He hadn't talked to Dexter since the day they arrived. He had seen him in passing with the group that had picked them up in town. He looks okay, Soni assumed. He's probably gotten over the school thing already. Soni went to class still managing to dodge groups he knew that were grabbing freshmen and soaking them.
For the first time in a long time, Soni felt comfortable. He got a part-time job in the cafeteria on campus serving food to the students. His roommate worked elsewhere as a legal aide of the campus grounds. They rarely saw each other as the days passed.
Often one came in at night, he would find the other asleep from exhaustion. Soni made friends in some of the classes that he considered sociable. Rachel taunted him constantly. Soni found out that she was also a junior. They dated on many occasions and Soni found that she was very mature but with a big flirt. Nothing ever happened after the dates. Soni knew her type and knew that it would only be a matter of time before she got bored with him. Soni could care less. He was far from a virgin and had a freaky side on himself that he didn't want to exploit with just anybody. Eventually, Rachel gave up on him and moved on to somebody else.
Two weeks. Soni had thought thinking about Rachel's patience level. Soni did get acquainted with a couple of women that were hitting on him but show better composer than Rachel showed. He didn't want to rush into anything his first year in college.
He knew of kids in high school that had a pregnancy slow down their chances of going to college. Only the strong survive, he soon found out. Months have gone by and freshmen were still getting snatched up. Soni had seen freshman, boys and girls walk into a class soaked in mud. There was no mercy on any freshmen. He stayed thoroughly all day every day.
Mark was still shocked that Soni hadn't got the beat down with the water balloons. As the end of the freshman year came around Soni found it hard to concentrate in classes with the pressure of the fraternities all out to get him.
There were letters sent to him letting him know that they were coming. Some freshman rooted him to stay clean and gave advice on the positions of certain frats. Soni found himself running barely escaping, when frats waited, hiding outside of his job for him to get off. Mark laughed all night when Soni burst into the room hours later and explained what had happened.
A fraternity sat outside of his window laughing and taunting him, "One month! One more! One month!" they had whispered loudly enough for him to hear.
Two weeks were left leaving Soni with several options. He could leave on emergency leave for the rest of the two weeks and then take only two tests that he had to take. He explained his options to his roommate. "Not a bad idea," he agreed.
Soni plan put this plan into action the next day. When the moment arrived for Soni to leave, the unexpected happened. Something that would have an impact and alter his trust in humans the rest of his life.
An hour before Mark was to take him to a cheap hotel to hide in town, his roommate looked at his watch and stood. They had been talking and laughing about Soni being the first freshman to go untarnished.
"Hey, I've got to use the bathroom. I'll be right back. "
Soni didn't find anything odd until he heard the door close and look at the latch. It didn't lock as Mark had done for an entire year after the stepping out. "Shit," Soni whispered quickly getting to his feet running for the door.
It was too late. The doorknob spun quickly, but the door opens slowly. Soni's heart shattered as he put a hand out to push the door closed. Somebody must have sensed that he would attempt to shove and stuck their foot to the bottom of the door jamming it as Soni struggled to push it close.
I can't believe he set me up! Soni mind screamed as he leaned into the door.
A low whisper echoed through the halls of the third-floor Soni lived on. It wasn't of one voice but of many chanting the very first words he had heard upon his arrival. The very same words that he had found unintelligible, but soon became to fear over the time he stayed there.
"Fresh meat-freshman, get em. Fresh meat-freshman, get em," they said raising their voices slowly, getting louder and louder by the second. Sony put his foot the door but couldn't hold his stance long. The frats slowly pushed the door in.
Soni felt himself panicking. He looked for another means of escape. The window his mind screamed. Oh please! Remember you're three floors up. He couldn't believe he was thinking like this. He envisioned himself jumping from the window landing on the concrete, breaking every bone in his frail body.
He could see the headlines in the school paper the following week.
“Freshman untouched by the ritual that frats bring onto them. Soni Zales was touched by the sidewalk just outside of his dorm as he escaped from unidentified frats attempting to get their hands on him. He escaped the frats but couldn't escape his death.”
Soni shook his head wondering what the pounding of the balloons will feel like in just moments from now. Maybe they won't break all of his bones. Maybe a couple of fractions.
The door opened up wide enough for a member of one of the frats to slide in easily. Soni saw defeat and stepped away from the door. He stepped back with his hands outstretched, open the front of him. So much for the two weeks trapped in the hotel.
"Hey fellas. Let's talk this out." Soni said recognizing most of the guys that stepped into the room.
The chanting dropped to a whisper again, taunting him. Soni looked over the crowd stepping into the room shocked to see the women fraternities among the men. This is not good.
He saw cellphones, camcorders, GoPro headsets and even the girl from the campus newspaper who talked too much. He couldn't spot his roommate anywhere. He felt a tremor run through his body. The crowd moved around him as slowly as a lion would its prey. He took a deep breath calming his nerves and exhaled, dropping his hands to his side.
"Get-em, get-em get-em!!!" they yelled grabbing Soni, lifting him in the air. He expected for the ordeal to be rough, but he could tell that they weren't trying to hurt him physically. It was all for fun. When they stepped from the dormitory building Soni was shocked to see at least two hundred people from around the campus cheering.
The group of people that held him tossed into the warm puddle and stepped back as people started throwing the balloons and spraying him with super soakers. The ordeal lasted a total of three minutes. To Soni, it felt like hours. The balloons had his entire body numb.
As Soni reached the room again he became serious. His roommate was laughing but calmed down. Soni closed the door behind himself and asked, "Why did you do it?"
Mark noticed Soni's seriousness and calmed down. "C' mon man. You had to go through it," he explained.
Soni shook his head slowly. "All I asked is why," he repeated. "I could care less about being taken to the mud hole. All I want to know is why you stopped me from accomplishing A task.”
Mark started laughing again. "Look, man. If I ruined something for you, I apologize. I just didn't want something that has lasted this long to suddenly die. Aren't you happy that you made history lasting this long? Nobody has ever made it past the second semester."
Soni grabbed his belongings to bath with and left.
Time passed slowly after the last freshman was initiated. Soni was pissed about the whole incident still. He rarely spoke to Mark and admitted to himself that he couldn't wait for his roommate to finish his last year at college.
Soni stayed in the library doing a lot of studying and reading to pass time. He was asked out on dates to parties that were being held at frat houses but declined. He agreed to go to the movies and sports games if he was available. Most of the girls held on but eventually wandered off looking for other prospects. He had no complaints. Sex is good, especially when you're used to being by yourself, he had convinced himself. At least nobody was running around behind his back saying that he liked men.
He knew that the silent game with his roommate was wrong, and wouldn't last long. Since they had to live together and in the same room. He broke the silence and decided to be friends with him again, letting bygones be bygones. He only had to put up with Mark one more year before he is sent out to some law school out east.
One thing was clear to Soni now, his mind. The stress and constant worrying about the frats took a toll on his grades. He found his grades improved when he had less to worry about.
His sophomore year has gone by and complete comfort. He found time to meditate when his roommate was gone and relax on holidays when he had nowhere to go. Mark invited Sony to his departure party from Nevada state, and he accepted when everybody knew that he didn't show up to the parties on the campus grounds
When the day came for Mark to leave Soni shook his hand with no feelings from him. Soni found it hard to trust anybody after the freshman incident. He knew that day that he should've just let it go, but he couldn't. When Mark left Sony felt at peace in the room by himself.
But it didn't last long for the dorm tenant to come around and inform Soni of his new roommate coming at the beginning of the next year's term.
He signed for more summer courses to keep him busy. He quit his job at the school's cafeteria and took a job in teaching assistantships. On the side, he also became part of a research assistant and fellowship. The pay he was getting at the cafeteria was much better than what he was getting now, but Soni felt that he was helping himself more by being in the class. He got more rest this way.
Soni’s new roommate showed up three days before the semester started. He had left the door ajar Soni noticed as he approached the room. A definite no Sony said as he stepped through the door. He felt something crunching under his feet and look down.
“Huh,” his roommate said spinning around nervously. Sony saw the dirt on the floor and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He glanced up seeing the familiar mess led to his roommate.
“Frats.”
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