The first big campus party of the school year was always thrown by the members of the Chi Psi fraternity at their house. It was an invitation only party, and for the serious minded, not being invited was enough to ruin ones semester. The invitations for the said event went out in three stages: those with the best social standing got invited in the morning and the ones who were fun but not fun got theirs in the afternoon; those who were lesser known or not as cared for didn't get their invitations until the evening, when their nerves would be shot.

Nina, on the morning that the invitations were given out, was surprised to see a fat envelope at her door.

"Oh I see." She held the envelop in her hand and then sat it down on the table. She had simply forgotten all about the party, and now remembered that this would occasion her to purchase a new dress. Nina lit a cigarette and thought about how boring these parties could be. She opened up the package and saw that she had been given six invitations. Taylor would of course have to come, as well as that boy she was spending her time with. No doubt she'd bring a date herself; the other two tickets would go to Sue and Matt. As she finished smoking, she wondered for a moment if Marissa was going, and then forgot all about the tickets and the party.

For Marissa, the entire day was nerve wrecking. She had not been invited her freshman year; sophomore and junior years the invitation had come in the afternoon. Now she hoped that she would be one of the fortunate few that would receive the prize early in the morning. To her disappointment it did not come. She held it together as best she could and bravely went off to class, knowing that she'd at least have the afternoon's invitation.

"Hey Marissa." It was Nina. They smiled at one another in the commons and began talking about this or that. Marissa wondered out loud if they knew anyone that had received a morning's invitation.

"I forgot—yes I did. I have to buy a dress and I'm glad that you reminded me because otherwise I'd completely forget." For a moment, Marissa hated Nina and when they parted ways, Marissa felt the stab of jealously that stabs at a girl whenever she sees someone—they usually find their rival inferior—getting rewards that they feel they deserve.

Her day got worse when she arrived back at her dorm and found that there was still no invitation. Penelope was not happy either.

"This is bullshit." The blonde popped open two bottles of beer and handed one to Marissa.

"This has to be a mistake." They both nodded their heads in agreement. "Nina has hers already."

"Bitch." Penelope and Arabella were not fans of Nina; Nina was a rival for the affections of Danny and Zach. Also, they didn't like how friendly Marissa was getting to be with her. Nina, in their minds, was beginning to outshine them, and they just couldn't have that.

"Yeah I was pretty angry—I mean, I love Nina to death, but there's no way she's that friendly with the Chi Psi's."

"They probably just wanted her there because she's easy."

"Someone's jealous." Marissa could not help fight back a grin. Nina and Danny had been getting intimate lately, and Penelope, who formally had been indifferent to Danny's affections, now did not like another woman competing for something that had been for so long hers.

"Don't give me that jealousy shit." Penelope finished her beer and walked over to the refrigerator to get another one. "If I remember correctly, you were jealous the night Ryan stood you up to hang out with that Tara girl."

"Taylor—and no, I wasn't jealous."

"Well you acted like it."

"I was more annoyed than anything else." Marissa had seen Taylor's attempts to steal Seth away from Summer and thought that Taylor was up to her old tricks again. She had told Summer the exact same thing in an email. Summer had simply replied that the "little slut" stood no chance.

"She'll probably be there if Nina got invited."

"And we'll finally get to see this boyfriend of hers."

"Arabella saw them together—she says he is gorgeous."

"Then I can't imagine why he's with Taylor."

"She must be doing something right." Marissa rolled her eyes; she knew she was being unfair about Taylor. She wasn't so bad, but Marissa felt that she was trying to muscle in on Ryan a bit. Also, the fact that she was going to be getting an evening invitation to the party, if one at all, soured her mood.

"I wonder if we'll get invited at all."

Penelope was saved from replying by a knock on the door. It was Ryan and Arabella.

"Hey guys." Ryan kissed Marissa and wrapped his arm around her. "What's going on with you?" He noticed her bad mood instantly.

"We haven't gotten invitations for the party yet."

"Oh." He could see how upset Marissa was. Two years ago, this might have concerned him, slightly; now, as a senior, he could care less if some fraternity wanted his company.

"And it's worse than that—Nina's going and Taylor's going and they got their invitations in the morning."

"Well maybe there was a mistake."

"Maybe." Marissa was clinging to the believe that there was just an oversight. Arabella lit a cigarette and passed it over to Marissa.

"Where are we going tonight?" Arabella was bored by the conversation.

"How about we go into the city?" Marissa looked at Ryan. "What do you think? we could all go down to the Oyster and have caviar and champagne."

"I don't know—I have an early class tomorrow."

"So do I."

"Well why don't we go somewhere local then."

"No, Berkeley has become so dull lately. There isn't anything ever going on."

"Except this party."

"Which reminds me," said Marissa, without missing a beat "I need a new dress."

"As do I." Penelope and Marissa were determined to look their best. "We have to find out what Nina's wearing."

"Yes." There was no way, in Marissa's mind, that Nina, or Taylor for that matter, would be prettier then her.

"And we have to bring Zach and Danny as our dates." Penelope looked over the Arabella. "You can take Zach."

"I'm glad that you guys have this all arranged." Ryan felt slightly annoyed that the girls were making much a big deal out of this. There seemed to be a state of war declared against Nina, and by extension Taylor, that he did not like. Ryan turned to Marissa "Do you have my outfit all picked out already?"

"I have something in the works." She smiled happily; she was always so proud and happy to have Ryan on her arms. He could not but elicit admiration from the women on campus and she loved the fact that he was hers, just as she was his.

"Let me know." They fell in silence for a few moments. The women all had dresses in mind, while Ryan thought to himself that he should have stayed home this afternoon and studied instead of getting dragged into this obsession about a fraternity party. He wondered what Taylor was up to. No doubt she was studying in the library or was in class. What would she think when she found out about the invitation and the fact that in came early in the morning? No doubt she would care less; he could imagine her shrugging her shoulders and asking Nina indifferent questions about the party. As he imagined the scene being played out between the roommates, his admiration for Taylor grew.

"What are you thinking about Ryan?"

"What?" He had gotten lost for a few moments and had not noticed that the murmur of conversation had started again.

"You had such a strange look on your face. Who were you thinking about?"

"Taylor."

"Really?" Arabella and Penelope exchanged glances. They felt there was more to the situation then let on. "What about her?" Marissa struggled to hide the annoyance in her voice.

"Nothing—just that I wondered if she would be going to the party or not—nothing important." He squeezed Marissa's hand and smiled at her. It really had been nothing, nothing for Marissa really to worry about.

"Have you met her boyfriend yet?" Arabella, like a shark smelling blood in the water, felt the urge to pounce.

"No—not yet."

"He's a good looking guy."

"That's good." Ryan knew what game Arabella was playing, and for the first time, he disliked her.

"How do you think she snagged him?" Penelope was curious to see if they could push Ryan's buttons by bad mouthing Taylor.
"She has a nice body."

"Too skinny." Marissa remarked with a smile.

"I bet she's a freak in bed."

"A girl has to compensate for something." Ryan looked over to Arabella and asked her what she might be compensating for. "For being so weird—no guy in their right mind would date her for being her—she's clueless."

"You guys hardly know her."

"And you do?"

"We've talked some." Arabella and Penelope could both see the strain and anger building in Ryan; they had achieved what they had wanted to achieve, and they so backed off.

"Well maybe she gets better."

"She does." Marissa also picked up the hint of defensiveness in Ryan's voice. Was she jealous? If so, only a little. Was she concerned about her boyfriend defecting? Not at all. Like Penelope and Arabella, she had no faith in Taylor's ability to steal away a real, good man.

"We'll have to go shopping soon since the party is Friday night." Marissa leaned forward and kissed Ryan's neck. She knew that was a way to his heart. "Take me tonight?"

"I thought you wanted to go into the city tonight."

"There's no reason we can't do both." Ryan looked at Marissa and as he did she unleashed a dazzling smile on him. She was beautiful and she was his. Her smile promised him pleasure and delight and his annoyance at them all for their words about Taylor began melting away.

"That would mean missing a class tonight."

"Can you handle that?" Ryan's hand slid underneath her skirt.

"I think so." There was suddenly a thick sexual tension in the air and the rest knew it was almost time to leave.

"I think that's our cue to leave." Arabella and Penelope took off for an early afternoon drink; they promised to be back by five.

"I'm glad that we're alone now." Marissa began to undress for him; she slowly undid her blouse. "I've wanted you all day." He watched her undress in silence and then began kissing her and stroking her fully naked body.

"You get what you want, don't you?"

"I do." It wasn't long before those passing along the dorm could hear Marissa's pleasure.