The word's "SIGMA NU" was displayed prominently above the columns.
They had arrived on time, yet there were only a few people loitering around the outside of the house. As they ascended the simple concrete steps towards the house, Ken felt his heart beating loudly in his chest.
As they knocked on the door, A gentleman around Ken's height opened it, his narrow eyes scrutinizing both Ken and Steve. When his eyes fell upon Ken, they lost focus for a moment before returning to normal.
"You can come in, the other guy can't." He said in a deep tone.
"Eh? No way right…" Steve mumbled in shock.
Ken frowned, "We were invited by Archie." He stated. The only reason he was attending the party was to help his friend out, if he wasn't allowed in, then there was no point even attending.
The guy shook his head, "Sorry, ain't happening."
Ken shrugged, "Alright let's go."
With that, Ken turned around and left the building, not intending to stay any longer.
"You're going so soon?" A voice called out from inside, causing Ken to stop and turn around. He saw the fit Archie dressed smartly, descending the staircase in the lobby.
"My friend was not welcomed, so I decided to leave." Ken replied, his gaze shifting to the guy at the door.
"Nonsense. A friend of yours is a friend of mine." Archie said with a smile, beckoning them inside. He turned to the doorman and sent him a swift glare before taking the two further inside.
Steve's expression lit up once more as he was finally granted access to the party. Despite it being early in the night, he could already see quite a few beautiful women in the lobby, speaking amongst themselves.
"Come, I'll show you around the place." Archie said, placing his hand on Ken's back.
Ken felt a little odd, but he sucked it up. Once he was in the Majors, there was a chance he would have to mix with other high brow characters at these kind of events.
'Just think of it as practice…' He told himself.
They were then led around the house. It was rather old fashioned inside, but the place was still vibrant. There were certain activities taking place like beer pong and foosball, but everyone seemed to be rather well behaved, at least for now.
"Let me introduce you to some people." Archie said graciously.
By this time, Ken had already begun to lose interest, but he smiled outwardly, trying not to be rude. He turned to check on Steve, but he was no longer behind him.
'Where did he go?'
"This is Amelia, Erin and David. They're also part of the track team, in fact, Amelia will be competing in the Olympics this year."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Ken from the baseball team." He said, bowing slightly. The three in front of him looked dazzling, particularly Amelia who was wearing a black cocktail dress with a high slit, exposing her tanned leg.
Her eyes were a deep green, almost like that of an emerald as they sparkled in the light. She looked him up and down before placing a strand of hair behind her ear and smiling brilliantly.
"I've heard a lot about you around the campus Ken. It seems that the Bobcats are expecting great things from you." She said. Her voice was soft yet held an undertone of curiosity.
"Ah, thank you…" He replied awkwardly. Being stared at by the pretty girl in front of him was making him rather uncomfortable.
'I should have brought Ai.' He thought. But then he likely wouldn't have been able to bring Steve since he only had a plus one.
"I heard you passed 100 thousand followers on Instagram lately." Dave added, his tone a little curt, as if he was jealous. It only took Ken a moment to realize that this guy was likely pining for Amelia.
Seeing her showing an interest in him had likely got his guard up.
Ken resisted the urge to sigh, feeling stifled.
"Is that so? Sorry, my social media manager looks after all those things."
"Oho? You must have a very talented manager then." Amelia added, her red lips shifting into a smile."
Ken felt Dave's glare deepen, stoking his annoyance.
"Well it was nice meeting you all, I hope to see you around campus again soon." Ken stated, bowing slightly once more. Without waiting for his chaperon, he turned his heel and went looking for Steve.
He didn't need the ire of some random student just because he was receiving unwanted attention from a woman.
As Ken made his way through the first floor of the building, he caught the attention of a few party-goers. But before they could get his attention, he sped by, looking for Steve.
"Ken, why do you look so frantic?" A female voice called out to him, causing him to come to a stop.
"Tara… Have you seen Steve?" He asked.
"I think I saw him heading upstairs with a couple of people."
After hearing this, Ken felt a bad premonition coming over him. He said a brief thank you and then quickly made his way to the stairway in the lobby, leaving Tara with a confused expression.
"Damn it, I wanted some photos." However, she decided to wait for the guy to come back since he looked so worried.
Ken ascended the stairs in a hurry, his heart beating fast. He could already tell that Steve wasn't welcomed at the door for some reason, so hearing he'd been led away left him worried.
On the second floor was a hallway of rooms with the doors closed. He could only open each one at a time in hopes to find his friend.
After a couple of embarrassing interactions with people in the other rooms doing some naughty business, Ken finally found his friend.
THUD
Ken saw the doorman from earlier swing his large fist, hitting Steve's arm's which were guarding his face. Instantly, a fiery rage bubbled from within him as he stood in the doorway.