Plugged 7

I arrive at the house. It is night time when We were told to come to the house at night time which I I thought was weird. I knock on the door of the frat house a few times. For some reason I'm nervous. I know I shouldn't be but it doesn't matter. Today would be the day that I would be moving into the Gamma frat house. The frat house scares me in mass. It looks like some old grand house. You would think this was Hogwarts instead of the place where boys went to act like goddam fools.

The door opens.

"You're late," the boy says.

I recognize him immediately, as Zackery. Zackery is the handsome guy in the Gammas that has the killer face with a slim body. He is covered in tattoos. I wonder if he covers himself in tattoos to hide the fact that he isn't as built as the other guys. The idea may be stupid for some reason I just think about it because of the way he stands. He has this stance that muscular guys make. His shoulders are perked up. His biceps are tense. His shirt is off. He stands like he is a lot more muscular than he actually is.

"I'm just three minutes late," I respond shaking my head looking down at the time.

"You think you are special?"

I raise an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?

"You think because Gaige puts his dick in you that you deserve some type of special treatment for getting fucked by him? A lot of people got fucked by him...just so you know..."

All of a sudden I'm feeling a little attacked honestly. I look at Zackery with raised eyebrows. He seems harsh and tense at the door. I had no idea being three minutes late would cause all this drama. Maybe I shouldn't have stopped for the breakfast bar. I'm wondering if this is some early hazing or if Zackery actually is really this rude.

"Who exactly was he fucking?" I ask.

Zackery leans into me. He presses his head next to my ears, "Everyone... NOW MOVE YOUR ASS!"

Zackery pulls me into the house, luggage and all. I want to say something about him putting his hands on me but I don't think I should be arguing with a Gamma on the very first day.

Zackery walks me into a den area, pushes me in there and locks the door behind him.

"Don't worry," someone says, "You'll get used to his attitude."

I turn around to see a boy. I've seen him around campus. His name is Flip. He was tall and probably the most Gamma-looking pledge among us. The others were here too as well.

Jordan is there. He gives me a pound when I walk in the room. He has this huge smile on his face. There is no reason someone should be as excited as Jordan for something so petty as pledging. You would think Jordan was five and he was just told he was going to Disney World for the very first time.

Caliph was sitting in the distance. He's far away from Flip and Jordan. I had to admit he still looked so handsome to me even though he was the biggest homophobe that I had ever met in my life. I'm still pissed at him for all the things he said to me about my sexuality and frankly don't want to be associated with a guy like him. He looks like he has something on his mind. He makes eye contact with me when I walk in the room. His mouth opens up a little bit like he wants to say something but he doesn't.

"How long have they kept you guys locked up in here?" I ask.

"Forever," Jordan shakes his head, "I think it's about to start though. I have a feeling. I'm excited."

My best friend says it as though I can't tell. I don't want to mention the fact that I literally had to threaten not to be a pledge for Gaige to finally make it happen. I just am going to keep that little bit of information to myself. I definitely don't want Jordan to feel like he is lesser-than in anyway. He wants this. He deserves to be here just as much as I do.

"I'm pretty excited too," Flip says, "What's that guys' problem?"

Caliph is standing off to the side. I'm not sure what his problem is. I wonder if it is the whole argument me and him had. Caliph has always been a little anti-social but today was on a new level. He is staring at the ground almost like he wants to disappear out of this room for some reason. I wonder if there is something else that is bothering him.

Jordan smiles through it all, "Never mind him. He's probably just nervous. Look. They are coming..."

Jordan points out of the window. In the distance there are all these figures. I only call them figures because they have something like sheets covering them completely. They have masks on their faces as well. The masks are masks of all different animals. Hippos, dogs, cats, monkeys and other exotic gold masks stand outside in the yard.

"You've got to be joking me," I say.

The doors of the den open.

An elephant masked person walks in the room. I can't see the body or anything else but an elephant. I don't get what kind of weird ass ritual this is but it's freaking me out a little bit.

"Walk with me," the elephant says.

"Gaige?"

The elephant looks at me hard. I can see the eyes underneath. I've looked into the eyes a million times. It was definitely Gaige. I would have assumed Barry would have been the one doing this but then I remember everyone talking about the fact that Barry was doing some sort of study abroad type thing. He must have left already.

"Follow me," the elephant repeats a little sterner this time.

I'm guessing this was Gaige attempting to treat me fairly like everyone else and act like we weren't lovers for the last couple of years. I go with the flow. We leave our luggage in the den and follow Gaige out into the to the yard.

The other animals have lined up in a circle around us. There is silence.

Gaige stands slightly out of the circle, "GAMMAS!

"WE ARE THE PLUG!" the entire circle of men say at that moment with deep, demanding voices. They chant their motto over and over until Gaige as the elephant raises his hand for them to stop.

Gaige as the elephant faces us. He walks down the line. He walks past Flip, he walks past Jordan, he walks past Caliph and he stops at me.

"So you want to be a Gamma man?"

"Uh...yes..."

"That was a rhetorical question. Of course you want to be a Gamma man. Everyone wants to be a Gamma man. Everyone wants to be us. It won't be easy. Just so you know. Today is the first trial that you have. The first step to becoming a Gamma man is to find the key to the basement the four of you will be sleeping in."

"Where is it in the house somewhere?" Flip asks.

The Gammas laugh. They are amused by this. I don't like the sound of the laugh.

Gaige points into the woods with his sheeted clothing, "It's out there."

The woods behind the Gamma frat house were thick. I'm shocked. How the fuck were we supposed to find a key out there?

"You got to be joking," I whisper to Jordan.

Gaige turns to us, "You are not to return back to the house until you've found the key."

"That will take us forever," I respond to Gaige.

Gaige gives me a hard stare, "Well you have until morning..."

Jordan is the only one fucking smiling about this. He thinks this is amazing. I can't believe this guy. The rest of us look annoyed to say the least.

"Can we begin?" Jordan asks.

There is more laughter.

"You thought it would be that easy?"

"How is that easy?" I challenge Gaige again.

Ooos fill the crowd. I know that I am challenging Gaige in front of the rest of the fraternity. Maybe I shouldn't but I can't help it.

"You have to work to be a pledge. So when you go look for the keys tonight...you are going to go in the woods...naked."

"Fuck no!" Caliph says at the top of his lungs.

"You go in the woods naked or you don't become a Gamma..." Gaige explains.

I can't believe Gaige right now. Naked. Seriously? I look over and I'm not surprised that Jordan is the first one to start getting undressed. Flip is following his lead shortly after getting undressed.

"Just do it," Jordan whispers to me.

"Jordan..."

I'm hesitating. My pride is getting in the way. These Gammas were pushing it and it was just day 1. I look at Caliph. He has his arms crossed. For some reason Caliph is looking over at me as though trying to see what I'm going to do. Was he waiting to see what I did before he made his decision?

"For me...please," Jordan says, "I don't want to do this alone."

I sigh. I had promised Jordan that I would pledge with him. He was my best friend. I couldn't just act like it didn't matter.

"Fine," I state.

At that moment I start undressing.

That's when I notice Caliph.

"Fuck it," he finally says.

Caliph starts taking off his clothes. I try not to look but I can't help it. My eyes dart right over to him. He looks so sexy as he pulls off his shirt first and then his pants. His underwear grasps tightly at his firm, toned body. The next thing he does is pull off his underwear slowly. He peels them back lowering them past his crotch and exposing the shaven pubic section and the shaft of his penis.

Then all of a sudden his eyes dart towards me. It's almost like Caliph KNOWS I'm watching him! I turn away at that moment.

Fuck!

What the fuck am I doing?

I focus on undressing myself.

A minute passes. For some reason I'm just so curious about him undressing that I turn back towards Caliph. I notice Caliph hasn't moved a single inch. He's still in the same position still looking dead at me. When he sees me looking back at him Caliph does something weird. He pulls his underwear completely down.

His dick pops out of his pants. It's soft but it has a little weight to it as though it could get hard any minute. It's long and he has the most beautiful tanned head on his dick I had ever seen in my life. I am so turned on at that moment that I look away so that I don't get hard.

I am so confused. Did he want me to see him undressing?

"You might want to find that key by morning," Gaige tells us, "There is an art seminar in these woods at at 8 am. They are capturing the beauty of nature. I'm sure you don't want to be naked running in the woods when they show up..."

There is more laughter.

I couldn't believe this was happening...

~

"I need to know if you are going to start some shit," Jordan tells Caliph.

Caliph can feel how awkward it is as they search the forest for the key. They've been walking around these woods for hours now. He's annoyed to say the least. How the fuck were they supposed to find a tiny key in all these woods? It was impossible! It was stupid.

Flip and Mariano are up ahead. He can't keep his eyes off of Mariano. Ever since he sat down and really thought about how much he had risked because of Mariano the night Jordan killed Barry he couldn't stop thinking. He was hiding the fact that Jordan was a murderer. He didn't want to snitch on Mariano's friend. He felt like that would hurt Mariano. The only reason he was around Jordan the night Jordan killed Barry in the first place was because of Mariano.

The reason that he was walking in the woods right now is just so that he could be closer to Mariano.

Why the fuck was every decision he made about Mariano?

"Relax. I'm not going to tell anyone what you did," Caliph explains.

"What we did."

"Excuse me?"

"You were there. You helped me bury the body. You are a part of this too. You do realize that right?" Jordan says, "Seems kind of easy for you too, honestly. Have you done this before? You were so calm when we hid the body..."

Caliph pushes past him.

"I don't want to talk about this."

Someone died last night. Caliph shouldn't feel some type of way about it. He had no connection to these Americans. For some reason he did. Nadia would kill him if she knew that he was feeling bad about the death of an American. It was just so unnecessary. The terrorist attack he was planning had a reason. It was for Allah. It was for the fight against Western suppression.

What was Barry's death about?

What did that accomplish?

"I owe you," Jordan says.

"I don't want anything you have to offer."

Jordan stops Caliph. He holds him back. He keeps him there.

"You sure about that?" Jordan asks.

"What are you talking about? What could you possibly give me?"

Jordan looks over at Mariano. Mariano and Flip are working together to find the key. Mariano bends over. Flip is clearly checking Mariano out. Flip is clearly checking out Mariano's ass. For some reason the idea of Flip checking out Mariano's ass when he bends over bugs the fuck out of Caliph.

He doesn't get why. Is it just the idea that he was surrounded by sinners and transgressors or was there something else?

"He has a fat ass doesn't he?" Jordan asks, "No homo of course. I'm straight but if I was gay...my best friend does have a nice ass..."

"What you're talking is heresy," Caliph says pushing Jordan into the nearest tree, "In my religion you are to kill the disbelieving and filthy homosexual. You relied on Allah, and killed them."

His father has raised him to believe that. He had seen the homosexuals being killed. Jordan had crossed a line insinuating that there was homosexuality in him. This was the greatest disrespect. Caliph has his hand on Jordan's neck. He could kill him for making such an insinuation. He could kill him right here and right now.

Jordan seems to find this funny. He smiles for some reason, "So you want to kill Mariano?"

"I never said that."

"I'll just let him know that he should probably stay away from you," Jordan says pushing Caliph off of him, "Because in your religion he is a disbelieving and filthy homosexual."

"I didn't say specifically Mariano."

"But he is homosexual right?"

"Yeah but..."

"Then according to your religion he is disbelieving and filthy and deserved to be killed. On the reliance of Allah."

Jordan was confusing Caliph. Those were the rules. That was what Caliph believed but for some reason things just seemed different for Mariano. But why? When he looked at Mariano he didn't see something filthy. He saw something...something ideal. He saw someone that he wanted to stay close to. He saw something real.

But at the same time he knew that Mariano had to change. Mariano had to repent.

He had to.

"He can change."

"What if he doesn't want to?" Jordan asks Caliph.

"Then he will burn in hell for an eternity," Caliph responds.

Jordan nods, "I figured you would say that. So I must have been completely wrong. You don't have feelings for Mariano after all. I definitely apologize for making the assumption that you were attracted to him."

Caliph nods. He looks away.

"You were wrong. He means nothing to me."

"Fine. I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?"

"Like I said. I'm going to tell Mariano that you think he is filthy and he deserves to die. Just so that everyone is on the same page here."

Jordan is walking towards Mariano.

"Hey Mariano!"

Mariano turns around, "What's up? You guys see any key?"

"No. No key. I was just talking to Caliph here. And he wanted me to let you know that you are..."

"STOP!" Caliph grabs Jordan.

"Everything OK?" Mariano asks.

Flip laughs, "You guys are acting weird."

"I just need to talk to Jordan about something, really fast," Caliph says.

Caliph pulls Jordan away. Mariano is still looking so he damn near pulls Jordan around to the other side of the tree. He is breathing heavy. He is panicking at the idea of Jordan telling Mariano all those things. He remembered how Mariano had reacted the first time Caliph told him about his religion. Things between him and Mariano still hadn't been the same. The last thing he wanted was to make things worse.

"What? Why'd you stop me?"

"Please don't tell him that. Please?" Caliph asks.

At this point Caliph was damn near begging Jordan.

Jordan smiles at that moment, "I knew it. There is something there. You have a crush on Mariano..."

~

They pull some beers out at the frat house. Zackery cracks open a beer and sits on the couch. He takes off his lion mask as the others are relaxing as well. The whole time he is staring at Gaige. Zackery didn't get it. A lion was the king of the jungle, not a fucking elephant. Why the fuck would Gaige wear an elephant mask. It was just another example of why Gaige wasn't qualified to lead the Gammas.

"Did you see their faces when they ran out there?"

"Jordan's dick was little," someone points out, "He must have had shrinkage from the cold."

Zackery laughs.

"That is Gaige's pick," Zackery responds.

He has to poke Gaige. He can't help himself. Gaige had damn near forced Jordan on them. A lot of people felt some type of way about it. This was the opening that Zackery needed. People were annoyed by Jordan and Gaige forcing Jordan into a Gamma could cause the rift that he needed to replace him.

"I didn't have a choice with Jordan. Mariano wouldn't have joined."

"Since when do we make our choices about Mariano?" Zackery asks.

Gaige gives Zackery a hard look, "Weren't you the one who fucking told me that we needed to have Mariano in the Gammas."

"Yeah that I was before I found out you guys were having gay sex together."

"Guys, let's calm down. Barry said we have to be cool while he's gone," James points out, "We can't have the pledges thinking we aren't united when they get back."

Gaige looks out of the window.

"They've been gone a while..."

Zackery rolls his eyes at Gaige. He's annoyed how sensitive Gaige is when it comes to Mariano. If Gaige and his cronies were going to target Flip, then he was going to make damn sure to target Mariano. If Gaige thought, he would just change things around on everyone he had another thing coming. Mariano was not getting any special treatment.

"Your boyfriend is going to be fine," Zackery states, "We all had to do it. Mariano isn't better than the rest of us."

The look on everyone's face at that point says that they are listening to Zackery. The little seeds of preferential treatment would start growing here.

"Z does have a point," one of the frat brothers says.

"I'm not saying Mariano is better than anyone," Gaige responds before getting a little aggressive, "But if I was what the fuck are the rest of you going to do about it? Barry left me in charge. Does anyone have a fucking problem with that?"

The room gets quiet. There is clear tension. Gaige is clearly annoyed. He gets up from the couch when no one challenges him and walks out of the room.

Zackery smiles. Gaige's defensiveness and pride was starting to make him look really bad. The frat boys stay quiet when Gaige leaves the room. No one wants to say anything first but they are all thinking the same thing.

Zackery offers the interpretation first.

"This is exactly why we shouldn't let gay guys in Gamma," Zackery says, "All of a sudden our president's boyfriend is getting special treatment."

"You think it's gonna be a problem?" Reggie asks,

"Most definitely. I think we should actually reach out to Barry about this..."

"That's the weird thing," Reggie says, "Since Barry left he hasn't checked in on us."

Zackery found this weird. Barry couldn't have trusted Gaige that much. Usually Barry treated the Gamma Fraternity like it was the most important thing in the world. The guy was literally obsessed with Gamma. Barry not calling while he was abroad just didn't add up.

Zackery nods at Reggie, "Give his parents a call. They might have to contact him. We need to get in touch with Barry asap."

~

I trip over something and hit my foot against a rock.

"Fuck!"

"You OK?" Flip asks.

Flip stops and grabs me. I have to admit the guy is kind of attractive. He has a big penis that I have to admit is uncomfortably big. It's so big that it is kind of unattractive in a way. It's the only thing about him I find a little too much. Otherwise he seems like the perfect Gamma boy. I know he'll fit in just fine, even with his huge dick. It swings from side to side. I swear the thing might grow to 12 inches. It's hard not to notice it especially when he sees me trip and starts swinging that large thing back over towards me.

It wasn't until I met Flip that I realize the saying of having a third leg.

That's when Caliph cuts flip off, "Let me see it."

I'm shocked honestly. Caliph looks at my foot. This is the first time he's spoken to me or really interacted since our weird argument about sexuality.

"We're never going to find it if we keep stopping," Jordan says.

All of a sudden he isn't smiling. All of a sudden he doesn't think this shit is as exciting.

"Your friend is hurt. We should give up," Caliph says, "We're tired, sleepy, hungry and Mariano's foot looks a little bit swollen. It's time to pack this shit up and head back."

Jordan isn't having it, "We can't head back."

"It's about to be daytime in about an hour."

"It's better lighting that way."

"There is a class here in the morning remember?" Caliph argues.

"That's the point. The Gammas want to embarrass us," Jordan says, "It might take days to find this key but we keep looking. We show them we are worth it."

It's weird that the one guy who wasn't wanted by the Gammas was the one who was the most excited about joining them.

"I think this is my fault," Flip says.

We've been walking around for hours with nothing on but our shoes. I'm sweating. I'm tired. I'm annoyed. I hate my life right now. Everyone is whining so when Flip starts I don't think that this is really anything different.

"How so?" I ask.

"Cody and Roddy are pissed. They think that I told Shady Shanice about Gaige and Mariano. They probably set this up to make this thing extra hard. They probably had the key hidden somewhere impossible to find."

"Wait," I stop Flip, "Did you?"

"Did I what?"

"Did you tell Shady Shanice about me and Gaige?" I ask.

There is silence. The guilt is written all over Flip's face and I don't even know it. Right now he isn't denying it and that also shows that this guy knows exactly what I'm talking about. Why the fuck would he do something like that.

"I'm sorry," he responds.

"Who put you up to it?" I ask.

He's hesitating.

"Can we just focus on finding this key?" he changes the subject.

That's all Jordan needs to hear, "Me and Flip are going to keep looking. How about Caliph you stay here with Mariano for a while. We'll be back in about 30 minutes. If we don't find the key by then, we'll start heading back to the mansion."

Caliph's eyes get wide. He's horrified.

Jordan doesn't wait for confirmation. He gives the order and without hesitating he jets off with big dick Flip following behind him with that monster dick.

Things get awkward when it is just Caliph and I in the woods. He stops messing around with my foot and stands. It's so awkward. I don't know what to look at. Caliph's beautiful body is hard not to stare at. His dick is big but comfortably big. It isn't that monster thing that Flip has been walking around with. It's shaped perfectly. His body is a work of art as he stands in the middle of the forest staring out weakly at everything.

"That guy seems to like you," Caliph states out of nowhere.

"Who? Flip?"

"Yeah."

It's random.

I had to admit however that Flip was flirting a little bit. It was harmless though. My gaydar definitely went off when it came to Flip and clearly I wasn't the only one.

I shake the idea off and shrug, "Nah, he's probably straight."

"He likes you. You wouldn't know if someone likes you if they came right in your face and said it to you," Caliph lets me know.

Caliph was probably right. I didn't pay attention to those kind of things.

"It's different with gay people."

"How?"

I shrug, "I dunno. It's harder sometimes to tell."

Caliph crosses his arms against his tight beautiful chest, "How do you even know that you're gay?"

I sigh. Here it goes again. We were doing just fine but as soon as sexuality came into the picture it was back to the awkwardness between us.

"I'm attracted to guys."

"I mean like how? Like I mean I can say a guy is attractive without feeling like a sinner...I mean," Caliph corrects himself, "Like a gay person."

The idea that he corrected himself from calling me a sinner is definitely noted. I look over at Caliph wondering if he was actually trying here.

"Well not just finding someone attractive but actually being attracted. Like you want to kiss them or something..."

Caliph sighs, "Like you would a girl? Isn't it not natural?"

"Nah. Like you would another guy," I respond, "You can't stop thinking about them. You can't stop staring at them. You get turned on when you see them naked. You want to do sexual things with them. But it even goes further than that. You want to make love to them. You want to be in love with them. You hope that they feel the same."

Caliph shrugs, "You feel that way about Gaige?"

That was an interesting question.

"Yeah. I suppose I care about Gaige deeply. He has a lot of growing to do. I guess nothing comes for free though. He isn't the perfect guy."

"You can find a better guy," Caliph says out of nowhere.

"This coming from the guy who knows nothing about gay relationships?" I ask laughing, "How would you possibly know what to look for in a gay guy?"

I'm happy that Caliph is comfortable now at least to talk about this but he is kind of out-of-line.

"I know what not to look for. He's a cheater."

"Excuse me."

Caliph sighs.

"I can't tell you how I know but I'm sure of it. When the two of you were together he cheated on you."

The way he says it wasn't as though it was an assumption. Caliph was saying it as though he knew this for a fact. It hits me like a ton of bricks when he says it. The truth is I love Gaige. The truth is the idea of him cheating on me breaks my fucking heart. I shake my head at that moment. I'm having a semi panic attack.

I shake my head, "Damn..."

"You don't believe me."

I shake my head, "I believe you. It's just. A part of me knew. A part of me just didn't want to accept it."

I remember the condom in the bag. I remember the lie he told. I knew it was a lie. I knew he was cheating but I believed him anyway.

Caliph comes next to the rock. I'm crying and I don't even notice it.

"I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's not you. It's me. I'm so fucking stupid for trusting him..."

Caliph raises my head by lifting my chin so that I look at him tears and all.

"You aren't stupid. I read your philosophy papers when you were out. You are smart as all hell. You are funny. You are kind and generous. You are welcoming. You're handsome."

"Handsome."

"Attractive..." Caliph says.

Caliph still doesn't take his eyes off of me. The weird tension that has been between us all day is coming to a head right now. I've stopped crying. I've stopped thinking about Gaige at this moment. All I see is Caliph right in front of my face.

"Thanks."

Caliph hesitates. His eyes are still on mine.

"Is that gay?"

"No. You can be straight and find another guy attractive."

"What about being attracted," he says repeating what I said from earlier, "Like you want to kiss them or something..."

Caliph is staring at my lips. I stare at his lips. We stop talking. All we hear is breathing between us for a few seconds. We are naked in the darkness.

He is the one who kisses me first. It sends shock waves down my spine when he plants his lips firmly on mine and puts his tongue in my mouth. He strokes my tongue a few times. I do the same. I suck on his face pushing back at him. Caliph puts his arm around my waist and pulls me close. We kiss hard together.

Soon he is pressing up against me. We fall to the ground but neither of us cares. He is kissing me. He's kissing me hard. His tongue is in my mouth. His dick has hardened on top of me. I hold onto his tight ass and squeeze it.

There is so much warmth when we are kissing. There is so much chemistry. I can feel his precum coming out at that moment. God knows what the hell is going to happen.

"Eh-erm..." someone clears their throat.

Flip and Jordan have just come back!

Just at that moment Caliph jumps off of me. He panics so bad that I think he is going to take off running but he ends up just staring at me. He has no idea what the fuck he's just got caught doing. Flip looks shocked and Jordan looks amused.

I look back at Caliph. He's disgusted. He's disgusted with me. He's disgusted with himself.

Jordan waves something at us, "Found the key..."

To read the next chapter in advance go to www.crushedcrown.com