Excitement was in the air as fall set on the Charles Young Outstanding College (C.Y.O.C.). The first round of exams had passed, students were just beginning to feel comfortable in their routines, and the football season was in full swing. There was still plenty of time to worry about grades later, and everyone was optimistic for what the rest of the year would bring.
If anyone was apprehensive however, it would be the latest round of pledges at the Tau Digamma Upsilon (τϝυ) fraternity. The handful of lowerclassmen rushing this year had yet to receive their admittance into TFU (the more common, much easier to type name for the fraternity), and everyone knew that their induction would involve at least one last grand prank. The scandalous hazing of yesteryear was all but retired, but TFU was still known for their pranks and parties.
As classes wrapped up one Friday afternoon in late October, the pledges realized they were probably about to be in store for both. Mark, Ryan, Travis, and Peter led a small busload worth of pledges and brothers into the frat house's common room, finding an unusual amount of hustle and bustle... and decorations. Not just any party decorations either. These were of the spooky orange and black variety. Streamers littered the common space, most of the furniture was pushed up against walls to provide more mingling space, and someone had apparently "borrowed" a plastic skeleton from one of the science labs. To put too fine a point on it, two seniors dressed as Dracula and Frankenstein's monster were in the process of hanging a 'Happy Halloween!' banner.
"Gentlemen! Welcome home!" A familiar voice echoed through the common space. The head of the frat, a blond haired senior named Victor, stepped up onto the small raised area in front of the room's fire place, "Good good, it looks like all the pledges are here. As you can probably tell, we've got a party on our hands."
Mark blinked, quickly taking out his phone. The computer science major had a head of messy brown hair, and a habit of always being on some device or another, "I didn't see a party on the schedule." The posture of the other pledges echoed the sentiment, but the recently arrived frat brothers seemed unfazed. A few had even started helping get the room ready.
"It's a costume party actually," Victor ignored the comment, dramatically checking his watch, "It starts in... just over an hour. You all have costumes, right?"
The pledges all shot each other accusatory looks, except Mark, who was already typing away on his phone. Ryan finally stated the obvious, "Umm... No? It's October twenty eight? Halloween isn't until next Monday!"
Victor nodded, "Since when do we throw parties on a Monday? We're starting early and making a weekend of it! Tonight's going to be a party just for the house. After that, we'll invite folks over to party for the rest of the weekend."
The seniors hanging the banner hopped off their stepladder, "You guys seriously hadn't heard about our Halloween benders?"
Travis looked around sheepishly, "We figured it'd be on the schedule? What are we supposed to do about costumes?"
Mark jerked his head up, "Party City's closed." He held up his phone, "That Halloween Warehouse across town closes in five minutes from the looks of it."
Victor laughed, "That would be the question, wouldn't it?" All of the frat members were snickering at this point. "This is your last test boys: Be back here in costume in an hour, and you'll be full fledged members of TFU."
Peter grumbled, turning to his compatriots, "Ugh, do you guys have any ideas?"
"We could scrounge together something maybe? I think we still have some materials left over from building that float last month," Travis offered.
Victor grinned, "You better hope it passes muster. We're not going to admit someone who goes for the old bedsheet-with-eyeholes ghost trick." He rubbed his chin, "Although, speaking of sheets... If you want to head down to that sex shop on 10th street, they usually have a bunch of togas you can rent out." He crossed his arms, staring the group down, "We're pretty serious about our Greek-ware though. You'll have to be period specific. Don't let us catch you wearing blue jeans under 'em."
Ryan blinked, "Sex shop? Wait, is this going to be one of *those* kinds of parties Vic?"
Victor pretended to innocently kick a non-existent patch of dirt in front of him, "Oh I dunno, maybe?" He made a show of checking his watch again, "Fifty nine minutes."
Mark stood up, "Looks like The Second Skin on 6th is still open."
Everyone stared at him. He held up his map, "Costume shop. Sounds new? Four point six stars, but only three reviews." He headed towards the door, "It's within walking distance, anyone else coming?"
It was like a starting gun had gone off. The pledges immediately began to scatter, all heading off towards what they viewed as the best course of action. Some were retreating further into the frat house to gather supplies, while others were headed off to various parts of town.
A quiet broke over the room as the group dispersed. Rather than resuming their work, a few of the frat brothers stared at their leader. "Vic..." A junior cleared his throat, "Why did you tell them about Condoms-and-More's toga stash? Isn't that what we're doing?"
Victor blinked, "What? No! We did that last year!" He stared out at the room, "Don't tell me you all didn't get costumes! Didn't you get the group text?" About half of the room nodded, while everyone else gave him noncommittal stares. He checked his watch again, in earnest this time, not as an exaggerated gesture, "Y'all have fifty eight minutes to not get shown up by a bunch of pledges. I suggest you get going." He chuckled, turning back to the house dormitories, "I'm going to go get changed."