Chatoyant College Book 2: Initiates

Chapter 10: Relying on Books

"Excellent," said Corrie. "Now we just have to work on you. Any girls you've got your eye on? I could probably help you out."

Edie shook her head slowly, thinking back over her day. She felt a little awkward trying to tell someone else about finding girls she liked, but Corrie was genuinely interested, and she really appreciated the offer of help. Then again, she couldn't think of much to tell her friend. "There are certainly plenty of cute girls on campus, but none that I particularly noticed, and certainly none that I thought were anything other than straight. I was really focusing on classes today; I didn't have much chance to notice the people around me. I only noticed Marlin existed because he went out of his way to talk to me. Which was probably flirting." She felt bad that she hadn't noticed him. She would have to tell him she was a lesbian the next chance she got, probably in class on Wednesday--she didn't want to seek him out to tell him, because that would seem like a nasty rejection, but she couldn't leave him dangling, either.

"Damn," Corrie said, looking thoughtful. Then she brightened. "I know! You should join the Rainbow Alliance! Then you'll be sure to find somebody."

"What's that?" She hadn't heard the term, though it sounded new-agey.

"It's the club on campus for queer people. I remember reading about it in, uh... some pamphlet."

Well, that was much better than a new age group. "I don't know," she said, feeling awkward again. "I'm not that great at meeting people..."

"Which is why a club is perfect!"

"I don't know how to join, anyway."

Corrie shrugged. "There's a club fair or something like that going on later in the week. They'll probably have a table and you can find out then. See? College makes everything easy."

Edie shook her head with a laugh. "And here I thought college was for learning things."

Corrie gave a dismissive wave of her hand, laughing. "You have the rest of your life for that. College is for having fun! And making friends!"

"That part seems to be working out well," she admitted. "I think I have more friends after a few days at school than I had throughout the entire course of high school. And I think I have you to thank."

"Me?" Corrie looked astonished. "Don't sell yourself short, Edie. You're a great person--you can and have easily made friends on your own!"

Edie shook her head. She didn't agree, but she would leave it at that. If nothing else, Corrie had given Edie a fresh start with her new nickname. That had given her just enough of an extra boost in confidence that she could talk to people without tripping all over herself every time she opened her mouth. But if Corrie wanted to give Edie all the credit, she wouldn't argue. Instead, she changed the subject, picking up the first book that Corrie's mother had given her, which she'd finished reading that afternoon. "I wonder if there's a pagan or Goddess sort of club. That would be interesting to join."

"Oh, yeah?" Corrie finally sat all the way up, an eager smile on her face. "You like the idea, then?"

"I do." She flipped through the book slowly. "I'm not sure I believe any of it at all, but I really like, well... the feminism of it, I suppose. I never went to temple all that often, but when I did, it bothered me that God is always 'him.' Even though we had a female rabbi for a while. It just seemed unequal, you know?" She closed the book and put it aside. She also had a vague sort of sense that something was out there, some sort of deity, and that she should find out what it was, but she didn't know how to express that to Corrie. It would probably just sound silly, anyway.

Corrie nodded quickly. "Yeah, I totally understand. I mean, I never went to church or temple or anything, but I talked to other people about religion, and it seemed weird to me that their god was always male. Then again, I grew up with the Goddess, so that's probably just what was normal to me."

"I should probably read more books before I make any kind of decision, though. I mean, just one book probably doesn't have all the information, right?"

"That's why my mom gave you so many," she confirmed. "There's good stuff and bad stuff in each book. And it's all subjective, anyway. You can ask me if you have any questions, too. You can't rely on books for everything!"

"What?" Edie looked up with a mock-shocked expression, making her eyes as wide as she could. "Now you tell me! My world is shattered!"

Corrie giggled. "Well, I hope we do find a pagan club or something like that. I'll join if you do."

Edie picked up the next book on the pile, running her finger over the raised letters of the title. "Sounds good to me."