with you last week was because he wanted you to be his girl?â
âWhatâs wrong with that?â Covin asked her. âIâll take care of her.â
âYou donât even know her,â Teddi said to him.
Covin replied, âSo? You donât even know me.â
There had been too much drama already for me to let the two of them go at it. I took him to the side and said, âThank you for your help tonight.â
âYou canât listen to her,â he said. âWe got something.â
âI think we do, too. But understand for me that Iâm gonna go back with my line sisters. Iâll call you tomorrow, okay?â Though I could tell he wasnât happy, he agreed.
During the car ride home, Teddi asked a million questions. I opened my mouth not to one question. She couldnât get the hint that I didnât wanna talk about it, so I just let her vent.
Then she said, âI canât believe youâre with the guy who took everything from me.â
âTeddi, that guy risked his life to save yours. He gave you everything. He gave you your future. I donât know where things are going with me and Covin, but I donât have to answer to you. So many times in my life youâve come first, but right now, after tonight, after everything Iâve been through, I wanna be happy. And if you keep getting on my nerves like this ...â
âWhat? What?â she said as she hit the car window.
From the backseat, Millie said, âCalm down, Teddi. Give her some space.â
âWhat? What? Hailey?â Teddi asked.
âYou fill in the blank,â I told her, tired of her riding me to see things her way.
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âTime flies when youâre having fun,â Millie said two weeks later to me as we were in the holding room waiting for our final Gem ceremony to start.
Teddi was in the room, too, but she was over in the corner with Quisa. Evan was off to herself. She hadnât quit on us, but with G-Dogg released and none of us backing her to stay with him, she was with us but not with us. It really bothered me that our line was divided.
I wanted to hug Teddi and let her know I cared, but I didnât. A part of me wanted to say, â Teddi, you can have Beta Gamma Pi.â So many times I came close to telling her, â If it werenât for me going to bat with the big sisters to get you on the line in the first place, you wouldnât even be here. Donât trip!â
Teddi thought I was supposed to bow down to her, say I was sorry, and give up my new little romance. We timed it so neither one of us was in the room at the same time. Whoever was asleep first at night was the first one gone before the other one woke in the morning. It was actually quite childish. I hated that it seemed we acted like we couldnât stand each other.
I was about to suggest we squash all issues and be real sisters, but my thoughts were interrupted. Cassidy came to the door and said, âAll right, my five Pis, line up. Itâs time to get one step closer to my beloved BGP.â
As we walked into the room, our collegiate adviser, Dr. Weaver, was on the microphone saying, âLadies, as you come in, reflect on the past four Gems.â
And I thought back to the first one on leadership. Hayden had said that ceremony was the one that got to her the most. It was moving, as I was certainly motivated by what they said: work what you got and give it all you can. Reflecting on it, I realized that I was a leader, and going to my line sisters to get things straight was an area I could take the lead on.
Then I thought about Gem two on sisterhood. The basic message behind the whole thing was: The way we roll was as one unit. And if Teddi and Evan were ever to feel true love from me, I needed to give it unconditionally and be willing to work on our differences.
Gem three: act like you know. Wow! It focused on education. They said a lot of people that pledged