“Are you serious?”
“Yes, your man is going big-time. This is steps away from Broadway. The actors and actresses they want to use are so good. It’s all coming together.”
“I am so excited for you!” I threw myself into his arms. “That is certainly good news. So I wanna know the bad news.” I pulled away.
“We’re not going to be together.”
“Physically?”
“Right. We won’t physically be together. I’ll be on tour with my play, making some money. I’ll be here this summer though. I’ll finish up with my master’s, and then I’ll be able to leave.”
“Oh, I might be able to go with you. I’m not a Broadway actress or nothing, but maybe I can work on the play if I can’t stay here.”
“Well, you didn’t let me finish with the good news.”
“What are you talking about? Your play got picked up—let’s not act like that’s not good news.”
“These financiers, they also have a foundation that helps support the arts. Long story short: they loved your performance, and you have a full, one-year scholarship to get a degree in the arts.”
Tears just welled up in my eyes. Finally I was doing the right thing, and God was blessing me. All I wanted to do was focus on my own dream, not hold back my friends, give other people opportunities, and appreciate my education—and of course be in love—and He was giving me all that. Alyx Cruz was gonna be okay after all. Just like my mom had said, I was gonna be able to make it. I, too, planned not to let God down.
“Now look at you. You’re all emotional. This is good, right?”
“This is great, Cody. Thanks for caring about me so much. I miss you already.”
“We’ll have the summer. You just tell me that when I leave you’re not gonna forget me and go get you one of these young college boys.”
“Look at you sounding all old and stuff,” I said as we laughed. He picked me up and twirled me around. We kissed. “You are in my heart.”
If the Beta Gamma Pi founders could have seen me now, they’d be smiling. I had my act together. I had a pretty cool guy at my side. I cared about making a difference with everything I did.
“When we take your play to Broadway—I’m gonna be starring in it because I’m taking my education seriously. I believe in my man. I believe in me. I believe in everything Beta Gamma Pi wants me to be. Does that sound crazy?”
“No, it sounds like my girl is the bomb.”
“You believed in me the whole time?”
“Yeah, but now you believe in yourself. All right, tell me again: you’re mine, right?”
“Yes, I’m your girl.” I kissed him and then thought he still needed reassuring. “I promise.”
A Reading Group Guide
Beta Gamma Pi, Book 3:
Act Like You Know
Stephanie Perry Moore
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
The following questions are intended to
enhance your group’s reading of
Beta Gamma Pi: ACT LIKE YOU KNOW
by Stephanie Perry Moore
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Alyx Cruz is hated by the Betas because of how she looks. Do you believe it is right to judge people because of their skin color? What does the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover” mean to you?
2. Alyx moves in with Torian and Loni and ends up making a date with Loni’s ex. Do you feel Alyx should have gone out with the guy, or backed out like she did? What are lines that should not be crossed in friendships?
3. Alyx house-sits for Malloy and agrees not to have a party at her place. When life gets rough for Alyx, was she wrong to go against her word and have people over, anyway? What are positive ways to deal with the pressures of life?
4. The chapter calls a meeting and tells Alyx she is giving them a bad name. Do you think it was wrong of the Betas to set one of their own straight? What are ways to help someone in your group know her actions are hurting everyone?
5. Alyx finds out her mom has a brain tumor. Do you think it mattered that Malloy and Sharon rallied around her? How can you be there for someone who receives devastating news?
6. Alyx is about to lose her scholarship. Do you think she was wise to give her tutor, Cody Foxx, a hard time? When you are in need, should you let go of your ego and receive help?
7. Cody wants Alyx to try out for his play. Was Alyx right not to try out for the play at first? When others see things in you that you don’t see in yourself, should you listen?
8. When Alyx goes to visit her mom, her mom encourages her always to do her best. Do you think this was a turning point in Alyx’s life that made her inwardly want to excel? What motivates you to achieve?
9. At a party, all the men are on Alyx, and all the Betas ask Alyx for advice on men. Do you think the secrets Alyx shared were helpful? What are other ways a young lady can attract the opposite sex?
10. The Betas start a mentoring program, and Alyx’s mentee, Ambrosia, is off the chain. Do you think Alyx’s counsel helped this troubled young lady learn her self-worth? Where does your self-worth come from?
Stay tuned for the next book in the series,
GOT IT GOING ON,
available in January 2010, wherever books are sold. Until then, satisfy your Beta Gamma Pi craving with the following excerpt from the next installment.
ENJOY!
1
BENEVOLENT
Yeah, I know I got it going on, and even with all the eyes rolling my way, I’m not gonna feel bad about that. My almond-toned skin is glazed to perfection. My five-foot-seven body is slim in all the right places, and I know how to work it. Every guy at this Student Government Association back-to-school party is checking me out, including the fine, commanding SGA president, Al Dutch.
Al Dutch—yes, he wants everyone to use his whole name all the time, saying he plans to run for a political office one day, and we need to remember him—is a ladies’ man. He looks, walks, and talks like money! You know the type—the one who’s confident, cocky, and always has the smile of a future heir plastered on his face. The no-worry, got-much-loot look in his eyes. His skin glows like he has slept on the best satin sheets and used the finest body oils all his life. All the men wanna be him. All the girls wanna be with him. And all the ladies in the room saw him checking me out. Heck, yeah. It was game time; I was flirting hard.
Western Smith was your typical college, rich in history in our great state of Arkansas. We had everything at our disposal: a good football team, excellent academics fit for intelligent men and women, an amazing Greek life, cultural campus events, and even the place where I fit in most—the band.
I was drum major my sophomore year. Now that I was a junior, I had switched gears and was going to be doing something different. I was now captain of the dance team. One would think my life was perfect, but my reputation wasn’t the best. Though I didn’t care what people thought or said about me, I knew I wanted to make the line of Beta Gamma Pi. Three years ago when I’d first come to college and was at a probate show, I’d seen the girls stepping, and I knew I really wanted to be a Beta. Plus, their sorors in my hometown of Natchez, Mississippi, had helped get me through my preteen and teen years. Because they had cared, I wanted to do the same for someone else and become a Beta. Their scholarship was why I was in school today.
In high school, I had researched the sorority. I found newspaper clippings of where the five founders had started the group on this campus back in 1919. I’d even taken a tour of the National Headquarters about thirty miles from campus. The more I’d looked into what the Betas were all about—leadership, sisterhood, education, Christianity, and public service—I knew four out of five of their mission points were dear to my heart as well (the whole God thing wasn’t really for me). But I knew to be a Beta, I had to either clean up my act and hope they would vote me in or cancel my dream altogether.
DAFINA BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
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Copyright © 2009 by Stephanie Perry Moore
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
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ISBN: 978-0-7582-8156-2
Stephanie Perry Moore, Act Like You Know
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