Haze all her pledges now

“First,” said Bethany, “let’s get all these sows out of here. They clearly aren’t DT material.”

Bethany looked around the party and pointed out three possible pledges to Heather, then purposely added Lauren, with a sinister grin. The other young hopefuls were herded out of the sorority house unceremoniously, a few in tears, claiming that they were legacies and deserved to join Delta Tau. Bethany paid them no mind.

“Well, congratulations!” said Bethany to the four assembled girls as the crowd gathered around, “You’ve made the first cut. Now, it’s time to find out if any of you are DT material! Now, before we start, introduce yourselves! Tell us your name and a few things about yourself. You first!”

A tall, buxom woman with blonde pigtails stepped forward, and spoke confidently. “Yah, my name is Agneta. I am from Norway. I am, how you call, freshman here. But already I am the captain of the volleyball and basketball teams. Last year, I played volleyball for my country in the Olympics.”

Bethany looked at the statuesque blonde, and responded, “You’re going to have to lose that accent. And maybe you’re too sporty. Delta Tau isn’t for tomboys. Next.”

A petite girl with red hair stepped forward Everything about her was tiny and dainty, except for the huge rack on her front, which Lauren hoped might be fake. She began to speak with a southern drawl. “Y’all are really nice to let me come her and pledge. My name is Scarlet, and I’m sure we’re going to be fast friends. I was the most honored gal in the debutante ball back home, and I’ve been Miss Mississippi River Adjacent-State since I was a junior in high school.”

“Nice,” said Bethany, “but how do we feel about gingers here? We’ll see if you have what it takes.”

Standing next to Lauren was a breathtaking beauty, who stepped forward confifently. “My name is Jane,” she said, “I’m here on a scholarship form the National Honor Society. I also received an award from Mu Alpha Theta. I’m the president of the Future Lawyers Club. I’m certain we’ll get along great.”

“Well,” Bethany said. “I’m impressed. If you make it, you will be the first African-American in our chapter of Delta Tau. I don’t know how I feel about you belonging to some other sorority, though…especially that…what is it? Moo-Alpha..what?”

Heather felt the need to speak up. “Mu Alpha Theta, it’s a math honor society.”

Bethany turned and glared at Heather. “If I wanted comments from the peanut gallery, I’d ask for them.” Heather cringed, and Bethany, satisfied, turned back to the pledges. “Next?”

Lauren tried to muster all her confidence, and the liquor she unknowingly imbibed seemed to have helped a little, although she also had a sour feeling in her stomach. She was terrified, but her drunk mind convinced her she was nailing it. “Hi, I’m Lauren…I’m a freshman here…and I really really want to be in DT. You guys are soooo cool, and I know people would respect me for a change if I got in. So pleeease?”

Heather, still a little afraid to talk after Bethany’s reaction, leaned in toward Bethany and said quietly, “Want me to show her the door?” Bethany turned back and responded quietly, “No way. I have a lot in store for that little wannabe man-stealer tonight.” Then she turned back to address the pledges.

“Well,” she said, “we have a big night in store for you! You’ll know tonight if you can be in DT. Our first activity will be a quiz. We’ll call on you. Get a question wrong, and you’ll have to remove a piece of clothing. Get a question right, and everyone else will strip. We’ll decide what clothing you remove to make it fair. When you have no more clothes left, every time you should strip, you’ll get one of these,” she said, holding up a pie made from whipped cream poured into a store-bought crust. “Don’t worry, we have plenty of these. DT belongs to a wholesale club.”

Lauren’s heart began to beat quickly. She didn’t want the secrets hidden in her undergarments exposed to her future sisters this early, or ever for that matter. She considered calling it off now. But the false confidence from the , a substance whose effects she was relatively unfamiliar with, convinced her she’d nail it like she did her introduction.