Harriet Harrison was only a sophomore in tenth grade but she knew she could easily outrace her older, junior class opponent Teri Tuttle and win acceptance into Sigma Chi. Harriet was slim-built, all toned muscle with a nearly not-over-sized but still presentable chest and short cropped hair for a better aerodynamic advantage. She was born to race and she had trained every day since she was seven years old.

Teri, dubbed 'Tubby Tuttle' by the bitchier girls at Runnymede Collegiate Institute, was Harriet's total opposite. Teri was heavier than Harriet but fat weighs less than muscle, so the junior was bigger in all the worse ways, not just for gymnastics and athletic contests, in her social life Teri TT Tuttle was a dating disaster, a social out-cast, a very lonely and sad girl. And she desperately wanted to belong, especially to Sigma Chi, the lost prestigious sorority at RCI.

On the day of the big race, the last day of summer blending into the first day of fall, Teri was just five days shy of her 18th birthday; she was not the brightest star in the sky and had flunked out of grade 10 and had to repeat a year, which is why she was old for her grade level. Teri was almost 18 and still a virgin.

Her opponent, on the other hand, was only 14 years old, having skipped a grade. She was so smart she'd already taken and passed with A's all the pre-college entrance exams. The trial tests didn't official count, but it gave Harriet a heads-up and a leg up on others in her class who would be taking their exams next year.

Not only was she the smartest kid in the school, Harriet was also one of the most popular girls and had dates every weekend and was booked up to 2014. Her athletic figure and lithe limbs were complemented by the cutest face a girl could hope for. Her short-cut hair was attractive and in style. But of course it was; Harriet Set the style at Runnymede. As popular with the boys as she was, Harriet remained a virgin. After all, she was barely 14.

So in a word, Harriet Harrison was a winner and Teri Tuttle was a loser. And they would be competing this Friday night/Saturday morning in Harriet's field game forte, long distance running. The high school sorority for which both girls were pledging had only one opening this year. While Sigma Chi was usually only open to girls in grades 11 and 12, the sisters made an exception in Harriet's case because, they said, Harriet was likely to skip another grade soon and end up graduating ahead of schedule and be Valedictorian anyway.

The race, The Great Grate Race, was a trial in every sense of the word. It would try the contestants' physical stamina, pain threshold, social awkwardness and most of all speed. The race rules were explained to each girl at their initial initiation meeting:

Each contestant must go from point A (the front door of All Saints High (ASH) to point B, the main doors at Wal*Marts in the Centrum Mall, and then back to point A.

Their routes will be of their own choosing but must include both Kinmount and Goldora gated communities plus eight more cross-street corners with sewer grates, the last of which must be outside the Mall property.

The two girls must be wearing similar garb: a pair of runners, two socks, a pair of jeans secured with a belt, a button up blouse, a bra, a baseball cap and a pair of panties. This gave them each a grand total of ten items of clothing. Clothing they must gradually shed, one piece at a time, on their trek out and retrieve, one piece at a time, on their return journey. Only one article of clothing allowed to be shed and retrieved per street.

The clothes were to be placed directly on the sewer grates and must be shed in the following order: (1) left shoe, (2) right shoe, (3) left sock, (4) right sock, (5) blouse, (6)jeans, (7) belt, (8) bra, (9) panties, and (10 ) ball cap. The clothes must be retrieved in the opposite order, which meant, of course, each girl had to retrace her steps exactly to redress her way back to the starting point, All Saints High, where the winner would be declared.

Another rule was that the girls must prepare for the run by showering at midnight and shaving smooth their legs, armpits and pussy mounds. This was because the next rule demanded that while running nude or near nude, the girls would not be allowed to cover up their naughty bits with their hands or in any fashion. This meant that, in the unlikelihood they should be seen by anyone, everything would be seen. This made the task that much racier and daring.

Trailing behind each girl would be sorority sisters who would monitor the racers' progress and make sure all the rules were followed. Racers were not allowed to go back for or pick up their clothes before reaching WalMart in the nude. The Sorority President would be at Points A, B and A again to record the racers' efforts ( via cell phone camera, of course ) and a small trophy would be awaiting the winner. However, a symbolic but sound spanking with the dreaded Sigma Jackboot-paddle would be awaiting the loser.

To make the contest even more interesting, the start time was 5 a.m. Sunrise on the Saturday morning ( the first day of fall ) would be 6:50 am, but twilight would start at 6:20. So the runners would have less than an hour to run under the cloak of darkness. Predawn, first light could also be embarrassing but few folks would be about at that time of day.

Harriet had it in the bag and she knew it. She plotted out her course on Friday morning during a free period ( which btw, both girls luckily were period-free; that is, free of their menstrual periods at the time of the race.) She would have lots of time even though the race rules had them shedding their footwear at the beginning and not picking their shoes up until close to the end of the race. That was okay, Harriet had scouted out the mostly residential area and there were plenty of grassy lawns with soft turf to protect her tender tootsies.

She had memorized the street route which get her to point B the fastest, although the inclusion of those gated streets was problematic taking her well out of her way and meaning she'd be sneaking onto private, and probably security guarded, property wearing only a belt ( likely hung about her neck ) her bra, panties and a baseball cap. If she were caught, it would be very humiliating. But Harriet was confident she could dodge and outdistance any fat, old private rent-a-cop.

At 5 a.m. Saturday most of the sisters in Sigma Sorority were on hand at All Saints High School to see the pledges off. The monitors were given the secret routes the runners had devised so they would check out to make sure no one cheated. As Sorority president, Sister Felicity would officiate at WalMart as well at ASHS where she would award the trophy to the winner and smack the loser's bare bottom.

Both Teri and Harriet were given ceremonial swats on the behind with the Jackboot Paddle. Each girl had her jeans and panties pulled down to her ankles and were made to reach their toes ( Teri only made it to her knees but they allowed it) when a dozen Sigma sisters each delivered five swats with the ponderous penalty paddle. Teri whimpered and bawled even though to Harriet it seemed, by the sound of her whacks, the sisters were being a hell of a lot gentler with Teri than with her. "Oh well," she thought to herself, " I'm obviously made of sterner stuff."