geed | clairo

fifteen

aaron, blane and john gordon were in the basement of the theta xi house, wearing blindfolds and standing shoulder to shoulder. they were all wearing navy blazers, white shirts and khakis, waiting for the official tie of their pledge class to be given to them.

zane, j.d., brady, spencer and i wore togas, mainly as a joke while the thirteen other members of our fraternity, including sam and jesse, wore dress shirts and chinos. j.d. stepped forward and walked up to aaron, a navy blue and white striped tie in his right hand and his left extending towards aaron's face, stopping right before his right cheek.

"aaron james weller, do you accept your membership into the theta xi group of new orleans university?" questioned j.d.

"i do."

"do you accept the responsibility of holding true fraternal values and the burden of being the best man you can possibly be?"

"i do," replied aaron, stoically. j.d. brushed the side of his cheek gently.

"aaron james weller, i invite you with open arms and extended hands to become my brother today and forevermore."

"i accept your invitation." j.d. brushed the left side of his face and hung his tie around aaron's neck.

i stepped towards blane and noticed how nervous he seemed.

"blane lucas stelly, do you accept your membership into the theta xi group of new orleans university?"

"i-i do."

"are you ready to accept the commitment of being a theta xi man and the burden of knowing you are the best of the best?" i asked. blane swallowed, his adam's apple shifting before he answered.

"i am."

"blane lucas stelly, i invite you to join theta xi. i invite you to become the embodiment of a theta xi man and evolve into your best self."

"i accept your invitation." i brushed his cheeks in the customary fashion and placed his tie around his neck.

after zane spoke to john gordon, i watched as brady lifted everyone's blindfolds one by one.

"zane, as present archon and the man who represents the bridge between old and new, i ask of you to tie each tie," requested j.d. zane nodded and began tying john gordon's.

"does j.d. even know how to tie a tie?" questioned spencer, his joke unheard to everyone else.

after jesse took a picture of the newly initiated members for the archives, we were now back upstairs in the living room, drinking beer and eating pizza together. i changed out of my toga and into a sweatshirt and chinos and i sat with spencer and sam, eating a slice of pizza.

"so, have you guys rented your tuxes yet for formal yet?" asked sam as he finished the crust of his slice.

"no, i have to get fitted sometime. maybe friday afternoon when i don't have any classes," i answered.

"i'm going with you. sam, do you have one?" questioned spencer to sam.

"uh, no. but i can go with you guys to rent one on friday," offered sam.

the sun was bright and pouring through the car windows as i was in spencer's backseat, texting lara as he drove through the city with sam next to him.

lara holland:
so i think echo and brady are like a thing now
it's just weird because my roommates and i have all fucked theta xi guys now
was that ur goal???

me:
i literally had no intentions to do that
u gotta admit i'm the best tho <3

lara holland:
u r :)))