Dark Night

Winter quarter

I was glad to be home with my family, to distract myself with decorating and cooking--this time Stan helped too since he was home from his latest competition with another gold medal. Grandpa was disappointed in John. "Well, punkin, the world is your oyster.  You're pretty set on going to grad school, and who knows where that will be? Plus you're going to be doing fieldwork in your career and you'll be meeting people everywhere you go. You'll find somebody if you want."

We talked about my activities; I'd been accepted as a campus tour guide, I helped teach people how to read with Project Literacy, I was learning the waltz, quickstep, cha cha, and rhumba in the DanceSport club, and the Science and Policy club was more interesting than I'd hoped.  The girls stayed close to me, providing all the support and companionship I needed, and I started to brighten. Maya put everything into perspective. "He can't help how he feels," she said, petting my hair. "Any more than you can. At least he did the decent thing and cut you loose. Now you're free to find somebody who will treasure you. And you guys will still be friends. It'll mean more to you later, Leia." I was glad that she put it like that.

But I had to admit that I was amused by the way they treated John when we ran into him. They weren't rude, but they were cool. A little to my surprise, he took it without complaint.

The girls also had potential solutions for my impending friendlessness; both to get more involved with the groups I'd picked up and Cass suggested going through recruitment and joining a sorority. She'd registered for it on her campus and pointed out the advantages and acknowledged the disadvantages. I talked it over with Grandpa, and he thought the idea had merit. We looked on the website and found out that most members still lived in the dorms despite having chapterhouses, so I would still be around my friends in the dorm, and there were a lot of activities as well as academic resources. I'd known mostly that Greeks wore their letters all over campus and although there weren't as many of them as there were unaffiliated students, it looked like there were more because they were involved in everything. What the heck. It couldn't hurt to learn more, so  I shot off an email to the office of Greek life, asking if any of the chapters did rush in the winter or spring quarters. I got an email just before the campus closed for Christmas saying that some chapters were having informal recruitment in January and sent me information and a link for registration. So I did. My parents were in favor of the idea, also thinking that it would expand my circle of friends, and to my great surprise, my dad's mom actually called me when she heard the news. I almost asked who she was when I answered; I hadn't actually spoken with her since they'd called briefly to congratulate me on high school graduation. She'd been in a sorority in college, which I hadn't realized. It was almost enough to put me off the idea, but they didn't have a chapter at UCLA. She was disappointed but promised to buy my badge if I joined.

Stan also rolled his eyes when I told him, but he didn't say anything. There really wasn't anything to comment on.

When my grades came in, I gave myself a celebratory high-five; for the first time in college I'd gotten straight As. My brother also had a report card; he was taking a class at a time and would take two over the summer when he had more time. He got an A in his second semester of English and was moving into a preparatory class so he could take college-level math. Grandpa would be able to help him since he knew a lot of math. He made us cupcakes to celebrate.

Marc was busy with his skaters; Todd was rehabbing a knee injury and wasn't around much. But for New Years, I went skating with him. My dance lessons helped a lot and we had fun. He was happier, I was glad to see.

I went back to school a lot happier than when I'd left it. There was the usual rush to hit the bookstore and it was back to work. Johanna and I went to the store to stock up on popcorn--I was cutting back on my diet Coke habit and bought a Britta pitcher--and she thought that joining a sorority would be good for me. "I worry about you," she said."I'm graduating, Serafina's kind of moved on, your friend is busy with his girlfriend, your friend at the enemy institution is, well, not on campus. You know a lot of people but your circle of friends is kind of thin. If that doesn't work, find other ways to connect, Delia." Then she changed the subject abruptly. "I want to do something fun for spring break, and I was thinking about going hiking in Yosemite. Do you want to come? All you'd need to buy are hiking boots, we can rent sleeping bags and tents and backpacks on campus."