Chapter 41
Carmen woke up in Nic’s arms. Nic had made passionate love to her all night long. She felt so relieved, so free for the first time. She had given her heart to Nic, and she honestly knew that it was the right decision.
Nic woke up and caught Carmen staring at her.
“Hey, what’s up?” Nic said. Her voice was groggy, but Carmen still liked it.
“Nothing much. Gotta get to the U.C. for the Chi Theta step show,” Carmen said.
“You still want to go after all that happened?”
“Yeah, I am still a part of the chapter, and just ’cause I don’t like some of them doesn’t mean they’re all bad.” She got up and put her clothes on.
“Well, cool,” Nic said as she headed to the shower. “I’ll meet you at your dorm to walk with you, okay.”
“All right.” Carmen kissed Nic and headed toward her dorm.
Carmen opened her dorm door to find Cooley sleeping in her bed. She smiled as she picked up the phone to call Misha to wake her up.
“Chick, get up. We got the step show, you know.”
“I am not going to that bullshit,” Misha said, yawning.
“Yes, you are, we have to show them they didn’t get the best of us. Now get up and take a shower.”
Misha knew that Carmen was right. “Okay. I’ll meet you there.”
Carmen didn’t realize that Cooley was staring at her.
Cooley recognized that she was glowing. “So, I’m guessing Tameka is old news,” she said as she sat up in the bed, rubbing her eyes.
“Tameka who?” Carmen smiled.
“Hey, Carmen, how you feeling, boo?”
“Great!” Carmen squealed as she hugged Cooley.
“Nic fucked the shit out of you, didn’t she?” They laughed.
Denise woke up to the sound of someone beating on her door. Lena opened the door to find her mother standing there.
“Girl, I know you are not still in the bed, the step show is in a few hours, and you have to look flawless, you know.” Her mother said as she quickly began to bring bags into their room.
Denise got up and put some pants on.
Lena’s mother looked at Denise.
“Hello, Denise. It is good to see you again.” Lena’s mother was cordial, but not warm. She stuck out her hand to give Denise a handshake.
“Hello. How are you, ma’am?”
“Oh, don’t ma’am me. You can call me Karen.” She handed her a gift. “This is for you. I heard that you are the MVP of your team.”
“Yes, I am.” Denise started to open the gift; it was a dress. Denise looked at Lena, who looked absolutely mortified by the gift. “Um, thank you.”
“Baby, where are your two friends that crossed? Here are their jackets.” She held up a crossing jacket with Misha’s line name and number on it.
“Oh, Mother, they are going to love them.”
“Yes, well, I hope so. Anyway, so Denise did you hear the great news? My baby is getting married.”
“Yes, I did. I think it’s wonderful. They make a great couple. Well, I need to go take a shower.”
Denise quickly grabbed her things and headed to the shower. As soon as the door closed Lena’s mother turned to her.
“So, tell me. When were you going to tell me she is a lesbian?”
Lena’s whole body froze; she couldn’t believe what came out of her mother’s mouth.
“Mother, what?” She was mortified by her mother’s question.
“Baby, I am no fool. The way you talked about her on the phone, I wondered why you were always trying to speak so positively about her. The moment I saw that girl, I knew she was a lesbian. I wondered why you just didn’t tell me.”
“I thought you weren’t going to want her living with me.”
“I don’t care about that. It’s not like you’re gay or anything. Hell, when you get into the world, you are going to be surrounded by them. Might as well get used to their kind now. My hair dresser is a fag, you know.” Her mother sat down on her bed. “I’m surprised Brandon was okay with it.”
“We had various issues, but he got over them.”
“Good. You are about to become everything I always knew you would be. Me and your father are so proud of you.” Lena’s mother hugged her again. “I have to go meet with some of my line sisters today. See you at the step show.” Her mother headed out the room.
Lena instantly felt very guilty. She looked at Denise, who walked back into the room.
“Denise,” she said.
Denise turned around and looked at her.
“I just wanted to thank you for last night. I am glad that we didn’t do it. It would have been a big mistake.”
Denise was a little taken aback by her response. “I figured that you would think that.” She smiled at Lena, but inside her heart was breaking.
“You were a great roommate, you know.”
“Yeah, you too. One can only hope for good roommates, but I won’t have to worry about that next year. Me and Cooley are getting an apartment together.”
“Really? Well, you can keep all this stuff, okay, for your new place.” Lena smiled.
“Thanks a lot. Thanks for everything this year. You’re a great friend.”
“You are too.” Lena walked up to Denise. She wanted to hug her, but things ended differently. She walked up and pressed her lips against hers. Her mouth parted, letting Denise’s tongue enter. Denise stroked it against Lena’s tongue. Lena had never felt lips so soft.
Denise wrapped her arms around her as Lena felt herself getting weak at the knees; Lena quickly pulled back.
Denise sensed the uneasiness and knew it couldn’t go further. “Well, we have to get ready for that step show.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Lena grabbed her shower supplies and headed to the bathroom.
When she got out, Denise was already gone. She finished getting dressed; after all, she did have to look flawless.