The First Pink Wristband

That first night in the dorms, Cam fell asleep very quickly, while Oliver remained awake, brain working overtime from the overload of input arising out of his first day. Fortunately for him, Cam wasn’t a snorer, he was however a bit of a talker. While most of the words Cam uttered were pretty much unintelligible, there was an odd one here and there that was very clear. Add random giggles to it and Oliver found it all very amusing until he finally fell asleep himself.

When morning arrived, Oliver was up before Cam, taking care of ablutions. When he returned to the room, Cam was awake lying in bed.

“Are you ready?” Cam inquired.

“For?” Oliver questioned, putting his little leather bag of sundries back in its spot on his shelf.

“To begin my quest for a sweet slice of Omega Pi?”

“Are you sure you want to do this? It’s kind of like a kid stepping out of little league and jumping straight to the majors. Maybe you want to spend some time in the minors refining your game before you move up to the big leagues and go after one of these girls?” he inquired.

“Nice baseball analogy, but I’m from Mariners country and that makes me more of a Seahawks fan. Ground and pound baby. Beast mode. Eye of the tiger, no fear,” Cam countered.

Oliver grinned at the enthusiasm.

“Okay then, I guess if I’m part of this plan, you better fill me in on it?” Oliver said, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

“Phase one. Now remember when I told you Sersei thinks of herself in more of an adult capacity over me? That attitude of hers has often led us into conflict. So now, all I need to do is preen that ego of hers, stroke it a little bit to make her feel important, like I’m actually taking her lofty wisdom to heart. She’ll see it as conformity on my part, making her more inclined to regard me in a more favorable light, ipso facto subtly influencing her in her interactions with the other girls in her house,” Cam explained.

“Or, she will see your efforts as an attempt to psychologically manipulate her to your own insidious and lascivious ends,” Oliver countered bluntly.

“What is with you and all this defeatist attitude of yours? Is it because you were an only child? No one to play catch with?” Cam asked, frowning.

Oliver shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe,” he offered.

“Now that is only phase one. Phase two, involves exposure. There are thousands of students who go here, thousands and only a handful of these girls. Like I said last night, the more often I go over to their house, the more it enhances my ability to be seen. Anyone else going over there will look like a harsh creeper just lurking around the area like a potential serial rapist, while I got the golden ticket to get right inside the chocolate factory itself, you know what I mean?” Cam relayed, a self-satisfied look on his young face.

Nodding slowly, “Makes sense,” Oliver supplied. Besides, supporting Cam might lead to him getting another chance to talk with Sersei.

Cam frowned, “What? No little jab or needle to pop my balloon? No trying to break my glass, which incidentally is half full,” he challenged.

Oliver laughed and shook his head.

Cam got up and took some time getting ready for the day. When he finally returned to the room, Oliver grinned and shook his head.

“Well,” Cam asked, spreading his hands.

“Without sounding gay, you look really good,” Oliver said sincerely, nodding.

“I clean up pretty good,” Cam said, beaming at the approval.

Oliver chuckled, “I’m impressed,” he admitted.

Grabbing a quick breakfast and taking care of a few errands at the campus, they chose to walk over to the house. The building itself was a large older three story structure constructed in the Victorian style. There was a large veranda along the front of the house and the symbols for Omega encapsulating a smaller Pi prominently placed higher up on the house. The neatly trimmed lawn in the front was divided up the middle by a cement walkway.

Climbing the stairs, the two young men approached the heavy wooden door with a stained glass window inset into it, Cam reaching out and knocking in the space between the jamb and the window before turning and grinning at Oliver. “Trick or treat,” he whispered softly, raising an eyebrow.

The curtain behind the colored pieces of glass fluttered and the door opened partway, the face of a very attractive young woman appeared, light brown hair with streaks of blonde tied back.

“May I help you?” she asked, tone firm, almost haughty as she looked them over.

“I’m here to see my sister, Sersei,” Cam said grinning, touching his chest, “Cam.”

The girl’s rich milk chocolate colored eyes flicked over to Oliver before back to Cam. “Wait here,” she instructed, vanishing and closing the door.

Turning his head, “Gum on the shoe? What did I say?” Cam asked. “That one needs an industrial strength enema to get the stick out of her butt.”

When the door reopened, Sersei stood there, dressed in a light colored knee length summer dress, “Cameron,” she said flatly, before looking over at the other youth, “Oliver,” she voiced much more pleasantly, smiling warmly at him.

“Thanks for giving me some time,” Cam said, tone conciliatory. “Can we come in?”

“No. So what is it that you want?” she queried, eyes narrowing as she looked back to her brother.

“I just wanted to come over and say how much I appreciate your help and guidance getting me situated here. I know in the past I may have been difficult to live with,” Cam said, pausing when she raised an eyebrow.

“Difficult? Nearly impossible,’ she said, nodding toward Oliver.

Cam smiled, “I know. I was pretty immature and now that we’re here, I realize I’m going to need you to help me adapt to this environment,” he said, eyes downcast, mouth pursed.

“You came all the way over here to share this newfound perspective of yours?” she asked, folding her arms under her breasts.

Cam nodded, looking back to her eyes, “I wanted to do it in person as opposed to over the phone or through texts, and I brought Oliver along to give you a witness in the event I screw up and we need third party clarification,” he said, placing a hand on the other youth’s shoulder.

“Not if you screw up, it’s only a matter of when you screw up, like a cosmic eventuality,” she corrected.

“You’re right, when I screw up, because I’m still young and I’m going to make mistakes,” he added, nodding in agreement.

A slight smile on her face appeared, “Well I’m glad you’re at least making an effort,” she said, patting him on the cheek as her vibrant blue eyes looked over to Oliver. “You’re the one who is going to have to keep him out of trouble you know?” she added, smiling.

Grinning back, he nodded.

“Here,” she said, reaching into her pocket and producing a thick pink rubber wristband, Omega and Pi indented into it and colored red, the name ‘SERSEI’ recessed on the opposite side. “Stick out your hand,” she instructed, nodding to his right hand.

Raising the same arm, he complied.

Sucking her lower lip into her mouth, she stretched the pliant wristband over his hand and placed it on his wrist. “There,” she said, releasing her lip and grinning at him. “Just my way of saying thanks for enduring my brother here,” she added.

Unable to chisel the grin off his face, Oliver thought for sure he must have looked a little mental as he nodded, “Thanks back, no, I mean, thanks for the wristband,” he babbled.

Tilting her head slightly to the side, she smiled coyly, “You have to wear that from now on,” she stated.

“I will,” he assured.

“Good. It means you belong to Omega Pi now,” she chuckled, giving him a wink.

There were so many witty things Cam wanted to say and it required every ounce of personal willpower for him to remain quiet. Keeping his teeth together inside his mouth he just smiled and nodded, before, “Please thank the young lady who facilitated my request to see you,” he asked.

“I’ll let Maeve know,” she replied with a smile. “Anything else?”

“No, thanks again,” Cam said.

She nodded and smiled anew at Oliver, “Remember, keep it on,” she insisted.

Oliver nodded and together with Cam descended the stairs down to the walkway.