3. Experiences
CHAPTER 3
Experiences
ARYN
“Bottoms up, buttercup!” Monica squeals beside me as we take the shots.
I raise my eyebrows at her. “I thought it was suck it up, buttercup?” I slur and then grab the lemon wedge to suck.
“Fuck if I know, we got this shit out of order or maybe in order,” she laughs loudly. “Lick it, suck it, slam it. Not lick it, slam it, suck it … or wait, is that right?”
I have no clue. The room is already spinning before we ever take this shot. I’ve lost count and the buzz is too strong for me to even attempt to sort it out.
“I don’t think I’m supposed to be drunk before I meet my date.” I explain pushing away the shot Monica has lined up in front of me.
She’s my other best friend and closest sorority sister. Monica and I came to college together from our small town high-school looking for a bigger pond to explore, so to speak.
Back home, it was like big fish in a small pond. We were popular and well-liked, but day in and day out everything is the same.
Here, at school, we’re the small fish in the big pond. Sure, people know us but not everyone. We’re still well-liked but there is so much to do, the days are never the same.
Monica and I are completely different and yet, so similar. She has blonde hair with purple tips to my dark locks with red tips. She has gorgeous green eyes to my hazel. Monica calls herself the ivory to my ebony because we look so opposite but are so much alike like the keys on the piano, so very different but both having the same goals as if making music.
Monica and I both aspire to see the world. We want to succeed.
Our story and history is not the typical way to make friends. We have been inseparable since Freshman year of high-school when I had a crush on her then boyfriend so she nailed me in PE class with a softball to the head. I rushed over ready to pull her hair out only for her to smile at me and say never-mind.
I still wanted to kick her ass, but I was getting dizzy and the lump forming on my forehead really started getting the best of me. Rather than us both get suspended for fighting, we talked it out and became friends.
No boyfriend, no friend, hell, not even family could tear us apart now. Which is why we’re together tonight with Rachel.
Monica met Rachel playing softball for our college. They both have partial scholarships. Of course with Monica and I being inseparable as she made friends with Rachel so did I. We’re the three musketeers of sorts.
The full experience of college life, that’s how we ended up in the dorms not as roommates. Our parents were willing to get us an apartment together, but Monica, the social butterfly, thought having this time only once we needed to have every opportunity college offered.
We have branched out and made friends like Rachel in this time and forcing ourselves out of our comfort zones.
The full experience, that’s how she talked me into pledging.
The full experience – that’s how she got me here tonight.
I keep telling her when we graduate, life is my own experience and we’re not doing this leap first and ask questions later shit anymore.
“It’s gonna be fun.” She tosses back her next shot. “We’ll be right over there and you know the signal if he’s a douche.”
Lord, help me. What have I gotten into now?
We’re at a local night club. It is Saturday night after mid-terms and we are all more than anxious to let loose. The place isn’t packed but it’s full. The lights are low and the bar is the place to be.
I have twenty minutes left with my girls and then I have to meet my blind date at bar stool seven where he will be wearing dress pants, a white button up with two buttons undone and a gray sports coat.
Fabulous, the club we’re at has a dress code. Which is why my feet are screaming in my peep-toe red high heels that Monica paired with a royal blue dress and a three- inch-wide red belt under my ta-ta’s for emphasis.
I look good. I feel good. I just don’t want to do the blind date.
Unfortunately, we each have a rotation. If you’re single and part of Phi Delta Chi, then you get a profile on this app for dating at the college. The sisters all help build each profile and scan for potential dates. It’s part of our social stuff in keeping our sorority active and not becoming cliquey with one fraternity or the sorts.
Tonight, it’s my turn. In less than an hour, I’m meeting my blind date.