Both issues seemed to be taken out of my hands. Jill, the Chi Omega president, and three girls I didn’t know went to Nancy’s aid. John and several Theta Chi brothers grabbed Chuck. The music stopped and the lights came on. That had the effect of killing a party quickly. Jill had all the Chi Omegas gathered around Nancy. I tried to go to her, but Jill stopped me.
“David, let us take care of her. I’ll have her call you tomorrow,” she said.
She then got in Major’s face. I found out his name was Tom.
“Tom, this is the second issue we’ve had with your house in the past three weeks. As of right now, Chi Omega has declared your house off-limits,” Jill said.
“Look, tonight was an accident. Chuck wasn’t trying to hit Nancy,” Tom responded.
“No, that’s where you’re wrong. Chuck attacked a guest of Chi Omega. That’s the same as attacking one of us. How many fights have you guys had this semester? Five? Six? How many have you had in the last three years? Two or three. You need to get your house in order. This pledge class is out of control, and you’re responsible for them. I’d suggest you dump them all, and start over in the spring.”
“We can’t do that ...” Tom started.
“Then don’t expect any sororities to come to any of your functions. If we can’t expect to be safe at your parties, we won’t be coming back. You can be assured of that. Once the word’s out, no one else will be coming over.”
“Shit! Not all the new guys are jerks,” he begged.
“I can’t tell you how to run your house, but you have some problems. Once you decide what you’re going to do, call me and we can have lunch on campus. Until then, no Chi Omega will darken your door,” Jill said, and then led her sorority sisters out the front door.
“Everyone that’s not a Theta Chi, OUT!” Tom said. “Chapter meeting in ten minutes!”
“Well, shit,” John told me.
“Yep, sorry about that. If I’d known he was going to hit Nancy, I’d have taken the blow,” I said.
“It’s not your fault. We all egged him on. When are you taking off?” John asked.
“First thing in the morning. I’ll call you later this week to see how everything’s going. Check on Nancy for me?”
“No problem. She’s become a good friend, and I see why you like her so much. I wish you were here,” he said, and hugged me.
I found Jennie and Carol, and we called a cab. The girls were in no shape to walk to the hotel. We went our separate ways when we got to there. This weekend hadn’t turned out quite as I’d hoped. I made a vow that on Monday I would ask Peggy to go out with me. I was tired of being single. Being with Nancy reminded me that I needed more in my life. I knew that Peggy planned to stay a virgin, and I was fine with that, for now.
Chapter 7 – Playing the Game
Wednesday October 8
Peggy was still playing her game of wait-and-see. We were running in the morning and talking, but she wasn’t ready to commit to dating. I started to consider my other options. I decided that this morning I would make one last attempt. If it didn’t work out this time, I would move on.
I went to Peggy’s house to pick her up so we could run. She looked good in her sweats and t-shirt. Her red hair was pulled back into a ponytail. I really liked her and couldn’t figure out what was keeping her from going out with me. We started at an easy pace and after a few minutes picked it up. I waited until we had settled into a nice pace before I challenged her.
“Can I ask you a question about us?” I asked.
I could tell she was guarded.
“I guess,” she answered.
“What’ve I done wrong?”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I mean that just a couple of weeks ago we were going out. Then you said you had to break up with me to think about it. I’ve been stuck in the ‘friends zone’ ever since. I was wondering if I’d done something to warrant that?” I asked.
“No, I just don’t know if I should go out with you,” she said.
“Oh, okay.”
She looked at me confused.
“That’s it? Just ‘okay’ is your response?” she asked.
“Yeah, what else can I say? It’s obvious that you don’t want to go out with me, so I need to move on,” I said.
“I never said I didn’t want to go out with you.”
“Now I’m really confused. You can’t decide if you want to go out with me. I’m supposed to put my life on hold until you decide? How is that fair to anyone?” I asked.
“So, because I can’t make up my mind, you’re moving on?” she asked.
“If I had a clue as to what was up for debate, I might understand. I like you a lot. I have for a long time. I’m just tired of not knowing. I’d hope you would want to go out with me, but I can’t force you. When you keep saying you have to think about it, what I’m hearing is ‘no.’ Do me a favor and put me out of my misery.”
“I guess I want to go out with you,” she said, clearly sounding uncertain.
I sighed. Now it felt like I’d forced her to go out with me.
“There’s no way this’ll work if you aren’t sure. Let me do us both a favor, and just leave us in the ‘friends zone.’ I’ll find someone else to date.”
“No, I want to go out with you,” she said more forcefully.
I seriously had my doubts. This was not the way to start a relationship. I stopped running so I could have her full attention.
“Peggy, I really like you, but I feel like I’m forcing the issue. I’m sorry. Take your time and think about it. When you decide that you want to go out with me, we can talk.”
She looked pained and just nodded. I had no idea what was going through her mind. If she wasn’t willing to share with me, I would never know. We finished our run in silence.
I WENT STRAIGHT TO the training room. I was allowed to run and light throwing, but no lifting yet. I found Becky, who was in charge of me until I was cleared to play. I’d hoped that she would let me practice tonight. If I couldn’t practice, Mike would start against Mt. Vernon.
“Are you taking any meds today?” Becky asked.
“No, and I ran this morning. It still hurts, but I’m ready to go,” I assured her.
She had me stretch my back and then examined my range of motion. She poked, prodded, and then came to a decision.
“You can practice tonight. We’re going to tape extra padding to your back and see if you can throw. I want you to come in after practice, and we’ll apply some heat and massage your back. I don’t want you to stiffen up. I also want you to take your muscle relaxants before you go to sleep, and to use a heating pad tonight.”
I was cleared to practice! I’d follow her rules if it meant I could play. I went and found Wolf, and we tossed the football back and forth. I felt okay, but I didn’t push it.
AT LUNCH, I FOUND MAGGIE in the lunch line.
“Would you go out with me after the Mt. Vernon game on Friday?” I asked.
“What would we do?”
I laughed, and just walked away, shaking my head. I really should have my head examined. I wasn’t playing that game again. I was tired of girls jerking me around. Either they wanted to go out, or they didn’t. I was not in the mood for there to be conditions on whether or not she’d go out with me. The real question was: would anyone go out with me? I sent Mona a text.
‘B my date Fri?’
‘Yes!’ Mona answered.
Maggie had caught up with me at the table. She looked anxious.
“I’m sorry. Yes, I would like to go out with you Friday night.”
“I already have a date,” I told her.
That got everyone’s attention as Maggie got mad.
“How could you have a date already? You didn’t talk to anyone yet,” she accused me.
I got out my cell phone and showed her. Her eyes got big, and she jumped up from the table and left. Carmela, Ann and Gabriella all went after her. Emma wanted information.