by Macy Critchelow
Steam forms when liquid water is heated to a boiling point of 121 ℉ and then transforms into an invisible gas. Steam is usually associated with something comforting: a home-cooked meal being prepared in the kitchen or a hot bowl of soup when sickness sweeps through the family. In the absence of home cooked meals and families waiting down the hall, steam takes on an entirely different meaning. It rises not from a family meal, but from the chaos of a college frat party.
Before the smog-filled room destroyed my freshly straightened hair and brought back my natural curls, I had no idea how quickly a frat party could undo hours of preparation. I started my night at Beta Theta Pi with a chill vibe and good music dancing with my friends with enough room to dance around. When dancing I was tapped on the shoulder and I heard “are you ready to peek!” After a confused look and a few more tries to hear over the music I heard “are you ready to go to Deke.” As my friends conjoined hands to make a chain out of Beta my night finally began. We ran across the street to the house marked Delta Kappa Epsilon. As my friends and I approach the front door we are called by name to move our way to the back door…see, already learning. I see clusters of people standing in pods in the yard laughing,talking, and….wet? Still conjoined with my friends, I don’t have time to investigate the fluffy hair and wet t-shirts surrounding me. I am pulled into a room packed shoulder to shoulder. A teal lighted room with large letters on the wall DKE.
I step onto a raised wooden platform to dance. I am first pushed onto the middle platform, specifically the right edge. This was my least favorite spot of the night; Beta was air-conditioned and spacious. This middle section seemed designed for the pure destruction of my ankles. I was then pulled and transferred to my favorite space of the night, where I made camp: the Deke section to the far right, with a window near the bottom that provides a nice breeze to your calves. I explored every corner of this space. The middle, squished against the wall, was tight and did not offer much room to dance, but it had maximum access to the calf window. The front, toward the DJs, was where I spent most of my time, with my heels perched on the edge and my hands constantly grabbing onto someone else for balance.Naturally, I played it off as eccentric dancing.
By the time I escaped the Deke pit, I remembered my useful Greek 101 training that the guys at the front have water. He only had one bottle left so my friends and I split a singular bottle. I then became one of those laughing “wet” people standing in the back yard of Deke. I remember wiping my mascara running from my face because of the sweat pouring from me. I was pulled back into the Deke pit by the sweet hum of Sexy Red.
The night overall was a success. I had so much fun and felt extremely safe with my friends. But over the next few days my friends began to hack and the unavoidable frat flu was upon us. Now we hold a need for that comforting steam.