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She clears her throat, obnoxiously obvious that she’s put outfor having to wait for the room to settle down. “First, let’s get started with our big event coming up, spring formal.”
Spring formal?I’m literally wearing two pairs of socks, a long sleeve shirt and a hoodie to keep warm and she’s talking about a spring formal? I look around the room and even Meg who’s sitting beside me is nodding in agreement.Okay.
“We will need to get the venue secured, decide on a theme and all the little details.” Beth Ann looks around the room and for the most part everyone is shaking their head in agreement. This will be my first spring formal in the sorority and I only know what to expect from Meg. I pledged just in time during the fall semester to take part in the informal dance and that was surprisingly fun. It was Hawaiian themed and I spent the entire night with leis wrapped around my neck and dancing with my new found friends because half the girls didn’t bring a date, myself included.
The night ended when Chadd, one of the guys from a frat that is always hanging around, stealing the license plate off of Lola’s car as a prank. When she woke up the next morning and went out to her car and noticed it missing she totally freaked and called campus security. When Chadd found out he sheepishly apologized and confessed by giving her the plate back. Lola still isn’t over it but I still crack up thinking about it and the look on her face when she thought someone was using it for a crime. I’m lost in that memory when Meg’s elbow hits my ribcage.
“Ouch! That hurt.”
Meg is giving me big eyes and inclining her head towards the front where Beth Ann stands. When I look over I realize she’s staring at me. “Sorry I was thinking of Lola and the license plate incident from informal.” Several laughs and snickers break out around the room and I see Lola on the other side glaring at me.Too bad.
Beth Ann hits her gavel again to quiet us down and I have abrief flash of ripping that thing right out of her hand. “Like I was saying, we would love to get any support you can offer from the athletics department for our formal.”
Now I’m confused. Do they want me to elicit sponsored items? I don’t think the athletic department is going to offer to chip in for our catering. “Um… support how? What would you like me to do?”
Beth Ann pretends to play shy but I’ve seen that girl get wild during mixer events so I know it’s all an act. I cringe on the inside, preparing for whatever she’s getting ready to ask of me. I have a feeling I’m not going to like it.
“You access the athletic building everyday surely, you run into all of the guys on the football and basketball teams. Stop them, talk to them and mention the formal. I’m sure some of them would love to be invited.”
Yep. I was right. Ihatedher idea.
THE MIDDLE MAN
April 2005
“It’s been three months Nikki and neither one of you has made a move,” Erica says before she takes a bite out of herCam’sham sandwich.
I shrug my shoulders, not wanting to admit that she’s right. I lift one of the crinkle fries and inspect it avoiding her gaze. She is right, I might not say it but I think it. Brad and I have been doing this weird dance for months now. We text, we sit beside each other in not one but three classes and we’ve seen each other at no less than a dozen interconnected Greek events. When we do see each other at the events we always talk and hang out together even if it’s just for a few minutes.
At fraternity events, I’ve never seen him hooking up with girls and trust me, I’ve been paying attention albeit discreetly. During all of this time he’s never been overly flirty with me but I’ve had the gut feeling that he does like me. Me on the other hand, I don’t know how I hide my feelings. Each day that I see him in class, at a mixer or even during our texts, I find myself falling a little bit more and more for him. I’ve discovered he’swicked smart, has a great sense of humor, loves a lot of the same things that I do and is really connected to his family. All admirable traits in a great guy. Plus the icing on the cake is that he’s incredibly blessed in the genes department. He’s so good looking that he could be on the cover ofGQ.
There’s been more than a couple of nights that I’ve laid in bed thinking about how he’s out of my league. He’s a total package and I wonder if that’s why he’s never made any move to hang out. I try not to mention it to my closest friends but today I broke and told Erica all about my thoughts on my situation.
“You know. I find it odd that you guys message online so much and you see each other in class and at sorority stuff but he’s never initiated or mentioned you guys just hanging out on your own other than that one random hang out at the student center.” She takes a sip of water and looks around the room like she hasn’t just nonchalantly crushed my soul. I can always count on her to tell me exactly what she thinks and not hold back.
I frown. “Yeah, but to be fair I’ve never tried to initiate us hanging out on our own either.” It’s not like we had a horrible time that day at the student center, quite the contrary. We hung out talking, flirting (at least I think) and making each other laugh until it was time for our next class to start. My response is lame even to me. Erica gives me a look that conveys her thoughts are similar to mine. I try to change the subject, not wanting to dwell on non-existent love life. “Practice starts back up in a few weeks. Next week is tryouts and then we’ll have our new team members.”
She smiles sweetly at me. “Nice try but we’re still talking about Brad.” She takes a sip of her Diet Coke. “I just think if you like him then go for it and tell him. I mean what do you have to lose? You’ll have to see him in class but that’s not for too much longer.” She digs back into her sandwich and French fries.
I groan, my stomach in a constricted knot. I toss my paper napkin on the table and push my plate away. My mouth feels dry just thinking about what I’m about to suggest. I know that if I voice it, then Erica will hold me to it. She’ll be relentless in the pursuit of me following through with the idea. She’s a ball buster and has been since the first night I met her during rush week.
“I think I might invite him to spring formal.”
That does it. She stops chewing her food and meets my eye. “I think that’s a perfect idea.”
I beam back at her, happy that she thinks my idea isn’t completely crazy.
“Now let’s figure out the best way for this plan to succeed.”
“I can’t believe we’re doing this. She’s going to think I’m crazy.” Scrunching my face up at the pounding sound of Erica’s fist hitting the door of Courtney’s dorm room. I look up and down the hall trying to see if anyone is witness to this crazy plan of ours. It had been just a few short hours since we sat in the booth at the restaurant coming up with a hairbrained scheme that was almost guaranteed to end in some kind of crazy shenanigan that I would find myself in. More than likely, I would end up being totally embarrassed and never be able to show my face in any of the classes that Brad and I have together.
Erica looks at me then rolls her eyes and gives me duck lips. “No she’s not. She’s going to think we’rebothcrazy but we’re still here and we’re still going to talk her into doing it.”
She knocks on the door once again and it’s as if she’s getting ready to serve a warrant.
“Geez Erica, try not to break the door down would you.”
She drops her hand from the door and plants her hands onher hips. “I’m just trying to help you get to your end goal here. You can start thanking me anytime.”
