Sherry POV

Homecoming weekend was so wild, she needed a break from it all, but come Monday morning, she had to get back to her business. The pledges had not had a session for three nights, so Monday night they were back at it. Felt like they had been on line forever, but it had only been three weeks. It would soon be over and she would have new sorority sisters.

Except, things were not looking good for the line.

"I know we told y'all to enjoy Homecoming weekend, but good Lord!" Jill said to the pledges who sat in front of them.

"I'm disappointed my Spec blew me in the wind for her man, but okay, it's cool," Zavrina added, shaking her head in disappointment.

"I'm sorry Big Sister, I-"

"What did we tell you about saying I? It's "We." You are a team. And I'm kind of disappointed in you guys right now," Jill stated.

Sherry should have kept her mouth shut, but she noticed that Friday night at the Delta Showcase, Essence was there with one boy, and then at the game on Saturday, she was seen with a different boy. Maybe they were just friends. Maybe one or both were a relative visiting. It just did not look good. She told Jill about it, and after they discussed it with Zavrina, she recalled seeing her with two different guys as well.

"And Lark, this isn't even about that, you and I will discuss that later. This is about your shipmate here," Zavrina told them.

"So you're seeing two guys?" Jill asked. "You were at the Showcase with one, then at the game with another."

Essence looked down at her fidgeting hands. Maybe she was dating two different guys. She could not judge her for that, right? She said herself at their Sister Circle meeting, that women could define their own terms in dating. She did not want to be a hypocrite.

"Guys, we're not going to judge Pledge Essence because she's dating two guys. It's whatever. She had to weigh her options, right?"

"Pimpin' ain't easy," Zavrina said with a chuckle.

"Zav! That's just not fair, we don't know the situation. In fact... the session is dismissed for the night. Zav, you and Lark can do whatever bonding you two need to do. Essence, come with me, let's talk about whatever it is you need to talk about."

Zavrina and Lark both left the house. Jill went into her room. She and Essence stayed in the living room.

"Are you thirsty? Hungry? Want anything?" Sherry went into the kitchen to get bottled water and a bag of chips. "Or we could order something in? I'm starving."

"Sherry, I'm sorry," Essence said quietly.

"About what?"

"What do you think of me."

"What do I think of you?" She handed a bottle of water to Essence, then sat on the sofa across from her.

Essence opened the water and took a sip. "I'm not dating either of those guys. We're just friends and I didn't want to go to the Showcase or game by myself. I should have thought about what it would look like. I'm sorry if I made MAX look bad."

"I give two fucks what it may look like. You're grown-ish..." she chuckled a bit. "I mean, we're young, sample all the guys you want."

"No! I'm not like that Sherry, I don't want you to think I am. I've only been with one boy...I don't sleep around, and I... never mind."

"What?"

"I want to be a MAX really bad, please don't make me drop!"

"Drop? No, we would not do that. Look, I got you. I told Donte I would take care of you, and so I am. I'll talk with the ladies, everything will be fine."

"I'm not a pimp...nor am I easy."

She should not laugh at her, but she did. "Okay, that's just an expression, and it's actually a compliment. But I get it, the ladies have to watch what they say. I don't want you to think we're these old-fashioned, judgemental women. I mean, we do like to carry ourselves a certain way on campus, but we're not perfect."

"Thanks, Sherry, for being so nice to me."

"You got me, anytime you need a friend to talk to."

*************

That was her Monday night. Tuesday night she was in the library with back-to-back tutoring sessions. Three of them, her last one was with Taj and she knew she would be worn out after him.

"I saw you looking fly at the Homecoming party. Mph!" Taj grinned at her.

"Boy, do your work!"

"You're the hot girl Meg Thee Stallion be talking about, huh? You remind me of her."

"What? Boy, shut up!

"Naw, for real. The hair, the body...the attitude."

She rolled her eyes at him. She wished she had Megan's body. She was built like her, just a bit more meat. She did wear her hair similar to a style Megan had at the party, maybe that's what he meant. Or, she could dance freaky like Meg, there was no shame in her game.

"EU party this weekend, I better see you there."

"Maybe, I don't know. I'm partied out for a while."

"Don't play Sher bear, you better be there."

"Tell you what, you finish all your work, I'll try and make it." Why was she making promises to this boy and had no idea what the rest of her week would look like?

******************

Wednesday was a fully loaded day, full of classes from eight a.m. to her night class from six p.m. to nine p.m. She thought she would fall asleep at her desk, but an energy drink and chewing strong minty gum helped.

She had to drag herself back to the MAX house, only to get a call from Donte that he wanted to come over.

She showered, wrapped her hair up, and put her sleep scarf on by the time he knocked on her door. Jill was in her room, fast asleep because she was an early riser due to having to be at the radio station at four-thirty every morning. Could not be her. She was not a morning person.

"Honeybee, you look exhausted." Donte wrapped his arms around her, kissing her forehead. "I know this was your long day of classes. You should drop something."

"Whaaat? I can't do that. I need all the classes to graduate in May, don't be silly. I can handle it. Just..." She let out a yawn. "Can we go lay down, before I fall asleep standing up?"

She was already in pajamas, so Donte stripped to nothing and got in bed with her. He liked to sleep naked and she did not mind one bit.

"I love you, baby," he said, kissing her neck.

Okay, she was not too tired she wouldn't get hers first. She climbed on top of him gyrating her hips over his. He pulled her pajama bottoms down and slid two fingers inside her as she moaned out. He knew just how to work those fingers inside her till she was dripping all over herself.

"Come on lay down, let me do all the work."

He rolled her on her back, removing her bottoms all the way before sliding inside of her. She let out a low sigh. He felt so good and she needed him right now.

"You like that baby?"

"Yes! Yes! Faster baby!"

"Stop being in control, I got this." Donte was taking his sweet time trying to get her to climax. She wanted to orgasm, then fall fast asleep. Donte wanted to make it last all night long. They never agreed on the sex, but at least it was good.

**************

Thursday morning, she woke up and Donte was already gone. Sherry was not mad, he had an early class and she did not. He least could have wakened her up. She grabbed her phone and checked her messages.

Honeybee, I had to bounce, didn't want to wake up. Love U

I love you too

Scrolling through her messages and she had an email from the MAX Regional Director. After reading it, she groaned.

Emergency regional meeting for all Presidents she had to attend this Saturday in Kansas City.

"Just great!" She lay back in her bed and let that sink in. Guess partying this weekend was not an option. She had to make the six-hour drive to Kansas City and do whatever needed to be done. She emailed the Regional Director back that yes she could make it and even offered to stop and pick up other collegiates that needed a ride. She was sure between Normal, Illinois, and Kansas City, Missouri, there were a few MAX Presidents that would love a ride.

She got up and showered and dressed for the day, then grabbed a frozen breakfast burrito and nuked it in the microwave. Her first class was not until eleven, so she had plenty of time to chill.

She ate her burrito while she worked on a paper she had due on Friday. Better get as much of that done as possible. She only had one class Friday, and then she was planning on making the drive to KC.

She texted Donte that she would be leaving Friday and that she would miss him. Of course, he was disappointed, but he understood. He said he had too much studying anyway and probably would not party during the weekend. He was never much of a partier anyway unless it was his fraternity. She was going to miss the EU party but it was what it was.

Sorority business was her life.

A/N: Essence, so mysterious, hmmm. And Sherry, something has to give in your life, that's just real talk.