Marketta POV

"You may think you know me, and that's okay. Get ready for the new me, the true me, lady of class, with a whole lot of sass. I'm ready to take over the world, just follow my lead. You may know me as Marketta, but now I'm known as Sassy, But Classy, the deuce and rock of my ship."

There was no greater feeling than crossing into Mu Alpha Chi. She was on top of the world, and no one could tell her anything. After the probate show, so many people wanted to give her props. Fellow students she only knew in passing.

She may not have known them, but they knew her. She was popular and didn't even know it. Or maybe not popular but they definitely knew who she was, and on a campus as big as Illinois State, that was a big thing.

Sure, serving as the President of the Black Student Union helped to get her name out there, but now that she was a MAX she would get the respect. It felt like power, and she already was enjoying it.

The next day she made sure she was decked out in some of her new MAX swag. A fresh, crispy orange t-shirt with tan-colored MAX letters, khaki pants, some MAX earrings, a ring, and even her socks. She carried one of her new MAX-lettered bags now, and of course, put a MAX keychain on her keyring.

In case someone missed her probate show, they would know for sure she was a MAX now.

"You look good in your colors." It was Rick, her hot Que, approaching her between classes. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. "Now look at us, we make a great couple."

She rolled her eyes at that. Rick had given her a few trinkets for her probate, but that did not mean that progressed the relationship any further. He was cute, but he was not special. Just because he was in a fraternity, it meant nothing to her.

In fact, she was not feeling him anymore.

She pushed away from his embrace. "You know what, there is no together for us. We're just friends, and I'm keeping it that way."

"That's cold-blooded, Marketta." He got up in her face as if he was going to do something to her but she did not back away. "You've only been in those letters less than a day and taking it to your head like you're special or something."

"Negro please!" She pushed past him and walked away. The letters did not change her, but she for sure opened her eyes.

Things looked different now. The world looked different to her. She needed to focus more on herself and stop dating guys who did not know her worth. If she wanted to be considered the best of the best, she needed to hang with the best of the best.

At the BSU meeting on Tuesday, she came fired up, dressed in a MAX blazer the Alumni prophytes gifted her and her line sisters. It felt so professional and she wished she could wear it every day. It was time to make her mark on the organization.

"BSU can't get used to the status quo, it's time to make a change on campus. The Black student community here at Illinois State is large enough that we should not have to beg for activities that cater to us. BSU can only do so much as an organization, we need the rest of the school to stand for us as well."

"Say less," Jade said at her side, sporting her new pink and green Alpha Kappa Alpha cardigan.

Laila and Amber were not wearing paraphernalia. That was them. As for her, she was wearing everything, every day and then go buy some more. She wanted to tattoo MAX on her arm, make it permanent like her lifetime commitment would be.

"So what I'm saying is, we're a Top Ten school, twenty thousand plus students. Did you know Michelle Williams attended here? And Syleena Johnson and Craig Robinson. We're two hours away from Chicago, why can't we get some big names on campus? To perform, to speak, hell, to educate us. We learn more at college than what they teach us in classes. We need the culture. Black culture."

"Oh, she got the big head now," someone said, and others snickered.

She ignored whatever ignorant person that was. This was not about her being in a sorority. It was about her making some changes.

"How are we going to get high-level people here? Black people here? Yes, we're a few hours away from big cities, but we still are in the middle of nowhere. Normal, Illinois as they say," Jade added.

"I think it's all about who you know who knows somebody who knows somebody," Amber stated.

That got a few laughs.

"Well, who knows anyone important?" she asked.

"Time to figure that out," Laila said.

The rest of the meeting they all brainstormed on how to get more influential people from their culture at their school. She would research to see what other colleges were doing. They did not have to be super famous like Beyonce or Jay Z. In fact, what good would they do? Entertain them, not teach them.

This was her time.

There were several ways she could make her mark while there at ISU. As President of BSU and now a MAX, the sky was the limit. But just being those things did not guarantee anything. How else could she make her mark?

"A Speaker's Bureau sponsored by BSU," she stated. "And I know it's short notice to get anything going for this semester but trust we can build a nice list for next year. Everyone, your assignment for the week, heck for the rest of the semester is to get some connections to some great speakers or entertainers. Let's go!"

After her speech to the members, she went through her social media to see if she even followed anyone with the criteria to invite them to their school.

Yeah right. In the scheme of the world outside of college, she was a nobody.

Then she spotted her ex's page. Jordan had amassed a big following, and not only that, he was a superstar on TikTok. He had some of everybody following him including celebrities. This was her connect.

But was she brave enough to ask him for assistance?

She had to think hard about how she would approach him in a way that did not seem she was using him. She liked to think they were past their past and were friends now. He helped her a lot while she was on line.

If she could pull this off with a Speaker's Bureau that was geared at the Black students on campus. That would be great to cement her place in history not just for BSU but the entire school.

Hell, she could reach Zavrina DeCosta level, iconic.

A/N: Is Marketta taking this newfound popularity to her head, trying to do too much for infamy? And why does she keep pushing guys away?