Marketta POV

"Why is there always something?"

Marketta cut her eyes to her sister, sitting next to Alonzo having a grand old time. She was sitting next to Rick and he was cool. Hot, sexy, and a nice guy. Nothing wrong with him at all but here she was, staring at her ex on stage and mesmerized by his moves.

Jordan made her hot all over watching him move across the stage. And it was not that he was dancing in a sexy or seductive way, but that he was so confident on stage and he was so darn good. And sure he had a whole crew dancing with him, but all she saw was him.

The way the girls were screaming, all they saw was him.

"Jordan! Jordan! Jordan!"

That was the sound of the girls going crazy over her ex-boyfriend. How was she supposed to feel about that? Not anyway quite honestly, but here she was, wishing she was not there at all.

Why couldn't she just move on like her sister had? Because Laila was the one cheated on, not her. And like Rick said, what did Jordan do wrong?

"I think Essence of Soul has some competition this year," Rick said to her.

"Mmm-hmmm," was all she could mutter.

It was like Jordan studied Anika's moves and knew what to do to top them. As a solo dancer, he had no chance against Anika's dancers. This was more than a little school talent show now this was a war between those two dance groups and Essence of Soul had the last spot.

"That's your ex, right?" Rick asked her.

She did not want to answer that. Why did he ask? She said nothing and watched Jordan seem to dance just for her. As if he was looking at her. Did he spot her out in the crowd, amongst all his screaming fans? Why did she feel a connection?

"Marketta, you're good?" Rick asked.

"Huh?"

He reached over and took her hand. "You good?"

"Yeah, sure," she said, a bit flustered.

"After the talent show, before the party tonight, the bruhs are having a kick it at the house. Come with me."

"No, no, that's your thing."

"Naa, it's for whoever. Nothing crazy or anything...the bruhs might get a little lit, but you know I got you."

Hanging out with the Omegas while she was pledging on line. That may not be a good look. She would see what Laila wanted to do. If she was going with Alonzo, of course, she would have to go to have her sister's back.

After Jordan and crew finished, a solo girl sang, thinking she was CoCo Jones or something, but she was decent. Not competition to Jordan or Essence, but they could not all be winners. The next act after that was awkward, some guy she was not familiar with playing the piano. Nothing weird about that, except he was white and this was mostly for the Black students on campus. She guessed the Deltas could not discriminate.

He tried playing to the audience and played some contemporary hip-hop songs on piano, and that got the crowd screaming and cheering. He was good, she had to give him that. Something different whereas the talent show mostly had singers and dancers.

But would he be good enough to win?

She wondered why Manny chose not to sing this year. Last year they won off the strength of both Jordan and Manny performing together.

Essence of Soul was last up and they were professionals at this point. There were props and even an on-stage costume change. This did not feel like a group of college performers putting on a show, this was professionals. Even with new dancers on the team this year, that only made them better. There was no competition.

"I wonder how much money they have made from all their wins?" Rick asked her.

She shrugged. She was not that close to Anika to ask her that, all she knew was that they won a lot since forming last year. She wished she had the gusto to start something like that. She lacked that focus. Maybe after college and some work in the field, she would be there.

Her goal was still to be a boss.

Her phone buzzed in her hand. She looked down to see a message from Jordan. He had to be texting from backstage.

Can I see you after the show?

Whatever could he want? She turned to Rick.

"You know what, yes, I'll go to the Omega House with you guys. Sounds fun."

"It will be with you there, baby."

She inwardly cringed at him calling her that. She was not his baby. They were not together, just hanging out. She hoped he did not make too much of things like Quintavious.

Essence of Soul took first, Jordan and crew took second and the piano player shockingly took third. The Omegas all jumped on stage afterward to celebrate with the ladies of Delta. They were clowning around and taking pictures. Others were mingling around or leaving, deciding on hangouts before they got ready for the party.

"You think we need to check in with the ladies before we head to the Omega House?" Laila asked.

She shrugged at that.

"Should we go change into party attire before we hit up the Que house?" Amber asked.

"Sounds like a plan to me. I'll text Rick and just meet them there at the house."

Rick was okay with that so they headed out of the auditorium. It was a good thing no MAX stopped them or asked them to stop at the house. They made it back to their residence hall, all needing to shower and change for the big party. Next to Delta After Dark Talent Show, the party was the big event of the year.

They all decided to wear all black and did not care if someone thought that was strange.

"Alonzo said he would pick us up, take us to the house and the party."

"Aaw," she said as she finished her makeup. "You found a real sweet one with him, sis."

"You think so?" Laila was all smiles at that. "It's nice that he's older, a grad student. Not young and dumb like some."

"Older guys can be dumb too," she stated.

"What about Rick?" Amber asked her. "How are things with you two?"

She shrugged. "I'm not looking for anything serious, so it is what it is."

"And you and your crush?" Laila asked Amber.

"We are not discussing that tonight!" Amber snapped.

Before they were ready, Alonzo made it to their place and waited outside for them. He had to wait twenty minutes in his car because beauty took time. Three girls getting ready in one small dorm room. She liked having Amber over but it just made the tiny room more cramped.

"I'll make sure you ladies are taken care of tonight. I know your situation," Alonzo said when they made it in the car. "As Advisor of my bruhs, they will be well behaved."

Whatever that meant.

But as soon as they made it to the house, she could not imagine them not well behaved, because they were a wild bunch while so-called behaved. At least a dozen Omegas and five or six girls gathered all about the large living room at the small house quite a bit off campus. Loud old-school music played. Some of the bruhs were hopping around and strolling as if already at the part, making the small house rattle.

There were several dark couches against every wall, and a large, flat-screen television mounted high on one wall. A few chairs were scattered around the room and a table in the middle held several bottles of alcohol and beer. A big purple and gold paddle leaned against one wall.

"Yo! Zo is here, hide the punch!" someone shouted out.

Some of the guys came over to greet Alonzo while they just stood there, not knowing what to do

"Anybody under age better not take a sip of anything," Alonzo said with authority.

She spotted Rick sitting on one of the couches with two of his frat brothers. He jumped up.

"Hey, let the ladies have a seat." He shooed his brothers from the couch. "Come on Marketta, sit, I'll get you guys some drinks."

"Girl, this is not my type of crowd," Amber whispered to her.

They all took a seat on the couch, but she was afraid to drink anything they offered. She was not twenty-one like her sister, nor was Amber. She wasn't into drinking alcohol like that anyway, maybe a few sips of beer to decide she hated it.

Rick came back over with clear plastic cups of something purple. No way!

"It's non-alcoholic, I swear," Rick said. "You see that old guy over there?" He pointed out Alonzo with a garbage bag in hand, already cleaning up some of the mess the guys were making. "He makes sure we don't get too lit before the party, especially with company over."

She took the cup from him, as well as Laila and Amber. Peer pressure. That boy could still have slipped her something. She had trust issues. She watched her sister take a sip first before she even took a sniff.

"I see you don't trust me." Rick sat on the arm of the couch beside her. "That's cool."

Reluctantly she drank the punch. It was just super sweet Kool-Aid, made her teeth tingle. What was he going to do to her with a house full of his brother, random girls, and his advisor? Her sister and line sister being there was also a plus for her.

The only reason she came to the Omega House was to avoid her ex.

She grabbed her phone from her purse to look at the text from Jordan. There was another text now.

My frat and the ladies of MAX are at the house celebrating our wins. Where are you guys?

"Uh oh!" she said out loud. She looked at her sister. "We might need to go."

"Go where?"

She showed her sister the text on the phone.

"They didn't invite us over," Laila said. "Maybe it's just for them."

"Did we even congratulate Anika on her win? We should."

She started to text Anika but Laila stopped her.

"You do know I am the captain and I am the only one that communicates with them."

Her sister said it but did not reach for her phone either. She feared they would get in trouble again. "Dropped" or maybe even worse. They could be dropped for real, never becoming a MAX because they did not check in with their Big Sisters.

"Laila, text her! Congratulate her and ask if we need to meet at their house, the EU house, or something."

"Ok, ok!" Laila grabbed her phone and started to text.

She waited with anticipation to see what Anika would say. It was hard enough being on line and all the things they had to do during the week, she felt like the weekend should be theirs. But this was different. This was like last time when more MAX ladies came down that wanted to meet them.

She looked down at her phone and decided to text Jordan back.

Did the Big Sisters say anything about us not being there? Be honest. Tell me.

All I'm sayin is, our pledges are here and having a good time.

"Oh that's it, we have to go." She stood up. "I don't care what Anika says, we should be there...not here."

"What's going on?" Rick asked.

"Anika just said it was our choice. We don't have to go. We can meet up with the Alumni tomorrow. They will still be in town for the parade, tailgate, and football game."

"I want to leave," she said to Rick. "You two can stay. Rick, will you take me?"

"Sure."

Leaving her sister and Amber may have been the wrong move, but she had to follow her heart. Or was she following Jordan?

A/N: What do you think? Should the ladies have gone to hang with MAX and EU?