Chapter One.
..CHANGES..
"Are you ever going to get a new car?" I asked him.
"Are you ever going to get a new face?" He asked.
"You are so stupid." I laughed.
He just smiled. "Do I look okay? I'm picking up Kate in an hour. I want to look nice."
"Honestly, I don't think it matters what you look like if you're picking her up in this peice of garbage. . ." I said.
"I'm taking Mom's van." He said.
"Oh, that's much better." I teased.
He turned the music down. "Seriously, how do I look?"
"Seriously, you look fine." I told him.
He smiled and sighed nervously.
"I don't know why you get so worked up about her." I said. "You've been dating for like a month and you're still so nervous every time you see her."
"I really like her, Mel." He said.
"I noticed." I said smiling.
We pulled up in the driveway of our small three bedroom house. I went straight to my bedroom and started doing push-ups.
"Dinner!" I heard Mom shout. I was not looking forward to dinner. I never did. Mom never cooked healthy meals. I wasn't going to reach my goal if I was eating the junk that she cooked.
"I'm eating at Chloe's!" I shouted back, lying through my teeth. I grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and went walking down Bremerton Drive. I walked into Mel's Cafe and ordered a Hambuger without the Bun. I ate slowly as I flipped through an old issue of Newsweek, then I jogged back home. Everyone was done eating when I got home and I could hear Mom doing the dishes. I went to my room and my sister, Carla was laying on her writing in her journal. She was ALWAYS writing in her journal.
"Don't you have anything better to do?" I asked her. I didn't know why she annoyed me as much as she did. I figured it was because we had to share a room, so I had to see way too much of her. I layed down and started doing push-ups. I felt my cell phone vibrate, so I sat up to see who was trying to contact me. I had a text message from James. James was my best friend. He was starting to show interest in me and it scared me. I had never really dated much, so it made me nervous to think of kissing him or doing anything even slightly intimate with him. I looked at my phone.
I miss you, Mel. Call me. James
I laughed and stepped outside onto the back porch to call him. I had been avoiding his calls for a few days and I felt kind of bad.
"What's up, loser?" I asked.
"Well, hello stranger!" He said. "Where have you been?"
"Getting ready for college." I lied. I WAS getting ready to leave for college in a few months, but that wasn't why I was avoiding him.
"So, you going to the park to watch me skate tonight?" He asked.
"You know my Mom would never go for that." I said.
"So sneak out." He said.
I giggled.
"Please? I skate so much better when you're there." He said.
"Fine." I said.
"Yes!" He said with excitement.
"You are a dork." I said.
"I know. See you in exactly two hours." He whispered, then hung up.
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I put on the cutest outfit I had and stood infront of the mirror. I couldn't help but wonder what James even saw in me. I wasn't anywhere near as pretty as the girls he used to date. And besides that, I'm so awkward. I never say the right thing, I'm the last one to ever get a joke, and the things I like most people find odd. As I was thinking though, I had the thought 'what does it matter anyways? He's your best friend. You really can't date him anyways.'
"Hey, you look cute tonight." I heard coming from behind me. I turned around and saw him skating up to me on the sidewalk.
"Hey James!" I said as I waved.
He hopped off his skateboard and started walking next to me. 'How does he make everything look so cool?' I thought to myself.
"See, I knew you would find a way to get out." He said.
"Yea, I just told my mom I was staying the night at Grandma's. She goes to sleep at 8,and I've got a key so as long as I'm asleep on her couch when she wakes up in the morning, no one will know the difference."
"Crafty." He said, and winked. I giggled, and felt instantly stupid.
"So, I was wondering if I could talk to you later." He said.
"You can talk to me now, loser." I told him.
"I mean about something important. I don't want to rush what I have to say." He said. My heart started racing. I had a pretty good idea what he was going to say. We arrived to the skating area, and I sat down on the bleachers. He hugged me, then skated off. The whole time I couldn't get my mind off how I was going to turn down any advances he made! Then I started wondering if I really wanted to turn him down. He did look amazing out there on his skateboard.
'What are you crazy?'
I thought to myself.
'Best friend. Best friend. BEST FRIEND!' I kept saying over and over again in my head.
"So, are you guys dating yet?" Someone asked. I ignored them, not realizing they were talking to me.
"Earth to Mel!" They guy repeated. I looked up and one of James' friends was standing there. I couldn't think of his name right away.
"Excuse me?" I asked.
"Are you guys an item yet?" He asked, pointing to James.
"NO!" I shouted.
"Whoa! Just asking." He said, and sat down.
'What was his name?' I thought.
"Shouldn't you be out there skating?" I asked him.
"Nope. Busted my knee pretty bad last week. I'm out of the fun for a few weeks." He said. I felt awkward. I had no idea what to say. This was one of James' skating buddies.
"So..." I said, wondering why he decided to sit by me.
"So?" He asked confused.
"Sorry, I don't know what to say." I told him.
"I made you speechless huh?" He asked. I just smiled.
"How about you say 'Howdy Parker. How are you?" He suggested.
Parker! Of course! How could I forget that?
"Howdy Parker. How are you?" I asked.
"Great!" He said, then looked back at everyone skating. I looked at my watch real quick, hoping James would be done soon. It had only been 10 minutes. I sighed.
"Um, I'm going to get closer. Sit on the grass. I want a better look." I told him, and stood up.
"I'll come too!" He said, and started walking after me.
"Great." I muttered under my breath.
"What?" He asked, walking next to me.
"GREAT!" I said, trying to sound enthusiastic. He looked at me weird, and I giggled.
"Weirdo." He said, and sat down next to me on the grass. James saw me, and smiled and waved. I waved back, and he hit a rock and fell over. Parker started dying laughing. I jumped up.
"Are you okay?" I shouted.
"Fine." He said, and got up. He looked embarassed, because all his friends were laughing at him.
"Dude, shut up." James said trying not to laugh.
I sat there while they skated for another half hour or so.
"Alright. Ready?" He asked walking over to me. He looked exhausted.
I nodded and stood up as I brushed the grass off of my butt.
We started walking. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes, until he finally started talking.
"So, I have some news. Don't be pissed." He said.
"Okay. . ." I said confused. Maybe I was wrong about what he wanted to talk to me about.
"I think I'm going to move upstate in a couple of weeks with Logan." He said.
"Oh. . ." I said.
"It's kinda too bad. . ." He said.
"Why's that?" I asked.
"I don't know." He shrugged. "I just. . ."
"Just what?" I asked giggling.
"I don't know. . . nevermind." He laughed.
"What?" I asked. "You have to tell me now." I punched him lightly on the shoulder.
"I didn't mean to freak you out the other night." He said.
"It's okay." I said.
"You're looking great these days. I guess I just saw you in a different way recently. . ." He laughed.
"And I didn't look great before?" I asked.
"Shut up." He laughed as he hopped on his skateboard and spead ahead of me. I started running and he went even faster.
"Wait up, Nerdbomber!" I shouted.
He just laughed and slowed down.
I caught up to him and I was out of breath.
"It's gonna be weird. . . you know, not seeing you every day." He said. "Complaining to eachother about life."
I giggled. "Yeah. . ."
He picked up his skateboard and tucked it under his arm. He pulled his hood up over his head and put his hands in his pockets.
"I don't think I'm ready for all this growing up stuff. Working, going to school full time. It just seems so weird."
"I know. My alarm went off this morning and I almost got up to get ready for school." He said.
We both laughed as we reached my Grandma's house. He walked me up to the door, pinched my butt HARD and skated off. I rolled my eyes and snuck into the house.
"Melanie!! Melanie, wake up!" It was my grandma. Most people who woke up to her screaming like that would have panicked, but I was used to it. Grandma was given hearing aids 5 years ago, which as soon as she got home she threw away. She said she could hear just fine. So anytime I stayed at her house, I was used to hearing her yell everything. She didn't quite understand that just because she couldn't hear herself didn't mean we couldn't hear her.
"Melanie," she said as she came and sat next to me "I hate to break it to you but the real world is knocking at your door and you can't just sleep it away. Your mother said she would be here in five minutes to take you to the job fair."
The job fair! I hated those stupid things! I was going to find something "really important" that I had to be at instead, but I forgot about it. So much for waking up to a nice day. I grabbed my backpack as I ran to the bathroom and hurried to shower and get ready. As I came out my mom said "Good morning, you ready to go find a job?"
"Of course!" I said as I rolled my eyes. Mom was already walking out the door so she didn't see me, but I think she sensed my frustration. "Don't worry, hunny." She said."It's just to get information. You can stay for as long or as little as you'd like."
"Oh good, I think I'm done then, let's go home!" I said with a smile on my face.
"Nice try, Mel. Just suck it up and get some information and I'll take you out to lunch afterwards."
With how much we could disagree, it amazed me that we were still such good friends. Most of my friends hated their moms. My mom was fun, though...most of the time.
We pulled up to the job fair, and I made a note to get my liscence. My mom drove so slow,and yelled at everyone on the road.
"Why do I need a job? I leave for Nebraska in a few weeks?" She asked.
"I still wish you would just stay here in Colorado. We have great colleges here." She said.
"Mom! We've been through this! U of N is a great school, it's gorgeous, and it's only a few hours away." I told her, for probably the thousandth time.
"I know sweetytoosh." She said, and I blushed. Two cute guys in front of turned around when she said 'sweetytoosh'.
"MOM!" I said, and she laughed.
"Sorry." She said.
"It's not funny!" I told her, and she laughed harder. They guys gave her a weird look and walked faster. I just sighed.
"You never answered my question mom!" I told her.
"Because, I want you to have SOME job experience. You may end up needing one to help pay for some of your expenses. We can't pay for much, and your scolorship doesn't cover everything." She said. "It's good to have some experience anyway. Besides, all you do is sit around the house." She said.
I didn't say anything, I just followed her around.
"Here, look at this!" She said. I looked to where she was pointing.
"Mom. Are you kidding me?" I asked.
"It goes along with your major." She said.
I laughed. "Uh, no. It doesn't." I said.
She gave me a strange look.
"Mom, I'm majoring in Sociology." I told her.
"I know." She said.
"What does that have to do with being an arctitect?" I asked.
She rolled her eyes and we continued walking. "Here. Work at a salon." She said.
"No." I said firmly.
"Fine." She said. "Let's go."
She stormed out of the building and I followed her. She started laughing as I approached her.
"What?" I asked.
"Dad and I want you to stay." She said.
"And?" I asked.
"I was hoping you'd find a job you love, so you don't want to move." She said.
"That is not going to happen." I said.
She laughed. "I know."
"Stay away from the Frat houses." She said.
"Dad was one and you dated him." I said.
"And he was a pig back then." She said.
"Mom, stop worrying about me." I said. "I'll be fine."
"You're a virgin." She said.
"Mom! Shh!" I said. "Geez."
"Well, you've got to be careful if you want to keep your morals." She said.
"Mom, I'm smart. You can trust me. My main focus will be on school work." I said.
"That's what I said when I went to college. . . then I met your father." She said.
I rolled my eyes as we hopped back into the van.
"I was thinking we could all pile into the van and drive to the University together." She said.
"Yeah right." I laughed.
"I'm serious. It'll be fun." She said.
"No." I said.
She sighed.
"Fine, Mom. But ONLY you and Carla are walking my stuff up to my room with me." I said.
"Okay." She said excited.
"Oh dear. . ." I said under my breath.
I started to think what it was really going to be like moving away from everything, and everyone I'd ever known. I was really excited about getting away, and I knew I would be back to visit often, but a little part of me started to miss the things I've always been surounded by. Somehow, I just knew that life was starting go in a different direction and it wasn't ever going to be quite the same. It's not like I hadn't ever faced change, but I knew what change meant.
Growing up, my best friend was Susan Whitney. We had been next door neighbors since we were 2 years old. We knew that we would always be friends. When we were in 3rd grade, her dad got a job on the East Coast, so they had to move. It didn't matter to us, because we were such close friends, we knew we'd always be best friends, but since the day she moved, I only heard from her once. It was in our Junior year of High School. She sent me a letter talking about all the things she'd been up to and she included a picture of her, her boyfriend, and their baby. It was almost worse to get the letter than to never hear from her again because she was so different. I knew then that even if they moved close by again, we would never be good friends like we used to be.
Then I started thinking about James. Were we going to still be good friends? As my thoughts raced, I looked up and noticed my mom was pulling up to the Panda Express. "Mom," I said "why did you start dating dad?"
She sighed.
"We have to talk about this now?" She asked.
"Please?" I asked her. She smiled.
"I was a lot like you when I was your age. And your father was...well he was new. He was exciting, and he made me feel like a different person." She said, looking off into space, remembering.
"Dad was exciting?" I asked her, and she laughed.
"Yes, believe it or not. He was crazy in college. It took me a while to agree to go out with him, but I've never looked back since." She said.
"What made you finaly agree?" I asked her.
"He finaly said to me one day that he wasn't going to chase me anymore. That if I wanted to share this particular ride called life, I needed to get on now." She said.
"Mom, that is the dumbest thing I've ever heard." I told her, and she started laughing again.
"Oh, I thought so too, believe me! But I also really did want to get to know your father. So, I accepted." She said.
"What made him change?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"He's not exactly Mr. Crazy And Exciting anymore." I told her.
"Well, your brother did. When we found out I was pregnant, your father became Mr. Responsable." She said.
"Did you ever do anything crazy?" I asked.
"Yes. Too much 'crazy' after I met your father." She said, smiling.
"Like what?" I asked.
"Like none of of your business." She said.
"Okay, okay." I told her.
"He reminded me a lot of James." She said.
"WHAT?" I asked, horrified at comparing my father to James!
"Nothing. Let's eat, I'm hungry." She said.
We went inside and ordered our food. We sat down at a booth in the corner by the window.
"What's on your mind?" She asked.
"Nothing." I giggled.
"James?" She asked.
"Mom, no." I said.
"You're gonna miss him, aren't you?" She said.
"Yeah. Not any more than I'm gonna miss everyone else though." I said.
She just smiled. "He'll be here when you get back, you know. . ." She said.
"He's moving upstate." I said.
"I know. I ran into his Mom at the Jewel." She said.
"What did she say?" I asked.
"She just said he was getting an apartment with Logan and that they both have new jobs lined up." She said.
"Oh." I said. "Boring. . ."
"Were you hoping for some good gossip?" She laughed.
"Well, yeah." I said smiling.
"Is he seeing anyone?" She asked.
I shrugged. "Not that I know of. . . why?"
"Oh. No reason." She said.
"Mom?"
"She just found some things in his pockets when she was doing his laundry. No big deal." She said.
"Like what?" I asked.
"Adult things." She said.
"Like??" I asked.
"Just finish your food." She said.
"Okay. . ." I said.
"Condoms okay? She found condoms." She blurted out.
I laughed. "You can not keep secrets."
She just shrugged and continued to eat her food.
"I don't think it means anything, Mom. He's not seeing anyone." I assured her.
"Do you honestly think he still tells you EVERYTHING?" She asked.
"I don't care, Mom." I said. "Let's get off the James subject."
"Sweetie, he's turning into a man. He's not going to tell you every little detail about his life forever." She said.
"New subject!" I shouted.
"Fine." She said.
We both finished our food in silence. I was so frustrated. I swore that she was doing everything she could to try to get me to stay in town. We got in the van and I felt like crying.
"Mom?" I asked.
"Yes?" She asked as she backed out of the parking spot.
"I'm going to college in Nebraska." I told her. "I get so excited when I think about it. When I picture how beautiful it is there. . . and when I think about making new friends. I'm going, Mom. I'm going."
"I know." She said. "It's hard on parents when their kids are all growing up."
"I know." I said.
She smiled and started giggling as tears streamed down her face.
"You are such a dork." I told her.
"Shut up." She said hitting me playfully on the shoulder.
I just laughed. We got back and went inside. I went to my room and Carla, as always, was laying on her bed and writing in her journal.
"What are you always writing about?" I shouted at her. She just continued writing.
"Do you do anything else?" I asked. She just ignored me, and I instantly felt bad for yelling at her.
"I'm sorry, I've just had a long day." I told her. She continued writing.
"Hello! Carla!"
Still nothing.
"I said I was sorry." I said again. She didn't say anything.
I just wanted to be alone, but she was always in our room if she wasn't at school. I sighed in frustration, and left. I went to the den to think. I had just sat down on the couch when Darren walked in. He walked over to the playstaion, turned it on and sat down infront of the tv.
"Oh my god!" I shouted.
"What?" He asked.
"I just want to be alone!" I shouted.
"Go to your room." He said.
"I can't! Carla is in there! She is ALWAYS in there!"
I couldn't wait to leave for school! I got up and walked out to our backyard and sat on the porch swing. My butt barely touched the seat when my mom shouted at me from the kitchen.
"MEL!"
"WHAT?" I yelled back.
"James!" She shouted.
"Are you kidding?" I muttered to myself. Why was James here? He was part of what I wanted to think about. I sighed and walked inside. James was standing at the front door.
"Hey." He said.
I just smiled and walked out the front door.
"Did I come at a bad time?" He asked.
"No."
"Okay. . ." He said.
"It is utterly impossible to have ANY alone time in this town." I said as I started walking along the sidewalk.
"That could not be more true." He said.
"I can't wait to get out of here." I said softly.
"Me too." He said.
"Do you still tell me everything?" I asked.
He laughed and shrugged.
"Jerk." I said smiling.
"What?" He asked.
"Did your Mom tell you she ran into my Mom at the grocery store?" I asked.
He sighed. "Yes."
"Something you wanna tell me?" I asked.
He shook his head smiling. "Another thing I hate about this place." He said as he kicked a rock into the street.
"Your Mom told you. . . geez." He said, shaking his head again smiling. He looked embarassed.
"Well?"
"I brought them when I was with Pam." He said.
"You didn't tell me you slept with her." I said.
"I didn't." He laughed.
I gave him a dirty look.
"We didn't. We were going to, but then we broke up." He said.
"Really?"
"Yes, Mother." He said.
I giggled.
"I would have told you." He said.
"Why did you have one in your pocket?" I asked.
"So, nosey you are." He said.
"Am not."
He laughed. "She found it in the pants I wore to Glenn Mill's party." He said.
"Why did you have it at Glenn's party?" I asked.
"Why do you think?" He asked.
I shrugged.
"I don't know. . . just incase." He said.
"You're weird."
"I know." He said.
We turned back around and walked back towards my house.
"Anyway, this is goodbye for a while." He said.
"It is?" I asked.
"Yeah. Logan starts his job on Monday, so we're heading up a week early." He said.
"Oh. . ."
He smiled and nudged my shoulder with his. "I'm gonna miss you." He said.
"I'll miss you too." I said.
He sighed. "Well, this is it."
"For now. It's just for now." I said.
"I know." He said. We reached the house and he held out his arms. I laughed and rolled my eyes.
"What?" He asked. "No hug?"
I smiled and hugged him. He squeezed me tight, then let go.
"Bye." I said.
"Bye." He said waving.
As I turned to walk away, he grabbed my arm and pulled me into him. "Wait." He said.
"What?" I asked softly.
He pulled me in closer and kissed me.
"Have fun in school." He said, then let go of me.
I just nodded. He said goodbye again and left. I watched him walk down the street, until I couldn't see him anymore.
I sighed and went back inside.
As I walked inside, my head was spinning. 'Why did he have to kiss me now?' I thought. Not that I minded, it was...sweet. But now he was leaving and soon I'd be gone too, so it almost felt pointless to spend all this time figuring out my feelings for him. Then I started to think of how great of a friend he was and how I didn't want things to be weird when we saw eachother around town. I decided to just give it time and see how things went. After all, I was moving to a new town with a whole lot of new faces. I thought about how mom met dad. 'Maybe there will be someone just as special in Nebraska.' I thought.
I was bored, so I decided to call Julie. I had known Julie almost as long as I had known James. She was my closest girl friend.
"Hey Mel." She answered.
"What are you up to?" I asked her.
"Nothing. You?" She asked.
"Same. Want to go to the city pool?" I asked.
"Yes! Brandon is lifeguarding there this summer!" She shouted, and I laughed.
"Okay. Pick me up, I'll be ready when you get here." I told her. We hung up and I ran upstairs to find my swimsuit. Guess who was still writing in her journal!
"Oh my gosh." I said. I went digging through my closet looking for my swim suit. I found my black one peice, but I didn't feel like wearing it. I dug some more and found my red and white poka dot tankini. "Yes!" I said excited. I went to the bathroom and changed. I put my white sundress on over my swim suit and grabbed a few things I wanted to bring to the pool. I put my things in my Beatles tote bag and waited for Julie to come.
As soon as I got down stairs, I heard Julie honk. She made it to my house in record timing - of course, as she said, Brandon was lifeguarding, so she didn't want to miss a moment.
"Geez Jules, drive a little faster." I teased her as we went speeding through the neighborhood.
"Hey, I may drive fast, but at least my car doesn't look like your brother's." She snapped back - jokingly of course.
"It's true!" I said, as we both laughed.
When we pulled up to the pool, everyone was leaving.
"Great, what happened now?" I said.
We kept walking towards the entrance when Brandon came walking out. "Hey hot stuff!" Julie said. One thing I admired about her was that she wasn't ever afraid to speak her mind. Sometimes though, it was a little intimidating to other people. Brandon blushed and said "Who, me?" with a smile on his face.
"What did you do, kick everyone out so you wouldn't have to work?" She said.
"Actually one of the new lifeguards mixed the wrong chemicals when cleaning the pool, so we had to evacuate and shut down the pool for the rest of the weekend. Lucky for me, that means I have 2 days off paid."
"And the unlucky thing? I asked.
"That poor kid no longer has a job." He said with a smirk."So who wants to take me out to eat?" He said looking at Julie with puppy dog eyes. He really needed to ask her out already. Their feelings for each other were so obvious, but he was too shy and she was too stubborn to do anything about it.
"Well, tell you what, Mr. Big shot I have a job, I'll drive, you buy us lovely ladies lunch." Julie was loving this way too much.
"Sounds fair to me." He said.
"The only unfair thing is that you'll have to wear a shirt in the restaurant." She replied.
I rolled my eyes.
"What you don't want to see me with no shirt on?" Brandon asked.
I blushed and didn't know what to say! I was way to shy, but I never knew what to do around people. Julie laughed at me.
We went to sonic to eat, so I just got Iced tea and a chicken wrap. I wished more people ate better when I was trying to lose weight before college!
Julie and Brandon were talking and goofing off the whole time, and I suddenly really missed James. Not because I wanted to flirt with him, but because he really was my best friend. I laughed when a hot guy walked by, and Brandon caught Julie checking him out.
"You ready to go?" Julie asked as she stood up.
"Yeah." I said smiling.
"You are so quiet." Brandon said looking at me.
I just shrugged.
"Well, let's go then." She said.
"I'll walk. I live right down the street and I wanted to stop at the Circle K anyway." He said.
"Okay." She said. "We'll see you later, Brandon." She smiled big as she waved.
"Bye ladies." He said. He walked us out to her car and we left. She dropped me back off at my house.
"Call me when you get to school. I should be able to visit on some weekends." She said.
I gave her a hug and went inside. I went to my bedroom and did stretches, sit-ups, leg lifts and jumping jacks before bed. I was determined to lose those last ten pounds before I left for college. I wanted to feel like I was attractive for once. I also decided I would dye my hair blonde before I left. I could be anyone there, so I decided to be the person I always wanted to be. Pretty and confident. At least appear confident. . .
"Melanie! Good morning Melanie!"
"Grandma? What are you doing here?" I said as I rubbed my eyes and streched.
Grandma was hunched over my bed leaning so heavily on her cane I was afraid it might give way.
"I just wanted to spend some time with you before we all take you away to college tomorrow. Let's go to breakfast."
'I'm two feet away, Grandma, you don't have to alert the neighbors, too!' I thought. "Okay, let's go to breakfast. I'll get dressed."
She slowly turned around and took small, precise steps to the door, hovering over her cane all the way out to the front room.
"I never want to get old!" I muttered as I watched her.
I hurried and changed and came out to meet Grandma. She was already waiting in her old StationWagon. As we drove to IHOP she said "You know, Melanie, you are a very good girl. You have to be careful in college. You will have many boys surrounding you. Just remember no matter what they tell you, they're only after one thing. Keep your treasure in a lock box and don't give it out to those dirty little scoundrels."
"Grandma, I'm not going to. Come on, can we talk about something else?" Talk about awkward! It was annoying enough to hear it from my mother, let alone from her mother!
Once we got to IHOP, we started talking about when she and Grandpa lived in Idaho and all their grandkids would come spend the summer with them on the farm. Those were some of my fondest childhood memories. I missed those days when life was as simple as feeding a few chickens corn and trying to beat everyone in the jumping contests down at the water hole.
"Grandma, what was the hardest part for you when Grandpa died?"
"Well, it was sad to move from the small town to a big one, but I didn't mind giving up the farm. I would have moved away from that old place long before if your grandpa wasn't so stubborn. We wasted so much money hiring help when he was sick and unable to do the farm chores! I think the hardest thing though, was that I knew I was losing my best friend. Your grandpa and I understood each other. In fact, it took him a long time to convince me to marry him because he was my best friend and I felt I should marry some stranger that would come sweep me off my feet. Truth is though, life is nothing like the fairy tales. We had trust, respect, and a deep love for eachother as friends first which made it alot easier to live with eachother, and especially to raise a family together. You just remember that when you're out there mingling with those hoodlums. If a boy isn't willing to be just your friend first, he's not worth the heartache."
I thought of James and giggled. She kept talking and I kept listening. People kept looking at us because she was shouting, but I figured I could deal with it. When we were done eating she took me back home, and went to my room hoping to go though some of my things and start figuring out what to pack. I walked in and was surprised to see Carla's journal on her bed. She always hid it when she wasn't writing in it. I wondered if something was wrong. I went over and picked it up, and almost opened it. I couldn't though, so I slipped it under her pillow. I started looking through my clothes, but I couldn't stop wondering what she wrote in there all the time. I walked back to her bed and pulled it out from under her pillow.
I opened it and flipped towards the middle of the journal.
"What the hell are you doing?!" I heard Carla shout. I jumped and dropped the journal.
"You bitch!" She shouted. She picked up the journal and ran out of the room.
"Do NOT speak like that!" Mom shouted to her.
"She was reading my journal! MY Private thoughts!" She screamed. I heard her start to cry. I felt horrible. I heard the front door slam shut.
"Oh my gosh." I sighed. I felt like crying.
"Mel?" Mom said as she walked into the bedroom.
"I'm sorry, Mom." I said. "I didn't read anything in it. I swear."
"Finish your packing." She said. She walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. I ended up staying up really late packing all of my stuff. Carla never came back, so I wasn't sure if she crashed on the couch or if she went to a friends house for the night. I slipped my jeans off and tucked myself into bed while I watched The Late Late Show. It didn't take me long to fall asleep.
The next morning was insane! Carla was ignoring me, Mom was freaking out as she tried to get everyone out the door in time. Two hours after I woke up, we were in the road and headed to the University of Nebraska. We had a few hours ahead of us and I knew for sure we would be making several stops so Grandma could use the bathroom. Boy was I right! The four hour drive turned into a six hour drive and it was the most boring ride EVER. Grandma was shouting at everyone, Dad was blasting his oldies music and Carla kept singing along to the music she was listening to on her iPod. I was so releived when we pulled up in front of the school. We all climbed out. Carla, Mom and I grabbed my bags and went searching for my dorm room.
"What number is it again?" Carla asked after a few minutes of searching. I smiled. She spoke to me, finally!
"C16." I told her.
"Hey, excuse me." She said. I turned around. She was stopping a very cute guy. "Any idea where we'd find C16?"
"Oh yeah. Right in those doors to the left." He said pointing.
She smiled at him and I could tell she was entering flirt mode. She started twirling her hair with her index finger.
"I don't beleive we've met." He said to her. I rolled my eyes.
"Carla." She said.
"Steve." He said shaking her hand.
She giggled.
"See you around, Carla. I hope." He said. She checked him out as he walked away.
"You don't even go here." I told her annoyed.
"Yeah, well I think I'm gonna." She said.
"You've got another year. Let's go." Mom said puting her arm around Carla.
We went inside and found my room. A very pretty, tall, thin blonde girl was standing on a ladder hanging up a Justin Timberlake poster. She turned around and looked at us. We set the bags down.
"Hey, roomie!" She shouted as she climbed down from the ladder. "I'm Libby. Libby Kowitz."
"Hi, I'm Mel." I said smiling.
"So, yeah there's this Freshman Welcome Party tonight and I think you should TOTALLY go with me. I hear there might be some Freshman Initiation stuff going on, but hey. How bad could it be? It sounds like fun to me!" She said with way too much enthusiasm.
"Maybe." I said.
I looked at Mom and Carla. Carla let out a chuckle, then covered her mouth like she was trying not to laugh.
Libby got a very confused look on her face. Just then, my whole family walked into the room. I was so embarassed!
"This brings back memories!" My dad said. "I haven't been in a girl's dorm room since..." He looked at my mom and then quickly said "So, your first class is Wednesday?"
"Yea." I answered. I was trying to think of a way to get them to leave before anyone said another embarrassing thing.
"I better get settled in. I'll walk you all down to the car. See you later, Libby."
"Bye, buddy! By my buddy's family!!" She said waving with a huge grin on her face.
'This is going to be interesting!' I thought.
We got to the car and my mom started crying and threw her arms around me "Oh my baby's all grown up!" she said as I rolled my eyes and hugged her back.
"Mom, I'll be home in a couple months to visit, you don't need to cry."
I gave everyone hugs and waved as they drove away. As I started walking back to my dorm room, I felt this lump from my throat to the bottom of my stomach. I was so excited to finally be in college and to move away from home, but I felt very alone right then. I wished James was here. We would be having so much fun together, especially if he met my roommate, he would laugh so hard!
I walked into my room and Libby was sitting on a bed.
"Want some help unpacking?" She asked.
"Um, thats okay." I said, and smiled.
"Come on, I've got nothing better to do." She said.
"Okay. Sure." I told her.
"Don't be so shy." She said, jumping up. Where was she getting all this energy from?
She helped me unpack and put everything away. I didn't have much, which was good, because the room was very small!
"Come on, lets go check out the campus and college guys!" She said, excited.
"Okay." I said.
"Can I die your hair?" She asked.
"Like now?" I asked her back.
"NO! Just sometime. And can i do your make-up and stuff?" She asked.
"I guess." I said, wondering what was wrong with my hair and make-up.
"Don't look so offended!" She laughed. "I like doing everyone's hair and make-up. You are pretty, and I think it would be fun to do yours."
"Oh. Thanks." I said, smiling. I was slightly flattered.
"Now come on!" She said, and took my hand. We practicaly ran out of the girls dorm building. Someone was desperate to meet guys...
"Okay, it's all guys dorms on the other end of the building." She said as she looked at the numbers on the doors. "Once we reach D's. . ."
I just smiled and followed her. "Oh, there's our bathrooms." She said pointing to a door. "Let's check them out."
We walked into the bathrooms. It was huge! There were showers, lockers, dressing rooms and a huge line of stalls. It was really nice in there. There was even a long counter along the wall with mirrors and outlets.
"Pretty cool." I said.
She just laughed. "So, you're going to the party right?"
I shrugged.
"You're going." She said as she put her arm around me. "You are SO going."
"Okay." I giggled.
"Wow." She said as she stepped out of the bathroom. There was a guy standing at the end of the hall holding a football. He looked like he was waiting for someone. He looked at us, then looked away. He obviously had no interest in either of us. "Come on." She whispered as she guided me towards him.
"Hi. I'm Libby. This is Mel." She said to him.
"Hey." He said. His eyes looked her up and down. His eyes met mine and didn't go any further than that. It bothered me a little. He tossed his football in the air and caught it.
"Will you be at the party tonight?" She asked him.
He laughed. "Which one? I'll probably hit up a couple. . ."
"Oh." She said.
"Freshman I assume?" He asked.
She just nodded.
"Nice." He said. He pulled a flier out of his back pocket and handed it to me. "Mapquest it or somethin. It's off campus."
"Okay. . ." I said. I felt stupid, but my heart started pounding and I actually felt my knees start to shake. I was afraid they were going to give out. I pictured myself colapse, then pee my pants or something.
"I'll probably hit up Dave Shupp's party too. At the Beta Sigma Psi house." He said.
Libby smiled really big. I felt stupid for her. I don't think she felt stupid for herself.
"I'd rather not hang out with a bunch of pigs." I blurted out. I felt my eyes get big. Libby gave me this blank stare. After a few seconds, he let out a chuckle.
"I guess that is what you girls would think." He shrugged.
Libby let out the fakest laugh I had ever heard in my whole entire life. "We don't think that. She's a joker, she cracks jokes. Lot's of them." She said as she let out another obviously fake laugh and nudged me in the elbow, almost knocking me off my feet. "Right?" She said to me with gritted teeth.
"Right. . ." I said. He smiled at me.
"I'm one of the good ones." He said, looking me straight in the eyes.
"I'll see ya." He said.
"Hopefully tonight!" Libby shouted as he was walking out the door.
"We're going to the Frat party. Screw the Freshman Welcome." She said.
"Oh, I'm sure we'll get some sort of welcome." I told her.
"Time to give you a makeover. I saw a cute jean skirt, but we'll have to cut it so it's at least right above the knee." She said.
I just laughed. I wasn't so sure I was going to like her ideas, but I agreed to go with whatever she suggested. Afterall, I was not like Carla. I wasn't that much into fashion. I really wanted to be though!
"Sounds good." I told her, feeling a bit nervous.
After spending 20 minutes searching through both of our wardrobes, Libby said "I've got it. I found the perfect outfit for you!" She started clapping her hands together with a huge grin. I felt like I was on the Mickey Mouse Club!
She took out her scissors and cut my skirt just below the crotch. 'so much for just above the knee!' I thought. She then handed it to me with a pair of black tights that were capri length. She told me to put them on and she'd have a top ready for me by then. She went and dug into the bottom of her drawer and pulled out a bright blue shirt.
"You know I can't wear that right?" I said.
"Why not? It will look cute on you!" She said with a pouty face.
"I'm at least 3 sizes smaller than you."
"It will be fine, put it on."
I barely squeezed into it and felt like I couldn't breathe.
"Now I get to do your hair and make up." She grabbed a huge bag and we went to the bathroom. She pulled out a crimper and said "The 80's are totally in right now, so I'm going to make you extra cute!" She spent about an hour fixing me up and then said "Well, what do you think?"
"It's fine." I said. I could not believe I was going to let her take me out in public looking like one of Barbie and the Rockers. But hey, she seemed to know more about fashion than I did.
It took her at least an hour to get ready, and I was more then a little nervous when I saw her outfit. She was wearing nothing like what I had on! She looked normal. I was starting to wonder if she was playing some kind of joke on me. I sighed. I was suposed to be trying things out of my comfort zone, right? On our way to the party I realized I hadn't eatin a thing all day! I was starving. I didn't want to suggest getting food though. She seemed pretty intent on going straight to the Frat House. Since neigher of us had a car, we just walked. When we got to the house there were a lot of cars parked out front, and there was music coming from inside. It didn't look like there were many people there yet. We walked in, and I felt instantly out of place. Back in Colorado parties were a lot smaller, and I at least new most of the people. I didn't know anyone. I just followed Libby around. A guy offered us some kind of alcohol, but I said no, then felt even more stupid when both Libby and the guy gave me strange looks.
"I uh...don't drink much." I said, rather lamely. Libby just smiled, and took the drink that would have been mine so that she had one in each hand. She imediatly walked over to a group of people and started talking. I just went and sat on a chair in the corner. I felt so out of place, and no one looked anything like me! I was regreting listening to her. After about half an hour I got up to leave. I was just about to walk out of the house when the guy from earlier that day walked in.
"You made it." he said.
"Yeah, I guess so." I told him.
"But you're leaving." He said.
"Well, it's not really my kind of thing." I said, feeling like such a loser.
"Relax, it's not really my kind of thing either." He said. My stomach growled and I felt instantly embarassed! I could feel my face turn red. He just smiled.
"My name is Bobby by the way." He said.
"I'm sorry I said you all were probably pigs." I blurted out. He laughed.
"You are right about most of them. Do you want to go grab a bite to eat? There are some great places within walking distance." He said. I froze and didn't know what to say! No one had ever asked me out so blatently.
"I know I'm kind of a stranger, so it's okay if you don't want to." He said.
"No. I do." I said.
"Come on." He said, and gestured back out the door. I smiled and followed him out. I was so quiet, and nervous! I could just feel myself shaking.
Bobby laughed, and I looked over at him.
"You are adorable." He said.
"Uh, thanks." I said, confused.
"Don't be so nervous. I wasted my whole freshman and sophmore year being nervous." He said.
"Whoa! You're a junior?" I asked. He laughed, and I couldn't help but giggle. Why did I say that?
"Yeah." He said. We walked to a Chili's and went inside.
"So, you're not seeing anyone I assume?" He asked.
"Nope." I said.
"Right on." He said.
"My last girlfriend cheated on me." He said.
"That sucks." I said.
"Yup."
We were seated and I started looking through the menu. We were both quiet for a few minutes as we looked over the menu.
"What are you gonna get?" He asked.
"Steak Fajitas." I said.
"That sounds good." He said. "I think I'll get the same."
"Can I get you guys somethin' to drink?" The waitress asked us.
"Just a water." I said.
She looked at Bobby.
"Arnold Palmer." He said.
"Okay. I'm Lisa, I'll be your server." She said.
"I think we're ready to order too." Bobby told her.
"Great." She said smiling as she pulled her notepad out from the front pocket of her apron.
"Two steak fajita dinners." He told her.
"Alright. Anything else?" She asked.
"Nope." He said.
She took our menus and walked away.
He turned toward me. I had no idea what to say. We just kind of looked at eachother for a second.
He smiled. "Mind if I smoke?" He asked.
"Oh, uh. No." I lied. I did care. I didn't like being around cigarette smoke.
He laughed. "You can be honest with me."
"I am."
"I'll wait until we leave." He said.
"Okay." I giggled.
"So, why no boyfriend?" He asked.
I just shrugged.
He nodded and turned his head towards one of the tv's in the bar where nascar was on.
"I guess I never really met anyone I wanted to date." I said. I felt dumb, but I was trying my very hardest to make conversation.
"Wow. Are you picky?" He laughed.
"No. Just selective." I laughed.
"I'm the same way." He said. "My friends think I'm crazy when I turn down a lot of girls."
I smiled.
"I don't know." He sighed. "I really like your skirt by the way."
"Thanks." I said, totally blushing.
"Sure." He said with a smile.
That dinner was full of long silences. It made me feel really dumb! When we finished eating, he paid the bill and we walked back to the party.
"I'm gonna grab a beer. You want?" He asked.
"Dude!" A guy shouted to Bobby.
"Holy crap." I sighed under my breath. I couldn't beleive my eyes.
"Seth." Bobby said.
"Who's the girl?" Seth asked pointing to me with his beer.
"Mel." He told him. "Mel, this is Seth."
"Help yourself to anything in the kitchen." Seth told me. I smiled.
"Here." Bobby said. He grabbed my hand and guided me through the crowd of people. He let go of my hand when we reached the kitchen. I spotted Seth talking to a group of guys. They were laughing really loud. I found myself laughing too.
"What?" Bobby asked.
"Oh." I said, turning back to him. I shrugged.
He laughed. "Beer?"
"Just one." I said, turning back to Seth and his friends again.
I couldn't get over how attractive Seth was. He looked like he could be trouble though with his arms full of tattoos and his lip peirced. He didn't really fit in with many of the other guys I saw at the party either.
"All the girls like him." Bobby said handing me a beer.
"Huh?" I asked.
"Seth. Something about him. All the girls like him." He said. "He's actually in my Fraternity. . ."
"Oh really?" I asked.
"I can introduce you to him." He said.
"Really?" I asked smiling. I giggled. I felt so dumb all over again. "Nah."
He laughed, "Okay, but he's not a pig either."
I laughed.
"Although you haven't exactly defined a pig to me." He said.
I looked out the kitchen window just as I saw a guy throwing Libby into the pool.
"Oh geez." I said.
"Where are the Freshman?" Some guys shouted as they came running into the house from the back.
"Uh oh. . ." I said.
"Uh oh is right." Bobby said.
"What?" I whispered. "Shhh."
"Over here!" Bobby said pointing at me.
"No." I said.
"Seth! Over here!" Bobby said pointing at me.
"Bobby." I said with big eyes.
Seth set down his cup and him and another guy ran over to me. Seth picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I started laughing so hard. I accidently touched his butt. He screamed as I turned my head and he threw me into the pool. It was so cold! I couldn't stop laughing though. I decided to copy Julie to get attention. 'Okay. The Julie method. You can do this' I thought. I giggled and climbed out of the pool. "Oh no you don't!" Seth said laughing. Him and his friend trapped me between them and two big bushes. I was laughing so hard and I felt like the biggest dork in the world. Seth's friend wrapped his arms around me and ran over to the pool. He tossed me in the air and I flew into the pool again.
While I was underwater I realized my skirt had slipped off! I came back up, and quickly looked around for it. I saw it on the farside of the pool and swam for it. Before I could get to it though, Seth had jumped in and grabbed it.
"Give it back!" I laughed.
"Come and get it!" He said.
"COME ON!" I whined.
"Let me see your underwear first." He said.
"What?" I asked, blushing.
"You heard." He said. I giggled, and then dived underwater and did a handstand so he could see my underwear.
"Nice." He said when I came back up.
"Okay, now give me my skirt!" I shouted. He shook his head no.
"Bobby!" I shouted when I saw him.
"Enough Seth, give her the skirt." Bobby said.
"Aw, you are no fun!" Seth shouted and threw the skirt at me. I slid it on underwater, and then swam over to the side of the pool and Bobby helped me out.
"Now I'm all wet and cold." I said.
"Seth I'm getting her some clothes from your room." Bobby called down to the pool. But Seth was busy chasing some other girl in the water.
We walked into the house and up to the second floor.
"This is Seth's room." Bobby told me and opened the door.
"You don't live here?" I asked, teeth chattering.
"Nope. It's not my fraternity." He said. I watched him walk over to Seth's dresser and pull out some boxers with skulls all over them. He threw them at me, then found a t-shirt from the closet and gave it to me.
"There are towels in the bathroom." He said, and pointed to a room in the hall.
"Thanks." I said, and changed in the bathroom. When I came back out I was glad he was still there waiting for me. He laughed.
"What?" I asked.
"You look silly. But cute." He said, and I blushed.
After we put my clothes in the dryer we walked back outside.
I sat down on a lawn chair and watched people goof off. I felt so silly in a pair of guys boxers and a big shirt. Bobby sat down in the chair next to me.
"So, having fun?" He asked.
I smiled and nodded.
"Good." He said. "You gotta have some fun before you have to worry about school."
"That's for sure." I giggled.
"I'm ready to go." Libby said. She looked mad.
"Everything okay?" I asked her.
"There she is!" A guy shouted pointing at her.
"Lay a finger on me and I'll punch you." She said to him.
He gave her a strange look. "We were just having fun." He said.
"Right." She said. She turned to me. "Let's go."
"I'll bring you your clothes tomorrow." Bobby said. "Meet me in the library at nine."
"Okay. . ." I said.
Libby took my hand and we left. She started crying as soon as we stepped outside. "Libby?" I asked.
"I'm sorry." She said.
"What happened in there?" I asked.
"That jerk tried to kiss me and I pushed him away, so he started cussing at me." She explained. "As soon as I started to get upset, he told me not to tell anyone, then he said he was just joking around."
"I'm sorry." I said.
"Whatever. It's over and done with. I just want to go home and go to sleep." She said.
"Okay." I said.
We got to our dorm, and she was still crying.
"Hey, I have something totaly lame, but I know it will cheer you up." I told her.
"What?" She asked, curious. I held up my Care Bears movie.
"What?" She asked laughing.
"It's dumb, but I promise it will make you laugh and feel better." I told her. She looked like she didn't believe me. I put it in and we both sat down on my bed to watch it.
Once the movie was over, Libby said "Thanks hun, that really did cheer me up!"
"I knew it would. I watch it every time I'm having a bad day. It's cute and it helps me get my mind off things for a while."
"Mel, what was your first kiss like?"
"It was lame."
"How come?" She asked looking confused.
"Well, it was when I was 12. I was at a birthday party and we played spin the bottle. Nick, the hottest kid in school spun it and it landed on me. We went into the closet and he kissed me. It was so awkward and I felt stupid cause I didn't know what I was doing. The worst thing was that once he kissed me, he told me I was pretty and he was glad the bottle landed on me, but then he left the closet and never talked to me again. It was stupid."
"Aw, I'm sorry Mel."
"It's ok, I'm over by now. How about you? I'm sure yours was better."
"Well, actually no. The reason I was so upset tonight is cause I've never been kissed. I've never had a boyfriend, and I've never even had a guy hold my hand. I've always been popular, but I've never had a guy interested or gutsy enough to ask me out."
"Well, obviously that's not going to be a problem here. The guys really seem to like you." I said, hoping to help her feel better.
"Yea, I think this is a good fresh start. But I want my first kiss to be special, not with some drunk jerk at a party."
"Well, we'll just have to find you a good guy, wont we?" I told her. She smiled. I was starting to picture us being pretty good friends.
"Thanks. What do you say we get to sleep? I'm pretty tired." She said, and yawned. I just laughed.
The next morning I got up at 8 and rushed off to the bathrooms to get ready before 9:00 to get my clothes from Bobby. When I got in there the bathroom was full.
"Damn it!" I said, and rushed back to the room.
"What's wrong?" Libby asked when I came running back in.
"The bathroom is full and I look like crap!" I told her.
"Whoa, calm down! You look fine." She said. I just glared at her, and she laughed.
"SIT!" She shouted and pointed to the bed. She pulled out her flat iron, a face wipe, and her make-up. In about 15 minutes she was done and I looked great.
"Wow." I said, looking in the mirror. She just smiled. I scooped up Seth's clothes and ran down to the library.
"Hey." Bobby said when I walked in.
"Hey."
He handed me a grocery bag with my clothes in it.
"Thanks." I said.
"You're very welcome." He said smiling. "I gotta run. Last night was fun though. We'll have do it again sometime."
"Yeah, definatly." I said.
"Sorry about what happen with Libby. Skyler can be a bit of jerk sometimes." He said.
"Yeah."
"He's not a bad guy though once you get to know him." He said. "He's in my Fraternity. He's actually a pretty cool guy."
I just smiled.
"Honest." He laughed.
"I beleive you." I giggled.
"Anyway, I'll see ya." He said.
"Bye." I said.
'Wow, that was really worth getting made up for!' I thought.
I walked back to the dorm room to find Libby asleep again. "Wake up!" I said, laughing.
"You're back already?" she said as she crawled out of bed.
"Yea, I guess I didn't make that big of an impression."
"Oh stop, he probably just had to be somewhere."
"Yea, he did seem to be in a hurry." I said while I thought the events over again."It's not a big deal, I don't even know if I like him." I started thinking about James - I knew I liked him. Of course, he probably found some hot college girl by now anyways.
"So, what do you want to do today? Classes don't start until tomorrow." She asked me.
"I don't know. What do college people do?" I asked, and she laughed.
"I don't know! Let's go find out." She said. I shrugged and followed her out to the main campus. There were people walking around, and groups of people talking.
"Hmmmm." She said, then spotted a group of people standing around talking that she thought looked interesting.
"Hello!" She said, walking up to them.
"And you are. . .?" A girl asked.
"Libby." She said smiling. "And this is Mel."
". . . okay." The girl said.
"Freshman I assume?" A guy asked.
I rolled my eyes. "I swear it's like written on our foreheads or something." I said.
"No, it's just obvious that you guys don't have any friends." The girl said rudely.
"We have a lot of friends." Libby snapped. "We're having a party. We just wanted to come invite you guys. We're getting a keg, but whatever. . . if you don't wanna come, then that's just fine with me."
I looked at Libby with big eyes.
"Really?" The girl asked.
"Yup. Party of the year I'll bet." Libby said.
"Where's it gonna be?" Another guy asked.
Libby laughed and rolled her eyes. "Should we invite them?" She asked me as she looked around. She started squinting her eyes and she looked like she was really trying to study something. Everyone looked in the direction she was looking. "It's at the Chi Omega House." She finally said.
The girl laughed. "You guys are rushing for a sorority?" She asked.
"Duh." Libby said.
"Okay then." The girl said. "I'm Kay. You can bet we'll be there."
Libby grabbed my arm and walked me quickly to the steps of the school.
"What are you doing?" I whispered.
"Oh my goodness." Libby said holding her head. "Do you think it's too late to rush?"
"What?!" I asked.
"Well, we have to join now." She said. "Otherwise, we'll look like total idiots."
"Libby!" I said.
We looked at eachother and started laughing.
"And I guess we have to convince them to have a party tonight. . . oh dear." She said. "Idiot!" She called herself.
We couldn't stop laughing.
"Where did you even get that name from?" I asked her.
"I saw it on a flyer. I think this morning was the cutoff to rush though. . ." She said.
We ran over to the flyer that was nail to a tree. "We have until noon." She said.
"Oh my gosh." I said.
"Well, it's kind of exciting right. . .?" She asked.
I shrugged. "I guess."
We rushed to our room laughing as we tried to find something cute to wear, then we had to rush to the sorority house.
We got there right in time and Libby knocked on the door.
A girl opened it. She was tall, thin and perfect. It made me sick. She had long blonde curly hair and bright green eyes.
"Hi." She said smiling.
"We want to Rush for Chi Omega." Libby said with way too much excitement.
"You're just in time." She said. "I'm Kendra. Come in."
We walked into the house. The house was huge and amazing. It was decorated very eligantly and it smelled so fresh. "Follow me." Kendra said.
She took us to a room full of girls talking and laughing.
"Alright!" Kendra shouted.
Everyone was instantly quiet and looking in her direction. "Grab a name tag." She whispered to us as she pointed to a table. Libby and I grabbed a name tag and wrote our names down on them. We sat down in two empty seats in the back of the room.
"As most of you know, I'm Kendra." She said. "I am the president of Chi Omega."
A few of the girls said hi and she continued. "Chi Omega was founded in 1971 by Sabre Smith. We, as Chi Omega members have values. Number One is Leadership. We encourage you to become leaders, whether you are in charge of an activity, a planning committee or you decide to run in an election to become a board member. We want you all to be leaders. Number two is friendship. Sisterhood is very important here. A lot of you do not have family members that live close by. That is what we are here for. Moral and peer support. Number three is service. We do a lot of community service in order to keep this sorority going. We also do a lot of fundraising. It keeps us strong and of course you always feel good helping others and we have fun doing it as well. Number Four is Scholorship. We want you all to be successful here in college. It is important to get good grades and reach your goals. Your sorority sisters will be there for you for anything you need. You will make great friends that you will never forget here."
A chubby readhead girl stood up. She was very pretty too. Kendra towered over her. "Fold your name tags in half and put them in this basket." She said. "I am Amy and I am your Vice President of Administration. The sorority sisters will draw names from the basket which will determine who your Big Sis will be. Your Big Sis will guide you through this process of being a Rushee."
Amy walked around with the basket as we all put our name tags into it. "Tomorrow will be our first slumber party. We will be getting to know eachother with some team building activities. One is a trust walk and you will be partnered up with your Big Sis. Slumber Party starts at 5pm sharp." Kendra said.
Amy finished collecting our name tags and the sisters started picking names. A mean looking Asian girl named Meeka picked my name and a girl named Ava chose Libby's name. Ava seemed very snobby. Libby and I were both scared. We laughed about it on our way back to our dorm room.
When we got back to the dorm, there was a note on our door for me. It was from the dorm manager asking that I come see her immediately. I looked at Libby with a frightened look and she said "Come on, let's go see what this is about" as she took my hand and we raced down the hall and down the stairs. We ran so fast, we almost stumbled, so we started laughing. When we got to the main lobby, I showed the clerk my note and she said to follow her. We went into the woman's office. She invited me to sit down and said "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, especially since it's so early into the semester. It's about your grandmother. I received a call from your mom about an hour ago. She said this morning she went to your grandmother's home and she wasn't doing well. They were on the way to the hospital and... well, I'm sorry, your grandmother passed away in the ambulance. Your mom tried calling you, but said your cell phone was turned off."
"What?" I asked. That couldn't be. We had all had dinner with grandma only a few nights ago before I left.
"What do I do?" I asked. Classes started the next day and all I wanted to do was go home.
"First, call your mother." She told me. Libby wasn't saying anything. She just looked awkward. I tried not to cry when the woman handed me the phone. I called home.
"Hello?" My mom answered.
"Mom?" I asked, and it was even harder not to break down crying.
"Oh sweetie! We tried to call you." She said, and started crying.
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