Get your Red Bull ready: It's time to stay up way past your bedtime. Sure, you could be pulling an all-nighter at the library, but now it's time to party. Spring brings the best bashes, and your only excuse for going to bed early is if someone's in there with you. So wriggle into your favorite jeans and grab your fake I.D.: It's time to boldly go where the Recess crew has gone many, many times before - all along the Duke party scene. So check your closets, your liquor cabinets and your friends' away messages - here's the run-down of where to see the sunrise every Saturday:
The Section Party
The Where: Get off the back of the bus and follow the faint sounds of "Baby Got Back" along with the droves of lemmings otherwise known as freshmen. Odds are in your favor that you'll find yourself in Craven, Kilgo or with more than a few people in Few.
The Wear: Bitch pants if you're trying, jeans if you just wanna have fun, and if you look around the room, you'll realize why Steve Madden and those guys from New Balance are very rich men. Still totally stuck? Catch five minutes of Dawson's Creek or five pages of the new J. Crew catalogue and you should be fine. Bonus points to girls whose skin-to-skirt ratio is 2:1.
The Usual Suspects: Shaggy boys, sometimes shagging.
Overheard: "Oh, we don't always drink beer. Sometimes we drink lite beer."
Don't be a party pooper: Section parties are low-key and honestly, lots of fun (as long as you're not a bored senior). Bring your friends for optimum dance-floor damage.
The Theater Bash
The Where: Figure out Alexander from Anderson, and head to Central Campus. Follow the elaborately costumed kids across Erwin and you've probably found the place.
The Wear: It's all about the theme. Be as creative and as crazy as possible and try to keep any purchases for the party under $10 - especially challenging (and way fun) for party premises like "Zoolander Returns" and "Revenge of Doctor Drunkenstein." If you feel fabulous and a little silly, chances are you're outfit's perfect.
The Usual Suspects: Those kids in your bio class who looked so innocent by day...
Overheard: "I'm not drunk; I'm just acting drunk."
Don't be a party pooper: If you can find one, theater parties have great music, hilarious moments and genuinely nice people. And damn, are they funny!
The 'Dillo
The Where: Uh, the Bryan Center. Hello.
The Wear: Whatever you had on when your friends dragged you out the door to come to 'Dillo with them.
The Usual Suspects: The central location and the pay-on-points policy means this place is always packed. Look for sophomores and seniors in flocks, and if you're lucky, the Alan Davis Band is rocking out onstage.
Overheard: "Which has less calories - the queso or the margarita?"
Don't be a party pooper: With tequila on food points and the whole enchilada a few feet away from your dorm room, there's no excuse not to visit.
The Off-East Frat House
The Where: East Campus Student Ghetto - hop the wall and run for it.
The Wear: Jeans with heels, jeans with flip-flops, jeans with boots, jeans with Saucony...
The Usual Suspects: That cute guy who slipped you an invite in Chem class, the girls whose screen-names' you stalk but never have the nerve to call, and all of their Onslow Street neighbors, too.
Overheard: "Can we use your room? We'll only be two seconds..."
Don't be a party pooper: Like a section party without the campus rules, these places are great for seeing your friends, your crushes and people who play Beirut with even less skill than you do. Get a carpool and buy your designated driver dinner.
The Sorority Crush Party
The Where: Vin Rouge, Shooters or George's, but usually a bus from West Campus will whisk you away.
The Wear: Obviously, your social life is over if you're not porting an LV pochette, the new Stila spring color palate and some new Jimmy Choos. Or you could just wear what you wear to every other party: jeans.
The Usual Suspects: Girls named Savannah drinking Southern Comfort, girls from Long Island with spiked iced teas, girls named Natasha drinking White Russians, girls from California drinking sex on the beach. And lots of guys buying them those drinks, too.
Overheard: "Omigosh, we must be sisters - we have the same taste in men!"
Don't be a party pooper: A chance to dress up, a place to dance and a guaranteed way to score some juicy eye candy - these things are even more fun than shopping!
The Off-Campus Happening
The Where: There are two ways to find this party - wait for an invitation that has a map or follow the steady stream of people you never knew went to Duke as they cut through East Campus and end up in another dimension.
The Wear: Like theater bashes, these parties usually have a theme - dress accordingly or dress like you just don't care. Old high school varsity T-shirts, wrinkled oxford button-ups, batik wraps, boys' pajama tops boasting dinosaurs or anything vintage are always good bets.
The Usual Suspects: The kids in your English seminar who actually talk, the boys who gave you a ride to catch your fave unknown band at Cat's Cradle, some P-Wild kids, people who can quote High Fidelity from start to finish, Recess staffers.
Overheard: "Is that Greg Bloom? He looks so hot in person!"
Don't be a party pooper: If you haven't destroyed all your brain cells with beer yet, these parties are the best of all sides - you can have a great conversation, meet a potential date, dance like a maniac and drink like a Dukie all in one night.
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