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“Alexander Hawthorne Kirby,”he says, lingering on the last name. “Welcome to you, too, brother.”
Alex bows. “Happy to be here.”
“I met your sister earlier.”
A short grimace. “Yeah,” is all Alex has to say to that.
But the guy’s smile digs in. “Right hand, please.”
I watch him accept his sticker with a grin, briefly glancing into the house, compelled to search for Dana again. But she’s nowhere to be seen from the entryway.
“And you’re Benjamin,” he says, waving Ben forward.
“How could you tell?” Ben jokes.
The guy laughs at their twin faces. “Welcome home, brothers,” he says to the three of us, now claimed with gold. “Have a good evening.”
“Thank you,” we say as we step inside.
“Delta Xi!”
Another echo surrounds us as a few Delta Xis offer high-fives in the entryway.
Alex presents his claimed fist. I bump it with my own before bumping Ben’s, too.
We made it.
“See?” Alex says, tapping his sticker. “Webelong here.”
“Apparently so,” Ben says.
Alex’s shoulders sag a bit. “Now, let’s find Dana and get this over with.” He angles toward the sitting area on the left side. “Chances are she’s already crying in the bath... room.”
His voice fades away beneath the sudden chants overwhelming the space.A group fills the center of the room, a rainbow of colored T-shirts encircled around a girl in a chair sitting up on a table. Softly at first, they repeat the word chug, getting louder and louder as she tips her red plastic cup back, her face and arms covered with house stickers. I realize she’s not sitting on a chair at all, but is propped up on the back of a Delta Xi strongly knelt over on his hands and knees.
“Chug! Chug! Chug!”
We freeze.
That’s no girl.
That’s—
“Dana?!”Alex spits.
She doesn’t hear us as she gulps the entire cup down. Afterward, she raises it over her head, her lips wet and dripping as she cries out, “Delta Xi!”
“Delta Xi!” the room explodes, practically shaking the entire damn house.
“Dana!” Alex shouts again as the clamor retreats a little.
Dana looks over, her face excitedly beaming at us. “Ben! Alex!” She fidgets, arms waving. “My brothers! These are my brothers I told you about!”
Dozens twist in our direction, plastic cups held high. “Brothers!”
Someone thrusts a red plastic cup into my hand. Alex and Ben’s, too.
“Let me down, let me down.”
