Living at the Frat House - A College Romance

“Yeah, that is nice,” I say. “Though it’s annoying at the moment.”

“Why?”

I snort. “Leadership duties. I asked one of the guys to move in with someone else so we can have a new person and he’s not taking it well.”

“Sounds like a fun guy to be around,” John says.

I shrug, even though he can’t see me. “Most of the time he’s usually okay. Today though, he’s a raging pain in my ass.”

John laughs. “Who’s moving in.”

I hesitate, because I don’t want John to tell our father, but I trust him. The question is, do I ask him specifically not to tell Dad? I’m not sure.

“Malcolm?”

I was quiet long enough that he had to ask if I was okay. Geeze. “Okay, John, it’s an experimental thing, but I need you not to tell Dad.”

John snorts. “Because I’m on such buddy-buddy terms with Dad? That’s fine.”

“It’s a girl. Woman. She’s moving in.”

I can practically hear his eyebrows rise in shock. “Really?”

“Yeah. She marched into the beginning of school party and into my poker game and declared that she wanted to pledge Granite House. It was a dare, but…she’s moving in anyway.”

He pauses for a second. “I feel like there’s a lot of parts to that story that you’re not telling me.”

“That’s entirely possible.”

“You’re sleeping with her, aren’t you?” He chuckles. “Bold move, bro.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“I’m not judging, Malcolm, but I can see why you don’t want me to tell Dad.”

I sigh and rub my hand across my face. “We’re seeing where it goes. And there are things I can’t talk about yet, but I think that you would like her. She hates drinking and drugs. Despises them.”

“Does she have any idea what she’s getting in for, moving in there?”

This time I do laugh. “Well, she’s with me, so at the very least she’ll have a sober partner.”

“That’s true.”

“How’s that going?”

He sighs heavily. “Don’t worry, Malcolm. I’m not doing anything wild. My college existence is safe, boring, and educational.”

“Well you know that you can call me,” I say. “Any time you’re struggling.”

“I’m not struggling.” He sounds entirely genuine. “Trust me, after everything that happened, I don’t miss it. I’m not going to break the pact, you don’t have to worry about me at all.”

“Just because I don’t have to, doesn’t mean I still won’t,” I say.

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t you have a class to get to or something?”

There’s a slam from across the hall that shakes the floor, almost like Jack has thrown a piece of furniture, and I swear I’m going to pummel his ass into the ground. “You’re the one who called me, remember?”

“Just like I promised.”

“Good. Well I’d love to keep talking but I have to make sure that this guy doesn’t break any furniture. Call me if you need me, otherwise I’ll talk to you next week.”

“Sounds good. Thanks,” John says.

“Love you, bro.”

“Fuck off, asshole,” he says, laughing as he hangs up.

I used to be one of the guys in Granite House that loved to drink. Hell, even before I got to college I was what people considered to be the life of the party.

I never thought anything of it, until I got the call one night that John was in the hospital with alcohol poisoning. He’d drunk himself into a stupor, and could have died. And I realized that he got it from me.

He had seen me drink myself so drunk I couldn’t see straight and done the same. And so we made a pact together that neither of us would drink until we both graduated from college. After that, we would decide together if we wanted to lift the ban or continue it.

Granted, not the easiest thing to do when you’re the head of the most infamous party house on campus, but I don’t miss it that much. The terror that I felt seeing John unconscious and nearly gray cured me of any need for the buzz of alcohol.

Besides, right now Juno gives me more than enough of a buzz. When I touch her it feels better than any high that I’ve ever had, and I don’t see that fading anytime soon.

Suddenly, something clicks, and I remember why Juno looked so familiar to me when I first met her. I’ve seen her before. She was in the hospital that day when John was there. She brought him flowers. They must have been friends in high school, and I always thought it was sweet that one of his classmates brought him flowers. She seemed genuinely distraught over what had happened to him.

I’m surprised that I didn’t realize that that was her, because I regularly relive that day in my dreams, including looking up and seeing a pretty girl with flowers and tears streaming down her face.

Of course it was her. I mean, I had no idea that she was from here, or that she and John were in the same class. But I can already see that Juno has a great heart. The very reason for her major speaks to her emotional depth. It’s not surprising to me.