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First impressions are often the most important, but they aren't the only one you'll ever get to make.

As another summer came to a close and went to bed, wrapped up in a blanket of falling leaves and soothed to sleep by a cool breeze, college students were dawning on campuses all across the country once more. Some were coming back for the last semester they'd ever learn from a textbook, while others were just feeling the grass of freedom under their paws for the very first time.

"Gotta sign up for the PiKapps if you wanna roll with the best!"

They were also being exposed to a world that they couldn't have possibly prepared for in high school. Fraternities and sororities were looking for new recruits, a plethora of different clubs were taking newcomers, and every sports team was looking for fresh blood to run through the grinder.

Turk thought himself above the influence of social clubs, and though he was in fair shape, he didn't have a soft spot for any competitive sports; his game was ultimate frisbee.

The stallion did want to join a fraternity long before he ever graduated high school, and a quick walk through the quad wasn't revealing too many that appealed to him.

The PiKapps were the first choice that really jumped out at him, mostly because of their policy of inclusion. All species were welcome, all orientations were welcome, and even all genders were welcome, reaching out to those who were struggling with dysphoria.

Turk wanted to party, no doubt, but the idea of joining a fraternity that included everyone seemed like a positive way to start his collegiate career...and the fact that there were guaranteed to be girls around the frat house was not overlooked in his thought process.

"The best, huh?" he asked, trying to pretend that he had a wealth of experience on the campus scene. "Maybe I should be the judge of that?"

A trio of current members were sitting behind a table at the quad. Every table was the same boring shade of soft white underneath, but banners were draped over each one, declaring what club, sport or house they represented.

"Maybe you should pick up a pen and start writing your name down, then."

From left to right, a snow leopard, a wolf, and a brown bear were sitting at the table with a surprisingly delicate presence. It was the feline who called him out, and though her smile was teasing, her voice was strong enough to carry over the throngs of college students that were rushing around the quad in a frenzy.

"That sounded like a challenge," Turk replied. "Are the PiKapps supposed to be hard to get into or something?"

"We don't like to give out too much information to newbies," she shot back. "But there's only one way to find out if your Pi Kappa material, and that's to sign this sheet and come to the rush party this Friday."

Turk grunted and reached for a pen, but it was swiped from under his paw.

"What better way to get to know the locals?" another woman asked, the guilty party holding Turk's pen and grabbing a form all in one swoop. "This is just what my guidance counselor suggested I should do!"

Towering over the woman next to him, Turk grunted once more and picked up a different pen. "Did they ever tell you that you shouldn't steal pens from strangers?"

"Didn't see your name on it," she replied. Her accent was thick, but her English was clean, showing her dedication to learning the language. "So I didn't think you'd mind."

Turk grabbed another form, wrinkling the pages in his frustration and providing a chuckle for the fraternity members that were forced to sit at the table all day. "The name's Turk, and I can promise you'll be getting to know it this weekend. I'm getting into this frat no matter what it takes."

The current members couldn't have asked for a better recruiting tool than the impala who was already just about done filling out her form.

"Maybe if they've got enough room after I get in, they'll let you slide."

She was confident, flirting with arrogance in her demeanor. Even when she turned her completed consent form back over to the senior members on the other side of the table, she looked up at Turk, her eyes narrowing at him with a thin, knowing smirk dancing across her muzzle.

"Dunno if you noticed, but I'm a lot bigger than you. I'm afraid there won't be any room left at the inn," he fired right back at her. "With a frame like that, there's no way you'd make it through Hell Week, much less the first day of it..."

"You think my shape is a weakness? I earned this body through rigorous training...you'd be silly to underestimate it, Turk."

"Still looks like I could lift you with one hand," Turk claimed, and with even a light flex of his right arm, it appeared that he was right. "Feel free to get in my way. I could use a little extra lifting in my routine."

"Neither of you two are anywhere close to in, just yet."

The snow leopard crossed her arms over her chest and drew the attention back to herself. An intense staring match ended abruptly as both stallion and impala turned to face her, their edges dulled.

"Being this inclusive means that we can only take so many members; everyone wants to be a part of PiKapps, but there's only so many spots for freshmen each year. Since you two were late to the game, you're not just gonna waltz in the door and get drunk like everyone else."

Turk cocked a brow. "I thought we just had to finish Hell Week?"

"Normally, that's enough...but we're already past our capacity. Only one of you two is getting in, and you're gonna need a lot more than smarts to prove that your Pi Kappa material."

She was stoking the fires of competition intentionally, but the snow leopard was pleased with herself, grinning as the stallion quite literally looked down upon the transfer student.

"Sure hope you can keep up, Turk. I'm gonna run circles around you."

"Not if I bury you first," he taunted. "Though I won't know what to put on your headstone if you don't tell me your name first."

"Adaeze...but don't worry about learning it. You won't be seeing much more of me after this weekend."

"Says you."

"A dashing rebuttal. Are all of the locals as clever as you are?" her rhetorical statement was the point upon which she stepped right past him, as if she'd already discounted him as a real threat to her chances.

Turk didn't know what to say. She'd won the battle of linguistics, demonstrating what a sharp mind she had. He didn't feel any shame in admiring her body as she walked past him, and he figured that the slight pop in her backside as she walked was no accident, but he didn't have time to dwell on her looks.

She was cute, but she was the biggest obstacle between him and the PiKapps, even if her size suggested otherwise.

**

The last time Turk put so much thought into what he was going to wear for the evening, he was getting dressed for his high school prom and worrying about impressing his date.

This time around, he was trying to impress the entirety of a fraternity, and before he worried about beating his competition, he had to stay out of his own way.

A pair of blue jeans seemed to be the perfect base for the evening, but he picked a pair that was slightly loose, as if he were expecting there to be a challenge right from the get go. A black t-shirt would hide stains better than a white one if things got messy, but a blue and white checkered button-up would add a pop of color while being easy to remove if it became necessary.

All told, Turk was happy with his appearance, and felt like he might be the most stylish person at the party when he arrived and knocked on the door.

For a basic knock, he was met with a basic greeting. "You're on time...barely. Come on in, pledge."

In the dark of night, it was easy for Turk to overlook the outside of the frat house. It wasn't quite the stereotypical image of a tall, white building with bay windows on the first floor and pillars surrounding a covered entryway, but it was still a charming building of brick and mortar, with the symbols of the fraternity hung above the front door in a brushed nickel finish that stood out brilliantly against the red brick.

For all of that, the front door was a rather plain piece of fabrication, little more than a white door with a brushed nickel doorknob.

Turk wasn't expecting the burst of light that greeted him when he stepped inside: blackout curtains over the front windows were impressively effective at keeping the party contained, but as soon as he stepped in, a cheer erupted from the crowd of members, old and new, that gathered to see what would surely be the most competitive entrance exam any fraternity had ever held.

The only person that wasn't cheering was busy snickering at him; Adaeze was standing in the middle of the crowd with a drink in her hand already, shooting a playful glare his way that said she knew she already had a leg up on him.

"All right, everyone! Quiet down; quiet down!"

The front room of the building was a common room that blended the entry of the frat house into the living room. There were only support beams in the front, wrapped up and dressed to look like pillars, with a common lounge to the left and seating to the right, with a series of plush sofas surrounding a large, flat screen television.

Turk saw a pool table in the lounge, along with a bar that would have made the surliest alcoholic jealous...he knew that this was the fraternity for him.

"Is everyone ready for the best fuckin' school year we've ever had?!" the current chairman of the fraternity was standing up on an elevated balcony, with a pair of staircases coming down from either side of it. He moved to the right from his perspective and began the walk down into the crowd, greeted by a thundering series of cheers. "I can't hear you, Pikapps!"

Just with a prompt, the crowd grew ever louder, with the chairman being patted by every single paw that he walked by. In the middle of the floor, there was a bit of a clearing where the symbols of the fraternity were emblazoned in the tiles, and slowly approaching them was Turk; Adaeze was already standing on the opposite end of the round design.

"Like it's always been, we're keeping our little organization super exclusive, but this year, we're taking things to a new extreme! Thanks to a larger than usual incoming freshman class, and a few holdovers who just refuse to graduate," he paused, shooting knowing glances to a few of the fifth years students, "We're only going to take one new member into the Pikapps fraternity this year!"

It wasn't a cheer this time, but a frightened gasp that took over the crowd. There were so many familiar faces that most who were in attendance didn't realize that they were only looking at people they already knew...Turk and Adaeze were the only fresh bodies in the room.

"I know, it sounds crazy...but we're already pretty much at capacity here in the house, and if we start opening our doors to too many more students, we're gonna have people sleeping in the front lawn on a nightly basis, and I don't think campus security would be okay with that. That's just the way it all shook out, guys...but there's some good news to all of this!"

He paused and held up his index finger to the ceiling. "Instead of busying ourselves with an entire hell week for a huge bunch of new recruits, we can all focus our efforts into what will surely be the toughest night these two will ever have to live through! Welcome to Hell Night, everyone!"

Turk walked in the door of the frat house sure that he was prepared for a week that he would never forget.

He wasn't sure that he was ready to compress that whole experience into one evening, but when he locked eyes with Adaeze once more, he saw her face beaming with confidence. He scrambled to put a grin back across his lips, but she'd already seen a spot of weakness, leaving her all the more determined to take him down while she still could.

"Let's welcome our new pledges with the oldest test in the textbook, Pikapps! It's shotgun time!"

Adaeze was definitely comfortable in the tight, black leggings she'd picked for the evening. She wore a tight pair of jean shorts over them as to not give away too much of her petite figure too early, and a t-shirt of forest green made her fur pop nicely from beneath her sleeves.

She was sure that she had the look of a fun, confident winner about her, but she nearly botched the first task as she kept her gaze locked with Turk.

She nearly missed the beer that was tossed to her, bobbling it between her paws and tossing it in the air before she was able to wrap her digits around it.

"Get chugging, pledges!"

Turk was on top of that one. His time partying in high school served him well as he fished a pair of keys out of his pocket and stabbed the base of the can, spraying foam everywhere. He saw Adaeze struggling with what to do and took advantage, popping the tab and pulling the key free as the side of the can came to his lips.

She'd never shotgunned a beer in her life, forcing her to watch Turk and fall behind as she began fishing a key out of her back pocket. Shouldn't have worn such tight shorts, damn it! She thought, as she clumsily stabbed a hole at the base of the can and began sucking on the side of it.

She was already impossibly behind when she remembered to pop the tab, and beer gushed over, filling her cheeks to bulge before she began to chug. Foam poured down her chin and soaked the once pristine fabric of her shirt, drawing some less than acceptable cheers from the crowd, but the chaos was already starting to ensue: there'd be no turning back, from that point.

Turk dropped an empty can from his palm and let out a belch as Adaeze struggled to catch up to his pace. His wrist was already being picked up by the chairman and lifted to the ceiling when she finished.

"That was classic shotgun form if I've ever seen it! Good chug, pledge! You've got the first point!"

There was hardly a drop on him, and his grin was only growing wider as he waved to the crowd, but kept his eyes on Adaeze the whole time, admiring the way that her spilled beer stained her clothes.

This is far from over, Turk. That was just the first round.