Claude's third day in the dormitory came with the weekend. The frat initiation would be held an hour before the party to welcome most students to the university. Saint Emilien was pretty far from the heart of the city, and students were all expected to get wild for the first few weeks outside their parents' reach. As for Claude, he just wanted to get everything done and over with.
Psi Saint Alpha had invited him to join, seemingly ticking the right criteria for becoming one of them. Eugene wasn't considered, but getting into it didn't spell the end of the world. Claude just had to promise not to skip group dates.
"Good luck, soldier!" Eugene sniffed as if sending his son to war. However, Claude only glared at him before he started laughing. Eugene heavily patted Claude's shoulder. "I'll see you at the party later, okay? Don't get swept into trouble."
"I'll try not to punch anyone." Claude sighed. This wasn't high school, where people would behave ill just because they felt like it. Hopefully, Claude was correct.
He left the Cavalry's dorm in slow steps, like a child asked to run an errand in the middle of his game. Claude soon reached the General's dorm, running into some other people with invitations. However, unlike him, they were enthusiastic about getting selected.
Today, one of the chapter VPs welcomed them inside the dorm. They were led to the big conference hall to meet some members and the other newbies. The chapter president waited for them, grinning at the fifteen newbies coming from other dorms. Before Claude could look around, the Ritual Chair had already asked the newbies to take off their shirts.
"At least I get to keep my pants on…" Claude sighed as he went through the motion. His shirt smoothly left his back and head, revealing a rather envious build. He had meat and muscle where they should be, providing quite a silhouette that would steal women's gazes. His arms also had a layer of visible biceps. He wasn't muscular, but tight-fitting clothes would look good on him.
"Shucks, are you really a musician? Don't you do sports instead?" The guy giving away stickers to the newbies laughed upon seeing Claude. He offered Claude three stickers. "Put this anywhere on your body, but don't let it show if you wear a shirt."
Claude gazed at the stickers. They looked like temporary tattoos instead. However, he could only choose among the heads of a wolf, a bull, or an eagle. Claude picked the wolf and pondered where he wanted to put it. When he looked around, he saw others slapping those tattoos on their chests or asking someone to put theirs on their backs.
Before he could choose, someone gently took his sticker from his hand. When Claude turned, the other person peeled off the sticker and pressed it on Claude's left rib area. Claude could only lift his arm to accommodate it.
"That's a strange place to put it." Claude frowned at the person, but his eyes seemingly widened at his discovery. Not only was it the bespectacled man staring at him… but also the source of that fantastic smell he caught before. As such, he didn't mind standing close.
"It's no fun looking for the mark if it's in an obvious spot." The guy chuckled, rubbing the sticker to make sure it stuck well.
Claude felt awkward at the touch. However, he only entertained himself by looking for the guy's sticker. He caught Claude's gaze and chuckled. "It's not on me yet. Where do you want to find it?"
A slight blush tinted Claude's cheeks, but he shook his head to rid the heat. He cleared his throat and took the wolf sticker offered to him. His devious mind wanted to plaster the sticker on the guy's face instead, but it was no fun getting called out in an instant. He just peeled it off the plastic paper and quickly pressed the sticker against the left side of the other person's neck.
Even the other person flinched at the spot chosen. When he looked at Claude, the violinist dropped his friendly smile. Claude said, "Better get used to turtlenecks and scarves. Maybe you'll learn not to touch me without permission the next time."
"All right…" the other guy still smirked in amusement. Claude dropped the plastic paper on his chest before leaving. He couldn't help but chuckle and lightly touched the sticker on his neck.
"Len, why do you have it on your neck?" Irving noticed the sticker easily. "Aren't we supposed to put it under our shirts? Can you still remove it?"
"Don't mind it." Len looked over his shoulder to find Irving. He dropped his smile as if nothing had happened earlier. Irving didn't even notice someone else was there with Len. Len asked, "Have you decided where to put yours?"
Irving nodded and showed his left shoulder and the wolf sticker on it. "I don't think it's low enough to show. What should we do with your neck? Won't they get mad?"
Len glanced at the chapter president, who was looking their way. He saw the person gesture to his own neck as if asking about the sticker from a distance. Len only scoffed and looked away. "He can try getting mad at me."
After half an hour, the Ritual Chair cleared his throat and looked over the newbies. He noticed others were too brazen and ignored their suggestions. However, he didn't call them out. His hand then shot in the air. "Let's start with the oaths! The Psi Saint Alpha is made up of three factions. The wolves who keep the peace, the bulls who protect the weak, and the eagles who oversee the people."
He gestured to three spots. "Wolves to my right, eagles to my left. Bulls take the center. We have different oaths for each faction. Let's call your faction leaders for the oath-taking!"
…
Claude felt like he had chosen the wrong sticker. Then again, with so many who chose the wolf, he figured he didn't have to be too involved with this brotherhood. He just came that night because Eugene asked him. It was not like he wanted to keep the peace in the entire school.
He waited outside the General's dorm for his friend and Eugene's new peers. That guy could round up the whole dorm and pick up people who shared his course. Since they would all be together for four years, Eugene didn't find it bothersome to befriend everyone. If it were Claude, he would simply drift along and ditch them to study.
The welcoming party behind the General's dorm was as loud as it could get. The whole university was invited, serving as a joint party for all the groups that had new members. Claude sat around with his new gang, but he barely sipped on his cup.
"Why aren't you drinking?" Eugene hid his hiccups. He downed another serving before wrapping an arm around Claude's neck. "Let's party hard and get laid!"