Making Our Mark

by Amelie Reina

Danica begins her freshman year at Monsters University, determined to not let the burden of upholding the Worthington name stop her from making her mark. Little did she know that the journey would involve capturing the attention of a monster from the campus' top fraternity and setting off a chain of events during which they both learn what it means to be their best selves.

3. Party

Making Our Mark

Chapter 3: Party

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"You sure you know where we're going?" Brynn asked as we approached Frat Row.

"Positive," I assured her. "I came here to see Johnny. Roar Omega Roar's house is next door to Jaws Theta Chi's."

Brynn nodded with a grateful smile. "Thanks for coming out with me."

"No problem," I answered cheerfully. "You're here to meet some monsters, so I might as well too."

"This is gonna be so much fun!" Brynn gushed excitedly.

I laughed at her eagerness. "Just be wary of the refreshments. If you're going to drink anything, go for something closed, not the open punch bowl."

"Why?" Brynn asked with a puzzled expression.

Recalling what Johnny had told me during dinner the night before, I simply said, "Just trust me."

Brynn nodded as we stepped foot on the paved road and were immediately greeted by the dozens of monsters enjoying the warm evening and the festivities of Rush Week. Some were casually conversing on the porches of the various fraternity and sorority houses while others were running up and down the road, screaming maniacally. Some were grouped up along the sides of the road, their conversations cheerful, yet tame.

"Dang, the whole row is like a party," Brynn remarked in amazement.

"I'm actually surprised that these houses are still standing," I admitted.

The excitement in the atmosphere continued down Frat Row. I shook my head at a furry monster in an Omega Howl jacket bobbing his head rather violently to the music blaring from inside his frat house while another, wearing a red lampshade over his head, wandered aimlessly across the road and I winced as he crashed into the pole of a streetlamp.

Yep, Greek Life is not for me, I thought.

"Hey," said Brynn, pulling on my jacket, "there's the JΘX house!"

I looked at the building that Brynn was pointing to. The Jaws Theta Chi house was smaller in size compared to Roar Omega Roar's next to it, but its spacious front porch, outdoor furniture, and numerous strings of lights draped from the house to the nearby trees gave it an appearance of grandeur and vitality. The giant yellow blocks spelling out the fraternity's Greek letters were plastered on the wall above the front door.

Brynn and I exchanged a glance and a nod before approaching the house and climbing up the steps onto the crowded front porch. We carefully nudged our way between the monsters towards the front door, which was wide open in invitation. Upon stepping across the doorway, we came across upbeat music bellowing from some speakers along the walls and more monsters either chilling lazily on the furniture, snacking obnoxiously against the wall, dancing energetically in the middle of the living room, or chatting against the railing of the staircase.

"Hello, ladies," greeted a monster who hovered up to us, his bat-like wings keeping him suspended in the air. He was quite small in size compared to most monsters, a little larger than a football, with orange fur, sharp teeth, and a yellow sweater with his frat's Greek letters on them. I actually found him to be quite adorable. "Welcome to the JΘX house!"

"Thanks!" Brynn replied cheerfully. "I'm Brynn and this is Danica."

"Nice to meet you both," said the monster. "Feel free to make yourselves at home. Food's in the kitchen, bathroom's outside of it to the right, and if you need anything, my name's Omar."

"Thanks, Omar," I said with a smile.

Omar smiled back and flapped off towards a group of monsters by the television.

"He seems nice," Brynn remarked optimistically.

I nodded in agreement. "Wish I could say the same for the rest of his frat brothers."

"What do you mean?" Brynn asked curiously.

I smirked. "Let's just say several of them think the best pickup line out there is a simple wolf whistle."

Brynn shook her head at me. "First, RΩR, now JΘX? Is there a fraternity whose attention you haven't caught yet?"

"Gamma Gamma Roar, Slugma Oozma Python, Omega Howl?" I listed, ticking off the names on my claws. "It's not like I try to nor do I want to. It just happens."

"Well, I wish that would 'just happen' to me," Brynn admitted with a playful pout.

"Hey, if it's any Greek group's attention you should be catching, it's Slugma Slugma Kappa's," I reminded her. "You want to get initiated into their sorority, don't you?"

Brynn nodded. "Yeah, I guess I better go find them."

"You do your thing," I said encouragingly, "and I'll go find something to eat. Good luck."

Brynn nodded and proceeded forward, only to yelp and duck just in time to avoid being hit by a reckless monster swinging from a ceiling light. She frowned upwards before crawling out of range of the monster and then getting back to her feet. She continued further into the house, eventually disappearing into a crowd of dancing monsters.

I turned, about to head into the kitchen in search of some food, when the wall decor caused me to take a moment to study them. Judging by the various flags and plaques that were arranged prominently on the walls, complete with shiny Greek letters, it appeared that Jaws Theta Chi was quite proud of their fraternity and they had every right to be. Based on one plaque in particular, it seemed that they were the reigning champions of the Scare Games a few years back before Roar Omega Roar broke the streak during Johnny's freshman year.

Framed pictures of assorted shapes were nestled between the flags and plaques. I studied one in particular: a large group photograph of the entire Jaws Theta Chi fraternity. I recognized Omar in the air, baring his toothy grin at the camera. The other five, including the red one that had wolf-whistled at me the evening before, struck bizarre poses. Seeing their arms frozen in different ways, it was difficult to tell if they were trying to either be cool or summon rain.

"Well, what have we got here?"

Glancing to my right, I saw a monster sauntering up to me and I immediately recognized him as that terrible flirt of a monster from the evening before. He tugged on his yellow and orange jacket cockily, which I noticed had Jaws Theta Chi's letters emblazoned on them.

"Nice to see you again, gorgeous," the giant beast greeted, flashing his pointy grin at me.

I frowned at him. "I have a name, buddy, and it sure as hell's not that."

"Well, I'm Roy, President of Jaws Theta Chi and host of this awesome party," he boasted, not even bothering to learn my name, "but you can call me Big Red."

I scoffed at the nickname. "Big Red? Are you trying to overcompensate for something else with a nickname like that?"

"Well, if you play your cards right," said Roy, stepping closing to me, "you will find that I'm not."

I shuddered at what he was implying as I folded my arms in front of me. "I'd rather fold, thank you."

Roy narrowed his eyes angrily, seemingly not pleased by my answer. "I'd rethink that decision if I were you, babe."

"I will when pigs fly," I told him, staring him down as best as I could, "and since you still haven't sprouted wings, it would be in your best interest to get lost."

Roy snarled, "Why you little – "

"Chica, there you are!"

I turned and was surprised to find that Javier had suddenly appeared by my side, grinning down at me. A gentle tug on my shoulder told me that one of his arms had found their way around me in a manner that was more protective than possessive.

"Sorry about the wait," he said, passing me a closed Blort can. "Took a while to find where Percy put the cooler."

The pointed look in his eyes appeared to be communicating a message of some kind, one that I easily interpreted thanks to my tendency of reading the body language of other monsters. Smiling gratefully, I accepted the can and said, "No worries." I turned to smirk at Roy. "This monster here was just keeping me amused."

"No problems, I hope," said Javier, directing the statement to Roy, not to me.

Roy growled through his gritted teeth. "Not at all."

"Come on, my lovely señorita," Javier said to me as he nudged his head in the direction of the kitchen. "Let's get you a pizza."

I followed him willingly because it meant getting away from the JΘX president. As we weaved in and out of the crowd of dancing and mingling monsters, I couldn't help but wonder why Javier did what he did. Although it was very noble of him to put himself between Roy and me, I wondered why he did considering he seemed to love getting under my skin and I fully planned on calling him out for his questionable actions.

Upon entering the kitchen, where a tall stack of boxed pizzas and trays of snacks and drinks were available on a table, Javier released his hold on me to reach for a pizza box. "What kind of pizza do you want?"

I stared, pointing at him with my Blort can. "Why did you do that?"

"Offer you pizza?" Javier asked with a shrug. "I figured you might be hungry."

"I am," I admitted, "but, no, what I meant was why did you get in between Roy and me?"

Javier paused. "He couldn't take the hint to get lost, so I thought I would help."

I placed the can on the table and eyed him suspiciously. "Did Johnny ask you to keep an eye out on me?"

"No, chica, he knows you're capable of taking care of yourself," Javier assured her, "but like I said, I thought I would help."

I nodded slowly. "I imagined you being the last monster to do such a thing."

"Why do you say that?" Javier asked curiously.

"No pun intended, but you seem to enjoy bugging me," I pointed out, narrowing my eyes accusingly at him, "so I figured you would take huge pleasure in seeing me feel uncomfortable."

Leaning against the refrigerator, Javier said, "I'm not the asshole you make me out to be, chica."

"Is that so?" I responded with an arched eyebrow, "because let me tell you, our first meeting didn't exactly score you brownie points."

"Maybe not," said Javier, passing me a cheesy slice, "but there's more to me than you think there is."

Before I could respond, a purple cyclops sporting two mahogany horns and a JΘX jacket popped his head into the kitchen and yelled, "Yo, Jav, there you are!"

Jerking his head around to face the cyclops, he asked, "¿Qué pasa, Percy?"

"Xiao wants a match against you," Percy informed him with a grin.

Javier chuckled. "He wants to lose again?"

"Come on, I got the paddles ready," said Percy before disappearing without waiting for a response.

Javier grinned before turning back to me. "Are you up for watching a fierce ping pong game?"

I paused, accepting the pizza from him. "You play?"

Javier scoffed playfully. "Chica, I dominate."

I arched an eyebrow in interest. "Let's see then."

With a satisfied grin, Javier led me into another room adjacent to the kitchen in which various furniture, such as the couch and a table full of pizza boxes, were pushed off to the side, making room for a ping pong table that was unfolded in the middle of the room. Standing at one end of the table, equipped with four blue paddles, was a skinny and tall monster of pale blue with eyestalks for eyes.

Nodding his head towards his opponent, Javier said to me, "Chica, meet Zane Xiao."

Smiling kindly towards his opponent, I said, "Wŏ jiào Danica."

Zane smiled in surprise and replied, "Xìnghuì!"

Noticing the flabbergasted look on Javier's face, I laughed and said, "I introduced myself and he said that it's nice to meet me."

Javier looked at me expectantly. "Care to explain how you can speak Mandarin?"

"Maybe later," I replied coyly, gesturing to the table with my pizza slice. "Now you're going to live up to your reputation of dominating the ping pong table."

Zane let out a snort of derision the minute those words came out of my mouth.

Javier simply smirked at Zane. "You shouldn't be laughing. I have more trophies on my shelves than you do arms."

Zane scoffed and said, "There's a reason why I'm called 'the Great Wall' and it's not just because I'm from Cryna. Nothing gets past me."

"Is that so?" I spoke up with a mischievous grin. "In that case, I say we make this match interesting."

"How so?" Javier asked, his four orbs darting to me.

"If Zane wins," I said, "you leave me alone for the rest of the semester."

"And if I win," said Javier, grinning impishly, "you have to kiss me by the end of tonight."

I gaped at him indignantly, resting a hand firmly on my hips. "I will do no such thing!"

Zane chuckled. "Guess we know who she's siding with, Jav."

Javier shrugged off his opponent's remark and asked me, "Those terms sound good to you, chica?"

I paused. Part of me loathed the idea of kissing Javier to the point that interacting with Roy again seemed to be more paradisiacal. However, another part of me was bold in the face of challenges. In this case, the latter trumped the former. Spotting a bowl of ping pong balls on a nearby table, I reached for one and tossed it to Zane whose sharp reflexes allowed him to catch it easily. "Take him down."

"Yes, ma'am!" Zane answered with a mock salute before turning back to the table.

Javier winked at me before facing his opponent, his expression shifting from flirtatious to serious. He picked up the four paddles sitting on his side of the table and positioned his feet slightly apart, bracing himself for the upcoming match.

Zane grinned wickedly as he lightly tossed the ball upwards and then slammed it with one of his paddles, causing it to bounce off of his side of the table and towards Javier's side.

The moment it bounced off of his side of the table, Javier immediately whacked it back towards Zane, setting the stage for what I soon learn would be a fierce match.

"Toss another one in, chica!" Javier called, keeping his focus on the table.

I reached into the bowl for another ball and fired it towards Javier who easily smacked it towards Zane, only for Zane to readily pelt it back towards his opponent.

"Another one!" Javier barked at me.

I stared at him through a mouthful of pizza as though he just told me to stop breathing, but I nodded and threw another ball into the mix anyway.

Several monsters entered the room upon hearing the sound of the balls pinging and ponging back and forth. They kept out of the way, choosing to lean against the walls casually to watch the match that was growing in intensity as the two opponents relentlessly swatted the balls towards each other as though they were flies.

"One more, chica!" Javier demanded.

I hesitated at first, but shrugged it off and chucked one last ball into the match, eliciting murmurs of excitement and anticipation from onlookers.

Watching the balls fly back and forth in blurs made me dizzy, so I shifted my gaze from them to Javier who didn't appear to blink as he played. His forehead was dripping with sweat, his gaze exuding determination. He struck each and every ball that came his way with ease, using a mix of forehand swings and back hand shots, and did not appear to show any indication that he was tired.

Judging by his endless amount of stamina, sharp concentration, and quick reflexes, it seemed that Javier had been playing ping pong for years and played often. Cutthroat matches, like the one he was engaging in before me, would explain why his core and chest are so defined behind that cardigan of his.

It was at this point that I froze in horror.

You did not just think that, Danica.

I smacked my forehead in a scolding manner before popping the last piece of my pizza into my mouth.

Goblin, I sound like Brynn and I didn't even drink anything.

A loud squeal from the room next to us caused me to divert my attention to the open doorway nearby through which a giant ball of orange fur and horns scurried out. As it darted underneath the ping pong table, a green ball-like monster hopped onto the table and clumsily tumbled over it, sending the balls flying in various directions and disrupting the fierce match between Zane and Javier. Falling off the table, he landed on top of the orange puffball who bolted past me, nearly causing me to stumble into a trophy case.

Just when I thought the chaos was over, a behemoth of sky blue fur and purple spots hurried in from the same adjacent room and smoothly slid over the table, snapping it in half and causing Javier to jump backwards in surprise. The behemoth got back to his feet, swiped a pizza from a yellow monster, and dashed after the two round creatures as though he did not just blow through a room like a tornado.

"Holy slugs," I remarked, staring at the collapsed ping pong table. Shifting my eyes to Javier, I asked, "You okay, Rios?"

"Sí," Javier answered, staring in the direction in which the pig ran off. "What the hell just happened?"

"Isn't it obvious?" I asked, feeling a smirk form on my face. "That little pig just saved me from having to kiss you."

Javier chuckled. "It wouldn't have been a torturous experience, you know."

"Well, I'm not keen on finding out if that's true," I retorted.

Javier grinned, a hint of skepticism in his eyes. "You can't tell me that you're not the least bit curious."

"Oh, but I can," I assured him confidently. "In fact, what I'm more curious about is where the pig that nearly wrecked the JΘX house came from."

"That pig is Fear Tech's mascot," Javier explained, narrowing his eyes at the mess that was left behind, "and I'm gonna find out how it got here."

Before I could say anything, Javier hurried in the direction that the pig, as well as his chasers, went.

Curiosity got the better of me, so I went after him, following the trail of spilled food and drinks, toppled furniture, and broken knick knacks throughout the house and out the side entrance. As I crossed the deck and dashed past a couple of goth-like monsters, I shook my head at the sight of a purple lizard wearing cupcakes on his face and took extra caution not to slip on the ones that had fallen to the floor.

Reaching the lawns surrounding the cul-de-sac of Frat Row, I hastily pushed my way past through the growing crowd of monsters, completely abandoning my sense of good manners, until I got to the curb. I looked up in time to see the blue behemoth thrust the little green monster, who was clutching the squealing pig in his arms, into the air to thunderous cheers and applause from the other monsters present.

"MU rules!" the behemoth declared enthusiastically, causing the chants of school spirit to amplify in volume.

I rolled my eyes at the overly dramatic scene as the behemoth lowered the green monster to the ground, collected the pig from him, and passed it to another sky-blue monster with spikes for hair. A purple monster, who I noticed was sporting Slugma Slugma Kappa gear, slapped a Monsters University badge over the Fear Tech logo. The spiky-haired monster, along with other monsters in attendance, carried it off in celebration as though it was a prized trophy.

"Did you see him catch that pig?"

I jumped back in surprise as the entire Jaws Theta Chi fraternity pushed their way forward, led by their cocky president who had no sense of boundaries.

"You are Jaws Theta Chi material, freshman!" Roy declared, pointing at the behemoth.

The monster with a giant afro, who I had seen speaking with Johnny earlier during lunch, approached Roy in a confrontational manner. "No, no, no, he's an Omega Howl guy!"

"Back off," Roy barked, much to the amusement of the behemoth, "we saw him first!"

"No way, we did!" the Omega Howl president objected, getting in Roy's face.

"I'll take it from here, gentlemen."

Turning my head in the direction of the familiar voice, I watched Johnny saunter forward with a smug look on his face. The rest of his fraternity trailed behind him, Javier included, and I frowned slightly at the way he narrowed his eyes at the behemoth. I don't think he was too pleased that his ping pong match was interrupted so abruptly, which might explain the icy cold glare that was written so prominently on his face.

"Johnny Worthington, President of Roar Omega Roar," said Johnny by way of introduction, shaking the behemoth's hand. He slapped his free hand on his back, encouraging him to walk with him. "What's your name, Big Blue?"

"Jimmy Sullivan," the behemoth answered with feigned humbleness. "Friends call me 'Sulley'."

"This guy's a Sullivan, like the famous Sullivan?" Chet gushed excitedly like a star-struck fan on the red carpet. "I can't believe it! That is crazy!"

"Chet, calm down," said Johnny with a hand thrown out, his demeanor calm and collected.

"Sorry," Chet mumbled babyishly.

Johnny then turned back to Sulley and said, "Sulley, any freshman with the guts to pull off a stunt like that has got future Scarer written all over him."

"Danica!"

I tuned out of the conversation when I saw Brynn jogging towards me breathlessly, weaving in and out of the monsters that were returning to their original activities before the whole fiasco with the pig started.

"There you are," she said before pausing to catch her breath.

"Hey, how are things going with Slugma Slugma Kappa?" I asked.

"Great," Brynn replied cheerfully once she was breathing normally again, "we were just chilling in the living room when Fear Tech's mascot barreled through the house."

"Yeah, I saw that too," I said, referring to the latter. "What are we going to do with it?"

Brynn shrugged. "Who knows, but I'm sure Violet will tell me later."

I frowned in confusion. "Violet?"

"Violet Steslicki from Slugma Slugma Kappa," Brynn clarified, a smirk slowly beginning to emerge on her face. "Speaking of her, she pointed something out that was quite interesting earlier while we were in the living room."

"What?" I asked, silently questioning her knowing look.

"We saw you with Javier," Brynn explained, folding her arms in front of her with a gleeful smile. "Care to explain why he had his arm around you as you two went into the kitchen?"

I scoffed at her. "There's nothing much to explain. Roy wasn't leaving me alone, so he apparently saw the need to step in and make it look like I was taken."

"Aww, how heroic," Brynn remarked with a sigh.

I rolled my eyes. "While I appreciated the gesture, he probably saw it as a chance to look good in my eyes."

"And did he?" Brynn asked keenly.

I simply laughed. "The pizza in the kitchen looked better. Want to grab a slice?"

Brynn just shook her head at me with an amused smile and said, "Sure."

I gestured towards the JΘX house, encouraging her to start heading that way. As I did, I cast a quick glance back towards the RΩR house just in time to see the little green monster that had been riding the pig make some sort of bold declaration to Sulley before turning on his heel, thrusting his cap over his head, and storming off with a look of pure determination on his face. The Roar Omega Roar fraternity, including Javier, started making their way into their house with Sulley, looking to have no intention of returning to the JΘX party.

Javier must have sensed that someone was watching him because he suddenly paused, letting the rest of the fraternity enter the house ahead of him. He turned around, his eyes immediately meeting mine, and he grinned. He nudged his head in the direction of his fraternity's house: a silent invitation for me to follow him.

"Danica," Brynn called out, "are you coming or what?"

I simply flashed Javier a smug grin that could probably rival my brother's and then strutted confidently over to Brynn who was halfway between me and the JΘX house.

Most girls probably could not have walked away from him as easily as I did. Then again, I'm not like most girls and I wondered how long it would take for Javier to learn that. One thing's for sure: the educator in me was going to have a blast teaching him.