Hazed and Confused

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After some small talk, we had finished half of the fifth and gotten to know each other a bit better. JJ was a local to the college area, and was majoring in business, while I was from a small farm town down south and majoring in journalism. The more we talked, the more I grew fond of this JJ character. He was polite and funny, and the more I looked at him, the more attractive he got. I wasn't sure if he was actually this charming, or if it was just the alcohol making its way through my system causing me to develop a crush on this newfound acquaintance.

"Alright pledges, listen up!" Andrew shouted, yanking JJ and I out of our conversation.

"I'm gonna count down from ten, and while I'm counting, you better chug! Gamma Phi's, yall are going first, and then Gamma Tau's will go after. "Lets GO!"

JJ's shoulders tensed, and he took the fifth out of my hand gently. Andrew started the countdown, and JJ started to chug.

I watched his Adam's apple bob with each swallow, his eyes screwed tightly shut and a grimace plastered across his pretty face. I couldn't help but stare at him, finding the act oddly attractive. JJ was, in fact, extremely attractive, I decided as I studied his face. Andrew finally got to one, and JJ yanked the bottle away from his mouth, gagging slightly.

"Your turn, miss," he gritted out, handing me the bottle. He quickly unscrewed the lid off of a Gatorade that had been sitting on the table next to us and began to take large gulps of it.

This time, Caroline started the countdown, and I raised the bottle to my red painted lips. I also grimaced as the liquid burned a path down my throat and to my stomach, but I was determined to chug my way through as much as possible. By the time Caroline reached one, I finished the remains of the bottle. A wide smile graced JJs face, and he gave me a high five.

"Not gonna lie, that was sick as fuck,", he laughed. I found myself blushing again. I had only known JJ for an hour, and I was head over heels. How embarrassing.

As it turned out, much to my displeasure, JJ and I were the first pair to finish our fifth, meaning that we could be separated. JJ pulled me over to Andrew and Caroline where I presented the empty glass bottle. Andrew smirked and congratulated us while revealing a pair of scissors and cutting us loose.

"Good job, pledge," Caroline said slyly. "You've proved yourself well. Go out and have fun!"

JJ and I turned and headed back into the crowd, and I smiled at myself. I wasn't expecting the overwhelming sense of pride I felt at the thought of being the first out of my fellow pledges to finish.

As the party went on, JJ and I eventually found ourselves on opposite ends of the garage. Allison had finally finished her fifth, and once she was free, she came over and found me.

"So, was he cute?" I shouted over the music, referring to the pledge she was paired with and her hopes from earlier.

She shook her head. "No," she shouted back. "And he had really bad B.O."

We both mimicked gagging, and began to laugh. "Yours was a cutie", she gasped, hitting my arm. I blushed and nodded in agreement. JJ was indeed a cutie. And smart. And funny. And smelled good.

 An hour had passed, and both of us were trashed and ready to leave. We both headed outside, where a ride was waiting for us.

"Cassidy, wait!" A voice called out as I was grabbing the door handle to the black sedan that was here to drive us home. I turned to find JJ jogging over to me, phone in hand.

"Hey," he said, stopping in front of me with a sheepish smile on his face. "I had a lot of fun tonight. Can I get your snap?"

Inside, I was doing a happy dance while my stomach did backflips. I felt a blush spread across my face yet again, and smiled and nodded. I heard Allison giggle next to me. JJ smiled even bigger, and handed me his phone. I carefully typed in my username, and added myself on his phone. I felt a buzz in my pocket, which was the notification that JJ had added me.

"I'll see you around, Cass," he said, smiling at me again and running off.

I added him immediately upon getting in the car, and instantly he sent me a snap. I opened it to find a picture of him smiling, captioned with "i had sm fun ur pretty chill. Wanna hang again?"

I giggled, and told him that we should definitely hang out again. I was giddy with glee, and was practically kicking my feet. I had butterflies in my chest and stomach, and they raged even harder each time JJ's name flashed across my screen and I opened a new picture of his handsome face.

Allison made fun of me the entire ride home, mocking how my face would light up and I would giggle when his name popped up on my phone or when his name got mentioned in conversation. I couldn't help myself. Life was perfect right now. I had gotten a bid from my dream sorority, and now a cute boy was interested in me.

i went to bed that night drunk as a skunk, but on cloud nine.