Choices (25 page)
Authors: Skyy
Chapter 33
“Hi, baby, how are you?” Lena decided to call her mother first to tell her the good news.
“Nothing much, soror. How are you today?” Her mother began to scream. It only took a month, but the girls had finally crossed over to Chi Theta Sorority.
“You all made it. You went over. Sweetie, I am so proud of you,” her mother said excitedly. “I am going to have to go buy you something very special.”
“Mom, it's not that serious. I just crossed. Misha and Carmen did, too, it happened about thirty minutes ago.”
“Oh, I wish I could have pinned you myself. They could have kept you all on line until the Alumni Weekend.”
She could tell that her mother was crying. It actually made Lena a little emotional as well.
“Mom, we do have final exams, you know. We couldn't be on line during finals, but we are helping to host the sports banquet. ”
“Well, yes, I know you will be there. I wonder how many trophies Brandon will get.”
“I'm sure a lot. You know he and Denise both brought home the championships.”
“Yes, I know. You know, Lena, I caught one of the girls' games. There was a close-up of Denise. With her hair braided the way she had it, she looks a little like aâ”
“Mom, I have to go. They're calling for me. Let's talk later.” Lena cut her mother off. She didn't want to know what her mother was thinking about Denise. She knew that Denise had braided her hair up for the tournament. She saw her on TV. The braids looked very good on her. She was amazed at how masculine she looked with braids, but she wasn't turned off. It actually turned her on a little bit.
“Um, okay, baby, you go celebrate, but I do want to talk to you about your room.”
“Okay, Mom, I love you too. Call me later.” Lena hung the phone up quickly from her mother and headed back to Carmen and Misha.
Misha was on the phone with Cooley, and Carmen was texting.
“Sorors,” Lena said.
Carmen jumped up and hugged her. “You are my sister now. Oh, my God, I am so happy,” Carmen said. She started to cry again.
“Will you stop crying, girl,” Misha said as she hung the phone up. “Cooley is so happy I have crossed. You know she was wearing thin on me being out all times of the night.”
Their other sorority sisters started to greet them as well. Torrance stopped everyone to make an announcement.
“Okay, ladies, let's get ready to disburse. Anyone who wants to be on the step team for the probate, please stick around. The rest of you go home, get some sleep, and study for exams so that you can be rested during the last week of school.”
All the girls started to leave. Carmen decided to go to the bathroom before she left. She heard two girls come in the bathroom. It sounded like her sisters, Shanna and Margie, both big sisters.
“So, I guess we have finally met all the damn quotas,” Margie said, laughing.
Carmen pulled her feet up so that they wouldn't know she was in the stall.
“I guess so, but letting those damn dykes in was not a good idea.”
“I agree, but they both look good on paper, they could help,” Margie added.
“Help? All they're gonna do is make all them damn dykes think they belong. Hell, they don't belong either.”
Carmen couldn't believe what she was hearing, especially from Shanna, who was so supportive during the whole pledge process.
“Girl, you are crazy.” Margie laughed.
“I am serious. I am glad I am a damn senior, so I don't have to be active in the dyking chapter of Chi Theta.”
As Shanna and Margie headed out of the bathroom, Carmen suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She felt like she had made a big mistake in joining Chi Theta.
Carmen called Tameka, who hadn't answered her phone calls for the last few days. This day that was supposed to be happy for her was turning into a bad night. When she headed out of the bathroom she realized she was alone. All of the girls had left the room.
It was one A.M. She didn't want to walk home alone, so she called Tameka again. Still no answer. She headed out of the front door and then quickly heard a familiar voice.
“You have got to be kidding me, you are not walking home alone, I know.”
She turned around to see Nic standing there. She hadn't spoken to her since the day she saw her with her new girl.
“Um, yeah, everyone left me.” Carmen felt strange. She didn't know what to say. Nic stood there; Carmen realized just how much she had missed her. “But it's not that far away, I can make it.”
“Come on, I'll walk with you.” Nic smiled.
Carmen felt bad for the way she treated her. The walk started out silent. Nic finally broke the silence.
“So, you finally made Chi Theta. I am very proud of you.”
“Thanks. It was hard, but I did it.” Carmen smiled.
“I knew you would. I have a confession. I knew you all were going over, so I purposely waited here to see you.”
Carmen felt butterflies in her stomach when Nic made her comment.
“Yeah, it has been a long time, I am really sorry about thatâ”
Nic cut her off. “Look, Carmen, I know that you are messing with your ex again, but I just wanted to check on you. I can't sit here and say I don't miss you like crazy.” Nic had a serious look on her face.
Carmen wanted to die for the way she treated her. “Um, well, I wanted to say . . . well, I think all the time about the way things went down. I truly apologize. I don't want you to think I don't care or . . .”
“No need to explain, I understand. I just wanted to tell you to not forget about me. I would love to at least be your friend.”
They finally made it to the steps of her dorm.
Carmen wanted to be honest and tell Nic she wanted to be more than friends. “I would love that, but what about your girlfriend?”
“What girlfriend?”
“The one who walked up to us the last time we saw each other,” Carmen said. She noticed Nic pulling something out of her pocket.
“Carmen, that was my cousin, she is trying to go to school here. This is for you.” She handed Carmen a small box. “It's a crossing gift. Don't open it now, open it when you get to your room, okay.”
Carmen nodded. “Thank you, Nic. Iâ”
“Take care of yourself, shorty.” Nic hugged Carmen and walked away.
Carmen opened the box to find a silver bracelet with her sorority letters engraved on it. She started to cry; she knew deep down she never should have let Nic go.
She picked up her phone to call Nic, but it started to ring.
“Hey, baby, I'm guessing you crossed,” Tameka said.
Carmen could hear a lot of noise in the background. “Yeah, I did. Where are you?”
“I'm chillin'. So do you want something?”
“Just wanted to tell you I crossed, that's all.” Carmen wished Tameka shared the enthusiasm Nic showed for her.
“A'ight, see you at the spot tomorrow.”
Carmen could hear girls laughing in the background. She suddenly felt very small.
“Okay, Tameka, I loveâ”
The line went dead before she could finish her statement. Her happy day had taken a turn for the worse. She could feel in her soul that something was missing. She wondered if it was Nic.
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The campus was all abuzz, noticing the new members of Chi Theta. Misha and Carmen headed to the University Center to meet with the rest of their sisters.
“I can't believe you heard them say that shit. I knew it was too good to be true,” Misha said, angry about the conversation Carmen overheard between Shanna and Margie. “I want to throw this shirt at their fake asses.”
“It was only two of them. We have over forty sisters on campus now.” Carmen decided to rationalize her feelings. She was upset by the comments, but preferred to look at the bigger picture.
“Whatever, Carmen, that is still bullshit. I don't want to walk up to these girls and be all sisterly. If they try to hug me, I may hit one of them.”
They suddenly heard the Chi Theta call being yelled. Their sisters were welcoming them to the front of the U.C. They both put on smiles and returned the call.
The excitement of the end of the year was in the air. People looked stressed or relieved. The library and computer labs were packed. That Friday was considered the last holiday, the last day of freedom before people really began to cram.
The week after exams was not only the last week of school, but also the Alumni Weekend. The air around the school was festive. Exams had been completed, Greeks had crossed, and parents and alumni returned for the weekend of special events; everyone was excited about the end of another school year.
During Alumni Weekend an awards ceremony was held to honor students who had achieved high academic honors. It was also the time the school acknowledged athletic achievements. Since both the women's and men's basketball teams had won the league championships, the Alumni banquet was the event to attend.
The front of the University Center was packed with people congratulating the members of both basketball teams and the Greeks that had just crossed. Brandon had his arm around Lena. Lena ran up to Misha and Carmen when she saw them approaching.
“Hey, Sorors,” Lena said to Carmen and Misha as she hugged them.
“Hey, girl. Congrats, Brandon. It's so good that y'all won,” Misha said.
“Thanks. Looks like we all came out pretty good,” Brandon said as he noticed Denise and Cooley headed to the yard. He quickly wrapped his arm around Lena.
Lena's body filled with excitement when she saw Denise's face. She didn't realize how much she missed her. Lena wanted to run over and give her a hug, but she knew Brandon wasn't going for that.
Misha and Carmen hugged Denise and Cooley.
Lena and Denise made eye contact.
“Look at these two champions,” Carmen said to Brandon and Denise.
“Caught highlights of your game. You were good,” Brandon said to Denise.
“You too.”
They gave each other a handshake, but the tension in the air was palpable.
Denise and Cooley quickly headed over to the field.
Misha felt her phone buzz. She read her text message. It was another restricted number.
“Fucking bitches!” Misha slammed her phone closed. She noticed Lena and Carmen looking at her. “More restricted messages. We got our damn phone numbers changed. How are they getting my number?”
“Girl, I don't know, but don't worry about it. You see your girl over there looking all good. You don't have shit to worry about.” Carmen hugged Misha.
“Yeah, girl, fuck them,” Lena added. She noticed Denise heading in the direction of the dorms. She hadn't been alone with Denise in weeks and she wanted to spend time with her. “Shit, I forgot I have to turn in a paper to my English professor. Fuck. I'm going to be late!”
She turned to Brandon to explain. He quickly told her to hurry.
She ran off, but instantly felt bad about lying. It was too late now.
Denise looked around her room. It felt like it had been ages since she had been in it. She lay down on the bed and looked over at Lena's bed. In two weeks there would be no more Lena and her rooming together. She knew she wouldn't be rooming with her next year; she and Cooley were getting their own place. She knew that she could not spend another year with Lena because she wanted her too bad.
All the time she was at the tournament, she thought about Lena. While she was gone she realized she was letting Lena affect her, and she had to struggle to stay focused on the games. She knew things would only get worse if she had to stay with the woman she was in love with another year. One thing she was not willing to do was to sacrifice her career for a girl. She could never have her, and she just had to cope with it. She heard the door open as Lena walked in.
“Hey, you,” Lena said as she smiled at Denise.
“Hey, how have you been?” Denise said. She felt butterflies in her stomach. She swallowed hard, hoping they would go away.
“I have been good, I guess. Pledging was hell, but we made it.” Lena said as she pulled off her sorority shirt. She had on a purple bra.
Denise took a deep breath; purple was her favorite color, and Lena wore it well.
“Yeah, I am so proud of you guys. So, how are you and Brandon?” Lena suddenly started to look sad.
“Um, we're cool, a little distant lately. I have had a lot on my mind.” She thought about Denise.
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