Retired Frat Girls: Living with Frat boys

RFG is a series of pieces that pertain to Madi + Lo’s college past. They recount memories, experiences, and inner thoughts of two party girls navigating college life without each other.

You’re probably thinking one of two things; Living with a group of frat boys sounds like a bad porno waiting to happen or the best idea any girl has ever had.

Well, if you thought the latter, welcome to the club. When the idea of me living with 5 boys came into conversation, I didn't think it would actually end up happening, but for some insane reason, here I was, living with 5 frat boys in a 3 bedroom house and a stuffy garage we made into an illegal 4th bedroom. At the time it seemed like the best decision of my life; one girl in a house full of hot frat boys meant no girl drama, invites to all the cool frat events, and cute frat bros that would come over ALL the time. It was a pretty genius move for a single and looking sorority girl who’s had her fair share of girl roommate horror stories and probably had more than enough hormones to make up for the lack of women in the house. Looking back, there was a series of red flags that should have had me running in the opposite direction but here I was… moving the fuck in.

The first red flag had come before we even moved in and signed the lease. This one mistake eventually would bite me in the ass and cause friction between my roommates, my friendships, and my inner peace. The frat boys convinced me to put my name and my name only on the lease. I was the sole person on that lease meaning if the bills don’t get paid, I am solely responsible. If the guys decided to just up and move the fuck out, I would be responsible for all of their rent. I’m not usually this dumb, but unfortunately I was in a bind where I needed a place to live and with a mix of trust, desperation, and fear of not having anywhere to stay for the next year, I let the boys convince me to put just my name on the lease if they swore they wouldn’t fuck me over. Welp…. To my SHOCK they did…..

Second red flag was the amount of different personalities that entered the house. You would think the guys would be pretty similar due to the fact that they chose the same brotherhood and the “morals” that accompanies being in the same fraternity, but that was not the case.

The oldest of the bunch was a sexist, narcissistic 27-year old who manipulated anything he could get his hands on. He was the type of person who would claim to have a lot of money but would continuously pay his rent late and refuse to pay the late fee (I had something better to say but I had to cut it out in case he sees this and wants to "Sue Me" for Defamation) Next, we have the two youngest, and honestly my favorites, one was a huge soccer guy whose idea of cleaning was hiring a maid to do it for him , and the other was an aggressive DJ who could easily get under people’s skin but could also light up a room by playing the best damn music out there. The last of the two boys were big and little in their fraternity and kept to themselves so much to the point they acted like they were tenets and we were their landlords. They lived in the garage and had no interest in being friends with the rest of us. Lastly, there was me, an emotionally driven control freak who cares just a lil too much about everyone getting along and not enough about her own mental stability… if i can dish it i’m not afraid to take it.

The third red flag was the way they would talk about women, specifically girls that I knew through Greek life. The worst part about it is that I let them say things about girls that I would have hated to hear about myself. At first I didn’t know the guys well enough to go out of my way to acknowledge that what they were saying was mostly sexist in fear that they would deem me as “too sensitive”, but months later as we got closer, I felt like it was my responsibility to call them out, especially because I know they truly have good intentions and I was tired of hearing the misogynistic words coming out of their mouths. After I started calling them out, they started telling me that I'm “too emotional” and “too Sensitive”. If you were a girl surrounded by guys who constantly said things like “She has a nice ass but her face is weird” or “She’s too thick but she has nice boobs” wouldn’t you be a little self-conscious yourself? I thought to myself, if they’re saying things about girls who I think are drop dead gorgeous, then what are they saying about me?

The fourth and final red flag was that from the very start, they used my womanhood as an excuse every time I was upset about something.

She’s mad we didn’t clean up after ourselves and she had to do it? She must be on her period. She’s annoyed we’re being way too loud at 2am on a Tuesday? She’s hormonal and PMsing. She’s bothered because we aren’t paying our share of the rent on time and it’s coming out of her own pocket? Oh she MUST be on her period. I am no saint, and yes, there were times I WAS PMSing and got extra upset, but the things I got upset about were very valid things to be upset over and not just because i was a girl that had her fucking period.

At the end of the day, Living with Frat boys ended up not being the New Girl experience I had hoped it would be, but I can’t dismiss the fact there were some extremely fun and amazing memories (and good lessons) living there that I would never take back. If you’re a girl debating on moving in with a bunch of random guys you just met, I would say go for it AS LONG as you remember to learn from my mistakes above and use them to your advantage. It sounds fun at first and you think it'll be cool and a new adventure, but there are so many other factors to think about before you sign the lease (or let yourself be the only one on it)..........