H & B’s Love Story
Soulmates aren’t always lovers, sometimes they are your best friends
-Written by Halie @ HBTT
Love At First Sight
I'm not sure if Breezy and I give off sorority girls (we probably do) but that is in fact, the start of our love story. It's not what you think, no recruitment with clapping and singing just yet. No - Breezy and I were cool enough to be recruited privately. My version was a fraternity soccer game hanging out with a bunch of girls I knew from freshman year that Breezy was not even in attendance at. We met through text a couple weeks later via GroupMe. We both had known the other girl and she was so wholesome and nice but we were not and needed someone to bond with over that while joining a sorority.
A few weeks later and we are fully involved in a 3-person spring initiation season. Our first few moments together were in my tan Cadillac that men loved and women hated. Thank the good Lord, it was love at first sight. We spent a few hours learning about SMART goals and answering questions in front of other spring pledges. This was an incredibly pointless event for those wondering.
Mount Sleazy, MI
Initiation Season
We move through initiation easily with calm demeanor until shit starts to get serious. We are to be tested on the knowledge we’ve been learning over the past few weeks. I, personally, knew nothing. Not a single thing except what the color of the sorority was. We’re “to be tested by a suprise advisor visit” in which we need to know EVERYTHING. We have 20 minutes to prep where every single other girl, including Breezy, comes to find out I know nothing. Luckily, my girl Brez is a Virgo queen and had my back the whole way through.
Picture Breezy, our wholesome friend, and me in a room with upperclassmen getting screamed at by them in preparation for these advisors. We’re upstairs in the house and I am told to recite the prayer on my own because I am in trouble. I look over after stumbling on the tenth word and Breezy is trying to mouth the words to me. I’m so stressed I lose the ability to read lips so she starts to vocally say the words with me; she gets screamed at as well in sacrifice for me.
After this, now team-effort, the upperclassmen are so upset. Reasonably-ish, but to my justification I just got off a two-week spring break trip and had no brain cells left. I was a sophomore at a party school. Next grilling up for me is to go around the room and say each girls name. Unfortunately and unsuprisingly, I messed a few names up and was absolutely punished for it!
The conclusion of this day isn’t nearly as fun as the introduction; we end up blindfolded (a sorority favorite) then walked down a staircase that is definitely not up to code. Surprise! It’s big little. Shoutout to both our big sistas, Jenna & Lindsay. Do not shout out to my G-big and GG; they were the upperclassmen that yelled at me <3
Initiation Day, But More Importantly, Night
After the absolute demolition of my sorority reputation amongst the few of those who actually cared, I did end up scoring a 100% on the final exam. I think this helped the upperclassmen get over themselves. We all pass and get to celebrate! Yay! Or so we think…
Breezy and I are at the hot boy frat with our homies, without wholesome friend from recruitment, as this is where the mess begins. One at a time, Breezy and I are put into a standup shower in said frat home. The already initiated girls are to sing row row row your boat while we drink our drink of choice. Clearly, we had fifths of vodka. If we are to stop drinking, showers turned on and you go to the bar in wet rat mode.
Like I said earlier, Breezy and I attended a party school. We were fine. Kind of. Breezy survived, barely. I survived, barely but with a little more throw-up. My choice of food was not the healthiest for that day and I did vomit up half an entire pudding pie. Not a good color throw up but that’s not our problem anymore, is it?
We go to the bar, probably misbehave, and make it home safe and soundly to our rooms. None to be heard of this treachery again.
Official Meeting #1
The order for where you sit in meetings is based on your initiation class. Seeing as we’re the newbies, Breezy and I were just minding our business in the back row, hanging out, having a good time as we should, until I hear a peep from the front. I thought in my head “wow they do actually take this very seriously”. I felt like I was John or Edison or someone signing the Constitution it was so serious.
We get through, all is well, until our favorite sorority member stands and makes it VERY clear that I am in trouble. I paraphrase her statement as, “GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS. Us ladies are responsible for upholding the reputation since the 1800s for the entire world of the continental USA and EU and we are to be so clean classy cool casual calm collected classy and cool and IF YOU THROW UP AT MY BOYFRIENDS FRAT make sure you clean it or else I’ll make you do it again.” (FYI, my at the time bf was in the same frat, relax).
As I wasn’t paying attention, I have to look at Breezy and say….. “Is this fucking play about us?”. She responds with confirmation - the play was very much about us.
This leads me to eventually get so sick of 20 year old women telling my 19 year old self how to behave that I end up dropping. Very much like me and the best decision I had made in a minute.
However, the smart and ambitious lady we know as Breezy Denkins, as sick as she was of being told what to do - she took a diferent approach and became the President. She made many beautiful changes including inviting me to all events her heart pleased, which ended up being every single one. We saw a psychic together. Spent many college nights living it up. We do live to tell the tale.
Post-Grad Scaries
We spent each summer after meeting living in Mount Pleasant to maximize our independence, partying, and friendship. Fast forward, two scary and beautiful years of college, and I graduate from Central Michigan University. I even stayed in Mount Pleasant instead of returning to my family and made trips back from out of state while Breezy was still in school for her last year. Fast forward another year, Breezy leaves CMU and moves in with homies in southeast Michigan and I move to Southern California.
We don’t see each other for three(?) years but have a low maintenance friendship. Our goodest friend God, fortunately, gives Breezy a work assignment in LA. We get to have two weekends of vacationing and everything is back to where it started. We visit often and live like this for a few years.
In April, I lost my grandmother, which sparked me quitting my finance job. I decide to travel during my bout of unemployment and go to Europe solo for 6 weeks after a pre-planned girls trip to Greece. During so, I started a travel agency, mostly to prevent a resume break and to get a tax write-off. It was the best time I have ever given myself.
Breezy, at the time working for the CDC, gets laid off due to budget cuts and forced relocation after the pandemic funding was depleted. She, on her own, picks up a travel job at the same agency. We chat and decide we CANNOT do this on our own.
HBTT, once Halie Byron Tour & Travel, turns to HB Tour & Travel, with the H being Halie and B being Breezy. Feel free to call the business HBTT, we do. We’ve since had months of travel time together including a trans-atlantic cruise, the Caribbean, northern and southern Europe, with many more to come. We are very much still in love, obviously. (Breezy’s ex boyfriend even got jealous of me. A classic.)
“And the rest is still unwritten” - Natasha Bedingfield
