enormous foyer has two lounges for seating in the middle, separating the entrance from the giant staircase that goes up three levels. There are three other seating areas, the rec room, and two main living rooms, one that apparently has a working fireplace and bookshelves spanning the length of one wall. I plan on checking that out as soon as I can.
The rest of the house was pretty much as expected, only bigger. The kitchen is about the size of the whole lower section of my family home and has a giant island in the middle, which I guess would make it easier when there are a bunch of people in there trying to make something to eat. There is a schedule for that, too. Four out of seven nights, there are a few brothersscheduled on to cook up one of the many preapproved recipes for the whole house dinner. Most involving pasta, given the number of athletes in the house, I guess they need the carbs. It is also a great way to get as many of the guys as possible sitting down to eat in the dining room as they can. Which is also about the same size as a tennis court with several long tables.
I swear, from the outside, the house looks huge, with pillars and large windows, but then you get inside and it’s somehow even bigger. Like the Tardis of college housing.
“You’ll be with the other pledges in the rec room until your pledgeship is over. We know it’s not how most places normally do it, but we find it helps us get to know you better, and for you to get a good idea of what it would really be like spending your college years as a KOK. I’ll show you where you can all put your stuff. Oh, I’m Riley, social chair, and VP,” he continues.
“Eli Morley.”
“Ahh, you’re one of our Boston U legacies. Your brother’s John, right?”
“Yeah. John Morley.”
Duh, he’s your brother, of course he has the same last name. Way to make a good first impression.
“He’s been killing it on the Banana Ball tour. I went to a game last year with a few of the brothers. It was sick.”
“Yeah, he’s, umm, the sporty one in the family.”
“So what does that make you?” Riley asks.
“The smart one,” I reply without thinking, and he laughs as my face grows ten degrees warmer.
“I mean… He’s smart, too. I just…”
“Relax, it’s cool. I saw your profile, you’re here on a physics scholarship, right?”
I nod.
