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I’m picking out your outfit
I smile at my phone screen. Glancing up at my reflection in the mirror, I decide my day-three dry shampoo is not quite cutting it for my first time seeing Aaron again tonight.
After showering and blow-drying my hair, I’m wrapping chunks around my curling wand when Amaya and Teegan come in the door together.
Teegan beelines it for the closet. “No running shorts and oversized t-shirt for you today, missy.”
“But she can’t look like she’s trying too hard,” Amaya jumps in, joining Teegan by the closet. “Don’t overdress her—it’s still just a weekly Arrow meeting, not a night out.”
“I’m just going to wear these cut-off jean shorts and a shirt, chill out,” I say with more confidence than I feel. Adrenaline has already taken over as the number-one hormone coursing through my nervous system. My endocrine system is the one that needs to chill out.
“Fine, but make it a cute shirt,” Teegan says, pulling a few options out of the closet. She holds up a sleeveless, emerald V-neck blouse. “Here, to make your green eyes pop.”
I roll my eyes but accept the hanger from her hand. “We’re probably making way too big a deal out of this,” I tell them, turning back to the mirror and setting down my curling wand.
“Whatever, you’re just telling yourself that because you’re totally freaking out,” Amaya says matter-of-factly as she exits to the hall bathroom.
I change into my approved shirt and assess my appearance in the mirror. Whatever blend of European blood flows through my family’s veins allows me to get a decent tan over the summer that slowly fades during the winter months. However, not being at the beach this summer has left me a shade paler than usual. I’m a very average height at 5’5”, my body build also falling right around the fiftieth percentile for a 22-year-old, according to my annual physical this summer. My looks may be more average than extraordinary, but I did spend extra time on my most striking feature—thick, chestnut-brown hair flowing to my lower back.
I’m double-checking my makeup when Amaya calls at me from the hallway. “Stop stressing, Lana. You look great, and tonight is going to be fine. Now let’s go before we’re late!”
Amaya and I walk over to the student union for the Arrow meeting together. Teegan is picking up freshmen from the dorms, but I have to get to the meeting early because I’m in charge of the welcome team. A handful of us stand out in the lobby to greet students as they arrive, Sharpies at the ready to write name tags. I need to come up with the question of the week to ask—we’ll write students’ answers to the question below their name, giving people an easy conversation starter.
We arrive at the union and greet the other students and Arrow staff who are there setting up. Amaya heads into the room to place announcement fliers on the chairs, and I open up the box of name tag supplies.
Rachel, the Arrow director’s wife, comes over to greet me. She gives me a quick hug and says she missed me this summer before heading into the room to make sure everything is ready to go with the band. I write my name and Washington D.C. on a label. I’ve decided the question this week will be, “What was your favorite place you went to over the summer?”
The rest of the girls on the welcome team arrive, and I share the question for the night. Everyone grabs sheets of labels and disperses throughout the lobby to catch all the students coming in from multiple entrances. In a few short minutes, a steady stream of people starts arriving. The lobby buzzes with the excitement of friends greeting each other after summers apart and new introductions being made.
I’m in the middle of writing name tags for a group of girls when, out of the corner of my eye, I see a large group of OG guys coming in the side entrance. My heart beats a little faster, but then I see multiple welcome teamers already poised to write their name tags.
Turning my focus back to the girl in front of me, I write her answer. “That is so cool that you got to go to California with your family,” I tell her. “I’m hoping to be there this time next year!” She smiles brightly, and the group heads through the doors to the meeting room.
I feel a tap on my shoulder, and an oh-so-familiar voice asks, “Hey, can I get a name tag?”
Turning with a smile on my face, I look up to see Aaron grinning down at me. He pulls me in for a quick side-hug and asks, “What’s the question this week?”
I’m already writing Aaron (and resisting adding a heart) as I tell him, “What was your favorite place you went to this summer?”
“Well, Florida, obviously. I wish that could have been your answer too—we missed you at Summer Project this year,” Aaron answers, and I fight back a blush as I smile to myself. He points at my name tag. “D.C. huh? I thought you were just staying home for the summer.”
Resisting the urge to unload how my summer was so much more than just a summer at home and give him every thrilling detail, I simply respond, “I know, I wish I could have been in two places at once. I was in KC for most of the summer but got to spend a couple of weeks in D.C. working with an advocacy group. I?—”
I’m cut off by one of Aaron’s fraternity brothers half-tackling him as the rest of the group comes toward the doors. Aaron is swept up in the current of OG bodies, but he calls back to me, “You’ll have to fill me in at After Party!”
Losing the fight against the blush in my cheeks, I wish I could take a quick breather in the bathroom and relive our conversation in my head. But strums of guitar music are welcoming people to the first weekly meeting, so I quickly collect all the supplies from the rest of the team. I stash the box under a table and head in the back door to find where Teegan saved me a seat.
After the first couple of songs, the band introduces the emcee for the year, none other than Bailey Williams. If you picture a stereotypical college sorority girl in your mind, you’re picturing Bailey Williams to a T. She’s the president of TriAlpha (short for Alpha Alpha Alpha, of course), the self-proclaimed top sorority on campus. She’s been a student leader in Arrow along with Amaya, Teegan, and me, and although we all share a common faith, there’s still an undercurrent of friction between us. Probably because Amaya is so determined to make AOPi the best it can be, while Bailey is always making low-key jabs about AOPi being a “less-than” sorority from her high-and-mighty roost.
Of course they picked her as the emcee this year.
Bailey bounces up on stage and grabs the microphone. “Welcome to the first Arrow meeting of the year! We hope your time with us each week points you closer to God and community with each other.”
She launches into the list of announcements in her singsong voice, punctuated with wide smiles. Her hair is so flawlessly highlighted that you can’t quite pinpoint if she’s a blond or a brunette, and it catches the light in all the best ways.
I can’t help but smile at the memory of Bailey’s face last year when homecoming results were announced and AOPi had knocked TriAlpha off their long-standing first-place position. I know Amaya is gunning for a repeat, although I don’t know if that’s more about keeping AOPi’s positive momentum or rubbing it in Bailey’s face.
