What's a Greek Friendship Society?

One week later, I found myself in the common room in Flack Hall, practicing my Advanced Piano Studies music with the grand piano sitting in the corner of the room. It wasn't anything like my piano at home, but I could tell that it had a few secrets of its own. I wasn't sure what the piano had seen or heard that it was trying to hide from me, but there was some kind of secret between the keys that I just had to tease out.

Some of my fellow students walked by, either ignoring or appreciating the music that I was trying to create. After about an hour, I grew sick of the piece that my professor had assigned to me and decided to improvise a little. I played wild, unscripted notes, hoping that a few of them would come together to form a beautiful harmony. I suppose that's how the world works, after all. We're all isolated musical notes, looking for another note that will help us create a perfect chord. Sometimes it works, though most of the time it doesn't, but that's all fine as long as we enjoy the search.

"Ryan?" I heard someone say.

I turned around and saw Patrick standing behind me with a smile on his face. "What is it?" I asked him.

"You're really a talented pianist," Patrick said.

"Thanks, but it's all just for fun," I said as I continued to play. "I don't think I'm all that good. I'm probably the worst person in my Advanced Piano Studies class."

"You're still extraordinarily good," Patrick said.

All of a sudden, someone interrupted us. "Hi Gerard," I said as I slammed on the piano keys. I hadn't expected to see Gerard in Flack Hall, especially at this time of day. Normally, the Greek Friendship Society would already be in their house, partying the night away.

"Hey Ryan," Gerard said. He turned to Patrick and asked, "Are you a freshman too?"

Patrick nodded and said, "I'm Patrick Stump."

"Nice to meet you, Patrick," Gerard said. "I'm Gerard Way."

Patrick stared at Gerard's dyed black hair, guyliner, leather jacket, Greek Friendship Society T-shirt, and skinny jeans for a moment. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I just wanted to ask you guys a simple question," Gerard said.

"You know I'm all for answering questions," I said. "Questions are the heart of any real argument. What's your question?"

"We're throwing a party at the Greek Friendship Society house tonight so new members can see what our organization is all about," Gerard said. "Would you two like to come?"

"Sure, why not?" I said.

"What is a Greek Friendship Society anyways?" Patrick asked, a little bit more skeptical of Gerard's offer than I was.

"It's exactly what it sounds like," Gerard said. "It's Kale's one and only gender-inclusive Greek organization. I'm surprised that you haven't heard of us. We live right next door to you guys."

"I've definitely heard of you," Patrick said. "I just wasn't sure exactly what kind of fraternity you were."

"WE'RE NOT A FRATERNITY!" Gerard screamed. "Fraternities are just for men, but Delta Omicron Gamma is inclusive of all genders!"

"I'm sorry," Patrick said nervously. "Please calm down."

Gerard took a few deep breaths and said, "I just want to make it very clear that we're not a fraternity. So do you want to go to the party or not?"

"It will be fun!" Frank exclaimed as he entered Flack Hall.

Patrick thought about it for a few minutes and then said, "I'll go if Ryan's going."

"I'm going," I said.

"Great," Gerard said. "Let's head over to the Greek Friendship Society house."

Gerard and Frank headed out the door, and Patrick and I followed them towards the little brick house next to Flack Hall. It was no coincidence that the lights were on and everybody was home that evening as the four of us walked down the path towards the house.

"Why is it called Delta Omicron Gamma?" Patrick asked.

"Frank named it," Gerard said. "Why don't you ask him?"

"It's called Delta Omicron Gamma because we can abbreviate it as DOG, and I love dogs!" Frank exclaimed.

Patrick nodded and said, "Dogs are so adorable. I worked at a pet store in high school, and the dogs were so cute. I wanted to buy all of them!"

"That sounds so amazing," Frank said. "I have twelve dogs, and they all live in the Greek Friendship Society house. Maybe you'll meet some of them during the party." Frank opened the door, and dozens of puppies rushed up to greet us. I wasn't sure which of them belonged to Frank and which of them belonged to the other members of the Greek Friendship Society, but nevertheless, Frank felt the need to cuddle and scratch each and every one of them. Patrick was grinning like a maniac as Frank handed one of the dogs to him, while Gerard attempted to step over the dogs and make his way inside. I glanced down at the dogs one more time. They seemed to be perfectly content to live in the Greek Friendship Society house, with Frank pampering all of them. It was a simple yet ideal way to live.

The puppies slowly cleared away from the door, and Frank, Patrick, and I entered the house. Punk music blared in the background as the members of the Greek Friendship Society, along with a few freshmen that I knew, chatted and danced. Gerard seemed to be right in the middle of the action as he greeted all of the Greek Friendship Society members and tried to convince a group of freshmen to join the group.

"I can get you guys something to drink if you'd like," Frank said. "I heard that Whitney got us some beer from the Aubergine Dream."

"I'm eighteen, Frank," I said.

"So am I," Patrick said.

"There's no need to let that stop you," Frank said. "I'm not going to pressure you though."

All of a sudden, Gerard came up to us and said, "I should probably introduce you guys to some of the Greek Friendship Society members. Follow me."

Patrick and I both followed Gerard through the house as he came up to each group of partygoers and introduced us to them. I could hardly keep their pronouns straight, much less their names, as Gerard ran around the room, greeting each member of the Greek Friendship Society and telling them that we were "new recruits."

"Let me see if I've got this straight," Patrick said once Gerard had introduced us to everyone. "The boy petting the dog on the right side of the room is Ramzi, right?"

"That's right," Gerard said.

"The dark-skinned girl next to him is probably Whitney," Patrick said.

"No, that's Britney!" Gerard exclaimed. "Whitney's on the other side of the room."

"The boy next to her is Morgan, right?" Patrick said.

"No!" Gerard shouted. "Morgan is agender! Get it right!"

I looked out on the dance floor again, and spotted a familiar face. "What's Laura doing here?" I asked. "I didn't think she was in the Greek Friendship Society."

"She's not, but if she wants to dance and drink all night, then there's no one that can stop her," Gerard said.

Patrick and I spent a few more hours wandering around the Greek Friendship Society house, but by midnight, Patrick was practically falling asleep. I wasn't one to deprive him of his precious dreaming time, so we found Gerard again and told him that we were leaving.

"It's a Friday night!" Gerard exclaimed. "How are you leaving already?"

"I think I'm going to fall asleep on the dance floor if I stay here any longer," Patrick said.

"Fine," Gerard said. "Are you two going to join Greek Friendship Society?"

I considered Gerard's offer for a few minutes, and at first, I wasn't sure how to make the decision. What should I consider? Was it the people in it, the activities they did, or something else that would make or break my decision to join Delta Omicron Gamma? The members of the Greek Friendship Society seemed nice enough, but I wasn't much of a partier. I personally preferred the quiet company of a piano, which the Greek Friendship Society house sadly lacked. Additionally, I had no desire to commit to being in a Greek organization. I didn't want to limit my options, especially when I hadn't even looked at any of the Kale fraternities.

"No thanks," I said.

"I don't think I'm going to join either," Patrick said. "You guys seem nice, but I don't think Greek Friendship Society is right for me."

"Oh come on," Gerard said. "It will be fun. We're throwing another party next Friday, and if you join this year, you can live in the Greek Friendship Society house next year. We have dogs!"

"Can I have a little bit more time to think about it?" Patrick asked.

"Sure," Gerard said. "Take as much time as you need."

"Thanks for inviting us, Gerard," I said.

"No problem," he replied. "I'll see you both soon."

Patrick and I both left the Greek Friendship Society house as the rest of the party guests continued to dance wildly. When we arrived back in our Flack Hall dorm room, Patrick immediately crashed onto the bed and fell asleep, while I stayed up a little bit longer to finish my philosophy homework.

It had been a crazy night, but I thought that I was beginning to see the truth about the Greek Friendship Society. If Patrick really was considering joining and wasn't just saying that to appease Gerard, he was much less innocent than I had previously thought. Perhaps Gerard was corrupting him, just like Socrates has corrupted the youth of Athens. Alternately, maybe I was the one responsible, since I had gone with him to the party.

Either way, perhaps such a corruption isn't a bad thing. Traditional morality has never been my cup of tea anyways.

Once I finished my homework, I fell asleep, but the bright lights and crashing guitar chords hadn't quite left my head. They danced around my skull until the Greek Friendship Society's party finally ended, and I could get some real rest at last.