It's A College Gay Thing

1 //

Hello! So, as you may have noticed, I lied. I said that there wouldn't be a sequel but, here we are. 

Note: Reading "It's A Gay Thing" will be of tremendous help in understanding the plot. You can find it on my profile.

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1 // Pris

"So, what are you gonna major in?" my dinner date asks me after monologuing about the importance of political science. I zoned out the entire time, planning my exit. I'll say I have to go to the bathroom, tip the waiter and just leave.

"Journalism but you know, I need to use the restroom."

She nods and seems startled, as I get up and rush to the restroom. Fucking hell. This has got to be the worst date I've ever been on. Her name is Jenny. She is the ultimate liberal arts girl, wearing beanies, with legalization of weed posters on her wall and even a Tame Impala poster in her room. I met her through my roommate, Valerie. They were smoking in our room, which I don't really care about, but all they do when they're high is talk about communism. I truly thought that being high made you chill out, not have intellectual debates. I wanted to give Jenny a chance, since apparently, she'd be eyeing me a while. But, I did not ask for this bullshit.

I take the waiter aside and tip him very generously. He winks at me, "Need an exit?"

The fact that he's flamboyantly gay makes him non-threatening, "God, yes."

"Come with me, babe."

I follow him through a backdoor and exit there. He waives goodbye at me. I'm finally free, but without a ride. I shrug. It's nice outside. I'll just walk. While longing the avenue confidently, I see unexpectedly familiar faces from afar.

"Pris, oh my God!" Lana yells at me while running to hug me. Tony follows along. I'm so glad to see that they are still together. What a power couple.

We say our initial hellos and then finally, "What are you doing around here?" Tony asks casually.

"I'm at Duff now."

Lana's eyes widen, "Really? Why didn't you tell us?"

"You know with the break up and everything, I just needed my space."

"That's fair, but you should swing by the house one of these days," Tony kindly offers.

"Sure, when would that work for you?"

"Well, what are you doing now?" Tony asks.

"Escaped a really bad date."

They both laugh. Lana grabs my hand, "Let's go."

We all walk through the campus buildings. These streets remind me of memories with this group of people, one that used to mean the world to me. We lost touch since the breakup. I finished up my applications for college and so did Ari. She went to the West coast, obviously. She wanted to go to L.A. and live her life as an aspiring makeup artist in the entertainment business. Typical Ari type of move. I wanted to stay close. I realize that I would have missed my family too much, even though I hate my dumbass stepfather and can be distant with my mom. I guess I just realized that, after my parents' divorce, I didn't want to move anymore. I wanted to feel rooted somewhere. Even if that somewhere is twenty minutes from my mom's house.

"What are you both doing these days?" I ask them.

They look at each other. Lana says, "Continuing in sociology. Understanding institutional systematic racism one class at a time. Tired of people denying that it exists. Scared to be in a country where my identity is seen as threatening to people who are already in power. Long story short, I'm just angrier everyday it seems. But I am learning the guitar and that's pretty neat."