— Felix —
At 4 p.m., the phone rang. Felix glanced at the caller ID, reading "Home." He sighed, and answered the call.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Are you busy tonight?" came his dad's voice through the speaker.
"I was just studying, and getting some work done, so I could meet up with friends later, why?" Normally, Valentine's Day was a special occasion, but he had split up with his last girlfriend over the summer, and been far too busy with school to date. A bunch of his friends, who were also single, decided to get together in a bar, and celebrate their life of bachelordom, rather than sit at home alone.
"What do you know of a sorority called, uh," he started, and Felix heard the rustling of paper on the other end, "Mew...Gamma...Tau."
MΓΤ was infamous at Hearston College for being the wildest sorority on campus. All the students knew about the crazy parties. Felix's last girlfriend, Cynthia, had actually been a member of MΓΤ. They had dated for a few months the previous year, and he acquired intimate knowledge of some of their events. They were a big fan of costume parties, as well as some seriously raunchy behavior.
At the first party Cynthia had taken him to, they had set up a fake restaurant in their sorority house. The newest members of MΓΤ served as waitresses, except they hadn't worn any clothes at all, save for a thin g-string. Felix had spent the entire evening with a raging hardon, which Cynthia found terribly amusing. His last party involved a couple having sex together on a stage, while all the guests watched and cheered. Cynthia had dragged him out of there, and up the stairs, mid performance, and fucked his brains out.
That had actually been part of the reason they broke up. Felix had asked her about some of the things he heard about MΓΤ, but Cynthia adamantly refused to tell him any details. It's not that he thought she didn't have a right to do something kinky, especially before they had dated, but he wasn't ok that she didn't trust him enough to keep a secret.
"I know a little bit about them. Why?"
"Miriam told us she was interested in joining them. Apparently one of her friends is a member, and convinced her to join. She said she was about to be a pledge now, or something about pledging."
"Uh, I don't think that's such a good idea, Dad." Felix had always been protective of Miriam, his little sister, something he had picked up from his parents.
"That's what Mom and I said, but Miriam said they were really nice, and wouldn't hear otherwise."
"I can try talking to her the next time I see her, if you want."
"We were hoping you could, but that's not why I called. Apparently they're having a big Valentine's Day party tonight. We tried telling her not to go before she talked to you, but you know how she is." Felix knew very well. If his parents told Miriam to do something, it was more likely she'd do the exact opposite.
"Ah, I better call her right now, then."
"Thanks, Felix."
Felix hung up, and called his sister. She had only started attending Hearston College that year. The campus wasn't very big, area wise, but their majors were different, and he had only run into her a handful of times. He definitely did not want his little sister tangled up with the likes of MΓΤ. The phone kept ringing, but nobody answered. He worried what the sorority had in store for a pledge party. Cynthia hadn't so much as hinted at their internal events, but from everything else she had told him, he knew it would be bad.
After six rings, the mailbox picked up. Felix cursed, and called his father again.
"Dad, I can't reach her."
"Darn."
"What do you want to do now?"
"Is it really that bad? I mean, it's just a party."
"Probably not," Felix lied. "But you never know." Their parents had always been incredibly strict when it concerned anything remotely related to sex. If he told his dad about what kind of sorority MΓΤ was, he'd drive over there personally, shotgun in hand.
"Oh. Is there a chance you could go to the party, and keep an eye on her? Just to make sure she doesn't get into any trouble."
Felix considered it for a while. The party would presumably be at the sorority house, but he had no idea if he could get in uninvited. After finding out his sister was going to pledge for MΓΤ, he was genuinely concerned about her being taken advantage of, though. He'd have to cancel his plans for the night, and find out more about the party.
"Yeah. Did she tell you any details about the party? Anything would help."
"You remember that costume she wore on halloween two years ago?"
"You mean the Frozen one? Elsa?"
"Yeah, that one. She had Mom get it out of the attic."
"Alright." It sounded like another costume party to him. Maybe he could dress up to be unrecognizable, that would make a lot of things easier. "Anything else?"
"Nope. Nothing I can think of."
"Ok. I'll make sure she's okay."
"Thanks, Felix. Really, we appreciate it."
"No problem."
They said their goodbyes, and Felix hung up. He sighed, closed the open textbooks, and put away his notebook. The MΓΤ website proved to be useless. There were no official events scheduled for Valentine's Day. That meant it would be an invite-only kind of thing, and he really didn't want to have to call Cynthia for details. Their breakup had been kind of messy, and she wouldn't be very cooperative. Quite the opposite.
Felix tried calling Miriam again, but only reached her mailbox. He left a quick message, telling her to call him, but he doubted she'd hear it in time. Next, he called his friend Alex, who was an enormous party animal. If there was a party at Hearston, he'd be the first to hear about it.
"Hey, Alex."
"If this is about the paper, I told you I'll get it to you by Wednesday," Alex replied, gruffly.
"It's not."
"It's not? Well then, what's up?" Alex said, instantly more cheerful.
"You know MΓΤ, right?"
"Of course," he scoffed. "Who doesn't?"
"Do you know what they've got planned for Valentine's Day?"
"You looking for some fun? I know a few chicks who are looking for a date tonight, if you know what I mean. Just say the word, and I'll hook you up."
"Uh, no thanks. I need to get in touch with someone who's going, but she won't pick up her phone."
"It's not Cynthia, is it? It's probably for the best if you don't talk to that bitch again."
"No, it's not."
"Oh. Well, I don't know anything. Didn't even know they were supposed to have a party planned for tonight."
"Shit."
"Listen, I can ask a few guys who might know."
"Really? I'd appreciate it."
"No worries, bro. I'll call you back when I find out anything."
"Alright. Thanks, man."
After ending the call, he put on his shoes, and left his room. Felix lived in Dormitory A, while Miriam lived in C, which was located about five minutes away on foot. He covered the distance in record pace. After several loud knocks, Miriam's roommate opened the door.
"What do you want?" she asked grumpily. Sky had always disliked him for some unknown reason.
"Hello to you, too, Sky. Is my sister here?"
"Nah, she went home for the weekend."
"Oh."
"That all?"
He considered for a brief second asking her about the party, but if she didn't even know where Miriam was, it would be unlikely she knew anything about it. "Yeah, guess so. Have a nice"—Sky slammed the door in his face—"day," he finished, staring at the wood with the numbers 317 imprinted on it.
Next, he decided to check out the sorority house. It was located right off campus, within walking distance. He had just turned a corner, and the house came into view, when his phone rang. It was Alex.
"That was fast."
"When I tell you I'm gonna do something, you can count on it. You're gonna get that paper by Wednesday, don't worry."
"Forget about the paper. Hell, if you got the info, I might just write the damn thing for you. "
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Sweet."
"So, tell me about the party?"
"Oh, right. Starts at eight at their house. You know where that is, right?"
"Yeah." Felix was actually looking at it that very moment.