Fujiko is a dear friend of mine, fit, a strong tennis player, cute with her big eyes and buck teeth, but she sometimes does things that most sensible women would probably not do. For instance, one day she came to tennis, saying she was feuding with her landlady, and needed a new place to live. I think most girls would look for a room in a home stay like mine, or maybe share with other girls, but Fujiko likes guys, you see. The next thing I know she’s asking me if she should move into a fraternity!
To tell you the truth, I didn’t know much about frats at that point. I’d seen them in movies I guess. I mostly just associated them with wild parties. One of the guys who used to live in Satomi’s dorm had moved into a frat. I remember him describing their initiation, a “polar bear run.” He had to get naked in September, and run over to a sorority down the block. He said it was supposed to breed “humility” and “brotherhood.” That must be embarrassing though. I mean why should you have to do anything so extreme just to get in? Satomi didn’t need to do an initiation to move into her dorm.
But it turned out that Fujiko was serious. Not long before, she’d met Winston, a Chinese guy I knew because he swims at the campus Fitness Center where I worked. A whole group of us had gone to the university’s mountain retreat together. She’d apparently been talking with him, and he said she could live in their frat. Winston seemed like an OK guy. He is tall and soft spoken and in general pretty well behaved compared to most guys, but still…
“Isn’t it like all guys?” I asked Fujiko, pushing back.
“Yeah! It’s perfect–a chance to get to know new men.”
“No, but I mean, you’ll be like the only girl! There aren’t any other girls living there, are there?”
“No, there aren’t. But I don’t mind. I know how guys are. I can handle it.”
Fujiko is pretty confident. She is a bit of a tomboy, very strong at tennis, drinks a fair bit. Also I knew that she does like men. Even so, I couldn’t believe that she was actually set on moving into a frat. I’d never been inside one, but my picture was they were pretty wild, like almost out of control.
Anyway, the day she moved in, I came to help. Their house is on the north side of campus, but not on the main street. It’s tucked away down the driveway behind another frat house. Winston wasn’t the only one I knew. There was also Gus and Scott, who Winston brought to the retreat with us. Gus is tall and thin, and comes from Utah or somewhere. The way he talks, he has a bit of a twang. Scott is more slick, born in L.A. I think, and has a very sharp sense of humor. I don’t know how they’d be as housemates, but at least we knew them.
Gus had this huge grin on his face.
“Usually for initiation, we get the freshers to go for a polar bear run over to the sororities and back,” he drawled.
I’d mentioned this to Fujiko, but she hadn’t really said anything. She just looked at me, and rolled her eyes.
“You strip down to runners, and go streak their house. Everyone here had to do it.”
“But you’re a girl, so I guess we could make an exception,” Scott threw in. Scott is one of the more sensible guys. He’s Anglo-American, but he helps organize the Japanese language exchanges. I’d heard he has a Japanese girlfriend.
I eyed Winston, wondering if they were going to make Fujiko do it, but he didn’t say. They all seemed pretty happy to have a girl moving in, in any case. Fujiko went back to unloading. I helped her carry her things up to her room. When I left, I still felt a bit worried about leaving her here all by herself, but anyway, she was committed now. I guess we’ll have to see what happens.
A few days later, Fujiko invited Satomi and me to a welcome party they were holding for her at the frat. Satomi is a bit of a different type from Fujiko, more cutesy pie, making pouty shapes with her lips all the time, not so worldly. She was curious about this party though, so I promised to meet her, and we could go together. The frat isn’t far from her dorm. I was a bit nervous, but curious too. I’d been to parties before, but never at a frat.
I got dressed up in a little black dress and a black crop cardigan, a bit of a goth look, while Satomi came in tight fitting grey jeans and a sheer white blouse with long sleeves. She looked good. She was wearing lipstick and eye shadow, but her clothes were just casual.
When Satomi and I arrived, there were just guys–no sign of Fujiko. I gave her a call, and it turned out she was doing laundry at the main frat house out front. I guess maybe you are supposed to show up fashionably late to these things. At that point, there were a lot of things I didn’t know about frats. This was a whole new world for me.
Eventually, Fujiko came back to find us. She was just wearing blue jeans and a lumberjack shirt, maybe trying to fit in, act like ‘one of the boys.’ I was like the only one in a dress. Anyway, we took off our shoes, and left them at the door. Fujiko took us up to her room, where we hid away our purses, and then back down to the kitchen where she fixed us some cocktails. It was hard to hear though because the music was so loud. They played Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Iggy Azalea, songs I recognized. The daiquiri Fujiko made me had way too much alcohol, so I just sipped at it. Fujiko was taking some kind of bartender class, but I think this was the first time we’d ever drunk together.
“How’s it working out?” I shouted over the din.
“Great! All the guys are so nice. They call me Mount Fujiko.”
Wha-? I almost spilled my daiquiri when I heard this. It was clearly a sexual joke, but I’m not sure if Fujiko knew. There were references to sex everywhere–girlie posters on the wall, a fridge magnet with a boy stick figure humping a girl from behind. I guess when you get a bunch of horny guys living together, this is what happens.
Fujiko took us into the main room, and introduced us to her new housemates. They kind of oo-ed and ah-ed over me, giving me the eye, making a big deal about how “hot” I look in this dress. I didn’t catch all their names, but Daniel was one, a tallish guy with long brown hair, sensitive features. One guy kept handing us beers, trying to get us drunk. I declined, showing them my daiquiri, but Satomi drank the beers they gave her.
Fujiko was definitely in a flirtatious mood. Just to tease the guys, she grabbed one of my breasts, and was making a big deal out of massaging it, trying to get them horny. I was kind of embarrassed, but I went along with it, just to make her happy. It must have worked because soon, a short red-haired guy, Cal, pushed Fujiko down onto the couch, and pretended to hump her. She just laughed, but I was kind of shocked. I guess he was drunk. Fujiko had mentioned Cal before. He doesn’t live in the frat, although maybe he knew Scott and them from the JSU.
Some of the guys were half watching a football game on TV. After we’d been there a while, their team scored. They would shake fresh cans of beer, then pop the tab spraying beer everywhere. Some splashed on me, but Satomi was the one who took the worst of it. She squealed, and fell to the floor. I knelt down to make sure she was alright, but she was drunk too. Fujiko came over, and helped me lift Satomi, so we could carry her upstairs. Scott apologized, but Fujiko told him it was OK.