to meet me. I thought he just wanted to be ‘one-of-the-guys’ and keep his romantic life away from that, which would’ve been fine if he’d just say something.
Whenever I brought up his frat brothers he just went all quiet and weird, said they were nice and that I’d meet them once he’d gotten to know them more. I didn’t get it, was it some sort of cult that he’d gotten dragged into? Was he cheating on me with one of the sorority girls that visited their house? I was sitting on the edge of my seat just waiting for him to move in with his new brothers and leave me all alone in the halls.
After a month or so I’d made some decent friends, not many but at least they were decent. One of them was a sorority girl named Anya and the other was a quiet, bookish girl named Chloe. I wanted to bring up these troubles with my new friends but I didn’t want word getting back to Mark that I didn’t trust him because that may be the excuse he uses to leave me. I thought we’d make it through anything after our long-lived romance but it looks like things were really turning for the worst.
“Y’know, most couples think they’re meant for each other and then they go off to college and find better suited people, or just become massive sluts.” Anya was casually sprouting out her knowledge oblivious to the fact it was making me want to burst into tears. “That’s not even the worst part though, I mean, most guys just cheat and cheat and cheat and once you find out about it it’s all ‘oh I was so wasted you know I love you,’ it’s kind of sad when you think about it. All these good little boys from nice homes just come here and go wild.”
I couldn’t bear the thought of Mark’s hands touching anyone else, not one other girl. I decided to open up to my jealousy and follow its path wherever it may take me, even if that place was right into the setting of Mark in bed with another woman.
“I think Mark’s cheating on me.”
Anya shut up right away whereas Chloe put down her book for the first time since we’d met. They both stared at each other, then over to me as Anya reached out her hand and comforted my own.
“I was just rambling, pay no attention honestly. Why do you think that, though?”
All my fears just came flowing out of me, one by one thoughts flew from my mouth and tears formed in my eyes, I was having a breakdown right in the middle of the library to two girls I hadn’t known that long. Is that what love is? To go crazy over something so meaningless? I couldn’t understand why I was acting like this, I never had before and I never wanted to again.
“He’s just so secretive about things lately, ever since he joined that stupid frat house his dad went to -”
Before I could finish my rant Anya cut me off. “Which house is it?” She looked serious, serious enough to make me a little frightened.
“Omega something, I don’t know these Greek words they use.”
Suddenly both Chloe and Anya looked at each other, Chloe put down her book and turned to face me; a look of disappointment and sadness crossing her face whereas Anya let go of my hand and sat back, almost as if the next thing to be said was so bad she couldn’t do it herself. I kept looking from one to the other waiting for someone to speak, my heart in my throat yet feeling like it’d sank down my body and into the core of the earth where fire engulfed it.
“The Omega’s are a really traditional house. They don’t like anything new, I mean. Yale has really opened up now to all kinds of people but the ones who provide the money are still… traditional.”
I couldn’t understand what Chloe was trying to tell me, how was I not traditional?
“What do you mean?”
She looked over to Anya who sat forward once more and grabbed my hand again, ready to tell me something I knew I wouldn’t want to hear.
“They don’t like people who… aren’t white and rich.”
What?
“They’re a really