Prologue One

James Horowitz Jr.

"Fore," a loud voice calls out a warning and I duck out of habit. Growing up with a litigation attorney father, I learned how to golf before I finished preschool. Someone says fore, and I look for a flying ball. The group of frat brothers on the porch of the Delta Kappa Sigma house laugh, and there's no sign of a golf club anywhere.

Their nickname, DicKS, is fitting.

DKS is known to be a fraternity of dicks at Duke University, all from rich families like mine. I'd come to meet them and consider rushing their frat, but if this was how they greet a potential new member, I think I'll pass.

"They really are dicks, then," a soft, masculine voice pulls my attention to the man beside me. He's dressed in a cheap, ill-fitting black suit, a few inches shorter than me with broad shoulders straining the seams.

"Looks like it," I nod as we both stand there on the sidewalk appraising the idiots still laughing at their joke from the steps of the Victorian house. They keep slapping each other's backs and mocking me until they notice we haven't come to join their revelry at my expense.

"You frosh gonna come in for Rush, or you just gonna stand there?" One of the brothers calls out in a strong southern accent, rubbing his hands together like a cartoon villain. "We have drinks and plans for you."

"Well, with an ominous invite like that," the young man beside me mutters and I chuckle.

"I think we'll pass, Dicks," I yell and turn to the guy, holding out my hand. He grasps it and I feel calluses against my smooth skin. He knows hard work that these jerks will never do in their lives. "I'm JJ."

"TJ," he lets my hand go and scratches at the barely visible stubble on his freckled cheek. "Well, there goes my afternoon."

"Sigma Chi is doing a mixer in half an hour, wanna head to that one?" I offer, already starting to walk along the manicured sidewalk. TJ matches my stride without hesitating.

"Sigma Chi has a great reputation. Not sure they would be interested in a scholarship member."

Looking him over from the corner of my eye, I notice the overly-shined dress shoes he probably got for prom or to work as a waiter. Him being at Duke on a scholarship made sense. But my family raised me not to judge, so long as they followed the law and weren't unkind to others. Until TJ showed me otherwise, he was cool in my book.

"There's also Phi Alpha Delta, though they're more for future lawyers." They were also the frat my dad was in, and the one he wanted me to join. "What's your major?"

"Psychology major, Economics minor. I plan to do law school after graduation, actually," TJ tells me, like it's normal for a freshman to be doing two hard programs.

TJ had it more together than I did. One semester in, and I'd already changed from a Political Science major to Communications. Being a lawyer was my dad's plan for me, and I didn't have any better ideas.

"I'm the first in my family to attend University outside of New Jersey, and most of them did community college or Catholic schools," he explains, like he can feel me other thinking his degree path when I'm overthinking my own. "You?"

"That's great, man. Good for you," I give him a reassuring smile and his cheeks turn pink. "My current major is anything towards a law degree. And I'm from about two hours north of here, in Virginia."

"Nice. Similar goals," TJ nods again, though I doubt we have much in common besides wanting to join a frat and becoming lawyers. Still, there's something about him I like.

We stop walking and I tilt my head toward the house of Sigma Chi we reached while talking. "How about we try both?"

TJ looks up at the gleaming white mansion and swallows audibly. "I really don't think either will be interested in me…"

He's nervous and out of his depth. I would ask why he even wants to be in a fraternity, but I figure someone told him how great the connections can be. I know I have a place in my dad's frat, so I decide it will be my mission to help TJ get in with one too.

"At the very least, we get out of the cold and they serve us free food and drinks," I nudge his shoulder and reach up to muss his perfectly coiffed, dirty blond hair. "There. Sets the suit off like you were out all night at a charity event and grabbed the wrong jacket. Wear it with confidence and no one will be the wiser."

TJ blush deepens and he tilts his head back and forth before clearing his throat, "Sure, what could it hurt?"

An hour later we escaped and were headed to the next, bellies more full. Except… "God, they were dull."

"I wasn't going to say it, but…" TJ laughs. He came off as a quiet guy in a group, but I thought he held his own one-on-one. "At least they had kosher food for you."

"Yeah." I had introduced myself as James Horowitz Jr. and they immediately offered the one kosher option. The fact that they assumed in the guise of being accommodating felt off to me. "I'm Jewish, but I don't keep kosher all the time."

"Oh, got it. I'm Catholic. We don't eat meat on Fridays during Lent."

"Makes sense." I didn't actually get the practice, but he was understanding, so I could be too. "Ready for the next one?"

TJ and I make our way down Greek row to the Phi Alpha Delta house, and I throw my arm around his shoulders. He seems less nervous after leaving the last mixer where they expected a lot of time spent on charity and seemed confused when he said he had a job on top of taking extra credits. They weren't right for TJ and I.

"Look, I'm a legacy. Stick with me and you'll get in, no problem."

We make our way up the steps and the door is opened before we can knock, an upper-classman there to greet us, "Welcome to Phi Alpha Delta, I'm the chapter Vice President, Brantley Malcom the third. But everyone calls me Tripp."

"James Horowitz Jr., call me JJ." I take his hand and shake it before gesturing to TJ, "This is Theodore James, fellow future lawyer."

"Nice to meet you, Tripp." My new friend shakes the guy's hand and we follow him into the entryway. "Call me TJ."

"Great to meet you both," Tripp smiles but his brows scrunch as he points to us both in turn. "Wait, TJ and JJ? And your first name is his last name? That will get confusing."

"Or you could call one name and get two of us to help," I point out, knowing part of rushing the frat will involve being at their beck and call.

"I like your style," Tripp grins and leads us into an open room to meet more brothers.

A few weeks later, we are the frat's favorite errand boys and Teddy rolls his eyes when one of them calls out for, "James," and we both turn up from different sides of the house. The brother hands us rubber gloves and says we can both scrub the toilets.

"We are going to get our own names mixed up," TJ takes one set and pulls them on. "Can I call you Jr. or something?"

"Hmm, no." I hated being called Junior as a kid and had insisted on being JJ. "I could call you Teddy. You know, like the president?"

TJ tilts his head back and forth before giving me a small grin, "I could live with that, If I get to call you Jamie?"

"Ha, we nicknamed each other," I grin back at him and pull on my own gloves as we head for the first of five bathrooms. "Does that make us best friends, Teddy bear?"

"Teddy," he rolled his eyes and handed me a scrub brush. "Sure, Jamie. You can be my best friend. It will be good to have one if we both get in the frat. If they don't accept me, you're on your own."

We start in on the sink and toilet, ribbing each other and talking about how our new classes are going. But I can feel it.

Teddy is stuck with me.