Once Lisa’s punishment was finished and the Tri-Alphas filed out of the sitting room, Tracy and Heather found the two alternates for the shower attendants. The two main attendants now were off-duty, but Heather wanted the pledges cleaned up before taking them back to the Four-Beta House.
Tracy, Heather, and the two new shower attendants each took a pledge by the arm and led the group to the Pledge Shower. As before, the group was required to kneel on towels, but this time the four aspirants remained cuffed and blindfolded. Tracy announced that the pledges would be permitted to use the toilet before being taken into the shower. All four women needed to pee quite badly, so they eagerly awaited having their blindfolds and handcuffs taken off.
The shower attendants stripped and reached down to help Kathleen to her feet. They guided her to the toilet and helped her position herself over the seat. She cringed at even being denied the dignity of peeing unassisted. However she had to go so badly that she meekly sat down and allowed her bladder to release in front of the two young men. They helped her stand up, wiped her off, flushed the toilet for her, and guided her back to her knees on the towel.
In quick succession the attendants assisted the other pledges on the toilet. Once again the message was quite clear, that the pledges did not have the right to any secrets or privacy. Their bodies, as well as all of their bodily functions, were subject to public viewing and public review.
The shower attendants turned on the water and prepared to bathe the pledges. They were aware that the women were very tired and thus more vulnerable. The men’s instructions were to give the pledges orgasms if at all possible to continue breaking down their inhibitions. They were not to try to force anything, but instead try their best to make each pledge want to be aroused and then relieved.
The most obvious pledge to start with would have been either Lisa or Bernadette, both of whom already had enjoyed orgasms in the shower. However, the attendants decided to start with Cherine. They suspected that watching someone else get an orgasm before getting one herself might scare her instead of arouse her. The men helped her off her knees, took off the blindfold and cuffs, and instructed her to position herself to allow her hands to be restrained in the shower.
While the other three pledges waited quietly, the attendants very slowly went to work on Cherine. They shampooed her hair and gently washed her face and neck. They did not hint at touching her sexually... at first. However, as the two men began lathering her body they slowly went to work seducing her. They pushed through her fright and fatigue to unlock the key to her sexuality. They explored her body and found the spots that most excited her. They massaged her very tired muscles and finally began working the sensitive skin on the insides of her thighs. Their patience was rewarded when she spread her legs and threw her head back.
The seduction of Cherine continued as the men gently explored her bottom and the sensitive dark skin around her bottom-hole. They massaged her sphincter with soap as she opened further and pushed her bottom back for more. Gentle soapy fingers explored her pelvis, teasing her vagina and massaging her labia. By the time the first tentative touch made contact with her clitoris, she was desperate and welcomed that touch with all of her desires.
The attendants continued to run their hands over the pledge’s body, only occasionally touching her most sensitive areas. They played with her, teased her, and made her desperate. They would seduce her, but they would accomplish that by making her desperately want to be seduced. Cherine’s inhibitions finally fell away as her movements and position silently beseeched her tormenters to give her the sexual relief she so desperately needed.
Finally the seduction of Cherine reached its climax. A delicious orgasm swept over her as she moaned and gasped from the pure pleasure of her first real sexual experience. She had come into this shower room a virgin, and would leave still technically a virgin, but her innocence now was gone. She had experienced the joy of being sexually aroused by another person and from that point forward would want more, much more. Her personality would radically change as she became determined to seek out every sexual experience the men of the Tri-Alpha Fraternity and the women of the Four-Beta Sorority could give her. The Pandora’s Box of Cherine’s soul now had opened, and what had just been released would never be re-captured.
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The attendants decided to do Bernadette next. Of all the women in the group, it was Bernadette’s inhibitions that were breaking down the fastest, even quicker than Lisa’s. Both times she had been showered she had been brought to orgasm, and the third time in the shower resulted in a third orgasm. Her sexual desire surfaced very quickly, as she became aroused the instant she was touched. The attendants were determined to make the experience for her as intense as possible, so they did not relieve her desires right away. They teased her and made her totally desperate as she tugged helplessly at her restraints. The climax, when it came, was so good that she almost passed out. When Bernadette finally returned to her kneeling position on her towel, she was totally relaxed and barely able to keep her eyes open from fatigue.
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Lisa was next. The attendants noted her reddish bottom, which was still somewhat tender from her recent punishment. The de facto leader of the pledge group decided, on her own, that she was ready for another orgasm and allowed the attendants to massage her into a state of arousal.
Lisa discovered that when her bottom was sore from punishment that she enjoyed having it gently massaged and caressed. She wouldn’t have wanted the attendants to press down too hard on her swollen skin, but their light soapy touches on her sensitive skin were perfect. She pushed her bottom out to let the men know she wanted them to continue. For a very long time one of the attendants sensuously massaged both bottom-cheeks while his companion washed and massaged her stomach, the insides of her thighs, and her crotch. On inspiration one of the guys kissed her nipples, something that made her jump with heightened sexual tension. Finally she climaxed, moaning uncontrollably in front of her fellow pledges and the Four-Beta Sergeant-at-Arms and her assistant.
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The final pledge was Kathleen, the aspirant who stood out because of her tan marks and the previous day’s enema. The attendants pondered how to sexually arouse her, suspecting that the enema was still very much present on her mind. As they washed her hair and lathered her body, one of the attendants paid special attention to her bottom. He firmly massaged her buttocks, relaxing the muscles and getting her to spread her legs and push back her rear to better expose herself. While one of the men massaged her vagina, the other soaped her sphincter and began pressing a soapy finger inside. Kathleen’s reaction confirmed his suspicion that, of four the women in the group, she was the one who most enjoyed anal stimulation. She sighed and pressed back, inviting him to push his finger in deeper. He gently massaged her opening and pressed into his grateful subject, while his companion massaged the insides of her thighs and worked his way towards her clitoris.
Like Cherine, the Pandora’s Box of Kathleen’s soul now was open. She had experimented a few times in her past with a couple of boyfriends and had a single disastrous sexual encounter with another girl from her high school. However, she never had experienced sexual fulfillment. Now she knew why. Her center of pleasure was concentrated in her bottom. It was her bottom-hole where she needed to receive stimulation to become aroused. Kathleen’s days of sexual frustration had ended, because the mystery of her life was solved. Now she knew what a lover needed to do to make her satisfied.
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Upon having their charges properly washed and stimulated, Tracy and Heather ordered them to line up and prepare to be taken back to the Four-Beta House. Tracy carried the infamous black bag with four blindfolds and four sets of handcuffs, along with Heather’s riding crop and leather paddle. The pledges followed their two mentors out the door and down the driveway, then stood quietly in the hot sun waiting for Heather to get the door open. There were the usual whistles from the other fraternities, but by then the pledges were learning to ignore them.
Tracy laid out four clean towels for the bare bottoms of her four pledges and the women climbed in. They had gone a few blocks when Lisa noticed with mounting concern that the driver of the van was not taking them in the direction of the sorority, but instead into an artsy business district. The van pulled into an alley and Tracy ordered the women to get out at the back door of a sportswear store. The driver flippantly noted, "I would’ve liked to have parked out front so you guys go in through main door, but of course all I got was ‘sorry, we can’t let you do that.’ Oh well, at least we can get you in this way."
Tracy and the four naked women climbed up the back stairs and entered the store. The reason for the visit was straightforward enough; the sorority wanted the women to have matching athletic shoes for exercising. They would purchase track shoes, basketball shoes, and hiking shoes. The store’s male employees led the women to a row of seats and eagerly measured four pairs of feet for a total of 12 pairs of shoes.
Both Tracy and the store’s male employees insisted on taking careful measurements and on having the pledges try several pairs of each type of shoe. The employees spent an inordinate amount time checking the shoes’ fit and watching the pledges try them on and walk around. It seemed to Lisa that the male sales representatives were extremely concerned about the well-being of their clients. It was the best customer service that Lisa had ever experienced in a shoe store.
Of the four pledges, Lisa by far received the most attention. Her tall attractive figure would have been pleasing to a man’s eyes at any time, but there was the added detail of her backside, which still had some color from her recent paddling. Every time she stood up it was clear to her audience that she had just been spanked. Lisa’s fellow pledges would have been mortified had they had to go out in public with the recent marks of a paddling on their bottoms, but for an exhibitionist like Lisa the shoe store visit was nothing more than fulfilling a fantasy. Instead of trying to hide herself, she stood up much more than necessary and turned her back to the store clerks whenever possible. She even bent over a couple of times to check her shoe laces.
Lisa had a secret goal of her own with the clerks, a mischievous plan that came to her the moment she saw their wide-eyed expressions and listened to their efforts to keep their breathing and voices under control. She was hoping to force them to have erections in the store. Lisa’s idea was to get the clerks to completely embarrass themselves by forcing them to continue working while stiff under their pants. Her plan worked with at least two of them. As the sale progressed the men became increasingly nervous. Before long the tables were turned on the employees and it was their turn to be humiliated. The pledges giggled as the men struggled to hide their crotches as they continued working.
A female employee of the store gave both her co-workers and their naked customers dirty looks as she struggled to attend several normally dressed customers by herself. None of the other customers really cared about the delay, however. After all, how often does a person go into a store to buy footwear and is treated to the sight of four attractive naked women trying on different pairs of shoes and walking around?
After an hour of trying on shoes and matching socks, the pledges finally managed to make their selections and lined up at the cash register. Tracy paid for everything from the Four-Beta general account. She ordered the pledges to put on their new sneakers and take their other shoes to the minivan.
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It was nearly noon when the Lisa and her companions finally returned to the Four-Beta House. They were totally exhausted. They also were totally hungry because they had not eaten since the previous afternoon. Fortunately lunch was already served and waiting for them. The same selection of fruits and vegetables were laid out on the patio table, along with fruit smoothies, fresh whole wheat bread, and granola for dessert. The pledges ate voraciously, but felt quite good after the meal was over.
Tracy kept her group busy all afternoon. After lunch she ordered the pledges to trim the sides of the tall hedge that protected the pool area from public view, then to put away the tools and tidy up the back yard. There was round of stretching in the sun, a 2-kilometer run on treadmills in the sorority’s gym, and finally a beginner’s yoga session on mats near the pool.
Following the yoga, Heather joined the group and began lecturing the pledges about personal safety and self-defense. She and Tracy showed some basic moments on each other, but promised that later the pledges would receive professional training. Personal self-defense would be one skill out of many the pledges would need to master to become full members of the sorority.
Following the personal defense lecture by Heather, a guest from the Tri-Alphas who was a Pre-Med student gave the women a rather blunt lecture on different types of venereal disease and how to prevent them. Sexual health was another educational topic all Four-Beta members had to know, and like Heather's self-defense lecture, the health lecture was the first out of many the women would receive on the topic.
For the first time since they became pledges, the four women used their own shower and cleaned themselves instead of having it done for them. While showering next to each other Kathleen asked Lisa to soap her back. She seemed somewhat disappointed when Lisa only soaped the upper part where she couldn't reach on her own. Later Lisa suspected that what Kathleen really wanted was to have her bottom rubbed.
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That evening, the pledges ate their first dinner with other members of the sorority. The pledges discovered that when eating by themselves the Four-Betas had absolutely no dress-code when sitting at the table. Some of the members were fully dressed, some of them were in bathrobes or nightshirts, some were wearing shorts and sports bras, and three, like the pledges, came to the table not wearing anything at all. It was obvious the attitude among the Four-Betas was that whatever a member chose to put or not put on her body while in the sorority house was entirely up to that individual. Lisa, who hated wearing clothing, relished the thought that once she became a member of the sorority she could continue to run around the house completely in the nude and no one would care.
The initial topic of conversation at the table focused on what the women were planning to do later that night: they and the Tri-Alphas were going to attend a theater production in which two members of the sorority and three members of the fraternity were participating. They gossiped about the two actresses and discussed the reviews the play had received.
After the theater discussion the women talked at length about academics and majors. A couple members cited some recent articles they had read about what careers were the most promising. The topic prompted an argument over whether a person should study what she wanted to study and was good at, or should she go for what was most marketable. The women quickly split on the issue and it was obvious that evening was not the first time they had debated how best to choose a major.
The conversation moved to the women's plans for the upcoming fall semester. From that point Lisa fully participated in the conversation because she had completed her first year in college. The sorority members already knew a lot about her because the previous fall she had been the winner of the female division of the annual Tri-Alpha nude 10-K race. At Tracy's prompting, Lisa talked at length about her freshman year and her experiences as a resident in Huntington Hall. The other sorority members became especially interested when they discovered she had taken three classes from Ruth Burnside and would become her student aide in the fall. The fact that Lisa was working for Dr. Burnside interested the others much more than her talent for running. They questioned her about Burnside's classes and about her tutoring of several residents in Huntington Hall the past year at the request of her RA.
Slowly it dawned on Lisa where the conversation was headed. It turned out that several of the sorority members had taken Burnside's introductory economics class and had to drop out. Now the sorority would have a member who could tutor the others, and everyone taking the class would pass it on the first try. Lisa realized she now was assured of becoming a full member of the sorority, but that her membership would come at the price of a commitment that she could not have anticipated.
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An hour later Tracy led the four very exhausted pledges to the basement and told them to brush their teeth and use the bathroom a final time. Lisa glanced longingly at the army cots. When she had seen them the previous morning she had recoiled at the thought of sleeping on one of those, but 36 hours later those cots looked very inviting. With no sleep for two full days Lisa was so tired that she was becoming disoriented.
Tracy ordered the pledges to carefully line up their new shoes under their cots and then stand at attention. She had a small, but very pleasant surprise for them.
"OK, pledges, I'm sure that by now you think I'm a total bitch. Well, as far as you're concerned, I am. But tonight I'm only going to be 99% bitch because you guys did so well with last night's clean up. (By the way, you didn't hear me say that.) Anyhow, I talked about it with Sergeant-at-Arms Heather and she agreed to let you sleep in the beds in the room next door instead of on these cots. We're also giving you 10 hours of sleep and letting you pull the covers over you. Enjoy it, because this is a treat. Starting tomorrow it'll be 7 hours per night on the cots."
"Thank you, ma'am."
Tracy unlocked the door of the adjacent room, which had two single beds, a double bed, a dresser, and a couple of nightstands. Ordinarily the room was used for visiting relatives, but to the four exhausted pledges, it seemed like a paradise. Bernadette and Cherine immediately took the two singles, leaving the double bed for Lisa and Kathleen. Within five minutes the pledges were deeply asleep. Tracy checked on her charges one last time and shut the door.
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Lisa slept deeply for 8 of her allotted 10 hours. She began feeling hot, and then vaguely realized that something was pressing against her. As she slowly awakened she realized that the hot object was another human body cuddling next to hers. At first she thought it was Ken and was about to push him back to his side of the bed. Then she opened her eyes and wondered why her dorm room was so dark. She saw an unfamiliar digital clock... when did she get that? Then she remembered she was not in her dorm room, and that the body next to her couldn't possibly be Ken. She ran her hand over her companion, realizing that she was female. What the hell? Who was this person? She eased herself from under the sleeping woman and finally woke up enough to remember where she was and what had happened the night before. She recalled that she had gotten in bed last night with Kathleen. She ran her fingers through the woman's hair and realized, sure enough, it turned out that Kathleen had slept snuggled up to her throughout the night. This was totally weird.
Lisa was still somewhat disoriented and her thought processes had not yet returned to normal. Instead of pushing Kathleen over to her side of the bed and going back to sleep, Lisa felt a vague desire to touch her. She ran her fingers through Kathleen's hair and lightly caressed her cheek. She ran her fingers the full length of Kathleen's body. Remembering the shower incident and Kathleen's disappointment that she had not soaped her bottom, Lisa suddenly felt curious. She gently ran her fingers over the woman's thin bottom. Kathleen stirred slightly.
"Hmm..."
Lisa quickly pulled her hand back, but fortunately Kathleen had not wakened up. Out of curiosity Lisa again gently touched her companion's bottom and ran her fingertips over the fading tan-line. A vague feeling of sexual desire swept over her. She imagined Kathleen lying over her lap, blindfolded and her hands cuffed together in front. For a very long time she gently rubbed and massaged Kathleen's backside, but gradually began to alternately slap her bottom cheeks and stimulate her bottom-hole, driving her wild in a combined frenzy of pain and pleasure. Kathleen was completely helpless, at Lisa’s mercy, her lovely thin bottom the target of...
Lisa checked herself. Better not go there... She pulled away her hand and pulled the covers over her sleeping companion.
Now Lisa was fully awake. In the dark pre-dawn hour she lay quietly, wondering what was happening to her. Where would her desires and her fantasies lead her? She realized that in a twenty-four hour period she had fantasized about being seduced by Tracy, being fucked up the ass by that guy in the doctor’s smock, and now tormenting and pleasuring Kathleen. In just 24 hours she had enjoyed three of the best orgasms of her life at the hands of total strangers. During that time her boyfriend Ken had been totally absent from her mind. She didn’t know what to make of that, because she realized that the sexual adventures she had enjoyed with him over the past 6 months were quickly fading in her consciousness now that she was separated from him. She wasn't sure what she wanted anymore and no longer completely sure that she wanted to continue her life as it had been before she joined the sorority.
Less than 48 hours after she started pledging, Lisa's mind was full of confusion and doubts. It was safe to assume that her three companions had the same doubts about themselves, which perhaps was why they had chosen to pledge in the first place. But as for herself, Lisa had pledged the Four-Betas because she wanted an adventure, not because she thought that she needed to change. And yet, she was changing. Maybe her character wasn't nearly as strong as she thought.
Lisa was just starting to drift back to sleep when the light in the room was turned on. An ear-piercing whistle from Tracy startled the pledges awake:
"OK, sleeping beauties! Up-up-up!"
The four women struggled to get out of bed and stand at attention.
"Good morning, ma'am!"
"Good morning, Pledges, and a lovely morning it is! We got a lot of stuff going on today, so we might as well hit the ground running! I want these beds made and no evidence left that any of you was in here last night! You’ve got five minutes! Then I want you to dump your bladders, brush your teeth, put your shoes on, and form up in the pledge room!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Obviously Tracy had returned to her normal nasty self. However, a good night's sleep had put the pledges in a much better mood. At least they were ready to face whatever she was going to throw at them that day.
There were two sinks and one toilet, so the pledges took turns brushing their teeth and peeing. They knew better than to shower, because Tracy had not mentioned anything about showering. Less than 10 minutes after being woken up the women were standing in line.
"OK, today's upper-body PT day! Everybody upstairs into the pool area! Move out!"
The pledges filed past Tracy, who landed a hard slap on the bare bottom of each as they went by. Lisa led her companions to the back yard, where the members of the sophomore class already were in formation. Like the pledges, the only clothing the sophomores were wearing was athletic shoes and socks. Standing in front of the group was an equally naked Heather. The Sergeant-at-Arms welcomed the four pledges and announced from that point forward they would be exercising with the sophomore class.
Because Tracy was a senior, she left the sophomores to change into the Four-Beta track uniform and go running with the other seniors and juniors. While the younger group exercised in the yard, the older group would do lengthy stretches and jog a standard three-mile loop around the university. The Four-Beta members alternated upper-body and lower-body workouts: on the days the sophomores and freshmen did pushups and sit-ups the seniors and juniors went running, and vice-versa.
Group exercise was mandatory for all Four-Beta members. The rule about attending physical training was one of the most inflexible mandates of the sorority, because the women knew that by nature people tend to be lazy and not as likely to exercise on their own as they are in a group. Part of Four-Beta daily life was rigorous physical activity, which fit into the over-all philosophy of caring for one's own body.
The women only wore uniforms when going out to run because they had to. In the sorority’s back yard (or in the basement gym during the winter) the exercise uniform consisted of nothing except shoes and socks. There was nothing sexy about what the women were doing, not a hint of eroticism during the group PT. Instead what the Four-Betas were pursuing was an effort to re-kindle the old spirit of Gymnos. The sorority argued that it was better to exercise in the nude because clothing inhibits the natural process of sweating and free movement. The idea of complete nudity extended to deodorant, make-up, and perfume. The women were not allowed to put anything on their bodies that might inhibit their natural bodily processes, especially perspiration. Another goal of the nude exercising was to re-enforce the idea that a person should never feel uncomfortable with her own body or with seeing the bodies of other people.
Lisa and Kathleen were relatively fit, so they did not struggle nearly as much as Bernadette and Cherine. Still, considering that the other women in the group had been performing the same exercises for over a year, the four pledges felt quite ashamed of their comparatively feeble efforts. Heather yelled at the newcomers, but let them know that for a while there would be some leniency as long as the pledges showed steady improvement.
Following the group workout the pledges got cleaned up and returned upstairs for breakfast. They ate on the porch with the sophomores, once again a very healthy morning meal of fruit, whole-wheat English muffins, and small bowls of granola.
Although she had sat down with them only twice, Lisa could tell that the women of the Four-Beta Sorority were very serious about any topic they wanted to discuss. Their concerns were academics, current events and politics, fitness, women's issues, personal relationships, and sex, in that order. They did not discuss fashion, music, sports, or popular entertainment.
The sophomores engaged the pledges in conversation, talking at length about the university and various classes. After a while the topic shifted to university politics and then to current affairs. One of the Four-Beta sophomores mentioned a massive ongoing financial and political scandal that had been the top business news story for the past month. The scandal involved a botched attempt by Mega-Town Associates, the dominant corporation in the United States, to seize control of the government of an obscure European country called Upper Danubia.
Lisa was very tempted to add her thoughts concerning the Danubian coup plot, because she happened to know much more about it than any of the other women at the table. However, she decided to hold her tongue, because her friends Cecilia Sanchez and Jason Schmidt, along with another friend of Lisa’s ex-boyfriend Mike, had been directly involved in disrupting the attack by warning the Danubian government. Apparently Lisa’s friends had placed themselves in personal danger, because they suddenly and secretly left the U.S. and she had not heard from them since. She did not know what to make of their sudden departure, and felt uneasy bringing something so serious up among a group of women she was trying to get to know.
The discussion moved to the merits of Mega-Town Associates in general, and about whether it was good or not that a single company had so much power. Most of the women did not like Mega-Town, but one sophomore defended them, saying: "At least they don't kid around. The only reason everyone's so afraid of them is because if they want something, they go after it and they get it. I wish the American government could be like that." Most of the others, Lisa included, vehemently disagreed.
Whatever the merits of their opinions, Lisa's future sorority companions were very serious students who used the pledge process to weed out the dumb princesses who belonged in other sororities. At the table they conversed with the pledges in a perfectly normal manner, but that was another part of the pledge process. During meals the normal formalities of pledge life were set aside, because the women genuinely wanted to get to know the four aspirants as persons and not just pledges. The women wanted to make sure that anyone allowed into their circle could think seriously and express herself clearly, not just do push-ups and withstand being yelled at by Tracy. At the same time they wanted the pledges to understand that they would not always be pledges. Once they passed through the initiation process they would be treated with much more respect.
"There’ll be plenty of times you think the pledging will go on forever, but it won’t. We all went through what you’re going through right now, and we all made it."
"Yes, ma’am."
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There were many topics and life skills the pledges had to learn before becoming full members of the sorority. Sexuality, sexual health, and knowledge about one’s own sexual needs were among the most important skills the Four-Betas wanted to pass along to new members. Upon swearing in as full members of the sorority, Lisa and her companions would be expected to have comprehensive knowledge of everything having to do with sex. Study topics included the human reproductive systems of both sexes, health issues and medical conditions that could affect sexuality, methods of sexual intercourse and stimulation, orgasms, birth control and fertility, venereal disease, and how to have successful sexual relationships. As Heather put it, "We plan to get rid of your innocence, because it’s innocence that makes women do stupid things and gets so many of us into trouble. Knowledge is power, and we’re gonna be giving you plenty of knowledge over the next three months. Practical knowledge, not just theoretical shit out of books. The next time any of you gets in bed with someone, you will know exactly what you’re doing and what you’re up against."
At first glance the sexual treatment of the Four Beta pledges seemed very hypocritical and contradictory. The forced masturbation, public viewing, and erotic stimulation that went on during medical exams and pledge showers seemed completely at odds with the strict prohibition against sexual intercourse. Both the fraternity and the sorority conducted sexual hazing and encouraged frequent orgasms from their pledges, but denied them the right to engage in intercourse with other people.
Once a pledge understood the goal of the sexual education program, the apparent contradiction made more sense. The leadership of the fraternity and the sorority wanted new members to become knowledgeable about their own sexuality in a tightly controlled setting. Once they acquired that knowledge, then they would be ready to safely enjoy sexual relationships. The erotic stimulation was designed to familiarize a pledge with orgasms and make each person aware of the specific needs of his or her own body. Pledges were expected to submit to being sexually touched, but only upperclassmen who had earned the complete trust of the officers were assigned to have any physical contact with the newcomers.
There was particular concern among the Tri-Alphas about the Four-Beta pledges, and that concern existed for a very good reason. In other fraternities it was common for the less scrupulous upperclassmen to seduce sorority pledges and "little sisters". The female pledges tended to be vulnerable because they had just entered college and were eager to do what was necessary to impress and please fraternity upperclassmen. Many of the 18-year old women started college very naïve and every year many got into trouble. Every September, throughout the university there were annual scandals involving rapes, alcohol poisoning, and the use of drugs such rohypnol.
The ongoing fraternity sex scandals never affected the Tri-Alphas, because the "Triple A’s" handled interaction with female pledges very differently than most other fraternities. The Tri-Alphas’ leadership mandated that female pledges were completely off-limits. The fraternity members were encouraged to date and have relationships with members of the Four-Beta sorority, but only with the women who had passed the initiation and completed the sexual education program. Any attempt by a Tri-Alpha to have sex or intimate personal interaction with a Four-Beta pledge was punished by immediate expulsion from the fraternity.
The Four-Beta pledges, in turn, answered to no one except the sorority’s Sergeant-at-Arms and her assistant. On the second day of their internment Tracy made it very clear that under no circumstances were the pledges to obey orders from anyone except President Alexandra, Sergeant-at-Arms Heather, or herself. If anyone else, male or female, ever tried to tell them to do anything, they were to immediately report the incident to Tracy.
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The third day of the initiation process was full of sexual education classes, the first four hours of which were given on the back patio. Lisa, Cherine, and Bernadette sat at a table in the shade, while Kathleen lay in the sun on a deck chair to continue getting rid of her tan lines. Heather passed out notebooks and told the pledges they would be tested on the material they were being given.
The first class was a two-hour review of the human reproductive system, with an emphasis on the role sexuality plays in reproduction. The presentation was followed by quick exercise break and then a quiz to review the material. The next lesson was an enhanced version of the venereal disease lecture from the night before, given by the same Tri-Alpha Pre-Med student. Once again the lecture was followed by an exercise break and a review.
There was a light lunch, and then Heather and Tracy took the four pledges into the Four-Beta ceremonial room for a five-hour anatomy lecture and practical exercise titled: "Your vagina and beyond". The pledges realized there would be much more to the five hours than just a lecture when they saw the gynecological exam chair set up next to a table of medical examination instruments.
Heather and Tracy took turns explaining what doctors look for when they subject a patient to a gynecological exam. They showed the pledges various medical diagrams and forced them to memorize the medical terms they would need to conduct and write up their own examinations. They two seniors then passed out speculums and other medical devices and showed the pledges how they worked. Finally the trainees received examination sheets and medical checklists.
"OK, Pledges, here’s where any mystery about what’s between your legs stops. You’ve already undergone an initial exam, but that was for our information and you were not actively participating. Today’s different. Now it’s your turn to conduct the examinations. You will be examining each other, and we’re not just talking about a quick peek. I want a full medical report from each of you about one of your fellow pledges. Each of you will conduct a full gynecological exam, and each of you will submit to a full gynecological exam. We expect each exam to be conducted thoroughly and professionally, and the forms complete with the correct medical vocabulary you’ve just been taught. Consider this a real-life test of what you’ve learned you so far."
Lisa felt a tingle of excitement, but her three companions blushed and cringed at the thought of having to so completely expose themselves to each other. Heather turned to Lisa. "Pledge Lisa, you’re first. Get up in the chair."
"Yes, ma’am."
Lisa climbed into the chair and put her legs in the stirrups, spreading her legs wide, hanging her bottom over the edge of the table, and completely exposing herself to the other five women in the room.
"My assistant Tracy will do a demonstration on Pledge Lisa. That’s to make sure that none of you can claim you don’t know what you’re supposed to do. I’m warning you now; if you have any modesty about this, you’d better get over it real fast and do these exams right. If you don’t, your butts will be spending quality time with the paddle."
Tracy put on a pair of medical gloves and took her position next to Lisa. After measuring her pulse and heartbeat, she began by inspecting the subject’s lower abdomen. She noted Lisa’s appendectomy scar in her report, but added that the subject did not have any other abnormalities. She made a two other notations, that the patient seemed to have a normal amount of pubic hair, but regularly shaved her entire vaginal region. The last time she had shaved apparently had been about four days before the exam. The other notation that she made was that, from the general appearance of the patient’s genitalia, she was sexually active.
Lisa’s examiner moved to a visual inspection of the soft folds of her vulva and the opening of her vagina, carefully examining for any problems. She calmly separated Lisa’s labia minora and labia majora to examine the hymen, urethral opening, and opening to her vagina. She noted the size of Lisa’s clitoris and the development of her labia minora and majora. She made a final notation: "Overall condition of Lisa Campbell’s external vaginal region indicates a high level of sexual activity. The patient acknowledges daily sexual contact with a single male partner, as well as less frequent episodes of self-stimulation via contact between her fingers and her clitoris."
Heather addressed the other three pledges, "The examiner has completed the external visual part of the exam. You noticed that she was not shy about touching the patient’s genitalia to get a good visual. That is absolutely necessary. Any questions?"
"No, ma’am."
"Good. So now you know what I’m expecting on the external pelvic exam. Now for the internal pelvic exam."
Heather snapped her fingers at Bernadette and pointed at a bowl of warm water containing a speculum. Bernadette nervously passed the bowl and its scary-looking contents to Tracy, who reached in and took the device. She gently inserted it into Lisa and opened it to expose her cervix. She shined a light to illuminate that intimate part of the patient, and instructed each of her witnesses to take a look.
Heather continued, "The area is examined for ulcerations, cysts, bleeding, enlargements, or menstrual discharge. The positioning of the cervix is also noted. Now, if we were in a doctor’s office, the next step would be to scrape some sample cells with a swab. We’ll have to skip that part because we don’t have the right lab equipment. That’s the only part of a standard exam we’re skipping, however."
With that Tracy slowly pulled out the speculum, checking for any inflammation or other problems. Heather noted what she was doing and told the pledges to make sure to pay attention to that detail upon removing the device.
Tracy handed the speculum back to Bernadette. She took off her gloves and made some notes about the condition of Lisa’s cervix and further evidence of her subject’s frequent sexual activity. Tracy put on a new pair of medical gloves and lubricated her fingertips. She inserted two fingers into Lisa’s vagina and with her other hand palpated and pressed down on her lower abdomen. Lisa felt some uncomfortable pressure as Tracy searched for her various organs.
"OK, now for the fun part."
Tracy changed gloves yet again, lubricated the fingertips of her right hand, and inserted a finger up Lisa’s bottom and another into her vagina. Leaving her fingers in place, she turned to her increasingly nervous spectators, "You will complete the bimanual exam by checking the condition of muscles that separate the vagina and rectum. With the index finger in the vagina and the middle finger in the rectum, you can more accurately feel the posterior surface of the uterus, cervical ligaments, the ovaries, and the side walls of the pelvis. You will note the shape of the rectum as you remove your finger." Tracy pulled out her fingers and held up the one that had been in Lisa’s bottom. She continued: "Feces that adhere to the gloves are examined for mucous or blood, because you’re also looking for rectal disorders."
Bernadette and Cherine cringed as Tracy held the glove close to their faces. Yuck!
Kathleen felt totally different. Seeing Tracy’s finger invade Lisa’s bottom and move about totally excited her. She wanted so badly to explore that part of Lisa, but much more, she was anxiously looking forward to having the same procedure performed on herself. To be touched in such an intimate and invasive manner... the very thought of it made her heart race and her breathing difficult.
As Tracy displayed the findings of her rectal exam, Lisa took a deep breath. Even for someone as exhibitionistic as herself, this was a bit much. However, she knew that her experience was not finished, there was still much more to come.
Tracy finished by casually wiping her subject’s vulva and anus clean and making some final notes. She held up the medical form.
"Your evaluation forms will be compared to the one that I just did on Pledge Lisa. Now I need one of you to step forward to examine her and another to assist. If I might make a suggestion, the person doing the examination should call out her observations to the one assisting, who will be writing everything down. If you work together this’ll go a lot quicker. So, who’s first? Who gets the honor of examining Pledge Lisa?"
Kathleen nervously raised her hand, "I’ll go... I’ll do it."
"Excellent. Who’ll be your assistant?"
"I... I guess... Pledge Cherine..."
"OK, Pledge Kathleen and Pledge Cherine. You’re up."
Lisa glanced at Kathleen, who was very nervous. Kathleen had good reason to be so nervous, because of her motive for volunteering to go first. She had not volunteered because she wanted to demonstrate boldness or to "get it over with". She had stepped forward because she had become fascinated with Lisa and badly wanted to touch her. She really didn’t know exactly what more she wanted from her fellow pledge, but she did know that she wanted to explore Lisa’s body and hopefully be touched in return. She couldn’t express what she wanted, even to herself in a coherent manner, because Lisa intimidated her as well as fascinated her. There were other issues, including the on-going hurt she felt from the disaster she suffered two years before as the result of sexually experimenting with a female classmate. There was the deep-seated fear of rejection and the knowledge that Lisa already had a boyfriend. Kathleen was scared, but at the same time she was obsessed. The exam gave her an opportunity to pursue her vague fantasy without having to risk being rejected.
Lisa tried to relax, but was not sure how to react to Kathleen’s nervous eyes, trembling hands, and shaky voice. Lisa wondered if Kathleen had a crush on her, not realizing that Kathleen’s feelings were far more complicated and undefined than that. Kathleen wanted something, but she wasn’t sure what.
Lisa’s thoughts turned to the practical concern of getting both herself and her fellow pledge through the exam without either of them getting into trouble. She would need to be as supportive as possible and not do anything at the moment to upset Kathleen or hurt her feelings. Whenever they had a moment alone perhaps there would be an opportunity to figure out what to do about her companion. Now the task that mattered was finishing the exam and avoiding Tracy’s paddle.
Lisa smiled slightly at Kathleen, silently trying to assure her that everything was OK.
"Y...You ready?"
Lisa nodded. With that Kathleen began the external examination, asking Lisa the same questions about her sexual history that Tracy had asked. Following Tracy’s lead, Kathleen carefully examined Lisa and called out her observations to Cherine. However, seeing Lisa’s clitoris so vulnerable and exposed proved too much of a temptation. Kathleen gently brushed that tender spot a couple of times, and in doing so began arousing her subject.
The internal exam went well and relatively quickly. The big test of Kathleen’s self control would be the bimanual portion of the exam and the final probing of Lisa’s rectum.
Kathleen’s hands and voice trembled as she inserted her fingers into Lisa’s vagina. She pressed and palpated her subject’s lower abdomen and called out her observations, but her thoughts were on her subject’s clitoris and bottom, not her reproductive system.
So far Kathleen had not done badly, but Tracy and Heather both knew that she was struggling to keep calm. They watched with crossed arms as the pledge approached the final and most difficult part of her test. Obviously with her, shyness was not a problem, but...
Kathleen’s hands trembled as she struggled to change gloves for the final examination. Tracy directed Cherine to help the examiner get the gloves on properly. Now the moment had come. Kathleen pressed into Lisa’s vagina and bottom, totally fascinated at the thought of being so deeply inside her. Lisa positioned herself as best she could to help her get in. The pledge gently moved her finger back and forth inside Lisa’s bottom, and, without thinking about what she was doing, gently touched Lisa’s clitoris with her free hand. She began massaging from both ends as Lisa closed her eyes to enjoy the sensation...
It was Tracy who broke the spell.
"Pledge Kathleen, are you going to finish up or not? This is not a love-making session, it’s a medical exam."
Despair swept over both Kathleen and Lisa upon hearing Tracy’s voice. They looked up to see the impatient officers and the wide-eyed expressions of their fellow pledges. Lisa now was sexually aroused, but Kathleen was desperate with desire. She gave Tracy a very unpleasant look. She heaved a sigh, wiped her subject clean, and took her medical form to finish filling it out. Lisa got out of the examination chair, because now it would be her turn to do the exam.
Lisa had hoped to examine Kathleen, but it turned out that her companion was now in trouble. Tracy ordered Cherine to get into the chair, Lisa to examine her, and Bernadette to assist. She pulled out a pair of handcuffs and told Kathleen to position herself to be cuffed. Tracy then took her by the arm and led her out of the room.
The pledge mistress led her pledge to a small utility room near the kitchen that had a variety of discipline implements hanging on the wall. She selected a leather strap that was about 18 inches long, counting the handle, and about 2 inches wide. She held it up in front of the terrified freshman, "Pledge Kathleen, I have only one thing to say to you. That was a medical exam, not a groping session. You need to learn some self-control. I’d imagine this’ll help you calm down."
Tracy led her unhappy companion to the pool patio. She unhooked Kathleen’s cuffs and repositioned her hands to re-hook them in front. She ordered the pledge to bend over a patio table and extend her hands to the far end. She took a plastic packaging strap and attached the cuffs to one of the table legs. She ordered Kathleen to spread her legs and turn her backside up. Once Kathleen was positioned Tracy gently began rubbing her bottom.
"Pledge, I’m about to discipline you, but I want to make sure you understand why you’re being punished."
"Ma’am... I’m sorry! I... wasn’t..."
CRACK!
Tracy struck hard with the strap, laying a pick strip of pure pain right across the middle of the pledge’s bottom-cheeks. Kathleen screamed and kicked one of her feet back.
CRACK! CRACK!
"Let’s get something straight, Pledge! I don’t EVER want to hear you say ‘sorry’ to me again! Of course you’re sorry, because now your ass is burning! I didn’t ask you if you were ‘sorry’; I asked you if you understand why you’re being punished!"
"Ahh... urr... I... I... I was... like... uh... touching Lisa..."
CRACK!
"That’s PLEDGE Lisa! You will refer to your fellow pledges by their proper title!"
CRACK!
"Oww... hoo... hoo..."
Tracy raised the strap again, ready to strike.
"You’d better start talking, Pledge! I got you tied up and I have all night to spend with you, if I that’s what I want! I’m not going anywhere..."
"I... I... uh... I... wanted to... you know... touch Pledge Lisa... and... I don’t know why... but... I wasn’t ‘sposed to... you know like... not during the medical test... and not in front of... I wasn’t ‘sposed to, and I knew... but I couldn’t help myself..."
CRACK!
"You couldn’t help yourself! Aww, ain’t that so sad! You just couldn’t help yourself!"
CRACK!
"That’s the lamest bullshit excuse there is, Pledge! Unless aliens have taken over your body, of course you can help yourself! It’s called self-control, Pledge Kathleen, self control!"
CRACK!
"OWW! Hoo... hoo... hoo!"
CRACK!
"Let me explain something, Pledge! Before I sign your membership certificate, you WILL learn self-control! There’s a proper time for everything, and you picked the wrong time to play feelies with Pledge Lisa!”
CRACK!
"If there’s anything going on between you and Pledge Lisa, for me that’s not a problem, but it IS a problem if it interferes with an assignment we have given you!"
"Yes ma’am."
CRACK!
"You need to focus, Pledge!"
CRACK!
"Y...yes... ma’am... Oww... oww..."
"You need to remember why you’re here!"
"Yes, ma’am!"
CRACK!
"You are here to complete the Four-Beta orientation program! That’s why you’re here!"
CRACK!
To complete OUR program and to follow OUR rules!"
"Yes, ma’am!"
CRACK!
"Get it?"
"Oww... ow... hoo... hoo... Yes, ma’am..."
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Tracy delivered five truly vicious swats to finish disciplining the pledge. She then stood back to let her cry it out. Kathleen, her hands still cuffed and her body stretched over the tabletop, sobbed pitifully for nearly 15 minutes. Finally Tracy left for a moment to put away the strap then returned to release Kathleen. She cut the packaging strap and helped the crying pledge stand up. The pledge mistress un-cuffed the pledge’s hands, but only to guide her hands behind her back and re-cuff them. Kathleen’s punishment was not over.
Tracy took her charge by the arm and led her back to the sitting room where the Cherine, with Lisa assisting, was finishing up her examination of Bernadette. The three women glanced nervously at Tracy as she led the teary-eyed Pledge Kathleen to a corner, ordered her to kneel facing the wall, and blindfolded her. The pledge made a sad sight, her body heaving with quiet sobs, her hands behind her back, and her bottom covered with dark red stripes.
Tracy and Heather looked over the examination forms while three pledges knelt before them and the fourth remained kneeling in the corner. Finally Heather put three forms in pledge personnel folders.
"Pledges Lisa, Bernadette, and Cherine; you’ve passed the practical exercise of the gynecological portion of your orientation training. I want you to take all the used medical equipment to the kitchen and properly sterilize it according to the manual. Disposable items go into the red medical waste bin."
"Yes, ma’am."
"We will leave the chair in place because Pledge Kathleen will have to re-do the practical exercise tomorrow morning at 5:00 a.m. Due to our unfortunate little incident today, I will serve as the pledge’s examination subject and directly evaluate her. If she fails the practical a second time, she will be dismissed from the pledge group."
Lisa was both shocked and infuriated at the unfairness of Kathleen’s situation. She had done the exam correctly almost up to the end. Yes, it was true that Kathleen was extremely nervous and that she had fondled her during the final part of the exam, but that was only because Lisa had done everything possible to encourage her. She had given her companion plenty of looks and body language to send the message that "it’s OK, you can touch me" to make her less nervous. However, her actions, instead of helping Kathleen, caused her to get into serious trouble.
Lisa helped Bernadette and Cherine take the medical instruments to the kitchen and get a large pot of water set up to boil them. Once the pot was going, she left the kitchen to find either Heather or Tracy. She couldn’t find Heather, but finally located Tracy sitting at the computer in the sorority’s office, typing entries into the training log. She knelt at the door and knocked.
"Ma’am, Pledge Lisa requests permission to speak."
Tracy hit "save" on the computer and turned to face the door.
"Pledge, this had better be important, because you’re supposed to be in the kitchen."
"Yes, ma’am."
"Alright, so let’s hear it."
"Ma’am, what you’re doing to Pledge Kathleen is totally unfair. She only touched me like that because I encouraged her."
"Yes, I could see that. You were encouraging her."
"So why’d you just punish her? How come she got all the blame?"
"Pledge Lisa, the reason she got the blame was because she was the one conducting the exam. That exam was her responsibility. Part of that responsibility was that she was supposed to show self-control, and she didn’t. That failure was what got her punished."
"But, ma’am, I encouraged her."
"Yes, you did encourage her, and now that you’re here, I’d like to know why."
"I... I just thought it’d make things easier on her if... you know... I let her know that... it was OK... ’cause she was so nervous..."
"Pledge, don’t bullshit me. She was touching you, and you were doing everything you could to get her to touch you. Both of you were getting off on it, in front of four witnesses. So let’s hear it. What’s going on between you two?"
"I don’t know, ma’am. I... don’t really know... what’s going on... but I... I just don’t think it’s fair... that..."
"...that she got punished and you didn’t?"
"Yes, ma’am. It’s just that I feel responsible for what happened, ma’am. I mean like... I’m a year older... and she’s kinda naïve."
"She’s confused, Pledge Lisa. I’d say she’s confused. I wouldn’t say she’s naïve."
"But I still feel responsible. I mean like... I don’t think you oughta punish her, and threaten to kick her out... and..."
"Pledge, let’s have a reality check here. The rule is; if you don’t pass the initiation tests, then you’re out. It’s that simple. We are cutting her some slack, because normally you don’t get to re-test. She came close enough to passing that she’s getting a second chance, which is something we normally don’t do."
"Yes, ma’am, but... I mean..."
"Pledge Lisa, what you need to do is support her and try to get her to calm down. She’s got a rough half-hour ahead of her tomorrow morning and she’s gonna have to think straight and pay attention to what she’s doing. If you can help her, I’d appreciate it, because to be honest, I don’t want to have to kick her out."
"Ma’am, I also feel I gotta take responsibility. It... uh... wasn’t all her fault. She shouldn’t be getting all the blame..."
Tracy was silent for a minute, as she pondered how best to deal with the difficult situation between herself and the pledge. She realized that she had yet another opportunity to push Lisa’s limits and test her resolve to sacrifice for her three companions.
"Pledge... given what’s happened to Pledge Kathleen, do you understand how I’m interpreting what you just said to me?"
"I... uh... yes ma’am."
"And even so, you’re still willing to ‘take responsibility’?"
"Yes, ma’am."
"You understand that means being punished?"
"Yes, ma’am. I understand that."
Tracy hesitated for a moment, and then hit the screensaver button on her computer.
"Alright, Pledge. What you’ll need to do is meet me out by the patio tables. I’ll get the strap."
"Yes, ma’am."
"Since you’re volunteering for this punishment, I’m giving you the choice of being cuffed or holding your own position. If I don’t restrain you, can you stay bent over?"
"Yes, ma’am."
"Then I’ll go get the strap. Meet me outside."
Lisa sadly walked past the kitchen and her two bewildered companions.
"Lisa, is everything OK?"
"Not really."
She continued out to the patio and stood next to the outdoor tables, as Cherine and Bernadette watched from the kitchen window. A moment later Tracy joined her, carrying the same leather strap had she used on Kathleen. The two pledges in the kitchen stared in disbelief as Lisa bent over one of the tables and Tracy positioned herself to administer the punishment. Tracy said something to Lisa, and she sadly nodded. Tracy then tapped the insides of the pledge’s thighs with the strap to force them apart.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
For the second time in less than 48 hours Lisa submitted to a punishment on behalf of one of the members of her group. The strokes were as severe as the ones given to Kathleen; the only indignity that Lisa was spared was having to answer Tracy's questions while she was being whipped. As the blows continued and the burning in her backside mounted, Lisa gritted her teeth in a desperate effort to stay quiet. She was determined, no matter what, not to let either Tracy or her companions watching from the kitchen see her cry.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The two naked women in the kitchen flinched in sympathy as the strokes continued to land on their fellow pledge.
Bernadette commented, "God, they’re being rough on her."
Tracy was finished in less than 10 minutes. She struck hard, but was not in any mood to prolong the strapping. Lisa made it through the punishment without crying, although her expression clearly reflected the pain of having taken a severe punishment over the bruises left over from the previous day’s paddling. Her bottom now was in bad shape, covered with cruel welts and deep red in color.
Tracy tapped her hard on the shoulder. "Get up. Come with me," she snapped.
Lisa struggled to push herself up and painfully followed the pledge mistress past the kitchen and back to the sitting room. Kathleen was still kneeling, a solitary and very forlorn figure hunched in the corner. Her hands were cuffed behind her back and her eyes still covered by the blindfold. It was clear that she had been crying the whole time she was left alone.
Tracy took off Kathleen’s blindfold and unlocked the handcuffs. She helped Kathleen stand up, but then pointed at the floor to let both pledges know that they needed to kneel so she could talk to them.
"Pledge Kathleen, I’m cutting your punishment short, because Pledge Lisa informed me that she was partly to blame for what happened on the exam table. I have dealt with her, and except for your re-test, and I consider the incident resolved."
"Yes, ma’am."
"Pledge Lisa, we need the bathrooms cleaned before you go to bed tonight. There’s an inspection manual sitting on the desk of the office. I expect you to use it and make sure the bathrooms comply with what’s in there. Each bathroom has a cleaning log stored under the sink. Once you’ve cleaned the bathroom, make sure you fill in the time so you won’t get blamed if anyone comes in after you and leaves a mess."
"Yes, ma’am."
"Alright. I want you two to wait in the pledge room while we have dinner. You’re still under punishment restriction, so you’ll be missing dinner. Once we’re done, I’ll have Pledges Cherine and Bernadette go get you so you can get started on the bathrooms. You can use the pledge showers while you wait. With the way you two smell right now, I’d take advantage of that if I were you."
"Yes, ma’am."
"Stand up!"
Lisa and Kathleen quickly rose to their feet.
"You are dismissed."
"Yes, ma’am."
----------
Lisa and Kathleen went into the basement while Bernadette and Cherine took their places at the table with the sophomores. The two unpunished pledges felt both very nervous and very guilty that they were enjoying dinner while their companions were going hungry in the basement, but fortunately that did not diminish their appetites. They assumed, quite rightly, that there would be plenty of evenings they would be going hungry themselves sitting in the basement following a punishment.
Kathleen was consumed with guilt over what had happened to Lisa. As soon as they made it into the pledge room she began crying and profusely apologizing. Lisa responded not by trying to tell Kathleen that she forgave her or that "everything’s OK", but by holding her fellow pledge while she finished crying. Lisa knew that what Kathleen needed was not to be reassured with words, but by being held.
She led Kathleen to the sofa and sat down. She took her companion’s hand and drew her into a sitting position next to her. Kathleen cried into her shoulder as Lisa held her and comforted her. Finally, she recovered enough to speak, "I... I can’t do this! I thought I could, but I can’t! I want out! I just can’t handle it! I’m sorry!"
Lisa didn’t say anything, but began stroking Kathleen’s short dark hair. That seemed to calm her down a bit. She gently brushed away the tears from her companion’s face, which calmed her down even more. Lisa moved from brushing away the tears to caressing her cheek, which quieted Kathleen even more. Lisa realized that she had discovered something important about her companion -- that she could be soothed and reassured by being touched.
Kathleen snuggled up to Lisa, seeking an emotional shelter from the traumatic events of the past three days. Lisa put her arm around Kathleen’s shoulders and allowed her face to rest against her chest. She knew that if she could comfort her fellow pledge long enough without being interrupted, the crisis would pass.
Lisa was grateful for the moment of silence, because her own emotions were in turmoil. She realized that she had reached an important turning point in her life, because to keep Kathleen in the pledge group, she would have to develop a relationship with her and allow her to become emotionally dependent. It seemed that only Lisa could provide Kathleen with the motivation and support that would convince her to stay in. She would have to assume the role of Kathleen’s mentor and protector. Ultimately there would have to be more to the relationship between the two women, but the question was, how much more?
Lisa felt an emotional tug towards Kathleen, but was experienced enough in life to know why. Both women were frightened, isolated, tired, and under a lot of emotional stress. They were totally dependent on the whims of Tracy and Heather for every detail of their existence, including their most basic human needs. They faced three months being cut off from the outside world. They had no one to turn to for comfort except each other. Lisa’s need to watch over someone else was as important as Kathleen’s need to seek protection. Lisa realized she needed Kathleen every bit as much as Kathleen needed her.
Lisa knew that another issue was likely to come up between herself and Kathleen, and that was sex. It was Kathleen’s sexual fascination with Lisa that got both of them in trouble in the first place, and the sexual issue was certain to re-surface. How would she handle that, when the moment came?
Lisa decided that Kathleen had calmed down enough for them to shower. She squeezed her companion’s hand and suggested they get cleaned up, since the others would be returning shortly and the bathrooms still had to be cleaned. Kathleen did not resist. She quietly followed Lisa to the shower stalls.
The two women began soaping themselves, but Kathleen was sending non-verbal signals that she wanted her companion to soap her back. Lisa didn’t see the harm in that. She agreed to gently soap Kathleen’s entire back, including her welt-covered bottom. As Lisa’s hands gently circled soap over her companion’s tender backside, Kathleen put her hands on the wall and arched her back. She wanted more. She wanted Lisa to touch her, to run her fingers over the most sensitive area of her body. She wanted to feel Lisa’s finger to massage and then press into her bottom-hole. If Lisa only would do that...
Lisa did go much further than she originally intended. She soaped the most intimate part of Kathleen, thoroughly cleaning her vagina and bottom-hole. Kathleen gasped with delight, something that Lisa found very erotic. The pull now was much stronger, not only was Kathleen falling in love with Lisa, but also Lisa was becoming increasingly attracted to Kathleen. She realized how much she enjoyed touching and caressing her...
No... no, this can’t be happening. You’ve go to stop it, now. You can’t do this to her! The small voice of restraint, that voice of reason and morality, resonated in Lisa’s thoughts. You’ve got to stop this, now!
Lisa backed away, only to have her companion embrace her. Kathleen put her face to Lisa’s chest and held her tight. That embrace, along with the sensation of Kathleen’s skin in contact with her own, buried Lisa’s doubts. She realized just how good it felt to hold her. It was too late for that voice of reason to intervene in Lisa’s life. Just three days after meeting her, she had fallen into a relationship with Kathleen.
Lisa’s heart pounded as Kathleen pulled her head off her chest. She looked at Lisa with a very intense expression. Her eyes glistened with desire and her mouth was slightly open. Lisa knew that the moment had come. They now were lovers. All they need now was to exchange their first kiss. Kathleen closed her eyes and leaned forward...
The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs alerted the two women that their interlude of solitude had ended. They rapidly separated and moved to their respective showers.
Bernadette and Cherine entered the room, quite surprised to see their fellow pledges still showering. The expressions on the faces of the shower’s occupants gave them away. Kathleen was clearly distressed at the interruption, while Lisa’s face reflected a combination of embarrassment, disappointment, and relief. Bernadette gave Lisa a very suspicious look: what’s going on here? Why aren’t you two cleaned up yet? Even Cherine, the most inexperienced member of the pledge group, realized that something was not right.
Lisa pulled herself out of her confused mood and finished rinsing off. She ignored Bernadette’s suspicious glances as she prepared to confront the next issue of the day, the bathrooms. She reached for the inspection manual and organized her companions by task. Lisa would clean the toilets and perform the final inspection check, Bernadette would clean the sinks and wipe down the floors, Kathleen was responsible for bathtubs and showers, and Cherine was in charge of removing trash and dirty linens.
"If any of you doesn’t like what they’re doing, I’m willing to switch with you."
No one volunteered, given that Lisa already had taken the least pleasant task, the toilets, for herself.
The pledges went through their duty very quickly. They worked on two bathrooms at a time, Kathleen and Bernadette going first, and then Lisa and Cherine finishing up. They were completely finished within an hour. Lisa inspected each bathroom, signed the cleaning log, and moved on. She realized that Tracy’s comment "make sure you fill in the time so you won’t get blamed if anyone comes in after you and leaves a mess," meant that the bathroom clean up was a standard chore and not a hazing task.
Just to be safe, Lisa directed her companions to get ready for bed while she looked for Tracy. Finally she found her in the sorority library, sitting in an armchair as she read a psychology journal and took notes. Lisa realized how focused a student Tracy truly must be, given that she was working on her major even during the weeks between the spring and summer semesters.
She knelt at the door and knocked.
"Ma’am, Pledge Lisa requests permission to speak."
"Go ahead Pledge Lisa."
"The bathrooms have been cleaned ma’am."
"That fast? Are you sure they’re in compliance with the inspection manual?"
"I checked each one myself, ma’am. If they’re not in compliance it’d be because I overlooked something."
"Alright, let’s have a look."
Lisa followed Tracy through two of the bathrooms. She straightened a few of the towels, but otherwise found nothing wrong.
"OK, Pledge Lisa. This’ll work. You’re dismissed for the night."
"Yes, ma’am."
Lisa suddenly remembered Ruth Burnside’s request to have the chapter president call her to work out an arrangement that would allow Lisa to continue pledging but not interfere with her duties with the Economics Department. She knelt to address Tracy again.
"Ma’am, Pledge Lisa requests permission to speak."
"Yes, Pledge Lisa?"
She told the pledge mistress about her contract with Ruth Burnside and explained that President Alexandra needed to call the professor to work out the details concerning how they would split up Lisa’s time. Tracy told Lisa to follow her back to the office, and typed out an e-mail addressed to both President Alexandra and Ruth Burnside concerning the need for them to talk about Pledge Lisa’s dual commitment. She asked Lisa for Burnside’s contact information to put in the e-mail, and also included President Alexandra’s information.
"There. Now it’s all in writing, addressed to both of them, so there won’t be any confusion about what they’re supposed to do."
"Thank you, ma’am."
Lisa decided to bring up another issue, before things between her and Kathleen went any further and they got in trouble. She knew that pledges were strictly prohibited from having relationships with full members of either the sorority or the fraternity, but the rules did not say anything about relationships with other pledges. She asked, just for the purposes of clarification for her group, what the rule was concerning sexual contact between pledges.
Tracy gave Lisa an impatient look. "Pledge, don’t bullshit me. You’re not curious about that rule for your group. What you want to know is if you’ll get in trouble if you do anything with Pledge Kathleen. That’s what this is all about, isn’t it?"
Lisa took a very deep breath. "Yes, ma’am."
"That depends on how you handle it. We encourage pledges to experiment with their sexuality within the guidelines of our program, so there’s not a problem if you have a relationship with Pledge Kathleen. If you end up doing anything with her, you'll need to be discreet about it. We don’t want you flaunting it around the sorority. No kissing in public areas, no handholding, no making the rest of us listen to sweet talk, that sort of thing. The privacy rule’s not just for you; it’s for everyone. There are a lot of relationships among us and between us and the Tri-Alphas, but we respect each other and keep it quiet. If you can keep whatever you do with Pledge Kathleen to yourselves, then I have no problem with you spending some of your time together. The moment it interferes with your behavior in public or your pledge duties, then I will have a problem."
"Thank you ma’am."
"Now, there’s another issue, and only you can answer it. You need to think about your reason for wanting a relationship with Pledge Kathleen. Is it because she’s truly the love of your life, or is it because you two are thrown together in a very difficult situation and need each other’s support?"
"I... I don’t know, ma’am... I mean like... I’ve only known her three days..."
"Exactly. Three days. You’ve known her three days. You’d better give that some thought."
"But... she really needs me... I mean, tonight she was just gonna quit, and... I sort of... you know like, held her... I mean..." Lisa took a deep breath and blurted out, "this pledging, and the way you’re treating us, it’s a lot harder than we thought it was going to be..."
"Well, it’s gonna get even harder, because it’s my job to push you to your limits. Don’t think I’m gonna let up on you guys, because I’m not. The sorority believes that to join us you have to completely know yourself, and to completely know yourself you’ve got to know how you’re gonna react under a lot of hardship and stress. Even with you, after just three days I’ve noticed some changes in your character because I’ve been so rough on you. I’m starting to think that you’ve already found out things about yourself that you didn’t know."
"Yes, ma’am. That’s true."
"And that includes what you want from your relationships?"
"Yes, ma’am, or, like... now I’m confused. Three days ago I thought I knew what I wanted. Now I don’t have any idea. I don’t know. I ‘spose when I see Ken again I’ll straighten it all out."
Tracy became pensive upon hearing Ken’s name. It was apparent that she knew something important, but was not sure whether to disclose it.
"Pledge Lisa, about your boyfriend... I got a question for you. How well do you think you know Ken?"
Lisa was surprised by the sudden turn of the conversation. What did "knowing Ken" have to do with her pledging responsibilities?
"I’m pretty sure I know him just fine. I mean, we’ve spent a lot of time together and we’ve experimented a lot, and..."
"So you’re pretty certain that he wouldn’t hit you with any surprises? That maybe there’s something he’s been keeping from you?"
"Ma’am, what do you know about him?"
"Pledge, his end of it is confidential. The only thing that I can tell you is that we’re here to discover the truth about ourselves and about each other. Next week Ken will start the same process of self-discovery when he pledges with the Triple A’s that you’re undergoing with us."
"But, ma’am, is there something about him I need to know? I mean, have you read his pledge packet?"
"Yes."
"Then what is it? What..."
"Pledge, I’m not going to talk about someone else’s life. You’ll find out soon enough. The only thing that I’m worried about is how it might affect you. I’m just asking you to keep an open mind."
"But what..."
"PLEDGE, STAND UP!"
Lisa immediately rose to her feet.
"You are dismissed, Pledge. Make sure Pledge Kathleen is ready to re-test at 5:00. Get the others up at 5:30. I expect you to have your area cleaned and be lined up next to the pool at 6:00. Tomorrow’s lower body and aerobic PT day. It’s gonna be quite hot, yet again, so we’ll need to exercise as early as possible."
"Yes, ma’am."
"Goodnight, Pledge."
"Goodnight, ma’am."
----------
Lisa left the meeting feeling as though she had been hit in the chest. Tracy’s words "maybe there’s something he’s been keeping from you" echoed over and over in her mind. As best she could within her oath not to divulge information about another pledge, the pledge mistress was trying to warn her not to count on Ken. It was obvious he had written something in his pledge packet that had alerted Tracy that his sexual ambitions extended beyond continuing his relationship with Lisa.
Unfortunately, Lisa suspected she knew what the problem was. During their first few weeks as friends back in September, Ken had confessed that occasionally he felt attracted to guys as well as to women. In other words, he openly admitted to being bisexual. Cecilia Sanchez later confided something else to Lisa back in November, that she had noticed Ken looking longingly at her boyfriend Jason a couple of times. Cecilia had been tempted to say something and tell Ken to stay away from Jason, but held her tongue and later was glad she did.
As their relationship developed, Lisa had assumed that Ken was not really bisexual, but instead simply a masochist. All he needed was the right woman to dominate him, and he would be happy. Now she had to deal with the shock of being wrong, that her lover of six months was not really who she thought he was. Yes, he was indeed a masochist, but apparently his bisexuality was something he was planning to explore upon joining the fraternity.
Lisa was infuriated, not so much at Ken’s situation, but at the fact that he had not had the decency to tell her about his sexual doubts and upcoming plans. She had to hear about it from a third person, from her pledge mistress. Lisa tightened her lips, because at that moment she took it for granted that her relationship with Ken had ended. You want to fuck other guys, asshole? That’s fine with me. You want to come back to me afterwards? I don’t think so. You can go to hell.
Lisa was deeply hurt, but refused to admit that to herself. She covered her emotional pain with anger and scorn. Cecilia had warned Lisa that she thought Ken was an idiot, that he was weak-willed, and that he had no character. It turned out that Cecilia was right about him, just like it seemed she had been right about a bunch of other things. Well, chalk up another one for Cecilia, thought Lisa to herself.
Lisa’s thoughts returned to her own situation. At that moment she could not see the irony of her feelings towards Kathleen. In her mind she excoriated Ken for wanting to explore his desire to experiment with other guys, and yet here she was wanting to do the exact same thing with another female. Unlike Ken, Lisa was not even willing to admit she might be bisexual. She hated that word and associated it with hypocrisy. Instead she saw herself as a straight woman who just happened to be attracted to someone of the same sex due to the circumstances of a unique friendship.
Lisa returned to the basement to find the other pledges asleep. The room was dimly lit with a single nightlight, so she could make out the bare figures of her companions as they lay on top of bedrolls on their cots. Bernadette had the presence of mind to close the air conditioning vent, so the room was warmer than the rest of the sorority. The warm air allowed the pledges to be relatively comfortable in spite of being forced to sleep naked with no covers.
Lisa glanced around the room. It seemed that Bernadette and Cherine were asleep, judging by the sound of their breathing. Lisa was not surprised to see that Kathleen was not asleep. Kathleen got up on her elbow. Lisa squeezed her hand.
"You OK?"
"Yeah, I guess. I’m just kinda scared about tomorrow."
"It’s no big deal. You’ve already done most of it, and you came very close to passing. All you gotta do is just stay calm."
Lisa put her hand on Kathleen’s cheek. She knew that Kathleen would do fine, as long she was properly motivated.
"I’m counting on you. You gotta do it, because if you don’t, I don’t see how I’m gonna get through the summer without you."
"You mean that?"
"Of course I mean that, silly."
Lisa leaned forward to kiss Kathleen goodnight. At first she just wanted to give her a good night peck, but Kathleen buried her mouth into Lisa’s and kissed hard. Lisa did not resist. Instead she found the experience very interesting, exchanging kisses with another woman for the first time in her life. Anyhow, now it was done. The two women had exchanged their first kiss, the kiss that committed each to the other as a lover.
Kathleen would have wanted to continue, but Lisa touched her finger to her companion’s lips.
"Get some sleep. I want you to get a good night’s sleep so you can get through tomorrow. I’ll have a big kiss for you when you’re done."
Kathleen smiled in the darkness and lay back down. Lisa squeezed her hand one last time and left her to set her alarm for 4:45 a.m. and unroll her own sleeping mat. She covered the mat with a dorm sheet and laid out a pillow. Like the others, she would have to sleep completely uncovered.
----------
Lisa was soundly asleep when her alarm went off. She groaned and forced herself to get up. She checked the time, hoping that she had set the alarm wrong and that it couldn’t possibly be 4:45. No such luck. Sure enough, it was 4:45. Time to get Kathleen up.
Lisa was too tired to feel much of the tenderness towards her companion that she had felt just a few hours before. She shook the freshman awake and told her to get in the shower. Kathleen was equally groggy, something Lisa had anticipated. Hopefully the shower would make her alert enough to face her upcoming exam.
Kathleen seemed to wake up once the water hit her. Lisa handed her a towel and told her to dry off. She checked the time. 4:58 a.m. Time to get upstairs.
The two pledges entered the sitting room and promptly fell to their knees. Tracy and Heather entered the room and took their positions next to the examination chair. Because Heather was to be the examination subject, she was completely naked. Tracy was dressed in the Four-Beta running uniform and a white doctor’s robe. She was carrying two clipboards, one for herself and one for Kathleen.
As Heather climbed onto the table and positioned her legs in the stirrups, Tracy repeated the instructions from the pervious day concerning what was expected of the person performing the exam. As before, she stated that it would be best to have the examiner call out her observations to an assistant. She asked Kathleen if she had someone to help her, and she responded that Pledge Lisa would be the one taking notes.
Lisa was relieved that Heather and Tracy mentioned nothing about the mishap the day before. They behaved as though the test was Kathleen’s first try, not her last chance. Their calm attitude put the pledge at ease somewhat, as did the reassuring presence of Lisa.
Kathleen managed to concentrate by breaking the exam down into its individual tasks. The most difficult part was asking Heather about her sexual history and current sexual activities. Lisa found Heather’s answers very interesting. It turned out that she had two current male partners and one female partner; that she had a total of sexual 17 partners in her past, and that with one of her current male partners she occasionally engaged in anal intercourse. Wow! And to think that she had given Lisa the impression that she was so cold and straight-laced. Kathleen seemed equally taken aback by Heather’s openness, but to see the Sergeant-at-Arms as a sexually active college student instead of a sterile sorority officer seemed to put her at ease to some extent.
The rest of the exam went flawlessly. Lisa checked off the tasks one by one and wrote down Kathleen’s observations. Even the final part of the exam, in which Kathleen had to push her finger up Heather’s bottom, went well. Kathleen held up her soiled index finger to check for rectal disorders, but found nothing. She cleaned off her subject and the exam ended.
Kathleen signed the examination form, added a few comments in her own handwriting, and handed it to Tracy. Both pledges knelt while Tracy looked over the form.
"Pledges! Stand up!"
Lisa and Kathleen immediately rose to their feet.
"Congratulations, Pledge Kathleen, you’ve passed. Now was that really so hard?"
"No ma’am!"
Tracy looked approvingly, not at Kathleen, but at Lisa. Once again, she was testing Lisa even more than she was testing Kathleen. Once again, it was Lisa who had led a fellow pledge through a difficult personal crisis. Her face was totally exhausted because she had been the last member of the group to go to sleep and the first one to get up. She was sacrificing her own comfort for the sake of the others, which in Tracy’s mind was an important indication of a person’s worthiness as a leader.
"Alright! Get the others up! It’s lower-body PT day, and you know what that means? Running!"
A half an hour later the four naked pledges joined the sorority’s 14 sophomores in formation next to the pool. Like the pledges, the sophomores were naked, but each one had running shoes and a folded uniform next to her exercise mat. An equally naked President Alexandra led the 18 women as they performed a long series of stretches and low-impact leg exercises. By the time they finished warming up it already was 7:00 a.m. The women put on their running uniforms and stood at attention, ready to move out.
Lisa and her companions wondered if they would have to go running outside with nothing on, but one of President Alexandra’s male assistants came out carrying four summer pledge jogging uniforms. The pledges quickly put them on. When they looked at each other they wondered if it might have been less embarrassing to go out naked. Each shirt read:
PLEDGE
This pledge is the property of the Four-Beta Sorority.
If found unescorted, please return to rightful owner.
As for the shorts, there was a large red "B" on each side of the bottom.
Everyone on campus knew why those "B’s" were red.