by Kelli Kimble
Eventually I selected a blue sheath dress and a pair of black pumps. Siggie lent me the pearl necklace and she wore a jade green dress with the paste charm. The dress contrasted with her hair, which she wore pulled up into an elaborate french twist with a pile of curls at the top. Of the two of us, she looked more striking. But I felt good in what I’d chosen, anyway.
The open house was being held in the sorority house. Campus was buzzing with well-dressed freshmen heading to their first Greek event. We crossed the campus green and walked around Colton to Greek row. It was a pretty street with sorority houses down the south side and fraternities on the north side. We paused at the end of the walkway to Alpha Nu.
“Are you sure about this?” she asked.
“It’ll be good for us.”
We marched together up the sidewalk and onto the porch. I raised a hand to ring the doorbell, but the door swung open.
“Welcome, pledges. Please, come in,” the woman said. She was wearing an outfit that looked fresh out of Audrey Hepburn’s closet. Her hair was glossy and perfectly arranged, her dress modern and expensive-looking. And her scent: definitely Anubian laced with jasmine. She swept an arm into the house, inviting us to enter. We stepped inside.
“I’m Patty, the chapter president. And you are?”
“I’m Sigourney. And this is Iris.”
“Lovely to meet you both. If you wouldn’t mind signing in, right here?” She pointed to a guest log. “And then make your way into the parlor for the icebreaker before the meeting begins.”
“Thank you,” I said. We each added our name to the log. While Siggie signed, I glanced around the foyer. It was two stories, with a sweeping wooden staircase up to the second floor. At the top of the stairs, the banister swept to the left, exposing a part of the hallway and providing the perfect backdrop for a grand entrance. Siggie tugged on my arm, dragging my attention back to the log. I signed and we went into the parlor.
“This is strange,” Siggie said. “I feel almost like I’m at home. Isn’t that odd?”
It wasn’t odd at all, because the mingled scent of Anubians in the parlor couldn’t have been calculated to appeal to me more. Just to the right of the doorway, a girl with a perky nose was serving punch. “Would you ladies care for a glass?” She held one out to me, and I accepted it. Siggie took one as well. I thanked her and moved further into the room. It was crowded, but not uncomfortably so. I noticed that some of the girls were wearing a scarf secured with a pin that resembled a shield. Others, like Siggie and I weren't wearing anything to distinguish us.
We made our way around the room, introducing ourselves and chatting. Everyone was nice. I felt immediately accepted. And even though most made an effort to keep them out of sight, I didn’t notice a single normal canine tooth in the bunch.
Someone rang a bell, and a hush fell over the crowd.
“Excuse me, ladies.” It was Patty. She was standing on the raised hearth of the fireplace so that she could address the entire room. “I thank you all for attending today. You’ll note that there are sisters circulating among you. They are tasked with the first round of the application process.
“Here at Alpha Nu, we have rigorous standards. Each of you will undergo the scrutiny of the entire membership as well as an intense pledging process. We do this because it’s of the utmost importance that we establish a bond as sisters. We want every member to fit in and feel acceptance. It is also crucial that every member fill a gap in our organization. We provide each other with a reciprocal relationship. The member supports the organization, and the organization supports the member.”
“Alpha Nu forever,” the members around the room chanted together.
“You’ll all be happy to know that if you’re still here, you’ve passed the first test. The sisters among you are going to pass out colored ribbons. You’ll be tying them around your right wrist, in full visibility.”
A member handed me a purple ribbon and Siggie a green one. I frowned at the difference in the color. We helped each other tie them on, and then I glanced around, looking for some kind of pattern to the way they’d been passed out.
“Everyone with a yellow ribbon, please come forward,” Patty called. The room shuffled about, and four girls found their way to stand in front of Patty. They were led from the room by a member. “Now I’ll be needing the green ribbons.”
Siggie squeezed my hand. “Good luck.” She moved through the crowd to stand with three other girls, and then they, too, were led away.
She finally called for purple after two more groups left the room.
I went to the front, along with three other girls.
“If you will follow me?” Patty asked. She led the way out of the room to a flight of stairs into the basement, which she called the rumpus room. There was a seating area with a television which was far nicer than the lounge in our dorm. In one corner there was also a laundry room with an actual washer and dryer. Would I get to use them? Mother would be jealous if I did. Another door was marked for utilities, though we didn’t look inside.
We then went up two flights to the bedrooms. There were six bedrooms each about the size of a dorm room, and also two bathrooms. Patty gestured to the smallest of the bedrooms. “This room is reserved for the freshman board member and a member of her choosing. It’s considered an honor for a freshman to live in the house. Also, living in the house is a substantial savings over the dorms.”
I looked inside the room and imagined Siggie’s mess on her side of the room and my sparse possessions on the other. It would be perfect. Now, how to get one of us on the board?
* * *
Siggie stormed into our room and slammed the door behind her. She stomped her foot once, then opened the door and slammed it again. Then again. When she slammed it the third time, I rattled to my senses.
“What’s the matter?” I turned away from the history paper that was giving me fits. I still needed to finish reading the book, and the paper was due tomorrow.
“I hate,” — slam — “people!” Slam. Slam.
I reached around her and held the door closed. She tried to pull it open again, but the door wouldn’t budge under my grip.
“What are you, the freaking strong man?” She pushed away from the door and flopped face first onto the bed even though it was covered with the clean clothing she’d cast off this morning while she was getting dressed.
“Siggie, what happened?”
“Trixie! That awful girl happened.” Her words were muffled by the bedding and clothes.
I shook my head, confused. “Who’s Trixie?”
She sat up and punched the bed. “That horrible girl who called me a vampire my first night at the dining hall.”
Oh. That girl.
“Okay. What about her?”
“She’s in my British literature class. She organized a bunch of the other people in the class. They’re calling me—oh, it’s just too terrible. I can’t even repeat it! If I were a vampire, she’d already be dead.”
“Wow, I’m sorry, Siggie.”
She flopped back onto the bed. “Let me just have some dark fantasies about her. You go on with your homework.”
“No.” I started to sit beside her, but the way her bed is always covered in junk gave me pause. Instead, I grabbed her wrists and pulled until she was standing and gave her a hug.
“That girl is mean. You have to help me think of some way to get back at her,” she said.
The stress of the deadline on my paper crushed against me. But Siggie was upset, and I couldn’t let her think I didn’t care. She began to go on about what Trixie had done. My thoughts drifted to when Tessa had driven me home from school after a rough day. She’d taken me to the drugstore for a soda. Because that’s what friends do.
“Hey,” I said. Siggie had sunk so far into the depths of her story that she was crying. “Let’s get out of here. We’ll walk to that little diner at the edge of town and get a piece of pie or something. My treat.”
She sn
iffled. “Pie? Really?”
“Yeah. Come on. You can tell me all about it and we’ll drown it with pie.”
“Okay.”
I grabbed some money from my savings shoebox and stuffed it into my skirt pocket. She blew her nose with a loud honk into a hankie that she then tossed onto her bed. I tried not to cringe.
We walked across the campus green to Hayden street and followed it to the little diner that Kal had taken Jacob and me to. When we went inside, the same two waitresses were bustling around the dining room. The pretty waitress rushed over and seated us on the other waitress’s side.
After a minute or two, our waitress came over to greet us. From the way her jaw tightened, I guessed that she recognized me.
“He never called, right?” I asked.
She frowned and poised her pencil above her pad, ignoring my question. “What can I get you, ladies?”
“Do you have apple pie? A la mode?” Siggie asked.
“Sure.” She flicked a stony glance to me. “And you?”
“I’ll have the same.”
“It’ll be right up.” She stalked away, tearing the paper off her notepad as she went.
“Do you know her? She seemed mad at you.”
“No. I came here once with Jacob and his brother, Kal. Kal flirted with her and got her phone number. Apparently, he never called.”
“Jacob has a brother?” She leaned forward as if it would be a secret. “Is he cute?”
“Yes, and he’s leaving for the army in a few days.” My heart constricted when I thought of it. I wasn’t going to have another opportunity to see him, and he’d be leaving to report to boot camp Sunday night this weekend.
She fanned herself with her napkin. “Whew. You’re telling me he’s good-looking and he’s going to wear a uniform? You think his t-shirt will be tight?”
I laughed. “Kal is like an older brother, so I don’t really want to think about whether his t-shirt will be tight or not.”
The waitress dropped my pie in front of me. Some of the ice cream was melting already and slopped off the plate.
“Kal joined the army?” the waitress asked, her voice rising into a high pitch.
“Yes. And I’m sorry he didn’t call. He never meant to.” She flinched as if I’d slapped her. “No, sorry. That came out wrong. It’s not like you think. He thought he was giving you a lift.”
She thrust Siggie’s pie in front of her and walked away, barely containing a whimper.
“What’d you tell her that for?” Siggie stuffed a bite of pie into her mouth. “No girl wants to know she got a pity flirt.” Her eyes rolled back. “This is so good. I can’t believe how much I miss my mom’s cooking. And it hasn’t even been a week, yet.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I thought it would make her feel better to know that he didn’t just forget about her.”
“You have a lot to learn about other girls.”
I shrugged. “I didn’t have sisters or friends. How would I know?”
Somewhere in the kitchen, there was the crash of something breaking, then a man hollering about clumsy waitresses.
I stared down at my pie. Was the waitress upset enough about Kal to be breaking dishes? I glanced across the dining room. The pretty waitress was gazing towards the kitchen with a smirk. Her eyes drifted to meet mine. She smiled. She remembered Kal, too.
Shame flooded my chest and flushed out to my arms, making my hands shake. I hid them beneath the table. Of course, the waitress was upset. I'd called attention to her rejection, and then discounted it.
"Hey," Siggie said. "You're only human."
I flinched at her recognition of my feelings and bent my head to eat. The ice cream had melted.
Anyway, I wasn't human. And neither was she.
Chapter 9
Relieved to finally turn in my history paper, I returned to our room. Siggie was there, getting ready for our first party at Alpha Nu.
"Oh, thank goodness,” she said, pulling me in even though I was already entering. “We need to figure out our outfits."
I went to my closet. I only had one more suitable dress, so I didn't have much choice. I pulled it out and held it up against me, turning to Siggie.
"What do you think?" Mother had selected it for me. It was simple but a pretty shade of violet. Seeing it now reminded me of the ribbon that they'd given me at the meeting.
"It would look great with these shoes." She held up a pair of pretty t-strap shoes in patent leather. "They should fit you. Can you help me with my hair? It looked so nice when you set it."
"Of course." We spent the afternoon preparing. We did each other's hair and nails. More than once I had to clench my jaw against a sudden swelling of emotion. To have a normal afternoon with a girlfriend doing normal things was something I'd wanted so badly. And here it was, even better than I'd imagined.
"You look gorgeous." Siggie held me at arm's length as she admired the make-up she'd applied.
"You think there'll be a test tonight?"
She hitched up an eyebrow. "Honey, I'm pretty sure everything we do right now is a test. They’re watching us in class. In the dining hall and walking around campus." She laughed. "Maybe even in the bathroom."
We dissolved into laughter.
Though she had been joking, when we walked across the campus green, I kept feeling as though we were being watched. As we approached the sorority house, I imagined the curtains twitching on the second floor. We weren't the only girls approaching, so maybe someone upstairs was waiting for a friend to arrive.
Siggie grabbed my arm and sucked a breath in through her teeth.
“What is it?”
“Hey, blood breath!” Someone across the street was yelling at us.
“Don’t turn towards them. Just keep walking,” Siggie said. She looked like a bad ventriloquist act; her lips were formed into a creepy smile as she tried to talk without moving them.
I did as she asked, but the hollering across the street was increasing in volume and participants. We strode towards the door. Ahead of us, a small group of Alpha Nu hopefuls were craning their necks to see what was happening. The noise came to a sudden halt when Patty opened the door and stepped outside.
“Hello, ladies. Welcome. Please come inside.” She ushered the small group ahead of us inside just as we mounted the steps.
She took another step to us and began gushing in a loud voice. “Siggie, Iris. I’m so glad to see my favorite potential members!” She hugged us both and made air kisses on either side of our faces, all while keeping her gaze locked across the street. She turned to the door and put an arm around each of us and guided us over the threshold.
“I’m terribly sorry about that,” she said in a low voice. “They’re the least civilized group on campus. Every year we’ve petitioned to have them shut down.”
Siggie gave her a watery smile. “I’m the one who should be sorry. I don’t know exactly how it happened, but somehow they’ve decided I’m their favorite person to tease.”
“Harassment is more like it,” Patty said, sniffing. “Those boys over there, and the riffraff girls they hang around. They have the poorest grade roll on the street. They don’t participate in any of the community service projects. And their parties are always horrendous. Last year at graduation they actually collected old furniture and burned it on their front lawn. For fun. It took two whole months for the grass to grow back. Can you imagine?”
“Why would you burn furniture?” I asked.
“Exactly! They’re neanderthals.”
Siggie didn’t point out to Patty that it was actually a girl who’d been the ringleader of her problem.
“All right now. Go ahead and sign in and join the rest of the ladies. There’s singing in the parlor, and downstairs in the rumpus room, I believe they’re playing charades. The dining room has hors d'oeuvres laid out, and beverages as well.”
We signed in and I nudged Siggie towards the dining room. I wanted to have something to hold while we mingled
. Otherwise, I’d be worrying about what to do with my hands.
A cluster of members identifiable by their scarf and pin was standing around the punch bowl, chatting. I took a deep breath for some courage, then moved in among them and reached for the ladle. “Hello, ladies.”
They broke off their conversation and turned their eyes to me. The punch bowl was on a card table, and they were standing around it tightly. You’re interrupting something, stupid.
“Um, excuse me,” I said. “I didn’t mean to intrude. Just thirsty, is all.” I poured my drink, spilling some down the side of the glass. I grabbed a cocktail napkin and sponged it clean.
“Punch is free for the taking,” one of them said in a huffy tone. She had a half-full glass of punch in one hand, and the other arm was crossed protectively over her stomach. The girl at my elbow leaned into me.
“Don't mind Shirley. She just wants it all for herself."
"You know that's not true," Shirley said. "I'm here for the company." She smiled at me over the rim of her glass as she took another sip. "Besides, there isn't much kick to this punch."
She winked and the tension that had been building in my shoulders released.
"I'm Iris, and this is my friend, Siggie."
"Welcome to the party," Shirley said. "Meet Lucy, Francis, Gilda, and Mimi." She pointed at each girl around the circle. They nodded and said their hellos.
"Do you ladies have any sage advice for the new recruits?" Siggie asked.
Gilda opened her handbag and withdrew a cigarette case. She snapped it open and selected one, then tapped it against the case. "Don't sweat the process," she said. "If you made it through the informational meeting you're a shoe-in. We hardly ever turn someone away after that." She lit the cigarette and blew the smoke out the side of her mouth, right into Francis' face. Francis coughed and waved her hands to clear the air.
"Really, Gilda. That's a disgusting habit."
"If you're willing to do charity work and your grades are decent, you'll be fine," Mimi said, ignoring their drama. She had an accent, and I wondered where she was from. “Most applicants who don’t join actually decline the invitation, not the other way around.”
