Junkie(15)

I was tired.

I felt pulled in all kinds of different directions. So many I was starting to get lost.

You’d think a guy who was about to graduate college with a bachelor’s degree in finance would be ready for more responsibility.

Wasn’t that what college was about?

Becoming an adult? Growing up?

‘Course, if I had to go by the fact I spent half the morning fishing a rubber ducky out of the toilet, I guess the answer to that question would be a resounding no.

The closer I got to graduation, the less responsibility I wanted.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to graduate. I did. If I had to write one more freaking term paper or do one more group project, I was going to scream, but still…

Part of me was hesitant to move on.

Maybe that was why I still hadn’t put my support behind a candidate for Omega president. Or maybe I was just waiting to see which candidate would do something to show me he was the right guy for the job.

I might be tired, but I wasn’t so tired I would hand this house over to someone like Zach. He’d almost been the downfall of this entire organization. Cleaning up the tarnish he put on the Omega name had taken over a year.

I wanted a president who was going to make sure Alpha Omega continued with the momentum of good standing I was helping it gain.

The “formal dining” room of the historic place we lived in on campus was at the front of the house, separated from the large entryway by two wide glass French doors.

While it was set up as a dining room with a huge cherry wood table lined with chairs and a gaudy chandelier suspended above the table, no one ever ate in here.

We used this room for house meetings. The walls above the wainscoting were dark green and lined with framed photos of all the members who came before us. At the front of the room there was a large double window that overlooked the lawn and street in front of the house. The formal plaid curtains were never drawn because, like I said, we only came in here for house meetings.

I waited at the head of the table inside the room at a podium that had been there since the day I moved in. Brothers were filling the room fairly rapidly, as the meeting was supposed to start in just a few minutes. As they came in, they took one of the chairs lining the huge table.

The two brothers running for Omega president were sitting beside me. Both had shown up early. It wasn’t mandatory they do so, but out of general respect and as a show of commitment to the frat, they did anyway.

Both candidates were sophomores here at Alpha University, which I thought was a good year to run because it meant they’d been in the fraternity for a year (and in this case, closing in on two years), so they knew what to expect here at the house and on campus. But they were still young enough at the university to be in presidency for more than a couple semesters.

Their young age would actually offer some stability to the fraternity because they would be here a while to run things.

We did have a freshman ask to run, but I shot him down. Even though I liked him, he wasn’t experienced enough.

Surprisingly, none of the upper classmen wanted in. I understood, though. They were comfortable with their roles already. They were starting to turn their attention to what they would be doing once they graduated and they weren’t as focused on the house.

The election for the new president was next month, in early spring. It would give me time to do a handover of the house, help the new guy get used to his new role, etc. Then after that, I’d be graduating.

No more classes.

No more frat.

No more football.

I think I’d miss football most of all. I’d never admit it in this house, but the Wolves felt more like brothers to me than anyone in this frat.

Playing my last game not too long ago had been poignant. The end of something I truly loved. That was when I really started to get lost.

Well, then and the night I got the drunkest I’d ever been. Drew thought I didn’t have any memory of that night.

I let him believe that.

“Everyone’s here,” Jack whispered in my ear.

I glanced up and was surprised to see all the chairs around the table full. Just to be sure it was actually time to call order, I checked the clock on my cell.

Everyone was laughing and talking, but when I stepped up to the podium, a hush fell over the room. It was an odd sort of feeling to have so many eyes on you at once.

“I know this meeting was probably an inconvenience for a lot of you, considering I called it at the last minute.” I spoke to everyone.

“Pain in the ass,” one of the guys at my end of the table said but disguised it (very poorly) as a cough.

I grinned. “That, too.”

Once everyone quieted down, I went on. “I’m sure you all know by now the night before last, one of our brothers, Jonathan, was taken to the ER and had his stomach pumped. He was treated for alcohol poisoning and released into the care of his parents. He’s doing fine and will be back at the house next week.”