Page 6 of Love and Other Goals

The band starts playing again, and Bailey exits the stage. I push her out of my mind and focus on the music, then the message given by Kent about making the most of your college years to grow in your faith. It reminds me how extremely grateful I am to have found this community that has helped me deepen my relationship with God so much.

The meeting ends with an announcement that the After Party will be at the bowling alley in the basement of the union. Teegan is the After Party chair this year (because of course she is), and she called ahead to reserve the entire space for Arrow. Cheers go up at the announcement, and everyone starts chatting with friends or heading out the doors.

Teegan turns to me. “So?” She waggles her eyebrows at me.

I smile sheepishly and lean in with a low voice. “Aaron made a point to come over to me to get his name tag. Aaaand said we’d catch up more at After Party.”

“Let’s go then!” Teegan says, pushing me out of the row of seats and motioning for the other AOPis to follow us.

We stop to chat with people a couple of times, but eventually follow the crowd of students heading down the two flights of stairs to the bowling alley. Music is pumping, and black lights accentuate any bit of white or neon. All the bowling lanes are already full, so the AOPis decide to congregate at one of the tables and order pizza from the snack bar.

I’m doing a reasonable job of staying engaged with the conversation among the AOPis, especially trying to get to know some of the freshmen who came, while simultaneously scanning the crowd for Aaron every couple of minutes. I’m hoping to see an opportunity to casually join his conversation group.

Unfortunately, he’s deep in a (loud) bowling competition with the OGs and another fraternity—not exactly a great situation to insert myself into without being totally obvious.

With the pizza finished and no bowling lanes opening up, our group decides it’s time to head out. My heart sinks a little, but Teegan gives me a knowing look as we’re gathering up to leave. She leans over and whispers, “Don’t worry, you’ll have time soon, LaLa.”

I force a weak smile and follow the group of girls toward the exit. At the last second, I look over my shoulder and find Aaron staring straight at me. He grins and holds his hand up in a guy wave, so I give him a small wave back.

Smiling to myself, I turn around and give my full attention back to my sorority sisters. Teegan drives a crew of freshmen to the dorms, and I walk with Amaya and the other upperclassmen to the AOPi house, discussing what we learned from the message at the meeting along the way. Several of the girls are still hyped up with social energy and decide to watch a movie together, but I realize how tired I am and head upstairs instead.

I’m in our room getting ready for bed when Amaya comes in, followed by a tearful Teegan. I immediately jump to my feet. “What’s wrong, Teegs?”

She sniffs and then blurts out, “Jake is wrong, that’s what!”

I glance quizzically at Amaya, and she saves me from my confusion. “Jake from Nebraska.”

Ohhhhhhh right. Jake was one of the student leaders from a Nebraska college at Summer Project. He flirted with Teegan all summer, and they’d kept in touch texting and on social media after returning to school.

“I just opened up Instagram to see Jake with his new girlfriend,” Teegan moans, practically spitting the final word. She turns her phone to me, and I see a guy who must be Jake with his arm around a smiling redhead. There’s a sappy caption about how he’s liked her for so long and they’re so happy, blah blah blah.

“I guess I was just his distraction to keep himself from openly flirting with the girl he really liked, who was also there,” Teegan sniffs. “He never actually liked me at all.” She wipes her eyes, and there’s a murderous flash in Amaya’s. I wouldn’t be surprised if she secretly drives up to Nebraska tonight so she can kick him.

Abandoning all hope of early bed, I crush Teegan in a hug. “You know what this calls for, right?”

“Slushies?” Teegan whispers.

“You know it! Get some sweats on, and I’ll drive us over,” I look meaningfully at Amaya. “You, too. No road trips for you tonight.”

She rolls her eyes but agrees. After all, there’s no boy drama that a giant Styrofoam cup of frozen sugar can’t fix.

We stay up late watching movies on my laptop and drinking every last drop of syrupy goodness. I know I’ll be exhausted tomorrow, but for tonight, it’s worth it to be there for Teegs, the way she always is for me.

CHAPTER FOUR

On Monday afternoon, I’m walking from the library back to the AOPi house. I decide to call my mom and check in with my family.

Thankfully, she picks up after the second ring. “Hi, my beauty, how are you?”

Just hearing my mom’s voice and her favorite term of endearment for me sets everything right in the world. “Hey Mom, I’m doing good. Just finished my first day of real classes with actual homework and heading to the library.”

She chuckles. “Just you wait, when you start at UC Davis, they don’t waste time the first day on easy syllabus read throughs. They’ll throw you straight into the deep end from day one.”

I smile at my mom’s confidence in me. It’s always “when,” not “if,” when she talks about me and law school. I fill her in on how things are going in AOPi, classes, and short updates on Amaya and Teegan. She knows how terribly I missed them over the summer.

Mom gives me the rundown on my family, which is mostly all positive. She’s still swamped at work, but they’re feeling a little more hopeful with the Senate reintroducing an Afghan Adjustment Act. “Hopefully it will get through this time,” she says with some exasperation. “We can’t keep going at this rate and help all the families who need it.”

My twin brothers, Carter and Dean, started eighth grade this year, and unfortunately, Dean didn’t have the best of beginnings. “He seems to be getting back on track though,” my mom tells me. “Just keep praying for positive influences in his life. He needs to find some friends he connects with who are also making good choices.”

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