Phew.....sorry for the long delay guys. I had a heck of a time with this chapter, plus Christmas, but you know all the excuses. I know all the chapters after this one will be MUCH easier to write! Please let me know what you think. I'm still not so sure about this one.
Cappie sat with a stony expression on his face as the sorority and fraternity presidents finished listening as the incident from a few nights ago was rehashed. How the Kappa Tau's stole Huck's golf cart and attempted to suspend it from the third floor of the campus parking deck, and how it fell and was totally crushed. They also heard about how it was going to cost the University five hundred dollars to replace it. "Oh, you forgot to mention the part about how the Omega Chi's helped us steal the golf cart, then bolted and called the cops," Cappie thought bitterly.
"Since this is a recognition hearing," Shane, the IFC Chief Justice went on, "I am now going to go over Kappa Tau's standings as far as University requirements are concerned." Catherine handed him a stack of papers which he placed on the podium in front of him. "Ok, let's see......average GPA is 2.15, which is .15 higher than the required 2.0 for fraternity membership. The All Fraternity average is 3.0. KT is third behind Lambda Sig and Omega Chi in athletics and ahhhh," Shane seemed to lose his place as he shuffled through the papers. He gave Catherine a look that asked, "Help me!"
She frowned and yanked the papers out of Shane's hand and glared at Cappie. "KT has not completed any of the University required risk management programming, and hasn't turned in any philanthropy hour time cards, although I do see here that several of your brothers have completed quite a few mandatory service hours this semester courtesy of the University Police. Finally, I see Kappa Tau is just coming off of two weeks probation for yet another prank where the IKI's and Omega Chi's homecoming float was rigged to soak most of our alumni in beer." Shane looked back at Catherine. She had really gone for the jugular.
"Thanks Catherine, I think that covers it," Shane said as he shook his head. "Cappie, as Kappa Tau president, you have the right of rebuttal. You get five minutes." He stepped aside from the podium as Cappie stood and made his way to the front of the room. His eyes locked with Casey's. She looked panic-stricken. This was so not good.
"Well, first I'd like to point out that the Kappa Tau's were wrongly accused in the Homecoming debacle. If you might remember," he said as he shot Catherine a glare, "That the IKI president recanted her complaint. She said she didn't see who did it, and that she lied when she accused us and ZBZ." Cappie started to feel more confident as he noticed some nods from the fraternity presidents. He made sure to completely bypass making any sort of eye contact with Evan, who was staring at him so hard, Cappie almost felt holes burning into his chest.
"Now about this prank," Cappie continued, "The Kappa Tau's realize that we might have gone too far this time, and let me make it very clear to you guys that the brothers responsible did not mean at all to cause that much damage. Seems they overestimated their own strength just a little too much." Good, that got a few muffled chuckles from the room. "The brothers in question have been dealt with by the University, very harshly might I add. I know we aren't the most overachieving house on campus or anything, but I really hope that you guys agree that we don't deserve to get kicked off for this."
"Wait a second," Shane said as he looked at Cappie from the paper he was reading. "It says here that three guys were caught and expelled?"
"Yeah, that's right," Cappie responded.
"Three guys pulled off hoisting a 600 pound golf cart three stories in the air?" Shane asked as he looked at Cappie. Cappie knew exactly where he was going with this line of questioning, and he didn't like it at all.
"As far as I know, yeah," Cappie replied.
"That just doesn't seem right," Shane said as he shook his head, "You said it yourself, you guys aren't exactly known for your physical prowess. In fact, I think this prank is a little too elaborate for one house to pull off by itself. You guys didn't have any help did you?"
Cappie's breath stopped in his chest. For one terrifying moment, Cappie and Evan locked eyes. From the look he was getting back from Evan, Cappie knew there was no way he was going to tell the truth now. Cappie's eyes shifted toward Casey who was staring at him with a pleading look. That look in her eyes almost convinced him. Cappie sucked in a deep breath and spat out his answer, "No."
"Are you sure," Shane asked.
"As sure as I'll ever be," Cappie said as he gave Evan one last glare.
"Alright," Shane said, "Anything else you feel we should consider?"
"Yeah actually," Cappie continued. "Think of it this way guys, if you vote to take away our recognition, our house goes empty. The University isn't going to want to keep it empty forever, with space being at such a premium. We all know that this last year's rush wasn't good enough by a long shot to support a new fraternity coming on to fill the space. The University is going to turn it into random student housing. How would you feel about outsiders living on the Row huh? And I'm sure there'll be a ton of noise complaints then, and after that, all the restrictions from last year come back, and who would want to be greek then? I know we all would hate to see that happen." After his last sentence, Cappie stepped out from behind the podium and took his seat.
"Ok then," Shane said resuming his place behind the podium. "If the house in question will please step out, we can being deliberations." Cappie got up to exit the room and as he did he snuck one more look at Casey. She caught his gaze and he saw her mouth, "I love you." He smiled and walked out the door.
"All right," Catherine said as she stood and made her way to the front of the table. "Sorority presidents will deliberate in this area here, and fraternities over there." As she said this, she motioned to the area around where each of the groups were already sitting. With her instruction, the room became abuzz with chair legs scraping the floor as the presidents of CRU's fraternities and sororities arranged their chairs so they could talk easier.
"Ok," Shane said as he made his way to the circle of chairs, "Before we vote, I'm going to ask one guy to give a pro, and another to give a con. If we need any further discussion, we'll do that, and then we'll vote."
"Alright guys, I'll give a pro," Evan began. The entire circle of boys stared at him in shock.
"Um Chambers, are you feeling ok?" Dustin the Lambda Sig president asked.
"Yeah, fine," Evan replied. "Look I know our houses don't exactly get along, but Cappie has a point." The other members of the circle looked at him in utter confusion.
"About what the University will do with the empty house?" Evan reminded them. "All our chapters are housed right now, and rush was down 15% this year. There is no way we'd get the kind of numbers we need to get a new house on campus. And he's right. The University will turn it into random student housing. You think there's anti-greek sentiment on this campus now? Just wait. That will be way worse for the greek system than anything the administration will put on us if we let the KT's stay. If we give them a good enough punishment, this should be the end of it."
"I don't think so," said Jason, the Psi Phi Pi president. "I heard from a very good source that the Board of Trustees is this close to disbanding the greek system entirely. We have to come down hard on these guys for our own sake. Its either live with some random students, or not be greek at all."
"Oh come on Jason, you're exaggerating!" Evan retorted. "The University can't disband the greeks! The alumni would go ape shit and stop donating. Greek alumni are the biggest donors to the school. CRU can't afford to operate without us!"
"Think again," said Mark, the Pi Sigma president, "Lots of schools are disbanding their greek systems right now. And who's to say the house will go empty anyway?"
"Um, didn't I just say, this years rush was down 15%?" Evan asked.
"But the girls rush was up 20%," Mark replied. "And we saw that this campus can support another sorority with the IKI's"
"The IKI's were a disaster," Evan said.
"That's true, but that's because they had no nationals behind them, and a raging bitch for a president," Mark laughed. "But seriously, another sorority could work, and damn I know national sororities can clean up even the grossest fraternity houses when they take them over."
All eyes were on Evan. He had nothing else to say, and he shrugged his shoulders to let them know he was finished. He hoped he had convinced at least someone as the ballots were handed out.
Things were just as heated for the girls. Catherine had suggested a Pro-Con-Con-Pro, but things had dissolved into utter chaos after the first girl spoke. Catherine was definitely not a good VP-J, Casey had noted, but she'd kept quiet about it. In fact, she wasn't allowed to speak at all. Not that anyone would hear her anyway in this mess.
"Guys," Ashleigh tried to say. No one listened. Finally, she yelled. "GUYS!"
All attention was on her. "What are we even doing here? This is so stupid. We're about to kick off a whole fraternity for one prank?" she asked.
"I disagree Ashleigh," Catherine said with an air of self-righteousness. "The KT's have been accused of a serious violation against the University, and given their history of being total slackers........"
"Aren't you supposed to be impartial?" Ashleigh asked.
"No, you are right, and I apologize. All our emotions are a little on edge today. Please continue," Catherine said, clearly embarrassed.
"Ok, so they might have gone a little to far," Ashleigh said. "Can't we just punish them?"
"I don't think so," said Natalie, the Gamma Psi president. "The KT's haven't learned from any punishment before, and besides, they really don't contribute anything to the greek system anyway, and their house is a total eye sore."
"Of course they contribute!" Ashleigh cried. "Maybe not in a way that you can keep statistics on, but who is the one house that is always there when no one else is?" All she got was a bunch of blank stares.
"Ok, Tracey," Ashleigh said as she motioned to the Mu Gamma Sig president. "Who came to serenade you during Pledge Presents week when not even the Psi Phi Pi's would?"
"No, you're right, the KT's did," Tracey admitted. "But they were totally drunk. Besides, they've never invited us to anything. Not even the end of the world party and the entire campus was at that thing."
"When have the KT's ever had invitations to anything," Ashleigh replied. "You just show up to a KT party. Anyway, aren't all boys drunk when they serenade?" Tracey nodded in agreement.
"And Heather," Ashleigh added as she motioned to the Tri Pi president, "Didn't the KT's kindly give you guys a place for some of you to sleep when there was that gas leak in your kitchen last spring?"
"Yeah, but that's because they wanted to hook up," Heather said as she rolled her eyes. "Besides, the only hot guys in that house anyway are Cappie and Beaver, and now Cappie's taken, and Beaver is dumb as a box of rocks."
Ashleigh decided not to gratify that with a response. Beaver was actually a pretty nice guy. Plus he thought she was hot, which always made her blush a little. She didn't want to continue the conversation about Cappie either, as Casey looked like she was going to reach across as strangle Heather.
"What about the empty house then?" Ashleigh questioned. "Cappie was right about that. Who wants randoms on the Row?"
"Actually," Catherine chimed in, "I wasn't going to announce this until next semester, but we will be putting together an extension exploration committee in January." Now all eyes were on Catherine.
"The fact is, our rush numbers have been increasing exponentially over the last five years, and we saw with the IKI's this semester that the interest is there for a new sorority."
"But the IKI's failed miserably, and what sorority girl would want to live in a frat house?" Ashleigh chimed in.
"That's true, but they weren't national," Natalie retorted. "The IKI's imploded because of internal problems. A national sorority wouldn't let that happen. A national sorority would also be happy to fix up a fraternity house. They do it all the time. In fact, our newest Gamma Psi chapter is renting what used to be a fraternity house right now."
"Leave it to the Gamma Psi bitches to screw everything up," thought Casey. She could tell by Ash's face that she felt the same way. And Ashleigh was doing so well.
"Ok, so what about what Shane said?" Ashleigh said. "Do you really think the KT's were acting alone?"
"GO ASH!" Casey thought to herself.
"I mean, its possible," Heather said. "But Cappie denied it."
Ashleigh rolled her eyes. "Yes, but all we need is reasonable doubt here, right?" she asked hopefully.
"Actually, no," Natalie chimed in once again. "This isn't a court of law. Due process doesn't apply. See, it says so right here." As she spoke, she pointed at the judicial manual. Ashleigh's heart sank. She was out of ideas, and the room was silent for a moment.
"No other comments?" Catherine asked. She got no reply. "Well let's vote then, shall we?"
After five minutes, Catherine instructed Casey to collect the ballots and count them. Eight voted to strip the KT's of their recognition, two voted for alternative punishment. She could tell which vote was Ashleigh's, she used hearts to dot her i's. Casey felt like she was going to cry. She didn't yet know the guy's decision, but they had finished a good ten minutes before the girls had. She noticed Evan sitting there with a forlorn look on his face. "You fucking deserve it, bastard," she thought. She had had such high hopes that he would tell the truth. And Catherine. She couldn't believe how biased she'd been. It's true, both Catherine and Evan were like Frannie, only eviler.
"Casey, could you please get the KT president?" Catherine asked. "We are ready to give the verdict."
She thought about saying no, but she would rather Cappie hear it first from her anyway. With a heavy heart, she made her way outside the doors.
"I heard a lot of girl screaming in there," Cappie laughed nervously as he stood from his chair. "Take it Catherine isn't a very good VP-J."
"No, she isn't, she's totally awful," Casey said as she embraced Cappie in a tight hug and rested her head on his chest. Tears began to fill her eyes as she looked back up at him. "I'm really sorry, Cap."
Cappie's heart sank. "That bad, huh?" he asked as he looked down at her.
"The girls voted to de-recognize you," she said gently. "I wish there was something more I could have done." She began to cry silently.
Cappie put a finger under her chin and pulled her face up to meet his. "Hey, its not your fault," he said as he wiped her tears away with his thumb. "And besides, we don't know how the guys voted yet, right?" She nodded and tried to pull herself together. "Let's go face the music," he said as they both entered the room.
Cappie felt every pair of eyes in the room staring at him as he took his seat. He looked up at the podium where Shane and Catherine were conversing, Casey sitting next to them looking miserable as ever. Finally Shane broke away and cleared his throat.
"Cappie," Shane began, "In a thirteen to one vote among the fraternities and a eight to two vote among the sororities, Panhellenic and IFC have both voted to strip Kappa Tau Gamma of University recognition. We will make our recommendation to Dean Bowman, who has two business days to make a final decision. I'm sorry. Everyone, you are free to go." Cappie sat there in shock. He was totally confused. He was so sure he'd win. So sure. He must be losing his touch. All he knew is that he wanted to find Casey and get the hell out of that building as soon as possible.
As the room began to clear out, he felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned around to see Ashleigh standing there with tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry Cappie," she said. "I really, really tried. Those bitches just wouldn't listen." He pulled her into a hug.
"It's ok Ash, no hard feelings," Cappie told her. "I appreciate it." Casey came up to the two of them and silently put her arm around Cappie's waist.
"Damn," Cappie said with an arm around each girl as he cracked a smile, "I might just get my wish of a three way with the hottest two girls in ZBZ after all."
"Oh-my-God, gross!" Ashleigh yelled as she broke away from Cappie and Casey. "You are really sick, you know that." Casey couldn't speak she was laughing so hard, which then made Ashleigh laugh. "Still got it," Cappie thought to himself. Just then, he felt another tap on his shoulder. The smile on his face instantly melted away when he saw who it was.
"What part of 'I have nothing to say to you' did you not get?" Cappie asked Evan, his eyes narrowed.
"Wait," Evan said, grabbing hold of Cappie's arm before he could turn away. "Please Cappie, just hear me out!"
"Evan, you should really walk away now before something happens to you that you won't like," Cappie hissed as he jerked his arm away.
"I just wanted to apologize to you," Evan pleaded.
"You know what?" Cappie said, his voice rising. "I don't want to hear it! I don't want to hear you, I don't want to see you, and I don't want to smell you again until you graduate."
"Cappie, just give me a minute," Evan said, practically groveling now.
"No," Cappie retorted as he turned around to rejoin Casey and Ashleigh. "You're dead to me Chambers. Got that? Dead." This time Cappie didn't bother to turn around to see the look on Evan's face. If he had, he would have seen Evan quietly retreat into the corner of the conference room with tears streaming down his face.
As the rag-tag band of three waited for the elevator, they each shared the same thought: Dean Bowman was the KT's last chance.