“Are you okay, Cali?”
“Yes. I’m just a little shocked. And… embarrassed.”
“Don’t be. Please don’t be. It’s all gonna be great. You’ll be there today, promise?”
I suck in a deep breath. And swallow my pride. “Yes, yes. I promise.” My pain is subsiding and I feel a little energy moving through my body. “Sarah?”
“Yes?”
“Is this really happening?”
“It’s happening, baby. I’ll see you in an hour. Don’t be late.”
“Okay.” The tone in my voice is finally starting to lift. “See you soon.” Once we hang up I climb down off my bed, steady myself against the mattress, and let the last two minutes sink in.
My hands are trembling. I can hardly punch in the numbers to Ellie’s phone. “Answer, please answer,” I say out loud.
Background music is blasting when she picks up. “Hey. Are you okay? Your Gamma Chi’s been here looking for you.”
“I know. Can you come to my room?”
“I didn’t know you were in there. I’ll be right over.”
By the time I make it to my door, Ellie’s already here. When I open it, I see her studying my face. “Oh, Cali. I’m so sorry.” But then I smile and she smiles with me. Her eyes light up along with mine. “What’s going on?”
I pull her inside, shut the door. “Sarah came here to tell me…I’m getting a bid!”
“What?I’m so happy!” She hugs me and we spin around, holding each other’s arms.
“Can you believe it?”
“Yes, I believe it. What happened?”
I tell her everything that Sarah told me five minutes ago. Almost word for word.
“This is freaking awesome! Get dressed, Cal. Right now. We need to leave here in thirty minutes.”
I glance at myself in the mirror, and my shoulders fall. “What about my eyes? I’m so embarrassed.”
“Oh forget it. There have been so many girls around here with swollen eyes this week. Who cares?”
“I feel like I’m dreaming, El.” Purely for fun, I pinch myself on the arm. “Am I?”
She laughs. “No, you’re not dreaming. And don’t worry about washing your hair. Just wash your face and I’ll come by here in thirty minutes to get you. Okay?”
I can feel my cheek muscles lifting as I shoot her my best smile. Then I shut the door behind her.
“Yes! Yes!” I say out loud, wanting to scream at the top of my lungs, but instead I fall to my knees, tip my head back, and lift my arms high in the air. “Thank You, Thank You, thank You, God,” I say, before crawling back up. Then I jump around the room. As fast as I can get my hands on it, I open the iTunes app on my phone and turn it up as loud as it will go. It’s J. Cole, my favorite rapper.
As soon as I hear his voice I jerk and slide around the room. Instead of his lyrics, I make up my own and sing out over his. “I’m getting a biiid,” I sing. “It’s official, I ain’t lyin’, and I sure ain’t dreamin’.Yeah.A bid’s coming my way. Did you hear that, Martin, I told you, I ain’t being left out in no cold.Yeah.That Cali Watkins… she the bomb.Yeah.‘This slang that I speak, don’t change that I’m deep.’Yeah.”
J. Cole fades and I scroll though my phone till I find Alicia Keys. When I hear the first chords, I dance over to the door and study my reflection in the mirror. Jerking the rubber band out of my hair, I watch it cascade onto my shoulders. Then I sing with her.
“She’s just a girl, and she’s on fire.” I bend down and flip my hair over.“Hotter than a fantasy, longer like a highway.” Then jerking back up, I watch myself juke my hips from side to side, like I amthecoolest dancer on earth. I’m not—I’m terrible—but I imagine that I am, until Alicia finishes her last note.
Thirty minutes later, dressed in my official Ole Miss uniform, I’m headed to the Grove with Ellie.
FORTY
