The Space Queen

~ 8 ~

A big party is coming up for March madness. KU is the biggest in basketball, and we are competing in the championship. It's all that anyone can talk about at school - what will happen to our college if we are able to succeed and gain recognition. We've all dressed up as cowboys. Tyler and I are wearing fake mustaches. A girl spots me from across the room, giggling, and then avoiding eye contact with me. I walk up to her while keeping my hands from shaking.

"Hey" I say with confidence.

"Hey" she answers, avoiding eye contact again. She giggles, and then whispers to her friend.

"What is so funny?"

Her friend gives a hard look at me, as if I am stupid for sticking around to talk to her.

"We've heard the fraternity is making it a goal for initiates to sleep with as many women as possible tonight. You all are supposed to be getting prizes for taking a virgin."

"Well, I didn't hear about that, and I'm not that kind of guy. I had one relationship in high school, and that hurt me more than anything else. I'm not looking to use people for sex, who would do that anyways?"

They just laugh at this like it is the funniest thing they have ever heart, and whisper madly to each other now while they try not to look at me. 

"Can you please tell me what she said?" I ask her friend, smiling.

They just giggle again and stop whispering to each other now, looking at me, seeing what I'm going to say next.

"Do you know that people love to talk about themselves more than anyone else?" I ask.

"You're so weird" laughs the first.

The first woman's name is Liz, the other is Carol. Both are sophomore transfers to KSU, and both set out to try and get me a girlfriend. It doesn't go over well, and I really regret the experience. Many sorority members are already heard saying: "Matthew? The little freshman? Why would I waste my time with you?"

"He won't be little for long" says Carol. "He is probably going to go through a growth spurt, and then God only knows what you are going to be thinking of him then."

"Yeah... but he's half Middle-Eastern. I don't want to have babies with him. They are going to turn out so dark!"

"You seem pretty confident that he would want to put a baby in you" says Liz.

They are not able to find me anyone, and so Liz and I go out instead, pretending we are a couple to make her ex jealous. We are chatting in the corner when Tyler butts in, says something stupid, and we all laugh.

By the time the night wavers on, the room is blurring together and the music is louder.

"Matt!? You got a phone call" says a member. He's one of the ones that tried to run away from an initiation meeting two years ago. He thought that he could get away from the fraternity, but they blackmailed him with something he felt he could not escape from. Ever since, he's been the fraternity busboy, and we pretend to laugh at him while all feeling incredibly bad for him.

I go off to the hallway where the phone is off the hook.

"Hello?"

"Matt, hey..." says Geri.

"Geri, I'm so sorry that I couldn't make it to your graduation. It's just that finals make everything so crazy."

"Matt... Mom and Dad might be breaking up" says Geri in choking sobs.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"He's been having affairs - multiples of them. I've seen the pictures. He keeps them in his office drawer. He says he's proud of them, and that it's Mom's fault that he's been going away from her to other women"

"Fu..." I drawl, knocking over some beer bottles behind me. "Dad never treated Mom right Geri. I've seen more than you have, it was only inevitable that he was going to get to this point. I used to see him playing with other women at the pool and I learned..."

Is my tongue numb? I feel like a snake that is slurring out all of it's words.

"You're going to clean that up Matt" yells our chapter head.

Geri sighs through the phone.

"Call me when you are sober" she says, hanging up.

I'm in a very dazed state when I walk back, and feeling like a terrible example of a brother. Liz stares at me, seeing the dejected look on my face.

"Matt" sighs Liz, opening her arms to envelop me into a hug.

"My parents might be getting a divorce, and I'm so worried about Mom. She loves Dad more than anything. She doesn't want to divorce him, but it doesn't take a fool to see that he already has a foot out of the door. I hate him so much!"

"Men that care about their moms are so... very... hot..."

Liz is kissing me. I feel hesitant at first, but then I find my body responding to her. I want to kiss her back as the tears leak from my eyes. It's barely before I've taken a breath before Carol is kissing me too. I feel very overwhelmed. We move into the hallway, all very drunk, and up crawling to an empty spare room.

Liz takes off her bra, and is rubbing herself against me. Carol is holding me from behind, stroking me. I lay down, panting with desire, as both of them have their way with me. The night that goes on seems to be the longest night of my life.

By the morning, Liz has already ran back to her dorm. She says that she feels really weird, like she kissed her brother. Carol smiles at me, but it feels very awkward to pretend that we are a couple now. I guess it's mostly me doing this - out of politeness. I suppose this is why they laughed at me like I was an innocent.