Et tu, Ravi?

I have always been a flirt. A huge flirt. On rare occasion my flirting gets me into trouble. This was the case one afternoon after my voice lesson. As I left the studio I noticed that Cali, a first year student, was taking a nap on the couch while waiting for her lesson to begin. Cali and I were friends, but we didn’t really spend much time together outside of the music department. I sat down next to her and started to play with her long blonde hair. She awakened with a smile. I mentioned something about going back to my room to take a nap, and before I knew it she was following me. I didn’t remember anything about a “group nap,” but I wasn’t entirely opposed to the idea either.

Ravi had a girlfriend (and me on the side), so why couldn’t I have a girlfriend. Cali was obviously interested, so after a few outings and social events we became the newest couple on campus. This particular coupling came as a surprise to many of my friends. Cali was, quite literally, not the kind of girl I would take home. She was a bit of a hussy. This didn’t bother me too much as I honestly had no intention of an emotional investment. The problem, however, was that I was not interested in a physical investment either.

We started doing things together with Ravi and his girlfriend of the week. Later that semester, Cali pledged the sorority that was attached to my fraternity. Convenient. This allowed us to spend a large amount of time together.
Even though we each had a significant other, Ravi and I would still occasionally get together. Just the two of us. Sometimes it was a movie, but more often it was just time spent together in one of our rooms just doing nothing.

Cali and I had planned to spend an evening “in town.” I couldn’t get a hold of her. I tried calling her room, but there was no answer. (This predated the prolific use of cell phones) As I was walking out to my car I noticed Cali pull into the parking lot. Ravi was with her and got out of the car before she pulled into the space. He walked directly towards me with his head down. Embracing me in a tight embrace he said, “You need to go spend time with your girlfriend.” As he let me go and turned toward his house, I noticed that his eyes were glassy with tears.

Perplexed, I got in Cali’s car. She pulled out of the lot and onto the interstate without saying a word. We had been dating for almost three months at this point. I never knew her to be this silent for this long. Finally she broke her silence and said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done what I did.”
She never told me what she did, but I knew. I asked her to take me back to school. She dropped me off at my house, and as soon as she rounded the corner I walked straight across the grassy lot to Ravi’s.

Curled up on the end of his bed, Ravi didn’t even look up as I walked into his room. I sat and stared at him.

“Why are you here?” he whispered. “You need to be with Cal.”

“No. You need to tell me what the hell is going on.” I didn’t move. I waited.

Ravi moved closer and laid across my lap.
“I slept with her, Josh. I slept with your girlfriend.”
I didn’t say anything. I took his hand into mine.