SSTGG

SAPPHIC SORORITY THINGS GO GREAT...?

It’s a warm, spring day in central Florida.

The little diner in Gurlberg hasn’t changed much over the years. You like its old-fashioned styling and retro feel. They have good pie and good milkshakes, but today you’re just having a cup of black coffee. You have a feeling you’ll be getting way too many calories this weekend. You’re excited. The good vibes are probably bubbling out of your ears.

The girl on the other side of the booth can tell, and it annoys her.

Colby is your best friend. You both wear glasses, but otherwise you are total opposites. Your skin is dark and hers is not. Your hair is long and black, hers is short and pale brown. Your figure is slim and compact from swimming, and she’s a bit softer. Right now you’re smiling and she’s scowling.

You used to agree on everything, but that’s changed since you started hanging around CCL. At least you’re both wearing your matching Jessica Jones T-shirts.

“They’re making you go? You aren’t even in the club,” she says angrily.

“It’s not a club. I want to go. It’ll be fun.”

“They’re just going to use you to do all the work,” she insists. “They’re using you for everything! Look at all the money they’re going to make off you!”

Colby doesn’t get it. You have a little hobby. Two hobbies, actually. Photography and a little thing called shibari. And these two things are like chocolate and peanut butter. They go great together! There’s just one thing: you can’t walk up to girls on the street and ask them if you can tie them up and take pictures of them. Besides, you’re too shy to tie them up anyway. You’ve never been the assertive type.

CCL, though… those girls are different.

Yes, CCL is going to make some money by getting a portion of the proceeds from the little photo book that you made, but they helped make it! You are getting something too: you got free models that you didn’t have to pay, models that you would never have dreamed of working with before CCL came into your life. And you will get a ton of exposure for having CCL girls in the book. Not like… big exposure or anything, it’s just a small book that you printed a limited quantity of, but it’s still more than you would have otherwise. You are nobody. No one has heard of Meredith Powers. But they have heard of CCL… and the horny brigade will happily pay some money to see some tasteful pictures of CCL girls in shibari.

It's a good arrangement. You are not getting taken advantage of.

Colby just doesn’t understand. This is an opportunity for you to not just get a little exposure for your photography, but also, you know. It’s CCL after all.

“You’re just being a thirsty bitch,” Colby accuses, reading your mind.

There’s some truth in that. CCL’s leader, Athena? There is just huge, huge Onee-sama energy coming from her. You felt it when you first saw her, and all you want is to make her proud. You fantasize about her calling you to her room on some warm night and…

“Meri!” Colby snaps, and you wake up.

“What?” you say.

“They haven’t done anything to you, have they? They aren’t making you do this,” she says suspiciously.

“Of course not,” you say guiltily. Actually… Athena did kind of flirt with you a little bit. And… there was what happened with that other CCL girl at that party last week. You were both pretty drunk, but just thinking about it makes you squeeze your legs together and your face turns hot. Coming to Gurlberg for college is the best decision you ever made. CCL is amazing.

“I never should’ve loaned you that manga.” Colby puts her face in her hands. She’s talking about the one that introduced you to shibari. Well, that genie is out of the bottle. The shibari monster inside you is awakened, and CCL is where that monster must feed. Why can’t Colby understand that?

“And if they let you move in with them, they’re just going to make you do all the chores,” she goes on.

Actually, you moved into CCL House yesterday. You’re afraid to tell her. But you really want to tell her about listening to your CCL neighbors have sex last night. They were doing… something… while watching Adult Swim, and they would actually stop whatever they were doing and laugh from time to time. Serious multitasking. Will Colby be jealous that you’re out of the dorms? Or mad that you didn’t tell her? Everything seems to upset her lately. You better just keep your mouth shut.

“Are you bailing on the con too?” she asks grumpily.

You were dreading this question, but it was unavoidable. The con is literally tomorrow.

“About that,” you say, looking down at your coffee.

“I hate you so much.”

“I’m still going! But I have to go with them. We’re going to sell the books,” you say. “I have to be there. I can’t tell them to sell my books for me.”

“Why not? They’re getting a cut,” Colby snaps.

“We will still have time to hang out,” you promise. “I just have to help them with setup and I have to be at our booth a bit.”

“CCL has a booth at Nerdcon?” She looks incredulous.

“Yup,” you say. “It’s gonna be sweet.”

“Oh my god. Do all those cheerleaders even play games or watch movies?”

“They aren’t all cheerleaders,” you say defensively. Some of them are. OK, a lot of them.

“Oh my god.”

“We’re going to the city tonight. I’ll be there all day tomorrow,” you promise.

“What are you… staying in a hotel or something?”

You wiggle your eyebrows at her and she makes a puking face.

“Unsightly,” she says. “Your thirst is too damn high.”

“Whatever,” you say. You know… well… it’s not impossible that you could get laid in that situation. Staying in a hotel with some CCL girls? Not outside the realm of possibility.

“Stop making that face!” she snarls.

“Whatever,” you repeat. You don’t know why Colby’s acting like this. She pretends to be straight and stuff, but she’s not fooling anybody. She should join CCL too, but she’s intimidated by them. You are as well, but they’re mostly pretty nice. And there’s no really bad hazing or anything anymore. After all the stuff that happened with the old leader… CCL is much smaller and gentler now.

“Just drive up with me in the morning,” Colby says.

“And miss a night with my Onee-sama?” you say, aghast. “Like hell, bitch. Tonight’s the night she looks at her kawaii kouhai and gives into temptation. She wants to… kiss me and stroke my delicate petals…”

“Oh, fuck me. I don’t know you. I don’t know you,” Colby says, shaking her head. “I don’t know her,” she says to the waitress who is passing by.

“Onee-sama,” you say dramatically, reaching out your hand. “Please summon me. Let me tie you up. Or you can tie me up. I’m good either way. Oh, you want me to wear the school swimsuit suit? OK. I can wear it. Onee-sama…”

“There’s double Bloodpoints in DBD this weekend,” Colby says desperately, ignoring your nonsense.

“You spend the night touching gens, bitch. I’m gonna touch a booby,” you say smugly as you hold your coffee mug. You hold up your hand and open and close your fingers.

“Betraying me to get laid is one thing,” Colby accuses, pointing her finger at you. “But leaving me to play solo queue? That’s bad friending. You’re a bad friend.”

“So tie me up and punish me.”

“God. You’re already becoming one of them!”

“One of us. One of us.”

“OK. I can’t take this,” she says, trying not to laugh. “You better make some time for me tomorrow or I’ll go full psycho.” She picks up her backpack and stands up. That makes you look over at your bag. You brought her a signed copy of the humble little photo book. It’s only got twelve pages and twelve photos, but you’re still proud of it. Even though the CCL girls in it are all wearing clothes, it still came out… startlingly erotic. You are still a beginner at shibari, so that makes you feel a bit proud. It didn’t hurt that the CCL girls flirted with you nonstop throughout the photoshoot. Some of them wanted to do it in their underwear.

You aren’t sure that you should give the book to Colby today, though. Colby’s trying to act normal, but you know that changing your Nerdcon plans at the last minute has hurt her feelings.

Give her the book?

Or let it be for now?

[ Game Rules: vote to help Meri make her dreams of a booby come true over this magical weekend! Every choice has a point value, just like in SSS:1980. Your scores will be tracked, and at the end of the story the top scorers will receive a prize similar to what we saw in SSS:1980—some kind of small story or nomination. As we determined with SSS:1980, this scoring system favors voting on as many chapters as possible. For the Bigger Prize, since SSTGG has no killer to unmask, you must blindly guess how many orgasms Meri will have throughout the story by leaving a comment on this chapter with your number before the end of the 4th of July Weekend, 2022. No duplicate guesses! One winner only! The closest guess will win the Bigger Prize: a short story about any SSS-related pairing of their choosing with full multiverse privileges. If two readers are equally close, the one with the higher game score gets it! ]