And that was the moment Leo understood. Mu Tau would have admired the shirt. Sigma Alpha Beta saw the person wearing it. The helpful part of the story is this: Kai didn’t join either fraternity that semester.
Leo felt a pang of recognition. He’d spent years being the "smart, boring brother" to Kai’s "beautiful, interesting brother." They’d both been reduced to one dimension by other people’s eyes. fraternity x pretty boy
Leo’s stomach dropped. Mu Tau was Sigma Alpha Beta’s unofficial rival—a fraternity of sharp-elbowed, well-funded guys who confused "brotherhood" with "who can buy the most expensive speaker system." They weren't bad people, exactly. But they were shallow. And Kai, beneath his pretty surface, was not shallow. Rush week began. Leo watched from his fraternity’s barbecue table as Kai, wearing a cream-colored linen shirt (linen! at a barbecue!), drifted toward Mu Tau’s inflatable pool float shaped like a flamingo. And that was the moment Leo understood
"It's just a shirt," Kai said. "Do you have a napkin?" The helpful part of the story is this:
"That’s my brother," Leo said quietly.