alumni ➢ luke hemmings [DISCONTINUED]

1.6 ➢ Closed.

"Did you guys know that H. Holmes is one fucked up individual?" I look up from my laptop for a brief moment, eyes locking with Dylan's. I contemplate on looking back down and listening that way, but nobody seems to be paying him full attention, so I take it upon myself to do so.

"What do you mean?"

"He constructed a labyrinthine series of rooms, secret passages, false doors, stairways to nowhere, and boobytraps and murder devices. Once he killed someone, the skeletons of their bodies would go to medical schools for people to chop away at, and stuff,"

"And you figured this out, how?"

"Criminology student," he answers, nudging his binder in my direction to prove his point. I nod. "It's all very interesting. With the first initiation task out of the way, I can actually start learning about the good stuff,"

"Must be nice," I sigh, moreso to myself. He shrugs.

"You'll get there eventually. Though you'll probably be studying more innocent things in Literature- stuff that hasn't got anything to do with cannibals, murder weapons and redrooms,"

"I'm suddenly not hungry anymore," Chase grimaces, lowering his sandwich with a look of absolute disgust on his face. Ashley nods in agreement, but the burger in her mouth stays in place as she takes another bite.

"That's... interesting," I say, for a lack of a better word.

Dylan beams, "I'm trying to get all of my notes out of the way now when it's not so busy," he shuts his notebook, tying it with the elastic as he sets his pen to the side, "I've done all my first tasks and even a little extra. Michael says I can lay off and do whatever until he announces the second one,"

"What was your first one?" I ask him, eyebrows knitting together in curiosity. I've heard Chase's and Ashley's, and I obviously know about mine, but it's surprisingly never occured to me what the hell actually goes on in my best friend's fraternity. Michael is the president, after all- he probably has them gagging on mac 'n cheese and pledging their 'allegiance to the underworld' just to match the lyrics of his favourite Green Day song, Minority.

"Nothing too hard," Dylan shrugs, pushing his glasses further up his nose. I raise an eyebrow, "Just to beat him in an intense game of Mario Kart."

"Wow!" Chase all but whispers, his loud, sarcastic shout attracting the attention of many of the people around us. Including, but not exclusively, Luke's; he pauses for a split second, but doesn't bother to look behind his shoulder or over his book. Typical.

"Your life is so fucking hard," Chase groans. Dylan shrugs.

"I dunno, dude," he says. The other boy's eyes narrow.

"What the hell are you talking abou-"

"It was Rainbow Road."

"You've got it tougher than all of us combined, you poor thing," Ashley states, the expression on her face dripping in cynicism. I laugh, shaking my head before allowing my eyes to fall back onto the unfinished essay in front of me.

It's not due for another two weeks, but this way, I can avoid knowledging the existence of the one place I've learnt to dread. Bethany wants to see me tonight, and I have no idea what to tell her.

It's bad enough that all of the other pledges are starting their second task already while I'm still on my first, but she's already extended mine by one more day and asking for another would just be horribly unfair. "You either suck it up or you suck someone's face off. There's no in between," Ashley says, proving successful in somehow reading my mind. I groan.