Riley smiled. "It was nice meeting you, Cara. I hope to see you again sometime."
"Definitely. Tell Rachel I said bye."
"I will. Don't be surprised if she calls you for coffee. She's pretty new in town and always looking to make some new friends."
"Oh cool. I'd enjoy that." I liked Rachel, and the Delta Mu connection would give us something to talk about. "Have a nice day."
"You too." A cool breeze had me crossing my arms over my chest. Evidently, the unseasonably warm front was heading out. It was definitely a jeans day. I walked the rest of the way to my house in a good mood. I'd had a great night, and no matter what happened, it was worth it. I felt great when I was with Chase, and even better, I felt good when I wasn't with him. With Aaron, I was constantly worried about what he was up to without me. I didn't care about that with Chase. I just wanted to keep enjoying any time I could with him. I knew if I wasn't careful I was going to get hurt, but I could be careful. Besides, he couldn't hurt me more than I'd already been hurt.
"Cara!" Aaron's angry voice froze me as I reached the front steps of the house.
"What are you doing here?" I tightened my arms around myself. What the heck did he want?
"Where the hell were you? I was worried enough when you skipped the mixer. When have you ever missed a sorority event?"
I couldn't help but let my anger seep into my words. "I had no interest in spending time with the Kappas for a very obvious reason."
"Don't you think you've been punishing me long enough?" He stepped toward me. "It's been weeks."
"Punishing you? I broke up with you because you've been back with your ex. Why would time change anything?"
"Don't you understand why she called you? She was pissed because I told her it had to stop. I told her that I loved you too much to keep doing it."
I coughed. "Loved me too much to keep doing it? That's a good one. If you loved me, you wouldn't have been messing around with her."
"I'm sorry, Cara. I don't know how many times I have to say it."
"You're acting like it was a one time thing. That would have been bad enough, and maybe we could have worked through it. But not this. Not every chance you got. Now I'm running late." I tried to step around him.
"I said I was sorry. I'll make it up to you. Anything you want. Want to go somewhere special for spring break?"
"Not with you." I tried to push him out of my way.
"Where were you last night? You think you're walking away without telling me?" His glare was so intense I could almost physically feel it.
"It's none of your business."
"Jade came home before midnight. I know because I was here. Yet it's almost eight o'clock in the morning now. Who the hell were you with all night?"
"It's none of your business." I dared a glance at my phone. I had four SOS messages from Jade warning me that Aaron was around. I needed to get back in the habit of checking my text messages more often.
"Of course it's my business. You're pissed at me, yet you just fucked some guy, didn't you?"
"My sex life is none of your business." I slammed my palms into his chest. He was surprised enough about the action that he stepped out of the way, and I reached the steps. "We're over, Aaron. Please just leave me alone."
"That's it? You want to just throw away our time together?"
"You're the one who did that. I guess I should be glad I found out before I wasted any more of my time with you."
"You're going to change your mind. You're going to come back. You need me. We both know that. I'm exactly who you want in your life, and if you wait too long, I won't be here."
"Keep telling yourself that." I pounded the numbers into the keypad and walked inside.
The house was quiet as I made my way upstairs. My roommates weren't around yet, and I wasn't ready to listen to their twenty messages. I knew they cared, but for the first time in my life, I felt anti-social. I guess that wasn't completely true. I'd had fun with Chase and his friends, but I needed a break from my usual life. One week in and I could tell there would be no slipping back into the old routine. I was going to have to step out of my element if I wanted to survive the semester.
I let out a sigh and grabbed clean clothes and a fresh towel. I needed a hot shower, and I needed it immediately. So much for enjoying the after effects of a night with Chase. Aaron had successfully ruined my mood, but I couldn't let him. I stood under the hot water, hoping it would wash away the negative thoughts.
Chapter Six
I slid into my desk in Southern Literature a few minutes late. I'd spent over twenty minutes in the shower, and after getting dressed and grabbing a breakfast of coffee and a cereal bar, I had to run across campus to make it there as is.
"We're discussing the misconceptions of the female in southern lit right now," Kyle, a somewhat friend, whispered from the desk next to me.
"Thanks," I mouthed as I opened up my notebook. I was excited about the new unit. According to the syllabus, we were going to be reading some Zora Neale Hurston, one of my personal favorites.
"No prob." He smiled.
"Oh please, how many more times do we have to have this discussion? Not everything revolves around women." Anthony, a junior I'd been unfortunate enough to have three classes with already, jumped into the conversation.
"No, but it's an important piece of the discussion on the southern lit cannon," a girl whose name I'd forgotten argued. "Zora was writing from the perspective of a woman, and her books deal with those issues."
I raised my hand. "It's an important topic no matter who the author is. That's the point."
Anthony turned back to me. "Of course you'd say that."
"Excuse me?" I leaned forward in my desk.
"You're a sorority girl."
"What does my being part of a Greek organization have to do with my thoughts on literary analysis?"
"Everything." He cocked his head to one side and shifted in his seat to look at me. Everything about him screamed arrogant.
"Oh yeah? So, if that's the case, then your all white boy New England prep school background influences yours."
"How so?" he asked. "It just means I'm well educated."
"Well educated? Are you implying public schools don't educate well?" Kyle jumped in.
"No, I'm just saying that doesn't color how I view literary analysis the way being a sorority girl would."
Professor Grayson cleared his throat. "Okay, let's move this back to the books. Cara? Do you have anything more to add?"
"Yes." I tried to calm my bubbling anger. After the Aaron run in, I wasn't doing well with it. "I believe this discussion is about whether the representation of women in lit accurately reflects their place in society. My answer is that it depends on the author. That's what I was going to say before I was attacked."
Anthony smirked. "You weren't attacked. If you can't handle a discussion, then don't participate. Sit back and listen like the rest of your sorority friends."
I refused to take the bait. "Whether we're discussing the representation of women, or children, or anything, it depends on the author. It's impossible to leave your own identity out when writing."
"That's an interesting point, Cara." Professor Grayson smiled. "Does anyone else agree? Disagree?"
"I agree." Kyle jumped back in. "If I were to write the same story as Cara, it would turn out differently because we're different. That's not to say that a woman can't accurately depict men or vice versa, but our version would be different."
Professor Grayson nodded. "Nicely said. On that note, let's end a few minutes early."
I let out a deep breath and started to stuff my books into my bag.
"Cara?" Professor Grayson asked as I headed toward the door. "Can you stay back a second?"
"Sure," I answered nervously. I hoped he wasn't going to reprimand me for being late. It was my first time, and I was hoping for a one time grace. Professor Grayson was one of my favorites. I'd taken American Lit with him the semester before.
He waited until everyone else filed out. Kyle gave me a look. We usually walked to our next class together.
"How are you doing?" He paused briefly. "You've seemed distracted this week. And as much as I love the enthusiasm you showed today for the topic, it doesn't seem like you."
"I'm sorry if I was out of line. I just can't stand when someone tries to marginalize me because of an organization I'm part of."
"You weren't out of line. You just weren't Cara."
"I had a rough break. I'll be back to normal soon." I'd just have to make sure to steer clear of Aaron.
"Anything you want to talk about?" He packed up papers and a few books.
"No. Just boy drama."