OTP Ch 1 Pt 1

One True Pairing - Chapter 1: The College Years

DJ - Who the hell is texting me so early in the morning? Why is Sydney texting me about Student Government? They only contact me when they need my help, never my advice. They will have to figure it out on their own. 

There is a knock on the door, which irritates DJ. He likes his solitude but also cannot deny the fact that he likes being needed. 

DJ - Who is it? 

DJ opens the door to find one of his residents standing at the door wearing boxers and no shirt or shoes on. 

Resident - The electricity is out in my room. 

DJ - Did you call the front office first? 

Resident - I did but no one answered. 

DJ - Cool. I got you. How long has the electricity been out? What did you have on when it went out? 

Resident - Huh? 

DJ - Did you have on music, the TV anything else? 

DJ grabs his keys and begins to walk down the hall toward the resident’s room and hears his door close as he walks down the hall. 

Resident - Oh. I mean, the regular stuff. 

DJ - Let me check it out. They will ask anyway so let me ju… 

DJ opens the door to the resident’s room to see two guys standing naked in the room and one in the bed. This doesn’t really surprise DJ. He has long since learned to expect anything when it comes to football players and their friends. In general, DJ simply chalked it up to the fact that football players are inherently sexual and hyper-sexed. The fact that they have sex with each other doesn’t even bother him anymore. 

DJ - I can come back later when you are ready. 

The resident looks confused with a hint of shame on his face. The guys in the room look like they are staring at a prize. DJ realized the resident expected them to be clothed by now but was mad when he realized his friends found DJ to be attractive. 

Resident - Well it’s okay, bruh. Yeah, come back later. 

DJ - Cool. 

DJ turns and heads downstairs to the office to file the complaint. About five minutes later he sees two of the guys that were in the room run out of the dorm. That was a common occurrence to see football players running through the halls but he never stopped to think why they might be running after what looked like they hadn’t finished doing what they started out doing. While DJ was in the office the phone to the front desk rings. 

DJ - Lasko Hall. How can I help you? 

Chelsea - DJ! How long are you at work? 

DJ - I’m not really at work right now. I don’t know who is supposed to be on duty but a resident came to my room…. 

Chelsea - Listen, we want to go to breakfast. 

DJ - You mean you want to walk all the way across campus for breakfast? 

Chelsea - Yeah. We are broke. 

DJ let out the biggest of laughs he has ever made. Something about that just made him laugh. DJ was also known for his loud and infectious laugh was well know all throughout the campus. DJ was fairly well-known but he did his best to slink into the background. DJ was known for being in Student Government and very attractive in a subdued sort of way. He never dressed too trendy. In fact, DJ didn’t come from a family of means. What he brought with him to college was pretty much all that he had. The money he had now was the most money he ever had, thanks to student loans. 

Above: DJ 

Chelsea - No. You know if I call they might not want to go. Wait! You just said no one was in the office. Did you check the schedule? 

DJ - No. Why? 

Chelsea - Because your forgetful ass is probably the one that’s supposed to be on duty. 

DJ - Oh well. I rather hang out with yall. I’ll get them together. Who else is joining you? 

Chelsea - The whole squad: Danielle, Evette, B'onca and Rihanni. 

DJ - Cool. I’ll check on Aaron, Hakeem, Demarco, Marcus, Owen and Payne. 

This tight nit group of friends make their way to the other side of campus from different dormitories but arrive at roughly the same time. Their interaction is at time strained but there is always laughter with this group. 

Lance, DJ, Evette, Aaron, and Hakeem are all from the same hometown so they have known each other for years. They are highly protective of each other. 

Evette met Keisha in Brando Dorm, reserved for honor students. Keisha had befriended Rihanni, B'onca and Danielle in the dorm. Meanwhile, the fellas, namely Hakeem, had befriended Demarco, Marcus and Owen, who were all also honor students, except for DJ. DJ was a regular student who happened to be friends with Honors College students. DJ himself, however, maintained the grades to be part of the Honors College but never entered. 

Their friendship had all happened organically. No one rushed to be part of the group, it simply happened in its own right and time. But this was their junior year and this was also the last year that their lives would remain the same. Slowly, what they had grown to know and understand would slowly change. 

Keisha and DJ, however, had a strong bond. They were each other’s best friends. They consoled each other through trying times and became someone that the other could always depend. But their friendship was about to change and neither of them knew it. 

Ivory was the SGA president and he had grown the reputation for being a ladies man. Ivory had pissed off Toni, an SGA staff member, and this staff member decided to get him back by sharing all the receipts on clothes he purchased on student funds. After returning from the cafeteria with the fellas in one of their rooms, DJ receives a call from someone he worked with in Student Government. He decided to take her call. She was cool and was a friend to him within Student Government when no one else was. 

Above: Ivory

Toni - DJ, I need your help. You know how to get Ivory better than anyone else. I want to embarrass him. You see, he and my boyfriend were best friends and Ivory seduced me into having sex with him. I want to use that against him to get him impeached. 

DJ - Toni, as exciting as all that sounds, he can’t get impeached by that. 

Toni - How can I do that? 

DJ - There are only three ways a person can get impeached and that is through malfeasance, misfeasance or nonfeasance. 

Toni - That sounds boring! 

As true as that statement was it actually made DJ laugh. 

DJ - As boring as it sounds it’s the truth. I mean, I’m certain the entire student body would love to hear how you sucked his dick and how he ate you up but that wont cut it. He was within his rights to fire both of you and without cause. 

Toni - Well I want to hurt him. My boyfriend is down for the cause too. 

DJ - You mean you told your boyfriend what happened? 

Toni - Oh yeah. I tell him everything. Even when we break up. 

DJ - So if we had had sex that weekend I spent at your place he would have known that and would have been looking in my face thinking about how I bent you over the entire time? Toni - Well I don’t know what he would have been thinking but that sounds about right though. 

DJ - That’s some scandalous shit! 

Toni - Look, I know you probably want to be an Epsilon and don’t want to have Ivory impeached. You probably just want to protect him. 

DJ - Woooo wait a minute. Who told you that? And if I really cared about all that I would have stopped talking to you about this a long time ago. You need to understand that right now I’m only talking to you because you are my friend. 

Toni - Fuck a friend. I want to hurt this bitch. 

DJ - I get all that. But until you give me something that the Student Senate can use then there isn’t much that can be done. Plus, you’ve got to know that even if you give me proof, the Student Senate still has to vote on it. It’s not in my control at all. I’m just the Vice President. I couldn’t even vote. 

Toni - I think I have something. Do you still have keys to the office. 

DJ - Yeah. Why? 

Toni - I need to fax some receipts to Student Government and I will need you to make copies of those receipts. But you can’t tell anyone. 

DJ - Cool. I got you. 

They get off the phone. DJ really can’t believe the conversation he just had. This chick is crazy. Who fucks your boyfriend’s best friend then tells your boyfriend about it? 

DJ - Y'all! Guess what?! Do y'all remember Toni from SGA, the chick Ivory fired? She was the one giving out Student Loan money for books.

All - Yeah. 

Demarco - That came in handy. I needed a few shams for my Trig book.

DJ - Well that’s who I was just on the phone with. This chick is crazy. She was telling me about how Ivory liked to have sex and what positions. She was telling me how she was sucking his dick. 

Demarco - Word? Yo, give me her number. 

DJ - She got a boyfriend. 

Demarco - Don’t sound like it. 

DJ - Well, it’s strange but I wouldn’t go down that road if I were you. 

The phone rings again. He thinks its Toni again. DJ doesn’t really like talking on the phone and Toni is particularly long-winded but all of this sounds juicy. DJ doesn’t really think she will be able to bring him down but he had to admit to himself that the opportunity to bring him down was appealing.​ 

Ivory - Hey, DJ! This is Ivory. 

DJ - Huh?! Oh! Wassup, Ivory. Why are you calling me? 

Ivory - I was just calling to tell you that I need you to join this group that will link Dawn University with Wesley University. I went to the first meeting and frankly I just don’t want to be involved. 

DJ - Okay. But why me? If they ask me for something you know I won’t be able to speak for you or answer many questions they might have. 

Ivory - Really, everyone else is busy working on things and you are just the only one I haven’t tapped to help with anything. So pretty much you are the only person. This falls in line with duties the President assigns you. 

This lil bitch ass… Ivory is a short guy with a muscular build. He couldn’t have been taller than 5 feet, max. But he had to have been one of the most arrogant sons of bitches DJ has ever met. Shortly after being elected, he had his entire staff thinking DJ had the power to single-handedly decide whether Ivory’s staff got hired or fired. They especially got mad when they realized the Senate had to interview them. They didn’t understand the process. It took months for them to realize, by chance, that DJ was simply following rules. 

DJ - Ok. Give me the info and I’ll attend. 

Ivory - The meeting starts in about an hour and its at Wesley University in their Student Union’s Oxford Room. 

DJ - And you’re telling me about this now? Why didn’t you tell me earlier? It doesn’t matter. I’ll go. Bye. 

DJ hangs up the phone and races to his room to shower, change and drive to Wesley University. He changes into a suit and tie. He was going to Wesley while representing Dawn University. He would not dare allow anyone there to think students at Dawn were any less than the students at Wesley. 

Dawn is an HBCU while Wesley is a Predominately White Institution. When he arrives he is about ten minutes late. Parking was more intense than he expected. As he takes an open seat he realizes he is the only person from Dawn present. He learns that he should have a counterpart for every person present from Wesley. As the facilitator, LuoLuo, continues to talk, DJ hears and sees someone try to walk into the room. It is another black man wearing a suit. 

DJ assumes this must be someone from Dawn. As this man walks in he realizes this person must be from Wesley because only Wesley students recognize him. As this man walks to his seat, his eyes are fixed on DJ’s eyes. Their eyes were locked. DJ grows uncomfortable by the stare but can’t explain to himself why. It feels like this guy is staring into his soul. Like he knows something. 

Throughout the meeting, DJ realizes he is comfortable with the students from Wesley. They have a deeper understanding of the issues than he had predicted and had a solid way of expressing themselves. By the end of the meeting, he does something he rarely ever does, he stayed later to talk to people. The first person to walk up to him is the guy who held his gaze. 

DJ grows uncomfortable again. DJ can’t explain this growing uneasiness. But he senses the gaze again. This time it is greeted with a smile. The smile seems fake. DJ laughs uncontrollably. Maybe he was nervous or maybe the smile made him feel like nothing this guy could ever say would make him trust him. 

Above: Payne 

Payne - Why are you laughing? 

And just like that….DJ trusts him. Why? What happened? And what is this feeling he keeps sensing. What’s that about? Plus, Payne looks older than he should look for his age. He looks about 30 but if he is an Epsilon then he must be between 19-22. He isn’t the most attractive and he is darker than most other Epsilons have been. Still, there is something about this guy. 

DJ - You! Your smile seems fake. I can’t take you seriously. 

Payne - But you don’t even know me. My name is Payne, by the way.

DJ - Maybe not. But it’s how I feel. I’m DJ.

Payne shines his perfectly white teeth. As amazing a smile as he had, it still seemed so fake. They shake hands. DJ feels Payne do something strange with his hand and that is when it hits DJ…this guy is gay. But this possibility doesn’t scare him or make him feel any type of way. Why should it? He had just seen what looked like an orgy earlier that day among a bunch of Dawn football players. 

Payne - Can I ask you a question? 

Panic sets into DJ and he is scared to respond. He just looks at Payne and nods yes. He braces for the question he is sure to hear and the decisions he knows he will have to make in just a split second. 

Payne - Are you a Beta? 

DJ - What? A Beta? A fraternity? You think I’m a Beta? NO! 

Payne - Well I didn’t mean it like that. It was a compliment. You look good. Real good. We should go out on a date?