NuSies
prologue
David took a deep breath and willed himself to just knock. The sooner he did, the sooner he'd be able to explain to Bryan Denton, Greek Advisor that he had no intention of joining a frat— he didn't even really like beer, thank you very much— and the sooner this whole thing would be over with.
All he had to do was knock. Just knock, simple as that. Just raise his fist and…
The door suddenly flew open, smacking him in the face. "Ow!"
"Oh no, are you okay?" The man, Bryan Denton he assumed, asked worriedly.
David blinked a few times and put his hands to his nose, making sure it was still there before replying. "Yeah, I think so."
"Do you need someone to look at it? I'm so sorry, here, let me take a look." Denton took one of David's wrists in each hand and pulled them away from his face. "Doesn't look like there's any swelling…" he mused, "Does it hurt?"
"No. I think I'm okay," David said, pulling his hands out of the older man's grasp. "I'm here to see you, actually."
"David Jacobs?" David nodded. "Bryan Denton. I'm the Greek Advisor here at Horace Greeley University. I was about to run and get a cup of coffee, actually. Here, why don't you come in and have a seat. I'll be right back."
Rubbing at his nose, David nodded again and sat down in one of the chairs at Denton's desk. The office looked as though the Greek alphabet had puked all over it in multicolor. Banners and T-shirts proclaiming the letters of the various sororities and fraternities on campus covered every inch of wall space in the small room. It was making David feel a little bit nauseous.
"So, David," Denton breezed back into the office a few minutes later with a steaming cup bearing the HGU Student Center's logo. He sat down behind the desk and grinned at him, "Is that David as in David and Goliath?"
David stared at him blankly.
Denton cleared his throat and his smile wavered slightly, "I spoke to your mother today. She told me that you were very upset that you had missed recruitment information day."
"Actually, Mr. Denton—"
"But you don't have to worry, I have all the information you'll need right here," he handed David a small booklet, "and your mother has already paid the recruitment deposit. Rush officially starts tomorrow. There's a schedule in the GO GREEK! book I just gave you, but you can go to any party you'd like to any day of the week. I suggest maximizing your options for the first day at least and visiting as many houses as possible, but when you have an idea of where you'd like to be, you can spend more time at those houses."
"But Mr. Denton, I'm really not interested in—"
Denton laughed, "Oh that's right, your mother did tell me that you were a legacy. Nu Sigma, was it?"
"Well, yes but—"
"And if I remember correctly, you're a double legacy?"
"Yeah, both my dad and my grandfather were in it when they were in college, but—"
"The NuSies have a very strong presence here on campus, you know," Denton cut him off, "I can see why you might not be interested in looking at any other chapters. They're our oldest fraternity here at HGU and actually, as the Mu chapter, the twelfth oldest chapter of NuSie in the country," Denton said, sounding extremely proud. "As a double legacy, you should have no problem getting a bid. However, as your advisor, I'm supposed to tell you to keep your options open. You never know, you may find yourself fitting in somewhere else."
David sighed, it was obvious he wasn't going to get anywhere with this man. He decided to try one more time. "Mr. Denton, I really don't—"
"Don't know where the house is?" Denton tapped his chin. "Well, there's a map of Greek Row in your booklet, but… you know what David, how about you meet me here tomorrow at seven o'clock and I'll walk you over to the NuSie house?"
"That sounds…" like the absolute last thing I want to spend my Monday night doing. "Fine." He sighed. It looked like he wasn't going to be getting a choice in the matter.
"Excellent. Greek Life is such a rewarding opportunity," Denton gave him a firm handshake as David stood up to leave. "Don't take any of it for granted."
"I… won't."
David left the Student Center feeling defeated. He was being forced against his will to join a frat. He could think of so many things he'd rather do than spend four years with a group of drunken, sex-crazed jocks in a thinly veiled cult.
He blamed his father, who, on finding out that David's school had a chapter of his old frat, had spent hours in the attic digging out his old jerseys and yearbooks. His grandfather had found it necessary to fly in from Florida to teach him all of the NuSie chants and cheers and prepare him for rush. If he didn't join, he'd be letting both of them down. Or at least that's what his mother kept telling him.
It seemed like everyone wanted this for him except him. And that really, really sucked.
Alex's Note(s):
First off, a disclaimer: I don't own the newsies, duh and double duh. As far as I know, (aka as far as a google search could tell me) Nu Sigma is not a real Greek Life Organization (GLO). If it is, it is not related to or affiliated with the Nu Sigma in my story. This also goes for any other GLO I make up as the plot progresses. Ritual and Tradition are specific to each GLO and secret to everyone except initiated members. The Nu Sigma rituals and traditions are not based off of those of any currently existing GLO and are completely the product of my imagination.
Annnnd a key:
Nu Sigma- Their nickname (which most all GLO's have in some form or another) is NuSie, which is pronounced Newsie. Clever, huh? The boys at HGU are the Mu chapter, which stands for Manhattan and the boys in Brooklyn are the Beta chapter.
Omicron Phi Chi- Stands for 'Original Female Character' and is the sorority that the NuSies are closest with on campus. Will make an appearance later.
Sigma Chi Alpha Beta- The NuSie's rival fraternity. Letters spell SCAB. Will also come into play later.
Epsilon Theta Theta- Ummm, it has no relevance to the story or anything whatsoever, but this is Sarah's sorority. It stands for 'Everyone Hates Her' and is included because I find it amusing.
Rush or Recruitment is the process of finding pledges. Since it's different for fraternities and sororities and I'm not a boy, this may not be completely accurate.
I'm going to try and run each chapter by some non-Greeks before I post it to make sure that I'm sufficiently explaining things, but if you're confused about a practice or a term, please let me know so that I can fix it! Thanks for reading, please review!