Work it Out

I got home and my mom and dad seriously waited on me hand and foot. They also did a really good job of holding in their comments about the fact that I walked in the door with Kenny. I had told Mom that he was coming over. I just don’t think she realized that we were, what felt like, picking up right where we left off.

My professors were very understanding of my absence. I didn’t really tell them that I was no longer having sporadic attendance due to Mr. Hart’s injury, but I left the assumption up to them. All my assignments were extended with the exception of a few things I just turned in remotely. I could gather most of the content I’d missed from classmates or Betas who were in my classes. It really seemed like my grades weren’t suffering. However, I vowed to be a better attendant until the end of the semester.

Mom took me shopping one afternoon. “So, Kenny?” She asked quietly.

I nodded while perusing the racks. “I know. It was weird. But he seems different. He’s so excited to talk to me. He calls me every night. He has just been a lot better. I don’t know what this means. But, it’s nice to be wanted.”

“Kathleen,” she said cautiously. “You’ve never been good at being single. For the year that you weren’t with Kenny, before Mark, you say you were ‘single,’ but you truly weren’t. That poor Vincent kid followed you around, took you out, and doted on you.”

I was kind of stunned. After Kenny and I broke up, my friend Vincent made a very concerted effort to make sure I was okay. But I don’t think he was actually in love with me. I mean, granted, after I didn’t go to Prom with him we never spoke again. But, I figured he’d just gotten a bruised ego. “Mom, this isn’t what this is. I don’t know what any of this stuff between either Mark or Kenny means. I’ll sort this all out. I will.”

Monday night I went to chapter. It was our last chapter before we found out our big sisters. We’d be initiated the following week. Before all of this hullabaloo with Mark, I couldn’t wait to be initiated. And find out who my big sister was. Now, I’m kind of less excited. But, I was still very thankful to be a Beta. At chapter, we were each given a clue as to who our Big Sister might be. And we took turns guessing. They wouldn’t tell us, but it was funny for the older girls to hear what we thought.

My card read: When you join my family you won’t be an only child. You’ll have a twin, a big, and maybe even more.

This was actually a quality clue. What this meant was that I was getting a twin. A twin is someone who shares a big sister. So, this girl was an upperclassman. I wracked my brain, but couldn’t figure out what the “maybe even more” was supposed to mean. I was hoping it meant that my big sister had a dog!!! I would love a dog.

Classes were going well. My lowest grade was in Spanish, no surprise there, and I had an 83 average. I couldn’t complain since I never had a decent grade in Spanish to begin with. Monday Mark still wasn’t in lab, so I did actually pair up with the other girls. They were actually very nice. And smart. Much better at this than Mark or I were. Maybe I could learn a thing or two from them.

Wednesday night Harriett, Ashley, Yvonne and I went to dinner. Newk’s was probably my favorite casual eating place. We didn’t have them in my hometown, but there were plenty in Mississippi, and so it was kind of like this treasure you only got to have once in a while. And I loved any BBQ Chicken Pizza I could get my hands on. Ashley was saying that her season would end in two weeks, and she wasn’t sure if she was going to play again next season. She hadn’t totally bonded with any of the girls on the team, and she felt like she was missing out. Harriett and Chet were going away to the lake for the weekend. By themselves. She had high hopes that this time would end better than the last. Yvonne and Rich were going to see a play in Montgomery with his parents. I hadn’t really told them about Kenny, so when I said I was going to Oxford for his fraternities philanthropy event (it was a party-I’m not quite sure how they get away calling it a philanthropy event), all mouths hit the floor.

Yvonne, never mincing words, “Well, isn’t that a little unfair to Mark. Do you not want to try to work this out when his life settles down?”

I kind of got mad. “Oh yeah, because there is a lot to come back from when he leaves you in a parking lot to fend for yourself.”

Ashley sensing tensions broke it up. “Look, we’ll support you. But just be cautious. Mark is an awesome guy, and I would hate for you to ruin the chance of fixing something with him for this guy you haven’t spoken to in a year.”

I saw her point. I just didn’t know how to fix what Mark and I had. Or if he wanted to. I’d been giving him his space. And I didn’t ask Yvonne or Rich about it. Even when I saw Leslie at chapter, she just smiled and nodded. She didn’t seem mad. I think we’re just moving on. All of us.

Kenny called while we were eating. I ignored his call, texting him saying I’d call later. When I got back to my room, Candace was studying, so I went to the common room on the floor to call him back. He was telling me about the party, and who all was going to be there. “Look, Susanna is dating another brother now. She’s going to be around. She’s usually pretty low key about this. We’ve been broken up at least 3 months. However, I haven’t had a girlfriend since her. Obviously.”

I choked. “A what?”

“A girlfriend. You’re my girlfriend. Let’s not be childish about this. We both know this is for the best.”

“Pump the breaks a second. Don’t be rash. There is no reason to go acting all love stupid. We’ve got plenty of time. But as soon as we go putting labels on this, making it a thing, we’ve created expectations. I don’t think either of us are in a place to do that. Are we?”

He sighed. I couldn’t tell if it was from sadness, or from agreement. “Look, people here think of you as my girlfriend. I think of you as my girlfriend. If you need some convincing, I guess I can wait it out. But please, don’t get all ‘he’s not my boyfriend’ this weekend. Ok?”

He was being fair. If not weird. But fair. I was leaving to go to Oxford the next morning, I didn’t want things to be rough. “Deal. Now, did you do as I asked and set up your DVR to record the lifetime movie marathon today, so we can watch it tomorrow night?”

He laughed. “Yes ma’am. I did. Don’t tell Kathleen, but I even went out and bought York Peppermint Patties. They are sitting in the freezer now. I had to fight the urge to grab them myself, but I knew you’d like them.”

I nodded. “Thank you for that. I’ll see you in a few hours. Sleep well, kumquat.”

“Goodnight, parsnip.”