Sapphic Sorority: T.I.E.

September 28, 1999

Air conditioners wheeze and strain against the muggy Florida heat.

Sweat drips down skin and condensation drips down red plastic cups.

Two freshman girls kneel in the living room of CCL House. They are topless, and their hands are cuffed behind their backs.

The girl on the right has down-to-earth, girl-next-door looks. A blue band keeps her long hair tidy as she grits her teeth. Her name is Sally, and the clamps attached to her nipples are connected by a silver chain held by a tall CCL tomboy whose neon workout top shows off her cut abs. Her name is Rey, and she gives the chain a gentle twist.

Sally grimaces but stays strong, glaring up at her.

Two dozen girls look on in silence.

The girl on the left is Kylie; she’s blonde and tanned. Her lip trembles as her chain is pulled. Chica is the one doing the tugging. She’s slim and dusky; her black hair is tied back, and she wears large, round-rimmed glasses. Her plaid, button-down shirt is tucked into her jeans, worn with a belt.

“There!” a girl cries out, pointing.

“Yup,” another confirms.

Chica lets go of her chain and raises her hands, stepping back. “Game over,” she says.

Relieved, Rey lets go of her chain and checks on Kylie: a single tear is rolling down her cheek.

“Fuck,” Kylie mutters. She lost the competition by crying first. Tonight is not her night.

Rey tries to catch Chica’s eye, but Chica is already leaving the room. Rey hurriedly starts clapping, joining the others who are cheering and congratulating Sally for holding out.

“Jesus,” the brunette says as she unclamps her nips and gently massages her boobs. “Can’t believe people do that for fun.”

“You didn’t have fun?” Rey replies.

Blushing, Sally just gives her a look.

Suddenly, lots of fingers are tugging at Rey’s top. She fends them off.

“I know! I know!” she says. The winner who outlasts and is initiated is allowed to return the favor to the CCL girl who tried to make her cry. “Everybody relax. Mama Rey didn’t raise no pussies,” Rey says, sinking to her knees. She pulls off her top, revealing her bare chest. “Go ahead, princess. Do what you have to.”

Sally is still hiding her boobs with her hands. Face red, she shakes her head.

“I know you took it easy on me,” she says.

“That’s a serious allegation,” another girl says.

“I would never,” Rey says. “You are as merciful as you are beautiful, Sally. Like a Spice Girl. If Spice Girls wore dorky hairbands.”

Sally’s eyes flash and someone hits the volume on the Audi stereo over the fireplace. Smashmouth crashes through the house at a billion decibels.

“Oh!” Sally jumps in surprise as someone shoves a cold cup of beer into her hands. She’s suddenly surrounded by girls.

Rey finds Chica on the landing.

Chica gazes pensively at all the framed photos of CCL events and cohorts. “You took it easy on her,” she says without judgment.

“And you took it easy on me by making that blonde cry. I guess I owe you.”

“I guess you do.”

Rey snorts. It’s not the first time she’s owed Chica. Chica’s probably keeping track.

SSTIE

The party quickly gets wild.

Sally knew what she was in for when she pledged to CCL, but all the mental preparation in the world isn’t enough for having your breasts clamped and played with in front of a big, drunk audience. She would like to take a little break, but she’s the center of attention.

The others are trying to rope her into a game of strip Twister that she is not nearly drunk enough to agree to.

Rey catches her in the kitchen. “How are your nips?”

“They’ve been better,” Sal replies, trying to play it cool.

“Want to hang with us?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” It’s not exactly what Sally wants to be asked, but she’s not in a position to make demands. She wrestles with her nerves and her expectations as she follows Rey upstairs, marveling at her toned calves. Rey belongs on the cover of every sports magazine, but something’s not right. She’s never been anything but flirty with Sally these past few weeks. Setting aside what just happened, Sally is now a real CCL girl. She knows not to expect Rey to… what? Ask her out? Take her on a romantic picnic? But she figured that Rey would at least be present tonight. In fact, she was all but certain that Rey would try to sleep with it. But that doesn’t seem to be happening, and Sally doesn’t know if it’s because she read the situation wrong or because something has changed.

Rey takes Sally to Chica’s door, where a sign reads: NO GIRLS ALLOWED. “Welcome to CCL.”

Inside, Sal finds three girls. The room smells like perfume, the AC, and spilled Zima.

Chica lies on the top bunk with a magazine, reading.

Lili sits on the bottom bunk, filing her nails with a beer bottle between her legs. There’s almost a sense of melancholy about the ethereally lovely blonde. Even in her little shorts and Nirvana tee, she looks like an angel from a movie. Sally would kill for her hair to be that straight.

Elsa sits cross-legged on the rug, brushing her hair, which is dyed gray. Most of her body is covered in tattoos. Skulls, barbed wire, and roses. She has the face of Velma from Scooby Doo on her inner thigh. It’s hard not to stare.

They all look up.

“Hey,” Sally says, a little shyly. She’s met all these girls before, but they’re all older. Prettier. Cooler. They are the girls whom Rey spends her time with.

“Thirsty?” Rey asks, closing the door and dropping into a beanbag chair.

Elsa has a funny expression on her face. “What are you doing?” she asks Rey.

“What?” Rey kicks back and picks up a magazine. “Just relax.”

Sally perches in Chica’s desk chair.

“Yo, Chica. Rey didn’t tell her,” Elsa says, still watching Rey’s face. “Fucked up or super fucked up?”

“Could go either way. Let me think about it,” Chica replies.

“Tell her the truth,” Lili says with a yawn. She gives Sally a sympathetic look. “Poor kid. Nice tits, by the way.”

“Thank you,” Sally says gracefully. “Rey? What’s going on?”

Rey groans and hides her face in her magazine. “Can’t we just chill?”

“Can we?” Elsa asks ironically.

“Might get her laid,” Lili says.

“Might get her slapped. You’d fucking deserve it,” Elsa adds, throwing a Cheeto at Rey.

“Chica, they’re getting your room dirty,” Rey says.

“It’s my room too,” Lili retorts.

Sally’s anxiety is turning to irritation. “What is going on?” she snaps.

Rey sighs and lowers her magazine. “We’re leaving.”

Sally’s mouth drops open. “What? What do you mean?”

Rey avoids Sally’s gaze. “I mean, we’re leaving. And we won’t be back. Explain it to her, Chica.”

“Sally, college is expensive,” Chica says. She doesn’t go on.

“Yeah. And?” Sally replies, lost.

“And it turns out, there’s this thing called the GI Bill,” Rey says, finally looking Sally in the face. “If we join up, we can get free college. Hell, we can get them to pay us to go. Chica was doing the math about what our debt’s gonna look like and… it’s a big difference.”

Sally stares. “You mean you want to join the Army?”

“We already did,” Lili says with a shrug. “We leave tomorrow.”

“You’re just bailing on the semester and CCL and everything?” Sally catches herself before she can fall out of the desk chair. She clings to it. “You’re fucking with me.”

“Sally, we enter the workforce with a lot of debt, or we can enter it with federal benefits, extra income, and savings from spending four years with no expenses,” Chica says. “We also learn a trade at no cost to us. It’s practical.”

“It’s just business,” Elsa adds. “I don’t know why everyone isn’t doing it.”

“Probably because the Army sucks and they don’t want to get killed in a war.” Sally’s angry, and she isn’t thinking about what she’s saying.

“What war?” Lili laughs. “There’s not gonna be any war. We just do the pushups, march around, see the world, and get the money. We’ll probably be cooks or something.”

Rey is avoiding Sally’s eyes again.

Sally can’t help but glare at her. This is bullshit. How long has Rey known this was going to happen? Sally isn’t naïve enough to picture herself living happily ever after with Rey or anything, but something? At the very least, she assumed that she would be living her CCL life with Rey close by. Now she was leaving?

“Jesus Christ.” She gets to her feet and stalks out of the room. She makes it all the way to her door before Rey catches up, grabbing her by the wrist.

“I’m sorry. OK? I’m sorry. I fucked up,” Rey says.

Sally whirls and Rey blanches at the tears in her eyes. “Yeah. You did.”

“What would’ve happened if I told you?”

“I don’t know! You’re serious about this? No wonder you’re being so weird. And I just thought you were getting ready to make a move.” Sally sniffles. “But you were just worried about the Army. Like, what the fuck? Why have you been paying so much attention to me?”

“Because I like you.”

They’re silent. Chica’s door opens, and Lili leaves the room, stretching her arms over her head as she goes to the stairs.

Sally wipes her eyes. “The fucking Army.”

“I don’t have rich parents. I like being stupid here, but I want to be a respectable adult someday. You know? Come here.” Rey enfolds Sally in her arms.

Sally laughs, but it’s half a sob. “Yeah! I know. God. I can’t believe nobody warned me about you,” she says into Rey’s chest. “What are you gonna do? Come back after you’re done and pledge again? Impress all the barely legals with your veteran status?”

“You bet your ass.”

“God.”

After a while, Sally pulls back. “I guess you have packing to do. I haven’t even unpacked yet.”

“I can help you,” Rey says, looking into her eyes.

Sally has never blushed and cried at the same time before. She sniffles and looks down, then shakes her head at Rey.

“The balls on you,” she says.

“I was born this way.”

Sally glares, then stamps her foot. “I just want to punch you in the face.”

Rey nods soberly. “I’m sorry.” She turns to go, and Sally reaches out and takes her hand.

Rey looks back. Sally rolls her eyes, then turns and opens her door. Gripping Rey’s hand tightly, she leads her inside.

SSTIE

Elsa crawls onto Lili’s bed with a yawn, feeling around in the sheets, which need washing.

“Oh, hello.” She comes up with a purple vibrator and snorts. It’s realistically styled into a dick, complete with some veins. She flicks it on, and it buzzes angrily in her hand. “Oh, Lili. Lili, Lili, Lili.”

She settles down on her back and wiggles to get comfy, running the vibe over her belly. She brings it up to her chest for a few moments, then lifts the waist of her shorts and slips it in there with a soft gasp.

Biting her lip, she slowly closes and opens her leg as she applies a little pressure.

“Mmmm.” Her eyes focus on the bunk above her. “Hey, Chica,” she says, breathing hard.

“Yes?” Chica replies from up there.

“You ever masturbate?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know. I just never see you get your freak on.”

Chica says nothing.

Elsa takes deep breaths. Her hips come up off the bed, and she removes the vibe for a second.

“You won’t tell me?” she asks.

“Why does it matter?”

“I don’t know. Getting to know each other.”

There’s a pause. “The information could deepen our relationship and make us closer. Or it could give you leverage over me at a later time. I’d have to think about it.”

“Oh, god. Shut up. Your overthinking is such a turn-off. Forget I asked.”

“OK.”

Elsa sets the vibe on her tummy and shimmies her shorts and panties down. She runs a hand through the stubble down there that she needs to take care of, then grabs the vibe and puts it directly on skin. She lets out a long groan. “Fuck. This is a good one. Is this Lili’s or yours?”

“Lili’s.”

“Fuck,” Elsa moans. She bites her thumb and kicks the sheets off the bed. She stops herself again and pushes out a breath through her teeth. “Chica?”

“Yeah?”

“Want to come down here and fool around?”

A couple of seconds go by. “Let me think about it.”

SSTIE

Sally’s not quite as shy once the clothes are off and Rey is on top of her in her little twin bed. She hisses when Rey accidentally brushes her sore nipple with her palm.

“Ah!”

“Sorry,” Rey mumbles into the kiss, her hands roaming Sally’s body.

Sally’s fingers run through Rey’s hair over and over. Rey kisses her neck, and she might as well be kissing her clit. Sally moans and grabs for purchase on whatever she can. The feel of Rey’s powerful back under her palms just turns her on more.

“I’ve wanted you so bad,” Rey’s saying in her ear.

“I know,” Sally pants, wrapping her legs around her.

Rey kisses her mouth, then breaks it and strokes her hair. Sally looks up at her, mouth slightly open, eyes curious.

“Why me?” Sally asks.

Rey gazes down at her adoringly. “Maybe it’s the hairband.” She pulls it off Sally’s head and tosses it away, kissing her harder. “Maybe it just drives me crazy and makes me want to fuck you.” She slides her hand down to Sally’s bottom and squeezes it.

“Yeah. You seem like one of those dykes walking around with a strap in her jeans,” Sally says, cupping Rey’s face and nuzzling her.

“I don’t even own one. But I’ll do my best,” Rey says.

“Oh!” Sally cries out as Rey pulls her legs wide open and quite forcefully takes her place between them in a scissor position.

SSTIE

Kylie reclines naked on her bed in the room that she shares with a pledge who is passed out drunk downstairs. She watches a nude Lili deftly use her pill crusher on the desk.

There’s a bump from the other side of the wall and a muffled cry of ecstasy.

Kylie giggles. “Someone’s having a good night.”

“Not as good as yours will be.”

“Better not be. I don’t like sandbagging so Mary Sue can have all her dreams come true,” Kylie pouts.

“It’s Karma, sweetheart. Think of the Karma.”

“I’m thinking of how much my fucking tits hurt, and for nothing. You said they were going to make us masturbate.”

“Shut up.”

“Make me,” Kylie fires back.

“Fine.” Lili strides to the bed and climbs on, straddling the startled Kylie’s head. She lowers herself onto Kylie’s face without hesitation.

“Mmm!”

“Do your fucking job, pledge.” Lili bends her limber body forward. “And hold still.”

Kylie obeys.

“Ah,” Lili sighs as she feels Kylie’s tongue. Concentrating, she taps out a messy line onto Kylie’s perfectly shaved mons. “Hold very still,” she commands.

SSTIE

The lamp flickers and the air conditioner sputters. The alarm clock on the bedside table blinks 12:00.

“Did we just lose power for a sec?” Sally asks. She and Rey are intertwined in the tangled sheets on the floor. Rey has an arm around her, while Sally clings to the older girl like a sailor with driftwood.

“Get used to it,” Rey replies, stroking her hair. “This old place can’t handle all these ACs at once.”

“God. Being here without you just takes all the… magic out of it.”

“There will be more beautiful, sexy women,” Rey assures her.

Sally makes a grumpy noise and buries her face.

Rey holds her close, staring at the ceiling.

“You can come with us,” she says finally.

“What?”

“You heard me. You don’t have rich parents either.”

“How do you know?”

Rey lifts a damp pair of panties from the floor. “Hanes?”

Sally knocks them out of her hand, blushing. “Shut up.”

“I’m serious. You’re just getting started here. It’s even easier for you to bail than it is for us.”

“I got a better idea. You bail on them and stay.”

Rey looks pained. “I would. You don’t believe me.” She meets Sally’s eyes. “I would. But I signed a contract. I have a plane ticket. I can’t. It’s too late.”

“I’ve never hated someone that I really like this much before.”

“I deserve that.”

Sally swallows; it feels like there are razor blades in her throat. Her eyes are starting to tingle again as well.

Should Sally enlist? Yes or no.