A New Vista

Chapter 2

"A party?" Mildred asked as we all sat in the living room. The fireplace roared and warmed us up that November night. "I don't know."

"Come on, the boys aren't that bad. I go over there all the time and hang out." Shirley shrugged.

"And we've spent time with each other then individually, and everyone one of them has their own talent." Virginia smirked. Shirley playfully slapped her arm as she sat next to her.

Mildred stood next to the fireplace and rested her elbow on the mantle. She thought for a moment, and I could tell she didn't know what to decide.

"I agree, Millie." I nodded. "It's a waste of time going over there."

Suddenly we all heard a cheer from across the way. Shirley stood up and walked to the window with a smile.

"Come on Millie, you never go to these things." Shirley smiled and Virginia stood up to look out the window as well.

"It might be fun for you!" Virginia nodded. "They have lots of cute guys in that fraternity too."

"Come on guys, let's just stay—" I began but Mildred interjected, standing in front of the fireplace with her arms crossed.

"Let's go." She smirked. The girls cheered, and my face fell immediately. "I've only gone to one frat party in all my four years. I didn't like it then, and I probably won't like it now."

"Exactly! So we should stay here." I told her and Mildred shook her head.

"I feel like I've wasted so much time not going out and including myself in things." Mildred shrugged. "Sure, it might not be a soirée but we could chat up with the people there. And it'll be good for you, Liz, you're a freshman and you can meet new people."

"You're all the people I need to know." I shook my head. Mildred walked up to where I sat on the couch and stood in front of me.

"I'm a senior, and then I'll be off to med school." Mildred reminded me. Then she looked to Shirley. "Shirley has one more year, and she said she wanted to join a sorority next year."

"You're moving out, Shirley?" I asked in shock.

"Only if I get in." She said nervously, feeling put on the spot. "Beta Omega has a sisterhood that I want to be apart of. And they do lots of community service which you know I like."

"But we have a sisterhood." I said with furrowed eyebrows. Shirley gave me a sad face, and slowly shrugged.

The Beta Omega house was diagonal to ours, across the street and next to the Kappa Phi fraternity house. They were filled with girls who all seemed to be made from the same mold. They all wore their hair pretty much the same way, the same sweetheart dresses with soft colored cardigans up top to match, and blush on their powdered cheeks.

"It'll be good for me to go to this party." Shirley said to us. "Catharine Nesbit is going to be there, and it'll be good to get to know her."

Catharine was the president of Beta Omega, and one of the sweetest girls on campus. She always seemed to have the other sororities girls in check, as they happily lived what would seem like a dollhouse of perfect girls.

"Alright ladies, if we go to this we have to stick together. If one of us is heading home or anywhere, we need to tell the others." Mildred told us as she began walking towards the steps of the house.

"And if we leave with anyone special, then you need to say who you're leaving with. Just for safety, boys these days are wild!" Virginia nodded as she walked up the steps behind Millie.

I put two small combs on either side of my head to pin back my hair. Then, I got on a red dress that's sleeves were puffy at the shoulders. The sleeve itself stopped at my elbow, and the skirt of the dress was loose. The torso of the dress was form fitting, with a matching red belt around my waist.

Stepping into the living room, the rest of the girls were already ready. They all were shocked to see me.

"Wow, I didn't know how to doll myself up like that as a freshman." Mildred grinned as the girls looked at my outfit. I smiled as I held my tiny, pouch purse.

"Alright we can head over." Shirley said. "Virginia already got started. She's meeting with her latest friend, Damien."

Mildred laughed and rolled her eyes. My heart began to beat as the girls began heading for the door. It would be my first party and I hadn't even gone out to anything like this before.

"Wait!" I shouted. Mildred and Shirley turned around to look at me while they stood at the door.

"How can we leave without one of our girls?" I asked in a weak voice.

"What do you mean? We're all here." Shirley furrowed her eyebrows, but Mildred knew exactly who I was speaking of.

"Barbara is never around anyway, and you know she'd prefer to go out wherever she heads to every night." Mildred told me. "Come on, let's head out."

I had to swallow my fear, or as much fear as I could possibly swallow. We walked across our lawn, and our kitten heels clicked on the street. Finally, we reached to the house.

I could tell Mildred still was a little nervous, and she looked back at Shirley and I. She reached her hand to knock on the door, and it immediately opened.

"Ladies! So nice of you to come join us!" Paul said as he shook all of our hands. He shook them so hard, I felt like I could've gotten dizzy.

Mildred smirked as she and Shirley walked in. Paul wrapped an arm around me, and his eyes looked at me intensely.

He had definitely has a few to drink.

"And here we have the one we've been waiting for all night." Paul announced, but no one was listening. Everyone was either dancing to the phonograph, or standing around chatting with paper cups in their hand.

"Well I haven't been itching to see you, Paul. I just came because my roomies wanted to." I rose my eyebrows.

"Of course." Paul grinned. "Well, have a drink, and have a ball. I promise you it'll be a good time."

He went to a table with alcohol bottles and cups, and poured some liquid for me. He held the cup out, and I shook my head.

"I don't drink." I told him with a risen brow.

"Suit yourself." He shrugged and downed the cup in two seconds. He looked around with a mischievous smirk on his face.

"Alright, I'll see you later, Liz. I've got people to see tonight." Paul grinned.

"Fine. I'll just be sitting around anyway." I shook my head. He disappeared off to somewhere, and I sat down on a couch.

Suddenly, my eyes landed on Dave, who was standing across the room and chatting with a girl. He had barely been drinking, only enough to make his cheeks flushed. He wore a button up shirt that was tucked into his slacks, and his hair was done perfectly as he tended to do.

Suddenly, his eyes locked with mine, and he smiled in surprise. He said something to the girl he was speaking to, and she bowed her head with a smile and began walking off. He started walking toward me, and I sat up straight with a smile.

He was coming toward me, and I was definitely ready to strike up a conversation. In my heart, I knew we'd eventually get together, just when was the question.