Yolo (29 page)

mad maddie:

Ian says either is fine, but that HE prefers real to padded. but that Reid will be thrilled with any boobage at all.

mad maddie:

and yes, it was slightly strange to be discussing yr boobs with my boyfriend—but anything for you, hot stuff!

mad maddie:

me too, as long as her sorority sisters don't make a voodoo doll of him and stick pins all over it.

zoegirl:

when I talked to her, she finally admitted that she likes him even though she knows the Zetas won't “approve.”

mad maddie:

gag gag gag

zoegirl:

I know. but he's her first college boyfriend, and maybe he'll be her first good and true boyfriend, period. I'm *glad* he isn't the sort of guy she'd usually go for. I'm proud of her for branching out. yolo, baby! right?

mad maddie:

maybe we'll get to meet him over Thanksgiving break

mad maddie:

do you think you'll see Doug over break?

zoegirl:

I don't know. I doubt I'll make plans to see him, but maybe if someone has a party or something.

mad maddie:

wld running into him be good, bad, or weird

zoegirl:

agh. makes my stomach twist.

zoegirl:

but—and this is crazy liberating—I know I'll be able to handle it either way.

zoegirl:

I feel . . . bigger since being at college. not literally, but in my mind. like I can see more possibilities now. like, I've handled some hard things, but I came out on the other side, and I'm ok. I'm still me.

zoegirl:

if anything, I'm MORE me. it feels good.

mad maddie:

in fact you shldn't have let him sleep there even for a night and YOU KNOW IT.

mad maddie:

I'm sure he is nice. I'm sure he is a gem. I am also very glad that you decked him out in a whole new thrift-store wardrobe that gives him “a look of confident sophistication with a twist of humble beginnings.”

mad maddie:

but if you're not allowed to have pets in yr dorm room, then guess what? pretty dang sure you're not allowed to keep a homeless man in there either.

mad maddie:

whoa—that came out wrong.

mad maddie:

but if you and Lucy basically moved OUT of yr room so that Jermaine cld move IN, doesn't that give you yr answer right there???

mad maddie:

don't get me wrong. I am glad y'all aren't having a threesome! two nineteen-year-old girls sleeping
in a cramped dorm room with a fifty-year-old man who is a STRANGER is NOT A WISE IDEA!

mad maddie:

but babe, find a local homeless shelter or something. there are resources out there, like churches and stuff. try a church!

mad maddie:

and finally, NO, YOU SHLD NOT INVITE HIM TO GO TO THE ZETA HALLOWEEN PARTY!!! ARE YOU INSANE?

mad maddie:

let us review:

mad maddie:

the party is at a frat house. right?

mad maddie:

frat boys BEAT UP HOMELESS GUYS. right?

mad maddie:

I'm sure not all frat boys do, but really, Angela?

mad maddie:

drunk boys + scruffy old toothless dude who, as you yrself said, gives off a “musty” smell despite numerous showers does not = good times and the formation of lifelong friendships.

mad maddie:

inviting Jermaine is a kind thought, but no. just . . . no.

mad maddie:

also no to being a slutty unicorn.

mad maddie:

the one EXCELLENT decision you've made, tho, is to invite Reid to the party even tho he's not a Greek.

mad maddie:

well, it's either an excellent decision or a terrible one.

mad maddie:

regardless, power to the people!

zoegirl:

I'm in bed. was THIS CLOSE to turning off ringer.

SnowAngel:

yay that you didn't! hiiiiiiiiiii! *waves enthusiastically*

zoegirl:

SnowAngel:

I kissed Reid again. it was most excellent. HE is most excellent, and fine, yes, I LIKE THE GUY.

SnowAngel:

can you believe I'm falling for a geek????

zoegirl:

*I'm* a geek, you know.

SnowAngel:

well, but I'm not kissing you.

SnowAngel:

Reid says I have pretty eyes. isn't that sweet?

zoegirl:

you do have pretty eyes. you have pretty everything.

SnowAngel:

awww! that's what Reid says!

SnowAngel:

he also says I make him feel alive. maybe cuz I've got more energy than he does?

zoegirl:

you have more energy than everyone, goof

SnowAngel:

also he laughs at how I talk to EVERYONE, but he says it's cute.

zoegirl:

it is. I can see how Reid—or any guy—would love to be around you. you're smiley and fun and happy. you're awesome.

SnowAngel:

why thank you!

SnowAngel:

so yeah, we had bagels for dinner, Reid and me.

zoegirl:

Reid and I.

SnowAngel:

heh?

zoegirl:

Reid and *I* had bagels. that's how you say it.

SnowAngel:

um, no, it was Reid and ME. how cld Reid have bagels with you when yr not even here?

zoegirl:

I was correcting your

zoegirl:

nvm

SnowAngel:

so, bagels—nom nom nom—and then we talked and talked and talked, and then we kissed and kissed and kissed, and then at the end of the night, he walked me to Anna's dorm room and made sure I got in safely. isn't that gallant?

zoegirl:

you're still sleeping in Anna's room? Angela!

SnowAngel:

some guys wld be all, “oh, why don't you just sleep with me, hubba hubba,” but not Reid.

zoegirl:

what does he think of the fact that you've given your own room to a homeless guy?

SnowAngel:

he thinks . . .

SnowAngel:

oh, why dwell on the negative?

SnowAngel:

anyway, it is harder than you think to give Jermaine the boot!

zoegirl:

why?

SnowAngel:

he keeps offering to leave or sleep in the hall. but we can't let him sleep in the HALL, obviously.

zoegirl:

riiiiight. far better to lock him up in yr dorm room.

SnowAngel:

he's not locked up. geez!

SnowAngel:

he can leave anytime he wants to, as long as we set up a lookout and create a distraction and whisk him out of the building while no one's watching.

SnowAngel:

we're thinking about getting him a wig, Lucy and me.

zoegirl:

Lucy and *I*.

SnowAngel:

what??? LUCY AND ME! you are sooo random!

SnowAngel:

it's bringing the two of us closer, tho. after Lucy saw what a good job I did of freshening up Jermaine's image, she let me give her a makeover too.

SnowAngel:

turns out she's super-pretty when she's not skulking around like a toiletries stealer. also I'm going to throw away her overalls when she's not looking.

zoegirl:

why can't you help Jermaine get set up in a homeless shelter like Maddie suggested?

SnowAngel:

cuz they're all full.

SnowAngel:

I had no idea homeless shelters were even allowed to be full.

SnowAngel:

you know what's sad?

zoegirl:

what?

SnowAngel:

Jermaine used to have a family. he had a wife and kids, and he loved them so much, and he still does, only they didn't stick around once he lost his job.

zoegirl:

poor guy

SnowAngel:

yeah, they moved to New Orleans, which is where his wife's family is.

zoegirl:

why didn't Jermaine go too?

SnowAngel:

huh

SnowAngel:

that's a good question.

SnowAngel:

but he said something today that will be stuck in my head forever and ever.

SnowAngel:

he told us again that he hadn't chosen this for himself, being homeless, and that ppl fall thru the cracks all the time. that it can happen to *anyone*.

zoegirl:

do you agree?

SnowAngel:

I don't know. do you?

zoegirl:

I get what Jermaine is saying, I think. but at the same time . . .

zoegirl:

you and Maddie and I have each other, and we have our families, and I don't think we'd ever fall through the cracks because we wouldn't let each other.

SnowAngel:

I said something like that to Jermaine, like how I was sorry that his wife had left him, cuz if two ppl really love each other, they shld stick together thru thick and thin.

SnowAngel:

but HE said, “it wld be nice if love were enough. but it's not.”

zoegirl:

oh, so sad!

zoegirl:

he's wrong, though. don't you think he's wrong?

SnowAngel:

you and Doug were absolutely in love, and that love went away . . .

SnowAngel:

I'm not saying that to make you feel bad, either. I want love to be enough. but I don't wanna be all, “well, Jermaine is Jermaine and I am me, and what happened to him wld never happen to me cuz we are soooooooo different.”

zoegirl:

but you ARE different.

SnowAngel:

are we? or do I just have the luxury of thinking we are cuz so far I've been so blessed?

zoegirl:

Angela. you are asking hard questions.

SnowAngel:

I know! AND IT'S SO UNLIKE ME!

SnowAngel:

but I'm not just going to say, “good-bye, Jermaine. leave now, please.” I'm not going to let other ppl tell me who I'm allowed to be nice to and who I'm not.

zoegirl:

oh, Angela, I'm sorry. that's not what I meant at all. I'm just worried about you!

SnowAngel:

I didn't mean YOU.

SnowAngel:

and I'm not just talking about Jermaine either. I'm talking about my Zeta sisters, and Reid, and how some of them keep making comments about how Reid isn't good enough for me.

zoegirl:

now that IS wrong.

SnowAngel:

our Cross Over ceremony is this coming Sunday. I'm worried.

zoegirl:

is that when you cross over from being a pledge to officially being a sister?

SnowAngel:

uh-huh. we all wear white dresses, and there are candles, and it's very solemn. it's when we're formally initiated into the Alpha Zeta sisterhood.

zoegirl:

so you're going to do it?

SnowAngel:

I don't know!!!

SnowAngel:

pros: Anna. having fun things to do, fun things that are planned out for me in advance. meeting new people. watching TV in the Zeta house and eating popcorn and feeling like I'm PART of something. the whole idea of, you know, sisterhood. I *like* the idea of sisterhood!

zoegirl:

yeah, I can see that

SnowAngel:

also we do community service projects! and that's good, right?

zoegirl:

what community service projects have the Zetas done?

SnowAngel:

um? car wash? in bikinis?

zoegirl:

impressive

zoegirl:

Angela, you do more community service all by yourself than the whole Zeta chapter does, I bet. you do so many kind things just because you're you!

SnowAngel:

aw, thanks! but it's the “all by yourself” part that makes me anxious.